The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1918-09-03
REGISTRATIONDAY :
WORK SHOULD Be .
EASIER HANDLED
Draft officials, Anticipating the
Man Power Bill Passage
Have Been Busy
LEGAL RULING WILL
PREVENT CONFUSION
Rights Of Aliens Carefully Gone
Int, and No Injustice Can
Result From ignorance

Yesterday the President signed the
Man Power Bill and on tho mainland
the registration day for youths from
eighteen to twenty one and men from
thirtv-twO to forty Ave will be on Sep.
TENDER IL. As yet no official instruc.
tiOns have come to Governor Mccarthy,
but, following precedent, IL is not likely
that registration day in Hawaii win be
any earlier than the end of the month.
However, in anticipation of the pass.
age of the bill and with foresight sharp
rned by hindsight, the loca, draft Off.
rials have been smoothing out number
Of legal points which bothered them in
the last registration and have been get
ting opinions and rulings that will pre-
clude some of the confusion that the
asst draft brought about.
Rights Of Aliens
The rights of aliens under the Selec.
tive Service Act have been gone over
in particular and 1t Is expected that
there will be clear sailing despite the
fact that the registration to come will
include thousands Of the older Orientals
in the Territory. Between the ages of
thirty-two and forty five are very, very
many of the Japanese who came to
Hawaii when the immigration was at
its height, men who are less likely to
know what to do with their registra.
tiOn blanks and their questionnaires
than those who have already registered.
Naturally the confusion of the last reg.
istratiOn would be multiplied in the
coming one unless great care be taken
in advance to minimize it, and this
care has already been taken.
Beat Crowder To It
In preparing in advance, the draft
officials have been doing exactly what
Provost Marshal Crowder wants, as
stated in a cablegram from him to
Governor Mccarthy yesterday, the mes
sage saying:
Governor, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Number B2S76, paragraph one.
On account approaching classified
tiOn of new registrants under new
law amending selective service law
by increasing ages, imperative that
members of legal advisory boards,
both permanent and associate,
should be prepared to take up the
work of aiding and advising regis.
trants and assisting in the admins
tratiOn of the law and regulations,
immediately calling. registration
under the new law.
Please take up this matter imme.
diately With the central legal ad.
'VisOry committee of your state or
through such other means as may
he necessary, and arrange for pre-
llminary meetings and other neces-
sary steps to be taken to assure
efficient and ample personnel be or
ganized and ready to repeat the
magnificent work which they did
during the first questionable and
classification. Please acknowledge
receipt of this, stating what steps
YOU have taken to carry same into
effect.
CROWDER.
Ignorance Cannot Harm
The main point gone over by the
heads of the draft with District Attor-
nev Huber deal with the rights of aliens
under the draft regulations. One i'm.
POrtant difference in the regulations as
first drafted and AS they now stand
treats with the claim for exemption
based on the fact that the rcgistrant
is an alien.
In the original regulations, to secure
this exemption the rcgstrant had to
claim it,
As the regulations are today, no alien
may be legally imducted into the mill,
tary service who has not specifically
waived his right Of exemption.
Ignorance prevented many in the
first registration from claiming exPmp-
ton, and in many cases these aliens
were drafted and arc now in the ser.
vice
Hereafter, to be drafted into the scr.
wee is something that cannot happen to
an alien through his ignorance of his
rights. If he be drafted it will be
because he has gone to enough trouble
to expressly waive his exemption right
This is decidedly important point
and should be given the widest pubIiri.
~ in the Japanese and Chinese press,
MS it probably will DO.
Power To Punish
Another point which has been thrcsh-
Ell out and finally submitted to the pro.
vost marshal ut Washington for an au.
thoritative ruling deals with the dis
clplining of rcgistrants who may fail
to make out and return their uues-
tiOnnHire.
In the rase of citizens, the fact of
the failure to return the QUESTIONABLE
promptly ohIiges the classification board
to place, the registrant in Class IA,
IIOh VIII Ut promptly
drafted and placed in uniform if able
to pass the pedical tests.
Ia the matter of ALIENS, however, in.
asmuch as the QUESTIONABLE contains
the exemption waving clause, the draft
board is apparently left without any
power to punish refusal to fill in and
return the paper The only punish
mrnt within the power of the board is
to classify laggard registrant in the
first class to be called, while the fact
that the alien rcgistrant has not re,
turned his questionable waving his
exemption prevents any such cIass
fcation.
The question submitted to Washing
ton asks what alternate punishment
they can be. Nobody in Honolulu knows
as yet.
- ". D. B. -
Joseph Lightfoot yesterday was APP