The Pensacola journal., 1917-06-04
Records Man Leaves
Will Help Uncle. Sam
Catch ArtfuI Dodgers.
MUST SHOW THEIR
REGISTRATION CARD
Moral is That the Only Way
to Play Safe is to
Register.
Washington Bureau,
The Pensacola Journal


New York, June 3.-UncIe Sam is
preparing to deal with the man who
tries to dodge on registration day!
The man who thinks he can quietly
disappear from sight has had little
experience with the U. S. govern
ment. He has forgotten the long
trail records he has inevitably left
behind him in his year of life in a
given community that will almost in
stantly give his correct age to an in
vestigating official, and render use
less the attempt to dodge registra-
ton.
In a certain proportion of the terri
tory of the United States, known by
the census office as the "birth reg
istration area" records of the birth
of every child are sufficiently com
plete and go back far enough for an
Investigating committee to check up
at once on the Stacker who tries to
dodge registration.
Where this is not possible, there is
practically complete record of the
ages of every person who has ever
gone to the public schools. This
school record extends, of course, to all
colleges and universities, for those
young men who hav> gone 10 such
institutions. a little example in sim
pie addition will serve TO show Uncle
Sans investigator that the man who
left college four years ago must be
within the registration limits. A
similar deduction is possible from the
lower school statistics.
Practically every married man in
t11p
in an official record in a marriage
license bureau the little figures which
show Just how old he is, These are,
of course, instantly available to gov
ernment officials.
Then, too, every man who has taken
out a life insurance policy, accident
policy, industrial policy, has Il nice
little record of his real age in the
home office of his insurance COM
pany. These records are required by
law to be accurately kept and they are
also available for public investiga-
tion.
Have you ever tried to get a gov
ernment Job? If so, the L. S. civil
service commission has a record of
your real age in its files, and these
are right down in Washington, CON
venient for reference. Also, the L.
S. labor department has a record of
the age of every man who has applied
through the system of Z. S. labor ex-
changes at postoffices for a job.
In many cases, too, corporations
and other employers have accurate
records of the ages (among other in
formation) of men who are, or have
been, in their employ. This is espe-
cially true of railroads and similar
big organizations.
Possibly, the intending Stacker has
at some time applied for an automO-
bile or motorcycle license; or a license
to sell milk; put up a sign; obstruct
the sidewalk. or thousand and one
things for which licenses have to be
secured from city or county officials.
In each case, it is probable that the
blank form which had to be filled out
on that occasion, contains a record Of
| the applicants age,
In many states, laws prescribe age
| limits for child labor, or for night
work. and so on, and in these cases
| employers must be careful to ascer-
! tain the age of applicants for posi-
| tions and report them to state or citv
| ldDOE bureaus. 1HCNC 1ENOAhS w HI
come in handy for checking up a
! possible Stacker.
For men who have come into the
country as immigrants, and have be-
| come naturaized citizens. q complete
| age record exists not only in Che i'm
migration bureau of the labor depart
| ment, but in the courts where natu-
ralization was effected.
There are many other records of a
semi official or private character,
which Uncle Sam can utilize, if it
| becomes necessary. Fraternal orders
and organizations of all kinds; labor
union records; membership records of
clubs and associations, and hundreds
of other sources can be examined.
! The checkup will be made COM
plete by requiring men to show reg
! istration cards after June ). The
only difficulty will be as to the men
who have just passed the age limit
of 81, or who are still under the limit
of q years. 1t is possible that a
second registration of all men in the
country may be necessary, so that
anv man without a registration card
will automatically be known as a
dodger.