Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1917-07-03
YOUR CHANCE
OF BEING DRAWN
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS NOW
WORKING UPON PLANS OF
SELECTING ARMY.
APPEALS FROM EXEMPTION
Work of Making Selections May Re-
quire Two Months.

Now that we have registered for
selective service, what next?
This answer in some of its details
will be delayed for several days. 1t
is contained in regulations now be-
ing worked out by Provost Marshal
General Crowder and it must have
the final approval of the secretary
of war and the president.
Some of the questions, however,
can be answered. For instance, how
are the men to be chosen? What
are their chances of being selected
by lottery and by exemption boards
In round numbers a million and
half names will be taken by lot from
the ten million registered names. The
chances are about one in seven and
half of being selected in this
lottery. Then will follow exemp-
lions on the ground of occupation,
dependent relatives or physical de-
fects. This will cut the number
down to 100000 so that the chance is
one in three of being selected from
the list chosen by lot.
Will married men be excused? At
this writing this question is unan-
swered. 1t may be covered by the
regulations which will before long
be published. Probably it will be
left largely to the judgment of the
local exemption boards.
Will sons of dependent mothers
be excused. Again the answer is to
be found in the regulations and the
Judgment of the local exemption
boards.
Broadly speaking, it may be said
that those having dependent relatives
will be excused. Not all, however,
will be excused. They are more
likely to be excused, however, if
their occupation is important to in
dustry, as, for instance, if they are
in a mechanical trade or farming.
If it should happen that a man
with a dependent relative be a law
yer or have no regular profession
he might still be selected on the
theory that the $50 a month to be
paid him as a soldier would go
farther toward supporting his de-
pendent mother than casual earnings
in industry or his profession.
1t is expected that about one man
in three will measure up to the physi-
cal requirements. These require
ments will necessarily be relaxed
from the severe tests applied to the
regular army and will come nearer
to those applied to the state militia.
If 1t should happen that exemptions
for occupation, physical defects and
dependent relatives reduced the num-
Der in any community below the
number required from that commu-
nifty another drawing would be made
from the registration list and new
candidates would appear before the
exemption boards.
These exemption boards will be in
many cases the same officials who did
the registering. 1t is not necessary,
however, tht they be the same off
Gals. Nominations for exemption
board duty are now being sent to the
president and by him forwarded to
the war department where they are
investigated to discover their uualifi-
cations to serve on such boards.
Appeal is allowed from the decis-
ion of exemption boards and one of
the big jobs now faced by the war
department is the creation of these
boards of appeal, one in each federal
judicial district. Judicial districts
are quite large and such appeal
boards will be very busy after the
exemption boards have done theii
work, hearing cases brought to them
on appeal.
1t is not necessary to have a law
yer to make this appeal. The pur-
pose is to have everything informal
If candidate feels that he is not
being fairly dealt with by his loca
exemption board and that he has {
proper ground to be excused he
may come before the appeal boarC