Evening star., 1918-08-16

The provost marshal general has
issued a statement calling attention
to the urgency Of the taking OF all
the steps preliminary to carrying out
the objects Of the proposed new man
power law. which, although not yet
enacted, must be provided for in ad-
vance.
There 10 literally no time to be
lost" says the provost marshal gen
eral. '"rhe situation Is urgent because
by October / class 1. under the age
limits Of the original act will have
been entirely exhausted. Unless there
is to be a very serious interruption
in the flow Of American troops to the
camps and thence across the seas to
France. class 1 must be replenished
at the earliest possible moment by
available men both below and above
the present age limits Of twenty-one
to thirty-one. ~
THE bill which has been introduced
in Congress at the request OF the war
limits at between Is and forty-nve
years. That Is to say, 1t would in
clude. in addition to the men within
the present limits, those between
tnlfty-tWO anu orty-usos iuSiucire
(fourteen annual classes). and those
between eighteen and twenty, In
elusive (three annual classes).
100000 Men Needed.
These limits were suggested to
Congress by the War Department
because the military man-power pro-
gram of the United States requires
that the now. nearly depleted reser-
voir of clasS1 men shall be replen-
ished by more than 100000 men
available for full military service.
On the basis of actuarial figures from
insurance companies. census compu-
Office in the previous registration 1t
has been estimated that the required
number of men for class ! may be
had only by including within the
two and forty-five and between eight
cen and twenty. That is to say, ap-
proximately 100000 men must be
added to the list of regtstrants, In
lowed. at least 1000. 900 mon will re-
main in class l.
.In other words, here is the problem
presented: If the bill. as introduced.
is passed. 1t will be necessary. between
the date of its passage and October 1,
to register and begin to classify by
QUESTIONABLE $4,000. 900 men not here
tofoi.e included in the draft age limits,
or approximately one and one-third as
many men as we're registered on June
5. 1917. And when this has been done
draft calls upon the new class 1 must
start to I'LL the places in the training
camps Of thoseSmen going to France.
House to Push Legislation.
Assurance having been given that
the legislation will receive immediate
consideration upon the assembling OF
tho House and Of tho Senate. this Of
fee, in its preliminary instructions
sent out to draft executives in the va
rious states, has proceeded on tho as
sumption that the new registration
might be held early in September. II.
for example. the bill is passed by Au-
gust 81 or soon thereafter. it would
be necessary for the Presidents proc
lamation to fix a registration date as
soon as possible, allowing ample time
to be given for posting his proclama-
tion in every region OF the country.
Thus registration day might be as
early as September or shortly there-
after To have the first installment of
the new class ready for camp by Oc-
tober. it would be necessary to have
the registration not later than Sep
tember Is. In any event. It is obvious
that We cannot wait until the act is
passed before beginning tho pre1imi-
nary work In this vast Undertaking.
As to Draft Machinery.
Existing draft machinery in the
such Increased facilities and addi-
tional registrars as appear likely to
be required for the larger enrolment.
The governors of the various states