The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-02-22

N'0, ment's depart
ments and commissions and things
have news that they want to cir
culate, but most of them also have
news that they're equally anxious
10 keep hushed up. Major Ernest
NJ. Culligan, Selective Services
public relations chief. is delighted
to tell you anything that you want
TO know. It's a policy that Direc-
tor c. a. Dykstra, Brig. Gen. Lewis
B. Hershey and the majors other
superiors evidently believe in, too,
or they'd put quietus on him.
Explaining his talkativeness,
Major Culligan recalls that, in our
country's comparative infancy,
widespread resentment was Gre
ated by the compulsory recruiting
OF men for its soldiery, and he's
convinced that one OF the reasons
for it was the inability Of the con-
scripts and their families and
friends to obtain full details Of the
systems operation.
With every family throughout
the nation interested, directly or
indirectly, in the Selective Service
System, there's one policy" he
says, that all units OF our organi.
zation must maintain. It's pol
icy which calls for complete avail.
ability Of full information concern
ing our programs workings"
No Excuse Today
In earlier days, the major ad.
mits, probably the authorities eX-
perienced difficulty, due to print.
tive communications facilities, in
keeping the public adequately
posted relative TO laws Of that era,
but with todays press and radio
there's no excuse, he argues, for
any governmental agency to neg%
lect the dissemination of every de-
tail of it's activities-even micro
scopic details, If the public wants
'em.
And he sympathizes with peo-
Piles curiosity. Il don't suppose"
he ventures the guess, that there's
a single family in the United States
that will escape the effect of the
Selective Service program. Wheth-
er son, a husband, a brother, a
relative or a friend is called for
service, or whether he's deferred,
in the interest Of the national well
fare, his family must be interested
in the plans operation.
Thus far this interest has re-
solved itself into whole-heaTted
support of the program. Here at
headquarters we're convinced that
it's a support which has its foun-
dalton in the fact that all hands
understand how the system works,
or that, if there are any doubts
about il, we're more than willing
to answer all questions.
ours is civilian agency,
though created TO supply men for
our armed forces in a time Of
crisis However, our work goes
beyond the recruiting Of manpow-
er for the military establishment.
Our Job is TO determine. likewise,
what men should stay at home to
work in necessary occupations or
remain with their dependents, to
provide them with needed support.
Decentralization
In this task We function under
a congressional mandate which de-
centralizes our organization. We
don't attempt TO pass judgment
concerning men about whom we
know nothing. Instead, our sys-
TEN spreads out to the commune
ties Of the men themselves, where
local boards decide the merits Of
each individual case - determine
who serves militarily and who's
needed at home. Congress believed
and we believe that board Of a
mans neighbors is better qualified
TO determine a registrants avail
ability for military training-his
position in his COMMUNICATION
any group in Washington possibly
could be.
And we've insisted that an
open door policy on information
must prevail throughout the entire
system.