Evening star., 1918-06-15
newly WEDSPUT
IN NDRAFT CLASS |.
Drastic Ruling Affects Men
Married Since May 10
of Last Year.
WILL CHANGE THOUSANDS

Registrants married since May Is.
1917, will be placed In class l In the
draft. under ruling just made by
Provost Marshal General Crowder. un-
less the registrant has a child of such
union. In the latter case he will be put
in class 2.
This drastic ruling, which will take
thousands OF men now placed in class 4
out Of that class. was announced by
Brownlow to members OF
local boards Of the District, government
appeal agents and members Of legal ad-
visory boards who met at the District
building yesterday afternoon to plan for
class 1 week"
To Scan Questionnaires.
Beginning Monday the QUESTIONABLE
Of every registrant in the National Capt.
tai will be subjected to investigation at
visory boards who helped regstrants
with the filing out Of the questionnaires
last winter. Legal advisers and appeal
agents, as well as board members. were
told that the only men whose cases will
escape scrutiny are those actually in the
military service Of the United States.
The new regulation as to men mar
ried after the passage of the selective
service act came as a surprise to
board members, as 1t is perhaps the
first instance of a complete retraction
of a deferred classification in the his
tory Of the selective service act.
Under the new ruling registrants
who presented the proper affidavits
to show that their marriage was con-
tracted for perhaps months before the
selective service law was passed and
were therefore put by their boards In
class 4, now will be put into class
II no child has been born of the union,
and in class 2 If there is a child. The
new rule will apply equally to men
years old. who registered
June last. il they were married be-
fore May Is. 1917.
Wife's Dependency Disregarded.
The fact of the wife's dependency
will be disregarded now in all such
cases, -hrless there Is a child Of the
union, either born or unborn.
Registrants who may be reclassified
as the result of next weeks work here
will have the right of appeal, 1t was
announced at the meeting yesterday.
Draft officials were instructed to
reject sympathy as far as Justice
permits" and to bear in mind the mil
itary necessities of the nation. A
from Gen. Crowder
was read to the effect that four Of
nrIo - e.
trict had placed more than the av-
erage of 2S per cent of registrants in
class 1, and that several others had
not come UP to that national average.
Members Of legal advisory boards.
under, the leadership Of A. A. Heehling,
jr, chairman, will conduct the ex,
animation Of the questionnaires, and
will be empowered to call In all wit
nesses necessary. Each board will be
given a legal lieutenant" who will
have ten lawyers, members of the
legal advisory board. detailed to as
sist him.
special attention will be given to
those engaged on the reclassification
work to men now classed in class 2.
A, B, c.; class 3, A, B, C. and class
work-or-Fight Order.
Gen. Crowder's "work-or-fight"
order, which defines useful and nom
useful occupations, will not be con-
sidered by the reclassificationists
next week, but all such cases will be
by local boards later.
Appeals agents were instructed to
make only such recommendations as
they honestly felt should be made. in
the interest Of the nations military
exigencies and of justice for the
1t is realized that perhaps
injustice may have been done some
by putting them In a more
advanced class, and such cases will be
reclassified correctly.
The results of the work must be
reported to Provost Marshal General
Crowder by July 1. 1t was suggested
haps it might be well for question
naires to be taken to legal advisory
homes at nights next week,
but this suggestion will not be car
ried out, and all the work will be
No Man to Go Out of Turn.
Provost Marshal General crowder,
in announcing the new policy. today
declared:
obtaining uniformity throughout the
and IL in line with its re-
cent order to comb the lists for Inn
proper classification"
"The great calls Of the Army" Gen.
Crowder states, which are being
filled with so much dispatch. are
rapidly diminishing class 1. Every
possible inequality must be combed
out of the deferred classes in order
that no man shall go out Of his turn"
Children Affect Status.
The official statement declares:
"A man who has come of age since
June S, 1917, and who has married
since January Is, 1918. and who is not
granted deferment for any other rea-
SON, will 60 into class one without
regard to whether or not there are
any children.
1.-THE man who has come Of age
since June s, 1917, who is not other
wise deferred, but who married since
May 18, 1917, and before January 10,
1918, will also be placed in class one
unless there is child born or unborn,
IN which case he may be placed in
class two.
'"The man who should have regis
Tered on June 5, 1917. who is not
,therwise deferred. and who married
my time after May Is, 1917, will be
placed in class ono unless there Is q
.hild born or unborn as of June 3,
1918"