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Show NO FAVORITISM IN DRAFT Selective Service Act Is Specific and Allows No Latitude to Registration Registra-tion Officials. Washington. A statement has been issued from the office of the provost marshal general of the United States army as follows: The attention of the war department has been called to the fact that fear exists in some parts of the country that some members of the county and city registration boards may be influenced influ-enced by personal considerations to discriminate between young men who are liable for service, and to make friendship or some other consideration a moving factor iu the selection of soldiers for the new army. There is no ground for such a fear. The law is specific and allows no latitude lati-tude to the officials either , in the matter mat-ter of registration or in the later matter mat-ter of exemption from service. In fact, the law is self-executing. Every man within the age limits fixed by the selective-service act must register, and tho penalty of the law for evasion of registration will fall, not only on the man who fails to appear, but on any member of a registration board who may be shown to be in collusion with the person who attempts to escape es-cape his duty. ' Further than this, the registration, boards never will act as exemption boards except in certain specific enses as where a young man who has registered reg-istered shall claim to be employed In a federal, state or local office, and thereby does come within the exemption exemp-tion clause of the statute. In a case like this the facts must be entered officially and attested. The law provides the penalty of Imprisonment Im-prisonment with no alternative of a fine for any official or any registered man who shall make a false return or connive at such a practice. The safeguards safe-guards against favoritism or evasion are ample. The response to the government's appeal for volunteer service has been so prompt and general In Its distribution distri-bution that It Is assured that In virtually virtu-ally all the districts there will be officials of-ficials whose sole moving purpose is the patriotic one of seeing to it that the duties of the office are performed In strict accordance with the requirements require-ments of the law. So far as the other reasons for exemptions ex-emptions under the law are concerned, exemptions for men engaged in pursuits pur-suits In which their work is more valuable val-uable at home than In the service, the authority will lie with a board of higher high-er jurisdiction. Those who fear that discriminations will be made on grounds of personal friendship or on other grounds may be assured that every ev-ery precaution will be taken to make it certain that the registration will he conducted with exact justice- and that the democracy of the l:lw w ; j dwell in its spirit as in its lei in- I |