Weekly journal-miner., 1917-08-08
LOCAL EXEMPTION BOARD ANSWERS
 ALI QUERIES
QUERIES FROM INDIVID- UALS IGNORED BY THE PROVOST MARSHAL; PRO- CEDURE IS OUTLINED BY THAT OFFICE.
(From Thursdays Daily.)

I
 Thousands of letters reach the pro vost marshal generals office every day concerning the application of the selective service law to individual cases. Some of these letters come from local boards. A vast number of them come from individuals and the question in the latter case is usually, my circumstances are so and so; am exempt"
 There are very good reasons why neither of these classes of questions gan be answered directly from the provost marshal generals office. and some other provision must be made to furnish the information.
 The selective service law places the determination of exemptions within. the exclusive jurisdiction of exemp- ton boards. Individual cases may not, therefore, be decided by this office. Opinions given on the merits of such cases and without any oppor- tunity to investigate the true facts would not be justified and might be used to influence the action of local boards. Furthermore, an attempt to decide individual cases in this office would be an invasion of the exclusive function of the boards.
 Rulings Should Go to Boards.
 Somewhat the same considerations govern the questions that come direct 10 the provost marshal generals office from local boards. The same sort of questions arise in each board. There are 4.557 boards. There is only one way to answer such questions in a way that will convey the answer to the largest number of boards, and that is by ruling on cases as they arise, but these rulings ought to be communicated to all boards. An an swer to boards singly and directly would have to be repeated thousands of times and would leave the center of the system in each State unin formed. Partly to avoid this multi plication of correspondence the whole system was devised on the present plan.
 The whole nation is organized under what might be termed system oi supervised decentralization. The local boards in each State comprise a sep arate unit, responsive to the central control of the governor. Local boards should address their questions to the governor, who will daily summarize | questions that he can not answer and present them to the provost marshal generals office, for his whole State. Bulletins will issue from the provost marshal generals office giving the rulings on these questions, and these bulletins will be sent to every board in the nation. In this way the opera ton of the law will be systematized and made uniform.
 Distribution of Information.
 For these reasons the following is announced to the public and the To- cal boards as the rules that will gov crn the dissemination of information from the provost marshal generals office:
 l. Questions by individuals should be asked Of the local board nearest them. If the board is unable, after consideration of the regulations and rulings, to answer the question, ii should forward the question to the governor for decision.
 ? Questions from local boards should never be addressed to the pro vost marshal generals office, but in all cases should be forwarded to the governor of the State.
 3. In no case will opinions or rul- ings be given on individual cases that have not yet been presented to the proper local board.
 Answering of Questions. In order to enforce these rules the lprovost marshal generals office an nounces that it will answer no ques- tions from local boards which are ad- dressed direct to this office, but will in each case return the questioner's letter or telegram with a request that it be forwarded to the governor of the State. Questions from individuals will not be answered direct from the provost marshal generals office, but the letter will be returned to the writer with the request that he ask his question of the local board nearest him.
 It is not desired to inject formality into the correspondence Of local boards, but the requirement of uni formity, consistency. and convenience make it necessary to insist on these rules The large number Of persons affected requires that there should be an information office in each locality These rules are designed to make the office and the local board answer this purpose, and every effort will be made ] J,~-a,,,