The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1918-08-15
RADICAL CHANGES IN DRAFT
RULES.
Would Exempt All Married Men and
Hold Back Boys of 1S.

rafi MfiasnPEsa 9sRass,n9 3 ssas4 G Aug ggne6 Gs
government would do the selecting
rather than leaving it to the regis
trant, are under consideration by the
war department.
This was disclosed today by Sec
retary Baker after he had appeared
before the senate military commit
tee to urge prompt enactment of the
the age limits to include all men be-
tween the ages of Is and As.
The war secretary made it plain
that he is not satisfied with the
present system under which the reg
istrant must claim deferred classifi-
cation as many men with dependents
hesitate for patriotic reasons to
make such claim.
Would Exempt All Married Men.
In this connection Mr.. Baker said
ut was inclined to the opinion that
the marriage relation will in itself
constitute deferred classification.
What Mr.. Baker has in mind is to
the registrant would answer and
then have rules which would take
care of the classification. He is un-
derstood to regard this as the fair
and equitable system.
The discussion on the draft ages
before the senate committee, Mr..
BaRer 5a said fooTed much the lines
staff, and Provost Marshal General
CroWder. The committee, he add
ed, did not indicate any disposition
to question the necessity for the
change, which is urged so that the
war department can quickly, secure
the men necessary to. win the war.
No Change in "WOrk or Fight
sHThQro wac Como 1iccuccinn - M,
Baker said, ''as to whether it was
the intention of the department to
extend the work or fight order to in
clude classes of persons in various
profession occupations. l told
them there was no present change
Of the work or fight order in con
temptation; I said that when de.
perhaps other forms of amusement
land entertainment might require an
EeXtension Of the order to be on a
parity with the baseball situation,
but that was not in their mind.
'.They had heard from outside
sources that. the department was
considering f I9I bringing professional al
and persons who were not actually
engaged in producing war supplies,
under the order
The committee, Mr.. Baker con-
tinued was especially interested in
the effect of the extension of the
draft ages on colleges, and also in
the question as to whether young
discriminately into class one, or
placed in a deferred class by age and
drawn later, giving them some adj
ded months to come to maturity.
Plan for Younger Men.
81 told the committee" said the
@t,N 1s<,y
had been determined upon by the
department, but that the purpose was
to allow the president to defer in
class one the call of the youngest
men. / have always considered, as
you perhaps remember, that 19 was
the probable minimum and l have
come to the IS minimum only be-
cause it seems necessary to get the
men.
'Not that think men of IS are
necessarily too young, because l do
not think that. | think that history
shows that boys from IS to 19 are
immensely valuable, as valuable per
haps as from 19 to 20; but | think
there is a sentiment in the country
more anxious regard on boys from
Is to 19 than the boys from 19 to
20. Eighteen years seems to many
people a more tender age than 19
and it is for that reason that we are
thinking of making this preferential
deferment of men from IS to 19.
Time Left to Senate.
Senators said that in urging
speedy enactment of the new man
power legislation, Mr.. Baker had
left to the judgment of congression-
al leaders the question of recalling
the senate in session before the ex-
piration of the recess program Aug
26 because the leaders are more ia
miliar with the legislative program
than is the secretary.
Mr.. Baker told the committee,
senators said, that the department
wanted to carry out the plan of reg.
istering the men Sept. 5, so that
class one could be re-supplied. The
present reservoir soon will be ex-
hausted and it was said that either
the size of the monthly calls must
be reduced or men taken from the
deferred classes.
Secretary Baker was the last Of
army and navy officials to be called
before the committee begins consid-
Grafton of the new bill. Because OF
the committees visit to the war
council, Chairman Chamberlain an
nounced that no meeting would be
held tomorrow, but that the COM
mittee would assemble Monday
when an effort would be made to
reach favorable report on the