Evening star., 1941-12-17

or production
machinery of David Lawrence.
the United States designed to sup
plement the Army, Navy and Air
Forces.
The foregoing in brief is the mean
ing of the legislation now pending
and which will shortly be adopted
by overwhelming vote of Congress.
1t provides for a mobilization of
man power such as America has
never witnessed in any war in
history.
Should able-bodied men enlist now
and not wait for the selective service
process? What of those with de-
pendents? And what of those above
A who may have some military
training in specialized lines?
These and hundreds of other ques-
tions will arise as each American
asks himself what his duty is in the
present crisis. The answer may be
found in the words of President
Roosevelt. who, in letter to con-
gressional committees endorsing the
proposed legislation, spoke of the
registration" of those between the
ages Of l8 and "a as providing IAN
essential instrument for the orderly
planning of our national effort
Production Front" Is Factor.
Mr.. Roosevelt used the words
orderly planning" and it would
seem that any abrupt deviation from
normal pursuits especially on the
part of those engaged in essential or
needful businesses or trades would
not be an orderly procedure. Volun-
teering has multiplied by fantastic
percentages in the last week and
while this is a gratifying manifesto
ton of patriotic feeling, it is also
likely to prove in some instances to
be provocative OF disturbance to the
productive mechanism, which 1t Is
nowadays so important to improve
rather than disrupt from an effici-
ency standpoint.
AS for those who are liable to
military service under the proposed
law-those of 10 through 44-the
chances are the military and naval
and air establishments will prefer
those without dependents first. Con-
gress is going to be asked to provide
allowances for hardship cases. Re-
classification of the younger men to
bring them back into the active list
subject to immediate call will be
begun at once so that those who
have been previously rejected for
minor defects of a physical nature
can be looked over again in the light
of the new requirements.
Back of the new legislation, how
ever, is one major factor. 1t Is the
desire of the Government to mobi-
lize man power for use in government
factories whenever this should be-
come necessary. In a short time the
so-called anti-strike legislation may
become academic, for if it becomes
the War Departments right to put
into active service at few dollars
a month some of the workers with
high wage scales who participate in
wildcat strikes, the Government will
have a leverage over labor disputes
more potent than any labor legis-
lation could be. In the first World
War a regulation known as the
work or fight" order had a salutary
effect on labor disputes and at least
reduced them to the orderly pro-
cedures that involve direct RESPONSE
bility to union leaders instead Of
permitting walkouts and unauthor-
lied Interruptions.
Day-to-Day Rules.
In the new legislation the discre-
ton will be wholly with the Army,
Navy or Air Forces. The proposed
law does not specifically exempt
anybody between the ages of 10 and
a from military service. The rules
and discretionary exemptions or de-
ferements will be announced from
time to time by the military and
naval and air force ofdcers, whose
needs for man power will be the de-
termining factor for the guidance
Of local draft boards operating the
selective service law.
just when the new Army will see
service outside the United States in
any huge numbers remains proble-
matical. But until the British and
American navies can safely convoy
large troop transports and protect
them against air as we'll as sub
marine attack, it does not seem
likely that there will be long voyages
with vast troop movements such as
were witnessed in connection with
the A. E. F. in the last war.
Meanwhile, training Of q huge
Army for more remote contingencies
will begin in earnest, and 1t may
well be that in this war as In the
last, the vast majority will not see
service outside the continental
United States.
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