By the Militia Act it was provided that “if at any time enough men do
not volunteer to complete the quota required the men liable to serve
shall be drafted by ballot.” Chiefly because of this provision the
Militia Act was amended or superseded by the Military Service Act.
It was manifest that selection by ballot would continue and multiply
the inequalities produced by voluntary recruiting. Occupations and
industries embarrassed by scarcity of labor would suffer still further,
and physical fitness for war would be the general test of eligibility.
It was, therefore, declared that “by reason of the large number of men
who have already left agricultural and industrial pursuits in Canada
to join the Expeditionary Force as volunteers, and of the necessity
of sustaining under such conditions the productivity of the Dominion,
it is expedient to secure the men still required, not by ballot, as
provided in the Militia Act, but by selective draft.” Other provisions
of the Act divide the available manhood of the country into six classes
ranging in age from 20 to 45 and subject to selection according to
military necessity, number of dependents and order of physical fitness.