Evening star., 1942-11-29

The structure OF SelectlVe service,
however. has remained unchanged since t
end Service Act of 1910 on September Is c
During the peacetime operation OF the:
act. the draft actually affected few men
compared to the total of the Nations
manpower. The men registered, read
about the first great lottery. visited their
local boards to learn their order num-
hers. filled out their questionnaires, and,
If they had the renotest claim to defer
ment, were usually placed in deferred
classification.
The Peacetime Draft
In peacetime, draft boards bent over
backwards to give every reasonable
doubt. Home life was to remain undis-
turbed. Civilian activities were to 60 on.
With nearly 100000 men registered.
selecting an Army of less than 100000
meant only trickle of men out of each
community.
Now there are few homes untouched
by the draft in one way or another. One
home has given possibly four sons. In
another, a husband has gone. The boy
down the street is in 4-F. The man next
door has enlisted in the Navy because his
draft board was approaching his order
number A young wife has gone into
war plant to supplement the allotment
from her husband and allowance from
the Government.
Likewise. few business concerns have
been unaffected by the draft. Civilian
industries without war contracts have
been particularly hard hit. Their men
have faced two alternatives, work on the
production line or the Army. The file
clerk who knew where everything was
has gone. So have the promising young
men in the bank who were going to step
into the oldsters' shoes some day.
No Longer "If" but when"
Men no longer wonder If the draft will
reach them. Now they wonder when.
Prompted not by any desire to evade the
draft but to plan ahead for their famil-
les, they are beginning to study draft
classi1cations-the distinction between
class IA and class 2-B, class 3A and
class 3-B, category 3 and category a.
No one can predict how large future
calls for men will be, the determining
factor in the time element, but one can
chinery of the draft has worked, how, on
larger scale it is working now.
Recently, Mai. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey
director of selective service. sent to the
President his report on the peacetime
operation of the draft. For historians
that 400-page document will prove In
valuable with It's numerous appendices
Its State-by-State and monthly month
records. For the layman, the report has
another use 1t lays the ground work
for what is happening now.
Trial and Error Method
In many instances during peacetime
q trial and error method had to be fol
lowed for lack of precedent. There was
for instance. the matter Of physica
examinations. In the early days, mar
was sent to camp Immediately after TAX
ing his Army physical with the resul
that many men wound up their affair
only to be rejected at the induction sta
tions Then they had to 60 back II
civilian life, sometimes after they has
quit their jobs, given up their apart
ments sold their cars and sent relative
of to stay with other members OF th
family.
Now the men are advised not to wine
up their civilian affairs until they hav
actually been inducted into the Army
A two-week period in the enlisted re
serve, recently reduced to one week, ha
become the answer to what would nov
result In a severe dislocation of civilial
life
Dependency Deferments
A serious complaint was the lack
uniformity among local boards in tn
matter of dependency deferments. On
man might be deferred while his neigh
Dor across the street. who had the sam
claims to deferment but who was regis
tered in a different draft board, was sen
for induction.
Various methods were attempted t
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