H.—lla

The industries in which the greatest porportion of men were postponed from the outset were Farming Engineering Coal-mining Railways Saw-milling Shipping Butter and cheese factories Police Freezing works Clergy. Tanneries Releases from Camp.—Cases have arisen in which individual men who had been posted to camp have been, for one reason or another, urgently required in their civilian employment again. In these cases application was until recently made to an Appeal Board to arrange release from camp, though it should be added that the Board can legally do no more than make a recommendation to the Army. The most numerous classes of men affected by these applications have been seasonal workers, though there has been a wide variety of types. A large proportion of the releases have been temporary only. Fuller details of men postponed from military service, applications for release from camp, and other matters relating to Appeal Boards are given in the Appendix. 7. THE PROBLEM AND TREATMENT OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS Though comparatively few in number, conscientious objectors have proved to be by far the most difficult section of the population to deal with in the matter of national service. It is provided in the National Service Regulations that appeals should be allowed only where the Board is satisfied that the appellant holds a sincere belief that it is wrong to engage in warfare in any circumstances. It has not been at all easy to identify these genuine conscientious objectors from among those whose objection is concerned with the bearing of arms against a particular nation, or in a particular theatre of war, or with a particular manner of engaging in war, or from those who hold the view that the present war is not justified in the circumstances. Appeals lodged on conscientious grounds have in many cases not been dealt with on these grounds. In a fair proportion of cases the appellant is also the subject of an appeal on the ground of public interest or otherwise, and, where postponement is granted on the merits of such appeal, the appeal on conscientious grounds is simply not heard. In other cases the appellant is found on medical examination to be unfit for service, and again the appeal on conscientious grounds is left unheard. Of those who are fit for service, and not otherwise postponed, three determinations of the conscientious appeal are possible : — (a) It may be allowed, and in this event the appellant may be called upon to perform alternative service under civil control: (b) It may be dismissed subject to the provision that service in the forces shall be limited to non-combatant duties : (c) It may be dismissed outright, and in this event the appellant may be required to perform combatant service with the forces in the ordinary way. The Special Tribunal.—As regards those conscientious objectors whose appeals were allowed or dismissed subject to non-combatant service (and who were not in the meantime required for mobilization), the anomaly arising from their favoured position relatively to other men necessitated the setting-up of a Special Tribunal in the latter part of 1941. The functions of the Tribunal were twofold : — (i) To ensure that these men were not thereby placed in a better financial position than if they were in the Army : (ii) To ensure that they were employed in civilian work which was in conformity with the public interest. At first only Grade I and Grade II men were brought before the Tribunal, but later, as Grade 111 men began to be mobilized by the Army, those who had appealed on grounds of conscience were dealt with on these grounds by Appeal Boards, and those of them whose appeals were allowed were referred to the Tribunal. Finally, as the Army did not intend to mobilize Grade 111 conscientious objectors whose appeals were dismissed subject to non-combatant service, at least for some considerable time, these men were also brought before the Tribunal and dealt with in the same way as allowed cases, pending their utilization by the Army. The Special Tribunal comprises four members, each working independently and with complete jurisdiction. By the end of December, 1942, payments made in terms of orders made by the Tribunal had amounted to £5,049 and there were at that time 373 orders in force, though this number was increasing as new cases were dealt with. There have been very few cases of failure to maintain payments in terms of obligations imposed by the Tribunal. Detailed information regarding the classes of men coming before the Tribunal will be found in the Appendix. Defaulters' Detention Camps.—The dismissal of an appeal, whether with or without provision for non-combatant duties, was in many cases not the end of the matter. About one-quarter of the men in these classes simply refused to perform service, and in order to deal with these cases defaulters' detention camps were established in October, 1941. The men placed in these camps have been employed in— Farming pursuits Forest thinning and pruning Flax-growing Breaking-in of land. V egetable-gro wing

7