Daily Kennebec journal., 1917-08-27

The time is approaching for the call
INK to the assembling places OF the
first increment Of men chosen to serve
in the United States army under the
selective service act. That date mas
been fixed by the government Tor Mon-
day, Sept 8, when 80 per cent OF
Names quota will report at the va
rious meeting places Of the local ex-
emption boards and there remain In
the boards charge for perhaps "a
hours. during which time they will be
forwarded to the training camp oesis-
mated by the federal authorities ana
not vet made known. The 80 per cent
will number 557 men, which have peen
selected by the various boards ana
passed their physical examinations. IN
sneakinr Of the work Of the boards,
both local and dictrict, and the duties
and decisions Of the special agents,
Adtutant General George Mel. Pres
son. the provost marshal of Maine'
said:
The special agents Of the govern
nnent in Maine are composed in every
case Of an attorney of the highest
class. of wide experience, many OF
them veteran county attorneys anu
were not even consulted as TO thelr
wishes in the matter, but were ora1teo
. into the service just as the man VINO
is drafted to go to the trenches. Not
a cent of compensation is received by
them and in the case of counties haV-
ing large quotas. they are giving all
OF their time at considerable sacrlnce
TO themselves.
They are taking an appeal for the
government in every case where dis
charge has been granted by a local
eoard on the ground of dependency,
but this appeal is not taken at the
discretion Of the special agent, as the
Draft Regulations, Form 13, Page 54,
Section 27 make it obligatory. The
purpose Of this second sitting of the
men is in the interest of fairness, for
the large percentage of claimants for
discharge on the grounds of depend
ency is conclusive proof that thou
sands Of them should not be granted
II one improper claim is allowed by
tie government. through ignorance of
TIE facts. somebody else must take the
place Of the man who made the fraud
ulent claim. This is unfair.
The purpose of the draft act Is to
get men and to get the man first who
ought TO go first. If this country did
rot need mon they would not be call
ed at all If the need was not eX-
tremely urgent, the draft would have
been restricted to men absolutely with
out dependents. No man can 60 to
war without making a sacrifice. The
draft law and regulations are so drawn
AS 70 reduce the sacrifice to the mini
mum in all cases and to distribute that
sacrifice as widely as possible. The
patriotic. entirely unselfish and ex-
tremely efficient service being rendered
by these special agents of the govern
rnent in Maine merits not only the
highest Commendation from every
ccod citizen, hut every good citizen
nho in any way aids them is perform
inr most patriotic duty.
mas ptcIl dill'IiS lllS llISl
states TO report Ready" in every
phase Of this draft. The members of
TIE local boards have tried to hew to
the line and in some cases 1t has been
bitter work A case is on record
where the brother of one Of the mem
bers OF a local board whose case was
near the border line and might have
either been certified for service or
granted an exemption, was ordered
into the service.
The members Of these local boards
are serving for compensation so small
as 10 be ridiculous in many cases, COM
pared with the earning ability of the
men. and the personnel is of so high
an order that no individual in the State
need fear that he will be called to
serve his country until II Is his turn
to go and until il has been determined
that the sacrifice he must make is no
greater than must in due time be made
by all.
The day is approaching when the
hrst men to go from Maine under this
method Of raising a universal army