The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-11-18

,-.-C.4l y IA the purpose OF TINS War
/ You are such man Come
/ The argument was good. It's inter
! probation came to mean exactly this 5:
The man indicted into the American
national army was honored above his
fellows, who, falling short, We're not
acceptable to the government. The
men of the national army, save in few
instances, felt honored. They were
honored.
The ages first agreed upon for the
men to be chosen by selective draft
were 81 to 80. inclusive, which meant
that a man who had not reached the
age of 80 years should be drafted.
The war department had asked for
ages IS to SO. Within a year it was
seen to be right, and the draft ages
became from Is to As, partly in or
der to deal more effectively with the
labor needs of essential industries.
But in order to assure supply of edu-
Gated young men as officers and for
technical work. the younger ages were
assisted to go to college rather than
sent Immediately into the field.
The selective draft law was pro-
nounced constitutional by the United
States supreme court its operations
worked out by the war department; its
the work of the new army-making
machinery was begun.
The Work of CroWder.
The directing head of the draft
system was Provost Marshal General
Enoch r. Crowder, whose efficient
methods of applying the selective
draft, explaining it's many angles, and
various provisions won the admiration
of the entire nation and its allies.
Provost Marshal General Crowder
was offered as a reward for his
achievement, immediate promotion to
lieutenant general, but modestly re-
fused it on the grounds that he did
not deserve more than many others
who had made the American war ma.
chine possible.
Draft boards were appointed
throughout the country, composed of
business men; the nation was divided
into small districts and the time set
for the registration on June 5, 1917,
of the millions of American men
whose ages were u to Il inclusive.
Pro-Hun agitators predicted riot and
only by isolated cranks. More than
100000 men walked quietly to the
appointed places and registered.
Then the work of examination was
ordered Men were classified as per
instructions worked out by the pro-
vost marshal generals office, which
took into consideration whether regis
trants were married, whether they
had dependents, wives, children, en-
feebled parents, etc, and whether
their occupations were such as to
make them more useful at home than
in the army.
The Call to the Camps.
Then ii was announced from the
war department that a certain per-
centage of the drafted and accepted
men were called for service. The
draft boards which notified the men
and ordered them to central points
Of mobilization, camps scattered
the country where their
training was to take place.
The summer of 1917 saw hundreds
Of thousands of outstanding young
men discarded civilian garg for kha-
XII Celebrations were held in cities
and towns in honor of the men whose
faces were turned toward Europe. |
They were honored and entertained.
They had become heroes in a day.
For such a vast accumulation OF
men, soldiers in the making, it was at
once necessary to have them Differed. |
The war department had accepted
candidates for the various officers
training camps, using for instruction
officers Of the regular army. !
Later enlisted men of the national
army, formed wholly by the selective ;
draft process, were sent to such Of
ficers' training camps to qualify for
Reports of regular army inspectors