Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-23
18 TO 45 DRAFT AGE
TOSTAY IN NEW BILL;
END WAR IN 1919
Congress Has Searching Discus
sion on Calling Boys to the
Flag; No Glasses" in
the New Law.
BAKER ASKS FREE HAND

the Man Power bill, under when Amer
icas fighting forces in France would be
raised to 1 600 900 men, opened yesterday
i'm Scrfatc and House. Rapid progress was
made 4 vote was practically assured
in the House today, while the Senate
is expected to vote tomorrow
The only opposition shown in either
house was to the provision to include
men from Is to p years in the draft
4 handful Of Senators. led by MIR.
kirhv, Democrat. of Arkansas, opposed
calling mon below 20 Mr. KIRBY offered
an amendment to that effect. In the
House several members advocated the
Mckenzie amendment 10 put men ot Is
and 10 in classes 10 he called last.
From the trend Of the debate II was
evident that preponderant majority ot
Senators and Representatives, favored
the age limits from Is TO Is. II Is re-
gardcd rs unlikely that discretion will
he denied the War Department to call
men Of all ages as necessity demands.
TRIED TO SOFTEN DRAFT LAWS
In the senate an am mendment was Of
fcred hv MIR Cummins, Of Iowa, to make
the anti-StrIke provision less drastic.
nder the bill rs il stands. all workmcn
in essential war industries who refuse
to remain at work become subject TO the
draft. ndcr the Cummlns amendment
their grievances could he submitted 10
m arbitration board TO be appointed by
the President, the findings Of the board
to he accepted without dispute by the
workers Senators Chamberlain. Chair
man OF the Military Affairs Committee,
accepted the amendment.
Secretary Baker last night issued a
statement, emphasizing the purpose Of
~. - f.~ox, n
IN the deferred class "as far rs practi-
cable hut urging that Congress do not
tic the hands Of the government with
any provision calling them last The
sccrctarvS statement follows
SAVE 1919 BOYS TILL LAST.
"It Is the policy If the War Depart
mcnt to call last as far as practicable
the men from Is To 70. as | told the
Senate committee. and | hoped that the
Congress would not make the law So in
elastic as to make il imposs sihle for lis 10
call the 1919 men until We could certi-
fv definitely that We had exhausted the
other ages. because the long-drawn-out
processes of classifying and dcferrinG
mon take 50 long that NE can never
tell when VIC have absolutely finished
with the other ages Ny plan was to
d defcr the call Of tho 1919 men as far
as practicable, and I hoped that the
Congress would not make their law anv
more inelastic than that
According TO General Crowder's fg-
ures, il will not be possible TO have
eighty divisions abroad by July without
using the is to 10 men. General Crow
der's figures are. Of course. estimates.
NO change in the work or fight reg
ulation Is at present contemplated
HOUSE DISCUSSES MEASURE.
In the House. Representative julius
Kahn of California, who has been a
stanch advocate of strengthening the
military arm of the government, fight
ing the battles of the administration for
the army. led the fight to defeat the
Mckenzie amendment which proposes
calling the boys Of is and 70 last.
Il threw my personal opinion into the
scrap heap when the military authorities
asked for these Young men, said Mr.
Kahn. The secretary OF war. the
chief Of staff. and the provost marshal
general all told Us they wanted TO make
all males between the ages Of Is and
45 subject 10 military duty. They are
responsible for winning the war. and
do not propose To set up my opinion,
that Of q mere civilian. against their
opinion"
The first burst Of applause in the de |
bate occurred when Mr.. Kahn quoted |
the testimony OF General Pevton c |
March, chief Of staff, to the effect that |
il was proposed under the man-power |
hill TO put 100000 men on the western |
front by June 30, 1919.
END WAR NEXT YEAR
With that number Of American sol |
eral March saws we will be able 10 break |
through the German lines at any time
and al any place we desire, and that in /
the war next year"
The House wildly cteered this state
ment, and applauded again as Mr.. Kahn
continued:
II am unwilling to withhold men from |
military service that the military au-
thorities think are necessary 10 WIN the /
war for Us in the coming year
Representative Dent told YOU the
secretary Of war said he did not object
10 a provision for calling these young
men last. But every time the secretary
OF war said that he qualified ii with |
the phrase, so far as practicable That
means. Of course that We give the au-
thOrities the right to call the Young
men when necessary. ] would have no
objection to this amendment if YOU
should add 10 it the words, so far MS
practicable
is it your idea that our man power
will be exhausted unless these Young
men are caIled2" asked Representative |
Fields, Democrat, Of Kentucky 4
'Of course not, but we do not want To 1
interfere with our Industries BY gong /
INTO deferred classes" replied Mr. Kahn. /
Then you propose TO let baseball be /
played, keep the threatres open. but close /
all the schools" said Representative |
Johnson, Republican, of WASH ngton /
who is opposed to drafting men under 81 |
Mr.. Kahn quoted statistics to show /
that d large majority Of young men at /
Is are not in school, and referred to the /
which provides for selecting |
certain young men for technical educa- |
ton for military purposes.
COUNTRY ABOVE INDIVIDUAL
''lf one boy in fifty is drafted for edu-
catonal purposes, what do you think the
parents Of the other boys will say?"
asked Mr.. johnson.
IF my constituents ask me that ques-
ton replied Mr. Kahn, with great en-
phasis u propose to answer by saying /
that the welfare Of my country comes |
before the welfare of the individual"
The reply brought the House TO a high |
pitch Of enthusiasm. Members yelled /
and pounded their desks for several /
How can you explain the fact that
England raised an army OF 100000 |