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Show HALT 15 CALLED 01 DRAFT " DODGERS i : ' Wholesale Claims for Exemption From Military Mili-tary Service Cause General Crowder to Instruct In-struct Local Board to Reduce Discharges for Dependency. ABUSES PREVENT j RAISING AN ARMY - Eighty Per Cent of Men Called Up in Some Districts Ask to Be Relieved Re-lieved on Ground of Having Dependent Relatives; Rel-atives; Unfair Advantage Advan-tage Taken. WASHINGTON", Aug. 9. Wholesale claims for exemption from the army draft, reported from many sections, caused Provost Pro-vost Marshal General Crowder to telegraph tele-graph the governors of the states tonight lirecting that local boards "reduce dis-charges dis-charges for dependency to a far more re-istrlcted re-istrlcted class and to very necessitous and clearly defined circumstances." In some districts as high as 80 per cent of the registrants called for examination examina-tion are filing claims for discharge on the ground of dependent relatives. Such a condition indicates. General Crowder said, that unfair advantage Is being taken of the regulations designed to protect men who properly should be exempted from the military service, and actually threatens to interfere seriously with the raising of the national army. Crowtler's Message. c i The message to the governors follow: i Section 2 of the selective service law i exempts no person from military ser- vice on the ground of dependency. It ! only authorizes the president to ex- elude or discharge from draft "those in a status with respect to persons dependent upon them for support, which renders their exclusion or discharge dis-charge advisable." The controlling necessity is to raise an army. It is advisable to disturb j dependents just as little as the neces-k- sity of raising an army will permit. To this end section IS of the regulations regula-tions was compiled carefully and after th most earnest consideration. If experience is to prove that the generous conditions prescribed by section 18, or any abuse of them, will interfere with the raising of any arm, then It is no longer advisable to discharge so wide a class and the conditions stated therein will have to be restricted until an advisable rule is reached. Abuses General. Nothing has happened to change the belief that the persons enumerated enumer-ated in section IS could be discharged without interfering with the raising of an army, but there are indioa--Llons that abuses of section 18 may ' ? ' render its continuance no longer ad-t. ad-t. visable. ( Reports are to the efTert that in f some distilcts as high as 80 per cent of persons called before local boards are filing claims for discharge on the ground of dependent relatives, fich a percentage of claims, when viewed in connection with all available statistics statis-tics indicates beyond fjueMion that advantage is belne taken or trie provisions pro-visions of the ia w ani ruinations which were Intended to reduce to a minimum the misery a r num nor-mally nor-mally attendant upon war. There Is a moral terra irrry, ,n tj,e extravagance of this perentatie. that hundreds of unfounded claims are In- " eluded in these totals. Restriction Imperative. Tr.ls p tat e of affairs Krcatly ln-TeuKes ln-TeuKes the burden of local boa rds, for if so hlsrn a pH-'entaKe of registrants regis-trants claim exemption, only the uncompromising un-compromising act ion of loca I boards can prevent a new regulation on the subject, of dependency which shall reduce re-duce discharics for dependency to a fr more restricted Hhhr and to very ntep'4roiin and clearly defined clr-ruri,r':i clr-ruri,r':i w" n. In the absence of a w'ern repression bv lo'-i) board of unmrlorio'i4 claims, tliiq rep ult in'-vitanhi, since any uch prcfnfa'e of exemptions as reports re-ports of Halms Indi'-ale would nulliry , , the law and prevent tlij t King of an arm v. It is thus apparent that the filing of th'-Ke Improper 'lalrow will r'-a't d ire' tly a nd In jurlnuslv 'Mi person f whorn the r-.".cnt r-i jla t on were d:!gri'-d to protect and that the we. -. f:re of pTKon. who hav- filed tiorin fide claims under the present generous gener-ous clauses of the reioda t lotis y, hi-. rlou'lv Imperilled bv p'topm v --,ve file.) rla IniN V.dMiOHt Merit fl rid th:-t the onlv prO'eftloil of peinoriM Tj-i'me ' a if a re within the me a ri i ng , Of the prtuit rules ien n thr power i (Continued on Pafjo Two.) I HALT IS CILEO ON THE DRAFT DODGERS (Continued from Pago One.) of lonal hoards to refuse exemption in every doubtful ensc. It is true that eases of dls(iarKC on tho uround of dependency are appealed ap-pealed to the district hoard, hut thlH 1 clause Is only Inserted to ancure uni- i formlty of action. TMstrlct boards i ore to examine theno ensea to dlncover depart u rr from the law, regulation i and rulings; and they will not, and can not open every case on tin merits. mer-its. It Is in the local boards, alone, therefore, that the solution of tho difficulty ami the protection of deserving de-serving claimants lies. |