The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-11-09
!, Justice and Fairness for Euery
One Sought By Selectiue Service
Boards In Recruiting Soldiers

The general attitude of the reg
istrants was creditable There were
not many who were eager to go. But
most of them considered it this way:
when my turn comes and my coun-
try needs my services. | am ready
and I'll do my duty" Perhaps that is
a better augury for enduring courage
than mere enthusiasm at the start.
Certainly those men did honor to their
country at the front.
Later Improvements.
At later period another form OF
QUESTIONABLE was adopted by which
the men were not actually discharged
but were placed in different classes to
be called in the order in which they
could best afford to go without fnflict-
ing unnecessary hardship upon de-
pendents or upon the industries OF the
country. This form OF QUESTIONABLE
was a great improvement upon the
first and 1t allowed the boards to be
more liberal in their exemptions with
I.out inflicting upon the country the
danger of a shortage of men. These
questions were admirably devised and
they elected the most necessary lnfor-
nation in an automatic manner leaV-
ing less to the discretion OF the
boards.
There were occasional cases OF de-
ferred classification which aroused
the indignation of the community
sometimes justly, sometimes without
propar cause Most of these cases
arose in regard to industrial classi-
| fications which were made in the first
place by the district board at Fort
Wayne and not by the local board.
There were no appeals in these cases
so they were beyond my jurisdlctlon'
Letters of'Protest.
received, however, some very
| pointed letters in regard to some OF
| these cases. The following is sam
! pie:
| WIN. Dudley Foulke.
! Dear Sir:
are both Masons. They have both mar
| ried since the registration day. Meth
| err have children. Both have wealthy
fathers or fathers-in law. Both nave
only minor positions. Both passed the
| physical examination and their exemp-
| tons the local board rightly denied
| You have reversed them
II refrain from marrying my sweet
| heart as 1 didn't desire to be called a
Stacker. L am foundry worker and
my work is far more important tnah
| that of the other two. In Gods name
| Mr.. Foulke, is my life not as valuapie
| wealth and social position the only
basis upon which the district board at
| Fort Wayne bases It's rulings.
| I'm Gods name is there no way upon
! which this most unfair ruling of the
! district board to the above names.
can be annulled and thereby remove the
| discrimination which the district board
has seen fit to place on us-we who
must suffer?
"P. s.: l don't want any favor shown
| to me- Justice is all L ask.
! published this letter together with
, the following answer:
The statement that l had anything
| to do with the decision at Fort Wayne
| in these two cases is entirely unbound
! ed. | was appointed for just one
thing, to take appeals on behalf OF the
| federal government to the distric'
| board from the exemptions or dis
charges by the local board These are
| the exact words of my letter of APP
pointment of August I.
/ 4 had no right to consider or act
either one way or the other on any
| original cases presented to the Fort
| Wayne board asking for discharge on
industrial grounds and | did not take
part in any such cases. Indeed, when
one of the cases you speak of came
| up for consideration | was asked to
| leave the room. | had no more to do
! with either of these two exemptions
| than you had Yourself | do not know
what the facts are nor what the affi-
! daVits showed. 1t was not my place
to know and l did not inquire. But
! there We're affidavits and in one case
! there oral testimony which was
| taken while l was absent.
! IF those affidavits arc untrue you
. have the right to see them and to
! prove that they are untrue. The sec
rotary of the Fort Wayne board told
me today that the affidavits and testi-
! mony were open to inspection of any
one who could show that he had leg
| itimate interest in the matter and also
that they might be published. Now il
YOU think there is anything wrong in
these cases YOU can go up and examine
them or get someone there to do it fOr
you. If YOU know, as your letter says
that these men have only minor posi-
lions, you can make your own aft.
davit stating all the facts and show.
ing just why they are not necessary
for the running of the business.
The district. board can still change
its decision if you can show that it wa!
lis ones wealth and social position.
you ask the only basis upon which tn,
, district board at Fort Wayne bases it:
give for the statement that the For
Wayne board so bases it's rulings2 Why
should men at Fort Wayne violate thei1
| duty on account of the social position
of two citizens of Richmond?
IF these men are necessary to tn,
industry in question they ought to b,
exempted no matter how rich they are
. and if they are not necessary the,
ought to be exempted 10 matter how
poor they are. From what | have seer
| am satisfied that the members boil
of the Fort Wayne board and the Rich
mond board are trying to do their dut
and are not influenced by any consid
erations. either social or financial, ex
cept the desire to serve their countr,
in this hour of emergency
Now all these criticisms upon tn
motives of these boards can have onl,
one effect, to stir up diSsatiSfactiol
and to weaken the military efforts O
|