OCR Text |
Show WILL MAKE JUNE 5 t STATE HOLIDAY UTAH N S WILL CARRY OUT THE WISK&S OF GOVERNMENT ON ENROLLMENT DAY. Public Meetings to be Held on Registration Regis-tration Day, When Speakers Will Make CJear Purpose of United States in War. Salt I.nko City The Utah State Council of li'ft'nse is endeavoring to carry out the wishes of the government to make Enrollment day. June 5, a state-wide festival. Similar plans are under way in oilier mountain states and. in fact, universally throughout the J nation. The application of the selective draft to the problem of raising an army has aroused misgivings and doubt, winch, if unchecked, might affect the morale of the country. It is expected that there will be public meetings held in nearly every precinct of the state and nation on Enrollment dav, at which the purpose of the United States in the war will he set forth and the conscription conscrip-tion law explained. The speakers will jnake clear that the conscription law was passed by congress by the representatives repre-sentatives of the young men who are to be drawn by lot, so that the operation opera-tion of the law will simply result in a volunteering in mass of the young men of the nation in place of volunteering singly, as was done under the old system. sys-tem. It is believed that there are few people peo-ple left who do not now understand that no humiliation whatever attaches, or can attach, to a young man selected for service under the new law since, In fact, he is precisely as much a volunteer vol-unteer as if he walked up to a recruiting recruit-ing officer and asked to be enrolled. In his proclamation for the enrollment, enroll-ment, l'resident Wilson used the following fol-lowing words : "The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing in our history and a landmark in our progress. pro-gress. It is a new manner of accepting accept-ing and vititalizing our duty to give ourselves with thoughtful devotion to ijie common purpose of us all. It Is in no sense a conscription of the un willing; it is, rather, selection from a nation which has volunteered in mass. It is no more a choosing of those who shall march with the colors than it is a selection of those who shall serve an equally necessary and devoted purpose pur-pose in the industries that lie behind the battle line. "The day here named is the time upon which all shall present themselves them-selves for assignment to their tasks. It is for that reason destined to be remembered re-membered as one of the most conspicuous conspicu-ous moments in our history. It is nothing less than the day upon which the manhood of the country shall step forward in one solid rank in defense of ttie ideals to which this nation is consecrated. It is important to these ideals no less than to the pride of this generation in manifesting its devotion to them, that there be no gaps in the ranks." Naturally, the programs in different localities will vary, but in the main, they will be marked by tlie follov, ing features : 1. Flags will be flying from every public and private building. 2. Bands will be playing and there will be parades. 3. There 'will be public meetings during the day, at which the duty and responsibility of the United States, its purpose in the war and the meaning of Enrollment day will be outlined by competent speakers. 4. Some places have indicated that, in order to thoroughly gut into the' j spirit of the occasion, they are planning plan-ning war dinners, at which a menu I such as is served to our soicuers will ue Jliu lueu. Everywhere in the inter-mountain region there is indications of concerted concert-ed celebration of the day, so that little doubt is felt of the realization of the hopes of the Secretary of War, who said at the National Council of Defense De-fense conference : "The first step is the registration of the men. That is a very large undertaking. under-taking. It is one which may be attended at-tended bv confusion, or it may be converted con-verted into n magnificent demonstration demonstra-tion of the unity of our country." |