Evening star., 1918-08-20
NO NEW DRAFT RULE
FOR 18-T0-45 MEN
War Department Will Apply
Existing Regulations to-
Married Registrants.
QUESTION OF DEPENDENCE
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Copyright. 1918. By the New York Evening
Post Company

b1 DAVID LA W n6NCEss
Copyright, 1918. By the New York Evening
I Post Company)
Exactly the same regulations as
apply today to married men between
the age of twenty-one to thirty-one
will apply to married men from
eighteen to forty-five. This means that
the War Department will continue to
put into class one and call for serv-
ice. those men who do not support
! their wives and families: those who
! are being at present supported BY
! the work of a wife or children and
are physically fit; those who are en-
gagged in useless occupations and
! have made no successful effort to en-
gage in useful occupations; those
whose wives have an income OF their
F! own and can get along without the
! earnings of the husband il he is called
/ to the colors. and. finally. those hus-
! bands who waive exemption or de-
/ ferred classification and who have no
I ch ildren.
/ Many in the Last Class.
/ The last class is one estimated to be
very large. Many married men in it
have hesitated to volunteer because
! of an unwillingness to take the
. Initiative in temporarily disrupting
! their homes. Domestic misunder-
standing is often the result OF an
men have preferred to accept the
summons of the government when-
ever 1t came. There are, OF course
MANY men in this country, as there
were in England. who nave no nr- Gnu
| tunity to serve their country in pref
erence to the monotony at home. Ihe
government is anxious TO Teceive
| these men into the service. ANY gen,
eral exemption of married men wouio
har a large number who actually want
! to fight. Many wives are quite VIII
| ing to work in the absence OF tneir
husbands and many husbands Iail 70
claim exemption because d tney nnt are mpe m0e
willing that their wives engage In
These are not mere theories as to
the atatus Of married men. but cIassi-
ncations which came to the S attentf0n neTca
| throneh thousands of local boards.
who inquired into the cases of mar
ried mef, between the ages OF twenty
| one and thirty-one. About every con-
ceivable case was deveioped tnrougn
experience acquired to deal with the
married men above thirty-one.
Exemptions Automatic.
Men with dependent wives and
families or men with wives dependent
uuon them and no children will be
automatically exempted upon the
answers they give in the question
aires. -
They will not have to present a
claim. The facts will be established
1 by their affidavits and replies. But
as is the case with the men under
thtrty-one today. whenever it shall
be apparent that the wives can OBJ
tain an Independent income. either
by resuming an occupation in which
they were engaged prior to marriage
or by learning a new occupation. the
local boards will move the husband
into class 1 and qualify him for ac-
fications will not be any more perma-
nent for the older men than for the
Younger men. and there Will be con-
slant re-examination of question
naires and individual cases to in
crease the nations man power.
There has been much talk about q
difrerent, set of rules for the Older
married men than the younger. but II
I can be taken as assured that there
will be no discrimination on account
of age.
Source Of Misunderstanding.
Another source of misunderstanding
has been the separation Of mon be
tween eighteen and twenty-one into
, one class, those thirty-one to thirty
sirl into a second class, and those from
thirty-six to forty-five into still 1
third class. These divisions are inac.
curate. The provost marshars offict
intends to put all the men from nine
teen to twenty-one. as well as tn,
men from thirty-one to thirty-six, wht
are physically At. into class one, lay
ing aside, for the present. the boy,
eighteen years old and the men from
thirty-six to forty-five.
That will mean the immediate in
corporation Of the nineteen to twenty
lone and the thfrty-one to thirty-si1
year registrants Into the military forces
and viii give Gen. Pershing about Z
million and q half soldiers. Thes.
CONTINUED On Second Page.l