New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-22
Complaints of Volunteer
Exemptors Bring News
of Compensation
Conkling Explains
Misleading Letter
Tells Board Members They
May Pay Clerks $3.50 a
Day Where Necessary

New York City's self-lubricating draft
machine, from which ominous creaks Of
protest have been coming Of late, yes
terday gave promise Of moving more
surely md less complainingly, after Of
fetal den:als and explanations had made
il clear that Uncle Sam still has money
TO spend on the selection Of his citizen
army, and has no intention Of swapping
the rubber band back on.
The denials and explanations were
Deputy Attorney General Roscoe s.
Conkling's, and In his anxiety to sat
matters straight he almost missed the
train that was to carry him on hur-
ried trip to Albany, where county and
district quotas for the state are now
being worked out.
Says Letter Was Misinterpreted
In q letter dated July is, Philip j.
McCook, director Of the Mayors Com
mittee on National Defence, had noti-
fed exemptors Of the 1879 metropolitan
districts that following completion OF
their lists they must rely on volunteers
for clerical assistance. To exemptors
who already had spent out OF their own
pockets more than they could afford
this was the last word In bad news
There we're many who felt the govern
ment was overstepping the line be-
tween patriotic cooperation and impo-
sition, and one Of the results was the
! calling Of an exemptors' mass meeting
by Local Board No. 10 and the subse-
cuent cancellation Of the call by Mr..
Conkling, as described in yesterdays
Tribune.
Mr.. Conkling now explains there was
o misunderstanding and that the letter
should never have been written. The
aim was to discourage unnecessary ex-
penditures, not to throw the entire bur-
den Of clerical labor on the shoulders
and the pocketbooks Of exemptors.
"Some of the boards which were be-
hind in their work were obliged to put
on a large force Of clerks to rush out
the lists and get them moving toward
Washington" said Mr.. Conkling. at
was an emergency job, and there was
no need that all tho force be retained.
We simply wanted TO see that every dol
lar counted.
b. Clerks Get $3.50 n Day
"The exemptors may continue to en-
ploy such assistants as they must have,
and, on certifcation Of the chairman
of the boards that the expense is 'rea-
sonable and necessary the clerks will
be paid at rate not TO exceed $3.50 a
day each"
Mr.. Conkling pointed out that. as con-
siderably less than s3,O0o,00O was ap-
propriated to cover the costs Of con-
! scription in the entire country, strict
/ economy must be practised. Illustrat-
! ing the close figuring, he quoted the
compensation which Washington has de-
/ cided on for medical assistants 70 the
I boards. who will receive the munihcen'
/ fee of 10 cents for each man they ex'
anime.
This in itself is news TO the boards
who under the workings Of the de
Capitalization scheme have been so out
of touch with draft developments thai
many have been dependent on the news
papers. Where physicians are forced
to neglect none too lucrative practices
TO examine registrants the dime fee
will be more than welcome.
Another thing that few of the ex
emptors seem to know is that thos,
who need the money may claim com
pensation Of 81 day while theiI
board is sitting. Although no ofhcia
notification has been sent out to thu
boards, Mr.. Conkling has informed thu
newspapers of the arrangement ant
il has been mentioned in print.
"That is news TO me, and good news,
WAS the comment of DR.. Rush c. Bau
man. of 2l9 West Thirty-fourtf
Street. a member of the board which
sent out the call for the mass meetin;
Of exemptors.
The Wiener Bauman boards head
Quarters were closed yesterday. !
notice posted on the door of the publi
school housing the exemptors IN
structed registrants TO apply at tn
West Thirty-seventh Street police sta
ton for their serial numbers. A pa
tient crowd-more than half blocl
long as It stretched out in single file
wound into the station house and pas
e. desk at which policeman SAT witi
the alphabetical list for the distnc
before him, calling out the number a
each man spoke his name. The lis
was where it was, DR.. Bauman eN
planned, because the crowd which ap
peared at the boards own headquar
ters Thursday afternoon was not onl,
much larger but much less patient
and the typewritten sheets wer
threatened with destruction.
ave were pretty well worked up
the doctor went on, because w
hadn't been able 10 get any one 20 de
fine our duties as clearly as we wante'
10 understand them. Mr.. Wiener and
made several attempts TO see Nj
Conkling at the Office Of the Mayor
committee. but we couldn't get 10 him
That was why we called the meeting
Wa wanted 70 End out where we stoo
and 10 exchange experiences with othe
oxemptors.
The mass meeting has not been aean
doned, but postponed. 1t will be he'll
Wednesday evening in the headquar
tiers of Local Board ITO. II was u
front Of the headquarters. located II
Public School 80, at 1851 West Thirty
fifth Street, that half hundred ex
emptors made their informal protes
against the working of the draft syt
tenn Friday night.
At that time Jacob |. Wiener, chair
man OF Dr. Bauman's board, was sur
chat Mr. Conkling. in calling OIL m
meeting, had referred 10 the PROPOSE
ltion az seditious. This. by the way
was denied by the Deputy Attorre,
Cnnnrnl Ny CnnklinR nRid that SUI