Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1917-05-02
HOW coNsCRIPTIoN woRKs.
Probable Methods of Raising Men for
Army Under New
Law.

With enactment of the selective
draft army bill the war department is
ready to set machinery in motion
without delay to produce under the
measure within two years a trained
army of two million men.
Within ten days after the bill is
signed, every township IN the country
will be registering its young men for
duty and work will have begun on the
16 training camps where preparation
of the forces for war viii start IN
August or September. Sites for the
camps have been selected tentatively,
and all arrangements made for the
concentration of the troops assigned
to each.
Decentralization of administration
work will be sought by the depart
ment in every move it takes. Details
are not disclosed but it is known that
registration will be carried on
through sheriffs and county officials,
aided by postmasters or other feder-
al agencies where that seems desira-
bic. Instructions and forms have al
ready been prepared and will be for
warded to the state adjutant general
for distribution among county Off
Gals.
Wide publicity is planned so that
no man liable for registration will
have good excuse for failing to re-
spond. On a date to be set every
citizen affected by the act will be re-
quired, on pain of heavy penalty, to
present himself at the nearest regis
tration place, where machinery will be
provided for classifying the recruits
and eliminating those exempt.
Doubtful cases will be referred to
high authority.
With the rolls of those liable for
service complete the task of select
ing the men to go in the first 100000
will begin. 1t has been suggested
that this be done by means of the
country jury wheels. The first man
whose name was drawn would go
with the first 100000 to be called out
| for training within few months.
The second drawn would go with the
second draft, to be called six months
later; the third with the third, with
duty a year off; the fourth with the
first, and so on.
/ Meanwhile the work of building the
training camps will go forward. Reg
ular troops and national guardsmer
will be assigned to them with each
arm of the service so represented as
! to provide the framework of a com
plete army division at each point. The
| guardsmen will be selected from the
territory covered by the training dis
trict so far as practicable. Police
duty at the camps will become part
of the responsibility of each district
commandment, and he will make such
assignment of his forces as he may
| deem wise. Meantime both the regu-
lars and guardsmen will continue re-
cruiting to war strength.
| With the new regiments assembled
a rigorous course of training will be
undertaken. The officers training
camps to be established within a few
| days in each district will begin at the
end of three months to pour new Off
GERS into this organization and the
enlisted men selected from the ranks
of the regulars for commissions will
be given special instruction to fit
them for officers. Until the army of
young men presents itself at the
camps in August or September, the
regulars and guardsmen also viii
| pursue a vigorous course of training
The plans call for the transfer tc
/ the first 100000 men obtained by draft
of from 10000 to 100000 non-com-
missioned officers trained in the reg
/ ular and national guard regiments. Il
is here that the opportunity lies fol-
men who volunteer now as enlisted
men in the ranks of the two services
/ On them, war department officials be-
| lieve, even to greater extent than
upon the commissioned officers, viii
depend the efficiency of the new
armies. The backbone of any mill
tary organization is its non-com-
missioned force, and in the months
that precede the calling out of the
first 100000, officers of the general
staff hope there will be found in the
ranks of the regulars and guardsmen
such supply of men competent for
these positions that the future of the
later armies will be assured beyond
doubt.