The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-09-25
TO REPLACE men DN
FIT FOR SERVICES

With view to bringing the maxi
mum force OF the nations man power
to bear In the prosecution of the
war. the Government. which has al
ready been replacing physically Mt 49,
soldiers with limited service men in sS1a1
practically every activity OF the - gHb
army, IL gradually extending this re- sai.t
placement program to the National z ~
Capital aass;s
The experiment has proved so sue -
cessful In releasing able-bodied SOL s.ssf'f
diers and clerks for service at the 20
front that there appears to be little ~
doubt that II can be greatly extend Us
ed with the Inauguration OF the new isfat'r
draft. and the indications are that hEa
men hereafter found physically unit - -
to carry a rifle will be used to re- aa@
place thousands OF able-bodied cleri-1r Old
cal and other employees in Washing ? "a
ton and other parts of the country
who will be summoned to the colors.
Thousands Wen Fitted. s,g+
There are now in development bat -
talions at Humphreys and twenty sfs
eight other army camps thousands OF IA
men Of exceptional trade skill or high iis
professional ability and knowledge -
who were eliminated for overseas rs
duty by the very rigid physical en-
animation. but well lifted for war ~
work In the army camps or in the de- Los
partment at Washington. 7gat
To q limited extent men in uniform .-tSN~
have already invaded the ranks OF % -
the war workers IN the yarious de- aissa5
partments in Washington. Limited o. q
service mep from development bat "a -
talions aresrunning the War Depart -
ment postoffice. Acrlt
Two hundred limited service men tgvsC
from the camp at Syracuse. N z, ar "a.
rived last Saturday in Washington "a -
and were assigned to clerical duty az .si1
the engineer depot releasing as many SNz -
Al
duty.
Major Raymond Pullman, superin- -
tendent of police, was recently al = ~.
nart Of these me-, nory az. ~, s.tt,,. s111
duty here as policemen. sad
VIII Not Replace Women. loa y
Before the war there were about -
$4,000 Government employees In 40 8,
Washington, of whom approximately IeliaE.
were women. The ratio OF - toie
women to men has greatly increased. "a 81
so that out Of a total of 10000 Gov SO =
eminent employees in the National ia
Capital, fully seventy-hve per cent 'HsD
are women The number OF male sS-eS-4
clerks and other employees. II Is safe 'SlsHf
to assert, probably does not exceed '!iss
10000. - -
No women, II Is announced, will be rIBoe
displaced by soldiers. The extent to Slsps1
which able-bodied male employees of islein
draft age will be replaced BY men in aasio
uniform will depend largely the s1sbta
ability OF the Civil Services Commits Al
sion to supply women and men above 'n,sa
draft age from its roster OF eligibles - All
to take the places OF the men who y
are called in the draft On many oe-74 ~
casions, the commission has been un-a Ioqsnf
able to supply the needs Of the Cow sSsf
eminent In this respect and this Issos,
problem iS likely to become more 81
rather than less difficult Of solution if3ses
In the future. ns 81
It will undoubtedly be the policy ID !.
OF the departments to call on the "sT0d
Civil Service Commission first, as in
the past. Statutory positions in the At
civil service can only be filled by
civilians, but these positions created ~
by Congress now constitute hardly I
more than one-third OF the total
number. Most OF the war workers
are being paid out OF what is known
as "lump sum" appropriations, which
will only be continued during the Pc
riod OF the war.