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Show Categories. Men registered shall be divided into two categories: (a) Men between 21 and 45, who shall be liable for training end service in the land and naval forces; (b) Men between 18 and 21, and 45 and 65, who shall be liable only for training and service in home defense units near their residences. Selection. The men required at any time for training in peace and service in war shall be selected by lot, subject to the deferments defer-ments and age groupings below referred to. Until completion of the registration and classification of the men hnween 31 and 45, the selection will be made from those between 21 and 31. In order that each group called for training will represent a cross section of the eligible age groups, it shall lie the ultimate i objective that in the selection of men, not motv than 87 per j cent nor less than 78 per cent shall be between 21 and 31, not j more than 15 per cent nor less than 10 per cent bet ween 31 and ' 38 and not more than 7 per cent nor less than 3 per cent be- tween 38 and 45. Deferment. The training and service of men whose employ- j ment in industry and agriculture is necessary to national interest, inter-est, ministers of religion, those with dependents and those who are unfit shall be deferred under regulations made by the President. Presi-dent. Local boards shall pass on deferments. Training. Men who are selected and whose training is not do- j ferred shall be trained during peace time for eight consecutive j months. The period may he extended if Congress dec lares the na- ! tional interest is imperilled. Vocational and educational training will be included and the men will have an opportunity to qualify for officer rank. Pay will be $5 a month plus traveling expenses. The war department has recommended this be amended to provide $21.00 a month. For ten years after training or until they reach 4a, trained men will be reservists and subject to additional training for not more j than one month in any year and not oftener than three years in any ! five. Expiration of the Act. The Act would become inoperative on I May 15, 1945, unless continued in effect by Congress. I WHY COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING? There are only two courses open to us. We can neglect our defenses and live with a sense of insecurity and panic always just under the surface, watching the temper and fearing the reactions of the strong aggressive, or we can tighten our belts, arm ourselves in full against possible conflict and live, not on sufferance and in fear but with the steady integrity of conscious con-scious slength. The first course is demoralizing and wretched; the second course alone is possible, and an essential link in the pursuit of that course is the obligatory training of an adequate, justly chosen portion of our manhood. National Elmergency Committee Compulsory military training, and especially the Selective Training and Service Bill introduced to cotress by Senator Edward Ed-ward R. Burke (I)em.) of Nebraska as Senate Bill No. 4164, and Representative James W. Wadsworth (Rep) of New York as House Bill No. 10132, is being brought to the attention of United States citizens as of vital and personal importance. Purpose of the bill is covered in a list of seven reasons set forth by the National Emergency committee: (1) No step should be omitted which substantially contributes to the safety of our country; (2) We cannot insure ourselves against attack by neglecting our arms and practicing an inoffensive isolation. The strictest neutrality neu-trality in the case of other nations has not kept the Nazis from attacking at-tacking when self-interest indicated such a course. The sweeping claims of the Monroe Doctrine applied to South American and West Indian possessions would present an obvious possibility of conflict. The problem of Canada may become insoluble except by force of aims. At the end of the present war we may find on one side the Germans, armed and powerful beyond any other people in the history his-tory of mankind, presiding over a lean and impoverished Europe, and on the other side the Americas, ill-prepared for conflict, but abounding in living room, in wealth, in food, in all those things which Europe lacks and covets. Could any danger sign be clearer than such a prospect? (3) We have long thought of our navy and the oceans which divide our country from Asia and Europe as constituting a first line of defense so strong that the development of a powerful army was unnecessary. Nations with great shipping, ship building industries indus-tries and navies have fallen into German hands. The possibility that Great Britain may bo conquered and her shipyards and fleets come under German control may no longer be ignored. - We cannot long rely on the power of our navy to bar an aggressor from our shores. (4) We must have a second line of defense in the form of an army. If it is to be adequate to meet and turn back an aggressor it will have to be in much greater numbers than our present army. There has been serious discussion of an air force of 50,000 planes, vl which 40,000 would be allotted to the army. An estimate of the personnel required for such an air force would be between 800,000 and 900,000 men. An army to include tanks, artillery, special services, infantry and supply on the scale of such an air force would require 3.000,000 men divided between active force and trained army re-r.erves. re-r.erves. The va.stness of our territory, our double coast line and delays incident to movement of great forces of men and equipment thousands thou-sands of miles, make it impossible to concentrate all our power at a tingle predictable point of attack. (5) Whatever figure is finally fixed for th army, Uere is no prospect of getting the number of men required, or anything like the number, by voluntary enlistment. On January 1, 1940, there were 219.111 enlisted men in the regular army. On June 7 the enlisted total had risen to 233,397. On June 1, 1940, a special drive was started start-ed to get 15,000 to provide for an increase appropriated by congress, which will bring the total to 248,000. If we add the regular army reserve of 28,000 and the national guard of 224.000, we get a total of trained and partially trained men of 500,000. Even under the obligatory system it would hardly be possible To train more than 500,000 the first year, but that would be a great advanep over what could be clone by enlistment. (D) The only practical way of procuring the requisite number cf trained men for land and naval forces is through a system of compulsory selective training in time of peace and service in time if war. (a) To meet requirements of modern warfare armies must be raised not haphazard and at the eleventh hour, but in advance ad-vance of conflict in a systematic plan designed so that each man may serve in the capacity where he will be most effective and that operation of basic industry, of agriculture, and of specialties special-ties and science.-; essential to war may be disrupted as little as possible. lb) The obligatory system, reasonably administered through the familiar system of local boards, and taking into account not only the needs of the country, but the situation of the individual in regard to occupation, marriage, dependents and health, is the closest approximation to practical justice which can be arrived at. It is unjust to leave to the whim of the. individual the question ques-tion of whether he will or will not render the service which his country needs, as it would be to leave the payment of taxes to a like method of determination. 7) We need not argue at length that if there is to be an army, the training of its personnel cannot be safely delayed until the outbreak out-break of war. The experience of England, which with her vast resources re-sources of men has found herself unable to put an effective army in the field because her compulsory service law and training of recruits were only initiated a year ago, is the most immediate and effective answer to the idea that a large and good army can be created on the spur of the monunt. The business of the soldier has grown more complex. For the sake of conserving life as well as for the sake of victory we must s.e to it that our training is systematic, adequate and unhurried and that our armies go into battle fortified and protected pro-tected by real skill in arms. SUMMARY OF THE BILL The Bill doci not undertake to determine the number of men who should be m training or seivice in the army or navy. That is to be detei mined by the President and his military and naval advisers, subject always to the provision that the President shall not call any persons for training or service until congress has appropriated funds for such purpose. The essential features of the Bill are: Registration. All male citizens and resident aliens between 18 end 65 except those enrolled in the armed forces of the United States, including the National Guard and reserves, shall register. |