The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-19

Marine Corps and the National Guard and Naval Militia while in the service of the United States, and officers in the Officers Reserve Corps and en- listed men in the enlisted reserve corps while in active service. In the territories of Alaska, Hawaii and Porto Rico a day for registration will be named in a later proclamation.
 And Do Charge those who through sickness shall be unable to present themselves for registration that they apply on or before the day of regis tration to the county clerk of the county where. they may be for in structions as to how they may be reg 1stered by agent. Those who expect to be absent on the day named from the counties in which they have their permanent homes may register by mail, but their mailed registration i cards must reach the places in which | they have their permanent homes by | the day named herein. They should ] apply as soon as practicable to the | county clerk of the county wherein they may be for instructions as to how | they may accomplish their registra- 1 tion by mail. In case such persons as, through sickness or absence, may be unable to present themselves per sonally for registration shall be so- journing in cities of over 30,000 popu- lation, they shall apply to the city clerk of the city wherein they may be sojourning rather than to the clerk of the county. The clerks of counties and of cities of over 30,O00 population in which numerous applications from the sick an from non-resients are ex- pected are authorized to establish such agencies and to employ and dep utize such clerical force as may be necessary to accommodate these app1i- cations.
 Fhe power against which we are arrayed has sought to impose it's will upon the world by force. To this end it has increased armament until it has changed the face of war. In the sense in which we have been wont to think of armies there are no armies in this struggle, there are entire nations armed. Thus the men who remain to till the soil and man the factories are no less part of the army that is France than the men beneath the battle flags.
 It must be so with us. It is not an army that we must shape and train for war; it Is a nation. To this end OuI p0OplO IluSI dTdW ClCSo III OHS compact front against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pur- sues a private purpose. All must pur- sue one purpose.
 The nation needs all men, but 1t l'needs each man, not in the field that will most pleasure him but in the en- deavor that will best serve the com mon good. Thus, though a sharp shooter pleases to operate a tripham- | mer for the forging of great guns, and | an expert machinist desires to march with the flag, the nation is being served only when the sharpshooter marches and the machinist remains at \ his levers.
 The whole nation must be team in which each man shall play the part for which he is best fitted. To this end Congress has provided that the nation shall be organized for war by selection and that. each man shall be classified for service in the place to which it shall best serve the gen. era1 good to call him.
 : The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing in our history and a landmark in our pro. gress. It is a new manner of accept ing and vitalizing our duty to give | ourselves with thoughtful devotion to | the common purpose of us all. It is | in no sense a conscription of the un- willing; it is rather, selection from 8 nation which has volunteered in mass It is no more a choosing of those who shall march with the colors than ii is a selection of those who shall serve an equally necessary and devoted pur- pose in the industries that lie behind the battle line.
 The day here named is the time up- on which all shall present themselves for assignment to their tasks. It is for that reason destined to be remem- bered as one of the most conspicuous
 moments in our history. It is noth- ing less than the day upon which the manhood of the country shall step | forward in one solid rank in defence
 of the ideals to which this nation is consecrated. It is important to those ideals, no less than to the pride of this generation in manifesting it's de- votion to them, that there be no gaps in the ranks.
 It is essential that the day be ap- preached in thoughtful apprehension of it's significance and that we ac- cord to it the honor and the meaning that it deserves. Our industrial need prescribes that it be not made a tech nica1 holiday, but the stern sacrifice that is before us urges that it be car ried in all our hearts as a great day
 of patriotic devotion and obligation,
 when the duty shall lie upon every man, whether he is himself to be reg istered or not. to see to it that the name of every male person of the des- ignated ages is written on these lists of honor.
 In Witness Whereof I have hereun- to set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to affixed
 Done at the City of Washington this 18th day of May in the year of our
 Lord one thousand nine hundred and seventeen, and of the indepenconce Of the United States of America the one
 hundred and forty-first.
 BY THE PRESIDENT.
 ROBERT LANSING.
 Secretary of State.
 NEW FIRE COMPANIES.