Evening journal., 1917-05-29
MARRIED MEN Will
Be EXEMPT first
Wholesale Exemptions by
Specified Occupations Will
Not Be Considered
5,372,4O0 SINGLE
MEN ELIGIBLE


WASHINGTON. May 29.-All mar
ried men will be exempted on the first
draft. There will be no wholesale in
dustrial exemptions by specified clas-
ses or occupations. While many de-
tails of the operation Of the system
by which 100000 men between twenty
one and thirty-one years old will be
picked for the army are stin to be
formulated, the two focal points men,
toned above have been settled.
They are embodied in list Of rules
provided by the distinguished commit
tee Of civilians called together by
President Wilson and working on the
exemption features with the provost
marshal general The conferences
with the higher and responsible Off
Gals, it was disclosed today, have re-
suited in approval Of the two major
points.
The two questions of exemption Of
men with dependents and those in
industry at home have proved the
most difficult to work out with even
handed justice. The difficulty of deter
mining whether a married man was
actually needed to support his family
was the consideration that finally de-
termined the officials to exempt all
married men.
As the men with other dependent
relatives, such as an aged mother or
father the decision will be up to the
local
decision, in case of appeal, resting
with a district Federal Board Appeal
from the district board may. in turn.
be made to President Wilson
Industrial Exemptions.
The question of industrial exemp.
tions, officials said, was to be found
even more difficult II has been agreed
among the officials the mere fact a
man is farmer, munitions maker or
railroad engineer does not necessarily
imply he would be more use at home
than in the army. 10 may be possible.
it is pointed out, to spare many men
from the farms and from factories
making war supplies, and while there
will be need for a considerable num-
Der of locomotive engineers. possibly
all such engineers in the country un.
der thirty-one years old, to keep the
transportation systems up to required
efficiency, the engineers are not to be
exempted as a class. All engineers
will stand on an individual basis.
1t was decided there is no industrial
class that can be exempted as such.
II has officially been settled that with
respect to all classes OF employment
there is no way TO make exemptions
except to take up each individual man
or group of workmen in a specific in
dustry or specific agricultural COM
munity and decide that case separate
ly. All industrial exemptions will be
made by the department boards sub
ject to appeal of the President either
by the employer or employees
The law specifies there shall be one
of these boards in each Federal Judi
cial district. An employee or group of
employees may appeal TO this board for
exemption from military service when
there is work of such character as to
make them of more value at home. In.
the same way an employer may ask
for exemption of the men in his fac.
tory whom he believes are more neces-
sary to the well-being of the nation at
home than they are for service in the
army. II will be up to the board to
weigh the evidence and decide the
question.
To Have Expert Advisers.
II is. in part, for the guidance Of the
local boards that President Wilson will
gather around him an advisory com
mittee OF industrial and labor leaders
and agriculturists possessed of expert
knowledge as to the needs of industry
and the sort OF goods it is imperative
the government should have in an I'M
interrupted stream
The committees will take cases on
appeal from the department boards
and through the President give to the
district boards as much detailed ad-
vice as possible to guide their work.
BY census bureau estimate classi-
flying the more than 10000, 900 men
within the military draft age limit the
number of single men is placed at s.
$40, 400. and the number OF married
men at 4.545,900.
The estimate was prepared on
basis of a normal increase in popu-
lation since the 1910 census. and on
the assumption that the ratio be
tween married and single men IS the
same as at that time
The classification by chief Occupa-
tons is given as follows:
Agriculture. forestry and animal
husbandry, 1854 600.
Manufacturing and mechanical in
dustries, 3.036000
No gainful occupations. 500,500.
Transportation. 967 ,000
Trade. 1,054000.
Public service. 144 600.
Domestic and personal service,
441 900.
Professional service, $4,000
Clerical occupations, $4,000.
Extraction of minerals, 1854 900.