The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1918-08-14

manpOWer Dill pTepdrcu ny oSSittaiy
Baker and the Army General Staff
will fix the age limits of the draft at
Is to As years. This would provide
an additional 100000 draft regis
trants.~
! This. announcement. made Satur-
day after conference between Secre-
tary Baker and the Chairman of the
Senate and House Military Commit
tees, is notice to the whole world that
America intends to put every availa-
BILE ounce of her man power into the
fight. 1t means, too, that with the
passage Of the bill the United Safes
virtually will be placed under a sys-
TEN of universal military training
for the period of the war at least.
/ The measure will authorize the
President to draft persons between
the ages of IS and As, who may be
liable to military service ''in such
sequence of ages and at such time or
times as he may prescribe"
The effect of this will be that the
President may call out all the young
er men first, leaving the older classes
to engage in other lines of industry
without going to the fighting line.
The bill would give the President
complete mastery of the labor situa
ton, and would be in a general way
a wholesale broadening of the work
or-fght order recently promulgated
/ by General Crowder.
There are those who look upon
Secretary Bakers decision to change
I the draft ages as backing down by
the Administration on this very i'm
portant matter of policy. 1t has
been stated with what appeared to be
authority chat the President was OPP
posed to lowering the draft age be-
low 81.
/ The Presidents only statement in
the matter of raising a large army,
however, was that made in his New
York speech, when he raised the
pointed query:
why limit to 100000 men?"
1t is taken for granted that Secre-
tary Baker has the full approval of
the President for the new bill, which
goes to the full limit suggested ty
the most radical proponents of big
army plan.
Secretary Baker said there was no
intention Of calling to the colors
youths between IS and 10 years of
age until the other classes have been
cxhaulted. This policy was decided
upon, he said, in order to give the
youths an opportunity to mature be-
fore they join the army.
Senator Chamberlain will call his
committee together this week to go
over the terms of the bill so that an
early report may be made. Chair
man Dent of the House Committee
will introduce the bill simultaneous
ly in the House, and will also take
it up with the members of his COM
mittee.
Advocates of immediate and
prompt action on the measure to in
crease the nations man power re-
gard it as peculiarly unfortunate
that The Senate is bound by I'M
animous-consent agreement to take
up the prohibition rider in the agri-
cultural bill as soon as the regular
sessions are resumed and dispose of
it before other business is consider
ed. The effect of this may be to i'm
pode the progress of the man-power
bill very percepibly. Some members
of the Senate suggested that the pro-
hibition leaders be called upon to
agree to postponement of the meas
ure until the draft bill can be dis
posed of.
Unless there is speedy action on
the bill ii may not become a law I'M
til September. Senator Chamberlain
is hopeful, however, that it can be
put into operation before the regis
trants in Glass / are exhausted.
The possibility OF the bill encount-
ering stiff opposition in the House
was also considered here. Some of
the House leaders expressed the opin-
ion that lowering the draft age to IS
will be strongly opposed in that body.
"The bill will remove all danger
that it will be necessary to invade
Glasses ., Band of the present
draft, l believe" said Senator Cham
berlain. I'VE can get enough men
from the IS to As class without GO
ing into those classes.
'In setting is to As the ages for
the draft the Government will only
be following a policy that began al
most with the Revolution.