Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1917-05-24
Army Registration Set For June 5.
Presidents Proclamation Calls All Men From q
To 80 Years For Military Service.

Has ClldIlScu Vic ldCc vi Wdr. LII Cnc
sense in which we have been won't 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 a part of the
army that is in France than the men
beneath the battle flags. 1t must be
, SO with us. 1t is not an army that
we must shape and train for war, it
is nation. To this end our people
must draw close in one compact front
against a common foe. But this can
not be if each man pursues private
purpose. All must pursue one pur-
pose. The nation needs all men;
but it needs each man, not in the
field that will most please him, but
in the endeavOr that will best serve
the common good. Thus, though u
sharpshooter pleases to operate trip
hammer for the forging of great guns,
and an expert machinist desires to
march with the flag, the nation is be-
ing served only when the sharpshoot-
er marches and the machinist re-
mains at his levers. The whole ma
ton 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
the service in the place to which it
shall best serve the general good to
all.
The significance of this cannot be
ovcrestmated. 1t is a new thing in
our history and a landmark in our
progress. 1t is a new manner of ac
cepting and vitalizing our duty to give
ourselves with thoughtful devotion to
the common purpose of us all. 1t is
in no sense a consCription of the un-
willing; it is, rather, selection from
a nation which has volunteered in
mass. 1t is no more a choosing OF
those who shall march with the colors
than it is a selection of those who
shall serve an equally necessary and
devoted purpose in the industries that
lie behind the battle line.
The day here named is the time
upon which all shall present themsel-
yes for assignment to their tasks. 1t
is for that reason destined to be re-
membered as one of the most conspic-
uous moments in our history. 1t is
nothing less than the day upon which
the manhood Of the country shall
step forward in one solid rank in de-
Tense of the ideals to which this
nation is consecrated. 1t is impor-
tant to those ideals no less than to
the pride of this generation in mani
Testing its devotion to them, that
there be no gaps in the ranks.
1t is essential that the day be ap-
preached in thoughtful apprehension
of its significance and that we accord
to it the honor and the meaning that
it deserves. Our industrial need pre-
scribes that it be not made techni-
cal holiday, but the stern sacrifice
that is before us urges that it be car
ried in all our hearts as great day
of patriotic devotion and obligation
when the duty shall lie upon every
man, whether he is himself to be-
registered or not, to see to it that the
name of every male person OF the
designated ages is written on these
lists of honor.
In witness whereof have hereunto
set nv hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington
this 18th day of May, in the Year Of
Our Lord one thousand nine hun
dred and seventeen, and of the Inde-
pendance of the United States the
one hundred and forty-frst.
WOODROW WILSON.
By the President;
p,,ppr ,xcrNc Sncratarv of State