The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-07-19

of liability for all Of the men when
only $4,000 are needed, General
| Crowder says:
III we were dealing with the ancient
| draft, we should take every four
| teenth man. We are not conscriptlng.
| We are selecting for military service
| those whose civil sergice can best be
spared. Therefore, the question is rot
who shall go first but who shall be
| first called up for examination and
what we must do is to make n list
showing the order of examination.
mo one knows how many men
must be examined to yield $4,000
soldiers. Therefore, no one can say
| just how many men IL is absolutely
necessary to put on this list.
"A moments reflection will prove
that the whole 100000 must be
given their places on the list OF orr
der Of examination.
Every registered man is in a state
Of uncertainty. He does not know
when he will be called. He hesitates
to plant crop for fear he will not
reap 1t. Employers hesitate 10 en-
gage his services, fearing they will
be but temporary. This condition
ought ito be cured for the repose of
| the public mind. II can be cured to
some extent by putting every man
on the list
For this reason the whole 10000
600 names are to be given places on
the list Of order Of examination.
The Segregation into Groups.
obviously no single agency could
examine 100000 men. Therefore
the 100000 are segregated into
groups of suitable size for convent
eht examination. There are 1851 OF
these groups. For each group a board
has been appointed to examine for
selection. BY far the greater number
of these groups consist of approx
mately 1000 men.
Since this is so. our problem Is
not to put the whole 10, ,0O0. 900 names
in one list arranged in the order Of
examination. It is to determine the
order Of examination in each group.
The Necessity For Drawing.
Since all registered men stand In
an equality Of right and duty. tho
question Of priority can only be de-
termined by lot or drawing. Tt would
he possible to have 1861 Separate
drawings-one for each group--but
since methods would vary and since
supervision and absolute insurance
against the charge OF fraudulent
manipulation could not be had in
that way, every consideration OF ex-
!
drawing in Washington.
In each group, every registration
card has a red linked number writ
ten on its face and these numbers
run in single series from unity (l1
TO the number corresponding 10 the
greatest number Of cards In the
group. Normally there is from unity
q, to about 1000.
Exact copies OF the cards in each
group have been attested and sent 10
the various state capitals Lists
each group ana the serial number az
his card have been posted in the or
fee Of the board, published in the
press and one copy is on file ia
Washington. There is therefore no
chance of any mans number Being
changed without detection or az any
card being lost beyond Replacement.
The Idea Of the Central DRAWING.
Suppose there were lust 1000
names and numbers IN every arotfn
II is at once apparent that II woilid
be a very simple thing 10 have a
central drawing that would control
the order OF every name and number
In every group OF the whole 10000
O00-just put 5000 numbers Into 4
bowl and draw them out one at a
time. The first number drawn ONT
would place the 4,557 cards bearinr
that particular number al the hea9
of every list in the United states
The second would put the cardr
bearing that number second On aii
the lists and so forth.
"Now. the thing cannot be done ~
precisely this way, because there -
not precisely 1900 numbers m everg
group. But the same idea wits
few necessary notifications IA thr
idea on which the present drawIne
is based.
The Drawing ~ Thcuuands.
.T0 draw 10000 separate nansbarn
would take ten hours and eoniS
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