Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-05-04
DRAFT SCORED
BY RAMSEYER
CONGRESSMAN WRITES TO
FRANK A. NiMOCkS DEFEND
ING HIS VOTE ON BILL.

Congressman c. w. Ramseyer de
tends his opposition to the administra
ton CONSUMPTION bill and his votes for
! several proposed amendments in let
ter to Frank A. Nimocks, a copy OF
I which was received by The Courier
today
! The text of the letter follows:
April 80, 1917.
Mr. Frank A. Nimocks.
Otturawa. Iowa.
| Dear Mr.. Nimocks:
Your petition mailed Tuesday, April
oath, to hand, signed by yourself and
others in which you urge support OF
the presidents selective draft plan for
| the army, etc.
The mouse military bill and printed
| reports that go Herewith We're not
available to members of congress until
| Monday, April 23d. Il am addressing
this letter to you because your name
headed the petition and is therefore IN
no part personally AS the bill and re-
ports were not available until last
Monday. and were not printed in the
newspapers in full and as it takes mail
two days to go from Washington to
Ottumwa, can arrive at no other con-
cluson than that you and those who
signed with you had not seen the bill
and reports and were not In fact fuily
informed on all the provisions OF the
bill at the time you signed the petition
on Tuesday.
The bill provided and still provides,
with the approval of the war depart
ment, in the 1st and End paragraphs
thereof, for nearly 100000 volunteers
to fill up the regular army and the ma
tional guard. OF course you did not
know about that, as you had no oppor-
fv~ it1, 70 yoin rpDnYtS
before signing the petition directing me
how to vote. Under existing law. If the
required number of volunteers are not
forthcoming. the president has the
power to conscript the required number
of men into these two branches Of the
service
In the Sd paragraph of the bill, the
original plan Of the war department
was to raise an additional force Of l.
years by CONSUMPTION, and that is the
provision which you so emphatically
urged me to support, age limits and all,
without any amendments, and on which
have been misrepresented in the
press, BY a strange coincidence, all
the letters and kilograms especially IN
dorsing the age limits Of this para
graph, came from men over rs years
of age The house by almost unanimous
vote turned down the age limits recon-
mended by the war department and
fixed them at from 81 to 40 years and
adopted other and material amend
ments. This Is a mans war, and by no
vote Of mine am l going to conscrtpt
the boys and men under 20 years Tor
trench warfare and exempt all men
over 25 years by sanction of positive
law.
Now word about "selective con-
scription," or the "selective draft as
you call it. The impression has gotten
out among the people that under this
kind of draft certain vocations are to
be exempted-lille farmers, factory en-
ployes, miners. etc. Now just take your
pencil and do little figuring. Remem-
her each state must furnish it's quota
in proportion that its population bears
to the entire population of the United
States. There are 435 Y. S. representa-
tives. Now divide 100000 by 435-the
answer is that the sixth district VIII
have to furnish nearly 5000 for the in
crease of the army. Knowing the popu-
lation of each county and precinct. you
can easily figure out what each county
and precinct must furnish If you ex-
empt all those In productive industries.
there will not be many left except pos
sibly editors. lawyers and real estate
agents | tell YOU the term "selective
draft" as interpreted by the newspapers
is misnomer. Why of course these
men will have to come from the farms.
the mines. the work shops and the Of
fees,
I voted to raise the maximum age
limit from 40 to so SO as to give all
classes of healthy, able-bodied men an
to serve in the army.
voted against eXempting congressman.
! voted to strike out the word "selec-
tive" because it is misleading and wal
not have the effect the press has led
the people to believe A draft ought to
treat all classes alike. A straight draft
would hit all classes and industries
alike. and would close the door against
fraud and corruption. voted ,,
for the amendment TO prohibit bonnues
and buying substitutes. The people Will
GLADLY undergo hardship and sacrif1ces ,
il they know everybody is treated alike
rich and poor. high and low---if they
know that the service is in fact uni |
versal and that every vocation and
ella SIS hears its share of the burdens and !
sacrifices. And that is what l had in |
mind when / voted on every amend |
mont and on the bin. Take for instance (
nv own county Of Davis. under an |
equitable apportionment, that county |
will have to furnish between 200 and |
400 men under the bill. Where will they |
come from? From the farmers. day |
and clerks. because that is |
about all we have down there: or are |
YOU going to exempt everybody In
Davis county under this "selective i
lraft" because they are very much |!
needed at home:
Nobody in congress is objecting to-