The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-03-19

SeriOus situations IN particular in
stances in which men who are the
main stay OF IHrmS have been Undue
ted into the service either through
voluntary enlistment or selection,
! and whose services during the pres
ent emergency i'll agriculture are
needed. These furloughs viii be
granted after consideration OF the
circumstances OF the individual case
in which they arise and when the
military situation is such that they
can be granted without too great dis
ruption and disorganiZation of the
Army or of any particular organiZa-
lion of the Army.
AS to further means to protect ag-
riculture Il new regulation has been
promulgated authorizing agricul-
tural students in their senior year in
land grant colleges to enlist in the
Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Quar-
telmasters Department provided
their class standing is such as to
place them in the upper third of
their class. By this means it will be
possible to defer the draft call OF
such young men in order to enable
them to tperfect themselves as agri-
culturalists and thereafter to protect
them in such services as it may seem
that they should perform in the best
interests of the Nation.
The whole industrial and agricul-
tural situation is being subjected to
very comprehensive study in order
to discover any means that may be
taken to protect and augment the
labor supply appurtenant to indus
try and agriculture without preclud-
ing the prompt and orderly progress
of our military plans. 1t is conf
IDENTIFY believed that great progress
can be made along this line and that
more effective measures than any
yet devised can be put into operation
to attain the desired end. 1t must
be emphasized that this is a war of
mechanics. The need of the several
armed forces for men highly skilled
in technical and mechanical pursuits
is greater than IN any former war.
Yet this need for specially skilled
men finds the nation under ncCeS-
sity for increasing its production in
almost every line of industry. With
drawals of men from industry must
be made and these Withdrawals must
take men who might otherwise be
deferred on account of their special
qualifications and skill. The neces-
sary numbers of such skilled men
will be obtained in one of three
ways. First, men already in the
military service who have such spe-
cial skill will be taken from the line
regiments and assigned TO the staff
organizations and departments where
their skill is needed. Second, men
classified by the Selection Boards,
even though they may have been
placed in deferred classification,
will be withdrawn with great care
and particularly from the industries
of the Nation Tor special service in
staff corps and departments. Third,
young men of draft age with certain
educational qualifications will be in
ducted into the service and sent TO
universities, colleges, and technical
and secondary schools to be instruc
ted in technical art Suntil they have
acquired such proficiency as will jus
tify their assignment to the special
units that are being organized in
considerable numbers.
In accordance with this plan, the
Provost Marshal General has already
i called upon the States for some TO-
600 skilled artisans and, will shortly
! call upon the Sta,es for 10000 young
men. graduates of grammar schools,
who will be sent before the first of
| April to various technical and other
| schools throughout the United States
| for two-months' course of training.
| Regularly thereafter, an increasing
| stream of selected men will be sent
| through educational and other train
| ing institutions for this purpose.
| To sum up, it may be said that
| there will be no sudden withdrawal
| of great numbers of men from the
ranks of industry and agriculture
| during the coming summer, but that
men will be drawn in relatively
small groups throughout the year in
such a way as to create the least pos
! sible interference with industry and
agriculture. Men in deferred classes
as we'll as men in Glass l will be Sc
lected in small numbers either on
account of their special technical
qualifications or for the purpose of
sending them to schools where they
will be given an opportunity to ac-
quire such qualifications.