White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1917-05-25

birthday on or before the day fere
named are required to register, ex-
cepting only officers and enlisted men
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 Por-
to Rico a date for registration will
be named in later proclamation.
Absentees Must Register.
"And l do charge those who
through sickness shall be unable to
present themselves for registration
that they apply on or before the day
of registration to the county clerk
of the county where they may be for
instructions as to how they may be
registered by agent. Those who ex-
pect to be absent on the day named
from the counties in which they have
their permanent homes may register
by mail, but their mailed registra-
ton 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 instruction
as to how they may accomplish their
registration by mail. In case such
persons as, through sickness or alb
sence, may be unable to present
themselves personally for registration
shall be sojourning in cites of over
10000 population, they shall apply to
the clerk of the county. The clerks
of counties and of cities of over 3d.
900 population in which numerous ap
plications from the sick and from
agencies and to employ and deputize
such clerical force as may be neces-
sary to accommodate these applica-
lions.
Whole Nation Must Fight.
"The 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 en-
tire 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
for war; it is a nation. To this end
our people must draw close in one
compact front against common foe.
But this can not be if each man pur-
sues a private purpose. All must
pursue one purpose. 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, through sharpshooter places
to operate a trip hammer 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 Isl 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 general
good to call him.
New In Our History.
"The significance of this can not
be overstated. Ut is new thing in
our history and landmark in our
progress. 1t is a new manner of ac-
cepting and vitalizing our duty to
give ourselves with thoughtful devo-
ton to the common purpose of us
all. 1t is in no sense a CONSUMPTION
of the unwilling; it is rather selec-
ton from a nation which has volun-
teered 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 them
selves for assignment to their tasks
1t is for that reason destined to be
remembered as one Of the most con
spicuous moments in our history. 1t
is nothing less than the day upon
which the manhood of the country
Ishall step forward in one solid rank
in defense of the ideals to which this
nation is conecrated. 1t is important
to those ideals no less than to the
pride of this generation in manifest
ing it's devotion to them, that there
be no gaps in the ranks.
} Day Of Patriotic Devotion.
ut is essential that the day be
approached in thoughtful apprehen
sion Of it's significance and that we
accord to it the honor and the mean.
ing that it deserves. Our Industrial
need prescribes that it be not made
a technical holiday, but the stern sac.
rifice that is before us urges that it
be carried in all our hearts as a great
day of patriotic devotion and obliga
ton 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