Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE BANK DURING THE WAR 359upon applications for exemption. Every effort was made bythe head office to keep in touch with what was done, so as tobe in a position to advise the branches at the earliest possiblemoment as to what was required of them. It was anticipatedthat the call would not extend beyond Class I under theunmarried men who had reachedMilitary Service Act, that is,the age of twenty and who had been born not earlier than 1883,or roughly, those between the ages of twenty and thirty-four,and such men were asked to apply for medical examinationat the earliest possible moment, so that it might be ascertainedhow many would be exempted on medical groundsand could therefore be expected to remain with the bank. Ithad been hoped that large employers with scattered staffs,such as banks and railways, would be able to deal with thequestion of exemptions before a central authority, instead ofbefore the local tribunals scattered throughout the country,for it was clear that the members of these tribunals, being mentotally unskilled in deciding such questions as were to bebrought before them, and having no precedents to guide them,would be sure to take different views of similar cases and torender conflicting decisions.It was known that the instructionsdrafted by the Military Service Council for the guidanceof the tribunals required them, when an application for exemptionwas made by an employer, to obtain "full informationwith regard to the total number of persons employed by theapplicant, their respective occupations, qualifications and sex,with the number in each group," and "to what extent the employeris putting forward a claim for exemption on behalf ofeach employee within the class called out." It was obviousthat information of this character must emanate from the headoffice of the bank, for the officials there were the only oneswho could, in the nature of things, supply it. The Government,however, decided to deal with the question of exemptionsthrough the local tribunals, and it therefore became necessaryto supply the local managers with the information, and to relyon them to argue in support of all applications for exemption.