The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-09-26
CALL.T0 EMPLOYERS
Paramount Duty to Aid Work Of
SeIectiye Boards.
Can Perform Great Service to covn-
try by Helping Work Of Classifying
Resistrants Under the Sc
lective Service Act.

/ dressed to employers or laOOf nnu otii-
er representatives of industry through
out the country concerning their share
OF responsibility In the classification
of the new registrul.s under the Sc
lective service act.
General Crowder says:
| l have noticed. In the general eN-
pressions OF the public attitude which
reach this Office, two frequent features
I which lead me TO the present com
ments. One of these features Is the
belief that the process of awarding de-
ferred classification to registrant re-
quires merely the filling out Of the
! auestIOnnaire. and that the selective
! service boards will perceive the pro-
priety of making the deferment, with
out the assistance furnished by the'
registrnnt's formal claim indicating
the deferment desired. The other fea-
I ture is the employers failure to reni-
! ize his responsibility to intervene in
hiding the boards determination. and
therefore to inform himself fully on all
! the considerations which should affect
The decision as to deferment.
| l. AS to the first mentioned belief,
it must be pointed out that If 1t We're
universally ncted upon, the process OF
classification would he seriously ham,
pered and delayed. Someone must IN
/ dicnte that the individual case is one
which should arrest the special ntten-
\ ton of the boards in respect to the reg
lstrant's occupational stntus. The
boards do not possess n superhuman
omniscence.
Boards viii Make Examination.
The boards will do all that they pos
sibIy can, on their own initiative. to
reach n just decision by complete eS-
animation OF the questionnairc. even
where no claim is expressly made. a
registrnnt Is therefore ut liberty. If he
sees fit. to trust to the scrutiny OF the
boards to discover the necessity for his
deferment.
Nevertheless. the boards will vel
come and will need all tha aid that can
he furnished by the indication of II
claim made for deferment. With this
aid. the process will become a simple
and speedy one.
d .. Why should the employer. or 9th
or third person. In such cases. make
the clnimr Because the employer In
this situation represents the nation.
because Tin the statutory phrnse)
''the maintenance Of the military es-
tablIshment or of national interest
during the emergency" requires that
some well-advised third person should
look after that national Interest, which
the registrant himself may not have
sufficiently considered.
1t Is often forgotten that the selec-
tive draft Is only one element In the
depletion of particular industry's
mnn-power. A second and large ele-
ment is found In the voluntary with
drnwals for enlistment: how large this
Il may be seen from the circumstance
that the total inductions lyy draft hnve
reached some 2.OOO.0OO, while the total
enlistments in army and navy amount
to some 4O0,0OO-neariy three-qunr-
ters ns many. A third element. very
lnrge. hut unknown us to Its precise
extent, has been the transfer Of labor
power from one industry to another.
namely. Into the distinctively war In
dustrIes offering the inducement OF
higher wages. How relatively small
in actual effect has been the effect Of
the selective draft Is seen in the fact
that. for all the occupations represent
ed in the ST0O!0OO classified regis
trants Of January. 1918. the percen-
tage of the entire Industrial populn-
tion represented by the class regis
trants amounted to only @ per cent. It
ran MS low MS per cent for come Oc-
cupations. and correspOndingly higher
for some other occupations; but the
national average was only 9 per cent.
Any notably larger depletion In partic-
ular Industries must therefore have
been due, partly to enlistments. and In
probably greater degree. to voluntary
transfers into other Industries.
Must Remember Nations Needs.
These other influences are therefore
to be kept in mind by employers and
others, in weighing the question wheth-
er the best solution. In the national
interest. is to ask for the deferment
of individuals or groups Of men. Such
deferments may assist the immediate
situation in the particular establish
ment but they merely force the army
and the navy to seek elsewhere for the
same number Of men thus deferred.
The quantitatve needs of the
military forces nre known and inl-
perative: and any given quantity OF
deferments will ultimately have TO be
made up by the depletion Of some
other occupation. Thus 1t becomes
the employers duty to consider these
aspects of deferpent. in seeking that
solution of his own problem which best
comports with the national interest.
The cessation Of enlistments will
henceforth protect industry against
one Irregular and uncomfortable
source Of arrangement. II will corre-