The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-19

Am My Brothers Bookkeeper?
Washington has begun sending out
the questionnaires to the men who
registered a week ago. Some Of them
are already In the mails, directed to
youths of 10 and 20 and men of the
ages Of 81 to 36-both inclusive, these
two groups, comprising the regis
trants Just younger and older than
men Of the previous drafts being nd
dressed first. Later the men from
81 to 45 will receive these important
blanks.
The questionnaires must be cor
rectly filled out and promptly turned
over to the local boards. Immediate
attention. patient determination
and Intelligent responses are called
for. There will be no general lack Of
willingness on the part of the men
who must answer the many and init
mate questions put to them by the
No'cihhcht. IL WILLINGNESS u COll-
ply with Washington's request for in
formation about themselves were the
only requisite the filled question
naires would be In the hands Of the
draft boards within twelve hours
after the reglstrants received them.
Unfortunately, willingness Is only the
preliminary. The QUESTIONABLE Is no
such light task as was the answering
OF the simple and few questions Of
registration day. 1t will appear to
thousands or millions Of the regis
trants as an appalling document. In
Its sixteen pages Of small type nre
queries on subjects to which perhaps
majority of the men examined have
given little thought. ,..-,e..
In the last couple of years we have
seen supposedly bright business men
take up their income Tux report
forms, plunge into them as IL into
nothing more complex than a set of
double entry books, and then. after
due perspiratlon, stagger TO the ref
| uge of q lawyers Office. If bust
ness man, trained to percentages, deci-
mails and the like, finds himself un-
able to fill out the four pages Of an
| income tax report, what will be the
mental condition of the day laborer,
the mechanic, the farmer, the pro-
lessor Of biology or the moving pic
| ture star when he sits him down to
| the ordeal Of the sixteen relentless
pages OF QUESTIONABLE that was
| devised for the convenience of Gov
| eminent tabulatiOn rather than for
the comfort of the reglstrant? Even
those who have heard the artistic
sob of CARUso at the end of the La
ment In "Pagliacci' will be unable
to imagine the groan that will escape
ENRICO the Reglstrant when he faces
In the QUESTIONABLE the 1900 words
that are "to be read before proceed.
ing further"
1t Is far from our purpose to dis
courage those who have this task
before them. 1t is rather the pur
pose to call attention not only to the
Importance Of the job but to the
necessity Of being prepared for 1t. A
whole, and not utterly pleasant, eve
ming will be needed by most men who
wish to dispose of the QUESTIONABLE
once and for all without danger OF
being called up by their draft boards
to correct mistakes and supply an
swers that have been overlooked. The
man who claims dependency vii
have to face thirtytwO questions tina
go into every corner Of his own finan
ces and those of the persons who de
pend upon him. The Government
must even know the date of mar
ried mans marriage and the name
Of the person who performed thu
ceremony; the exact relationship o.
each dependent and the amount con
tributed to the support of each; tn,
registrant's income from ali sources
and how he earned IT. the value Of al
his property nnd'what 1t returns; al
itemized statement OF all the take
he has paid In the past year; hi
wifes earnings, her previous EN-
ployment. her capacity for self-sup
port, her condition Of. health. Yea
even does the Government asl
whether the registrant has ever live,
with his mother-ln.law. 1t seems re
lentless, but Prusslanism must 60
and this is necessary item in TN
ejectment.
We have referred to the many t.
whom a questionable like this vii
be torture. There are others to whom
1t will he sort Of delight. Their
is a glorious type of person who find
no greater pleasure than In the SO
luton Of puzzles, in the picking on
Of facts, like jackstraws, from