The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-05-13
MEN IN SECOND DRAFT WILL BE
 CALLED IN SMALL GROUPS: NOT
 TO INTERFERE WITH INDUSTRIES

| 1ue pTOVoSt mdTSndl general mas lS- sued the following:
 There has been a great deal of speculation in the press concerning what has been termed "The date of the next draft" Almost every week announcements have been made, and these announcements, being mere guesses, have resulted in an unrest and uncertainty that has been un. fortunate. As a matter of fact, the state of preparedness of the army to assim- Hate recruits varies from day to day and from week to week, and the most scientific manner of re- cruiting the forces will be to with. draw them from civil life as fast as they can be assimilated by the army, and no faster. According to this plan men will be inducted into the service in very small groups, ap- portioned among the various States, from week to week or from month to month as they are needed.
 How Burden Will be Distributed In order to distribute the burden equally over the various States, how ever, it is necessary to make arith- metical computations of the share of each State, and it is not practicable to make these computations for such small numbers. For mere bookkeeping | facility, therefore, it is necessary to assume a total of considerable size and to apportion it among the several States as their immediate burden This total is called a national quota. and the various shares are called State quotas. The announcement of the quota does not mean that any such great number of men will be called to military service at once and. indeed, has no necessary rela- ! tion from the date of call for the req son that constantly changing situa tion causes changes in the number of men who are to be called to the colors.
 Unwise to Attempt Forecast
 It is unwise to attempt to make a | forecast of the number of men that will be called for immediate military service in advance of the develop ment of the whole complex problem of supply and transportation. It is also unwise to make public announce ments of specific figures which might serve the enemy as precise basis for determining the plans for military participation of the nation in this war. It is necessary, however, to compose the present unrest and uncertainty by some public announcement, and for this reason the following is authori. tatively stated:
 100000 as Basis of Computation The next national quota will be an nounced and apportioned among the several States as soon as pending Legislation authorizing a change in the basis of computation is enacted by congress. This legislation has been passed by the senate and fav. orably reported by the house mili- tary committee. The number that will be assumed as basis for com putation will be S00.000. which is well within the authorization of clause of section 1 of the selective service act of a second increment of 500,000 men, increased by the recruit train ing units authorized by clause 5 of said section ], and by the special and technical troops authorized by sec. tion ? of said act. It can not now be announced what the total number to be called to the colors each month will be, but it may be stated that no more men will be called than can be properly accommodated and promptly assimilated
 Agricultural Labor
 There are difficulties confronting the nation ill the supply of labor ap- purtenant to agriculture. Class l, from which new levies are to be with drawn, will contain many more men than are at present required for the army. It would be most unscientific and fatuous step if the men in Class were called indiscriminately with out regard to the labor situation in agriculture. Therefore, the local boards will be directed to fill their quotas in the order of liability of men in class 1 as determined by the national drawing, except that where 1t is shown that registrant is com pletely and assiduously engaged in the planting, cultivation, or reaping of crop, his call to the colors shall be deferred to the foot of the quota of his board as long as he continues to be so engaged.
 Whenever any registrant whose call to the colors has been deferred by reason of his engagement in agri' culture is shown to have been idle on the farm on which he is engaged or to have trifled with the deferment that has been accorded him, the hoa rds will forfhuith iudrct him in.