Evening star., 1941-11-02
Board Rejects
8 Per Cent Of
Draft Appeals
Dependency Pleas in
Only 81 Of 349 Cases
Granted Since April
By THOMAS c. HARDMAN.

OO RNl SCAlt Va tilC w ooli-
ington selectees who have appealed
for deferment on grounds OF de-
pendency have been turned down by
the District Board of Appeals and
drafted for military service, sur
vey of board reports revealed yester-
day.
Records since April "a Of this
year showed that out of 349 cases
Of appellants requesting Glass III
dependency ratings, the appeals
board reversed local board decisions
in only 81 instances and granted
deferments.
Cases reaching the Board OF Ap-
peals for the most part are those
of selectees dissatisfied with de-
cisions of their local boards classi-
flying them as available for immedi-
ate military service.
At the same time, figures OBJ
tained from national headquarters
Of selective service disclosed that l6
of the appellants turned down by
the Districts Board Of Appeals had
taken their cases to the White
House, five obtaining outright re-
versals.
Four Cases Upheld.
In four Washington cases re-
viewed by the White House, the
Board of Appeals was upheld. Four
cases were returned to the District
director OF selective service. and the
Presidents decision in three others
is pending.
OF the four cases returned to the
local director. two were those of
registrants who had reached their
28th birthday before July / and
therefore were automatically de-
ferred from military service: one
was sent back calling attention to
a national headquarters memoran-
dunn clarifying policy in regard to
deferment OF married registrants
and the fourth was returned at the
specific request of the District di-
rector. 1t was understood that de-
ferments resulted in each of these
cases
The Washington appeals board
has reviewed total of 524 cases
since April "a, the majority OF them
Glass III appeals. Since the first
meeting OF the board last Decem.
Der, appeals Of 78l Washington reg
lstrants have been considered. but
breakdown of the appeals was
available only on those heard afte,
the April date.
One Are Married Men.
1t was estimated that more than
one-third of the registrants claim
ing they should be granted de.
pendencv ratings have been married
men, The survey showed. more.
over. that the percentage Of Class
III Geferments has remained about
the same in WASHINGTON since thf
. "clariflcation' memorandum was is.
sued by Brig Gen. Lewis B. Her
shey. national director. on June 2e
In this statement. Gen. Hershey
pointed out that many selectees in.
quoted into the service were having
TO be discharged by the Army ir
order to protect their dependents
He requested local boards to recon.
sider cases Of all married men OF
men with minor children who hac
been placed in Glass IA. with thu
view to deferring them if they make
any substantial contribution to the
support OF dependent"
The Army still is having to dis.
charge such men throughout the
country
Difficult TO Fill Quotas.
One explanation for this situation
was that MANY of the Nations loca
boards are finding it increasingly
difficult to fill their quotas. and a.
result are being less lenient with
deferments in borderline cases
Quotas are assigned boards by theil
State directors on receipt of requi
sitions for new men from the Wa
Department, and it is up to then
! to fill these quotas
The District Board of Appeal.
has had to review many more cases
than the average appeals boaro
throughout the country, nationa
headquarters officials estimated. Ir
a single weekly session. the loca
appeals board frequently consider!
more than 80 cases. exceeding the
monthly average for most of The
boards. according to one source. al.
though exact figures on the work Of
the country's appeals boards have
not been determined as yet.
A spokesman for the District Ap-
peals Board said yesterday thai
each case is thoroughly considered
on its merits and that no Sc
policies can be followed in deciding
different cases.
Reversals in District cases taker
to the White House represent 9
slightly higher average than thos,
considered from the country a
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