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Show DRAFT REGULATIONS ISSMMN NOCLASS EXEMPTIONS PROVIDED AND BOARDS WARNED TO RIGID FAIRNESS. Impartial Selection of Men to Strengthen Strength-en Our Armies, the Call to the Colors Coming In September or Soon Thereafter. Washington. Regulations to. govern the next step toward selecting a national na-tional war army from tin millions registered reg-istered for service June 5 were issued -ou July 2 at the direction of President Wilson. The regulations make it clear that there are to he no .:luss exemptions and that eacK individual case nmst be decided upon lis mertts. Thu local exemption ex-emption boards una for exeli county of less than 4:",iK)0 population or city of bO.000, with additional boards where necessary for each, additional 30,000 population will pass upon claims for exemption, except those based upon industrial or agricultural occupation, subject to appeal to the district boards. All cases- Involving agricultural exemptions exemp-tions will be passed upon by the district dis-trict boards one for ettch judicial district dis-trict which also will decide appeals from decisions of the local loirds. Iu the near future a date will be set by Brigadier General Crowder, provost marshal general, for tli 2 meeting and organization of the boards. At the same time it s expected that the selection selec-tion regulations will he promulgated, so this process may be put under way without delay. The present Intention is to call the men selected to the col-, ors about September 1, or as soon thereafter as the cantonments to house thein can be completed. Impartialty Demanded. In a statement accompanying the announcement of the regulations the president called upon the boards to do their work fearlessly and impartially and to remember that "our armies at the front will be strengthened and sustained sus-tained from men free from any sense of injustice in their mode of selection." The statement follows: "The regulations which I am today causing to be promulgated, pursuant to the direction of the selective service law, cover the remaining steps of the plan for calling into the service of the United States qualified men from those who have regisiei ed ; those selected as the result of thi3 process to constitute, with the regular army, the national guard and the navy, the fighting forces of the nation, all of which forces are under the terms of the law placed in a position of equal right, dignity and respectability re-spectability with the members of all other military forces. "The regulations have been drawn with a view to the neei's and circumstances circum-stances of the whole country and provide pro-vide a system, which it. is expected will work with the least inequality and personal hardship. Any system of selecting se-lecting men for military service, whether voluntary of involuntary in its operations, necessarily selects some men to bear the burden of danger and sacrifice for the whole nation. The system here provided places all men of military age upon an even plane and then, by a selection which neither favors the one nor penalizes the other, calls out the requisite number for service. ser-vice. Boards Admonished. "The successful operation of this law and of these regulars depends necessarily neces-sarily upon the loyalty, patriotism and justice of the members of the boards to whom ' its operation is committed and I admonish every member of every local board and of every district board of review that their duty to their country requires an impartial aud fearless fear-less performance of the delicate and difficult duties intrusted to them. They should remember as to each individual case presented to them that they are called upon to adjudicate the most sacred sac-red rights of the individual and to preserve untarnished the honor of the nation. "Our armies at the front will be strengthened and sustained if they be composed of men free from any sense of injustice in the mode of selection and they will be inspired to loftier ef- forts in behalf of a country in which the citizens called upon to f erforra high public functions perform them . with justice, fearlessness and impartiality." impar-tiality." , Upon organizing the local hoards will take over from the registration boards all registration cards, which they will number serially and list for posting to public view. Then after aving been advised of the method by which the order of liability for service shall be determined and of the quota to be drawn from its territory (minus credits for enlistments in the national Suard or regular army) ech board will prepare a list of persons designated for service in the orrter of their lia- blllty, post the list, give It to the pres and within three dnys send notice to each designated person by mall. Persons to Be Exempted. As the men so notified appear, the boards lirst will make a physical examination exam-ination In accordance with special regulations reg-ulations to be provided, bearing In mind that all persons accepted by them will be re-examined by army surgeons. sur-geons. If the physical examination is passed successfully, then comes the question of exemption. Persons who must be exempted or discharged by the local board include: Officers of the United States, of the states, territories and the District of Columbia; ministers of religion, students stu-dents of divinity, persons in the military mil-itary or naval service of the United Stntes ; subjects of Germany, all other aliens who have not taken out first pa: pers, county or municipal officers, custom cus-tom house clerks, workmen In federaf armories, arsenals, navy yards, persons per-sons in the "federal service designated by the president for exemption, pilots, merchant marine sailors, those with a status with respect to dependents which renders their exclusion desirable desira-ble (a married man with dependent wife or child, son of a dependent widow, wid-ow, son of dependent, aged or infirm parent, or brother of dependent orphan child uuder 16 years of age) ; those found morally deficient and any member mem-ber of any well-recognized religious sect existing May IS, 1917, whose creed forbids participation in war and whose religious' convictions accord with the creed. Claims for exemption because ol dependents may be made by the man himself, his wife or otne? dependents or by a third party who has personally person-ally investigated the case. A claim made by the husband must be accompanied accom-panied by supporting affidavits signed by the wife and by the head of a family fam-ily residing in the same territory. A claim by the wife or a third party must be accompanied by two supporting support-ing affidavits signed by heads of families. fam-ilies. Similar rules govern claims on the grounds of other dependents when the dependents or third parties being authorized to file claims with supporting support-ing affidavits. In each case the board must be satisfied before it grants exemption ex-emption or discharge that the dependent depend-ent or dependents actually are supported sup-ported mainly by the fruits of the man's mental or physical labor. Local boards are required, subject to appeal, to pass upon claims for exemption ex-emption or discharge within three days after. the filing of affidavits. District boards must decide appeal cases within five days after the closing clos-ing of proofs and their decisions tire final. If the ruling of a local board is affirmed the person in question stands finally accepted for military ' service. In passing on claims for exemption on the ground of employment in necessary nec-essary industrial and agricultural occupations oc-cupations the district boards must be convinced that the particular enterprise enter-prise affording such employment, actu ally is necessary to the maintenance ol the military establishment or nationa, interest during the emergency. Certificates of exemption will no-necessarily no-necessarily be permanent. They ma: be revoked with changing conditions o may be granted only for prescribe!, periods. Begin Choosing Officers. While the steps are being carried jut for getting together the men o: the national army, the war department is making progress with the even more difficult task of finding officers for the force. Part of these will come from the sixteen officers' training camps. The first 10,000 of the 40,00f men at the camps will be selected foi commissions in the first increment ol the new army. That is less than hall the number of officers necessary. The war department has approved recommendations or commanders oi regular regiments which will commission commis-sion 3,000 or more regular non-commissioned officers to be captains in the first G25.000 of the national army It is understood that more than fift men from each regiment, in addition to those now at the officers' training camps, will be given commissions foi the period of the war. A trained and experienced regnlai officer will command each regiment ol the national army. To aid him he will have several other regular officers experienced ex-perienced in particular lines, such as his adjutant, at least one major and his ordnance and quartermaster officers. offi-cers. The remainder will come from the reserve lists, the training camps or the ranks of the regular service. |