Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-01-19
Manpower Officials
Study Urgency for
Drafting Family Men
Essential Employment
Moy Become Sole
Cause for Deferment

With essential employment loom
Ing as the sole cause for deferment
in the future, manpower officials
are completing an inventory to de-
termine how soon men with children
will have to be called into the
armed forces. it was learned today.
The contemplated size of the
armed forces, the number of sin
gle men and childless married men
left on draft board roles and the
number who must be deferred for
occupational reasons are the de-
termining factors in considering
when family men will be called.
Present indications are that late
summer will see the first family
men entering the armed forces.
Along that line, District Selective
Service Director William E, Leahy,
in announcing childleSs married
men here would start going into
the services next month, estimated
it would be July at the earliest be-
fore draft boards would begin to
call family men.
Would Drop Deferment.
There is a strong feeling in some
Official circles however. that de-
tendency should be eliminated as a
cause for deferment at once in order
to stop the alleged filling of draft
calls with single men in essential
industries.
These officials contend that if the
pressure of filling draft calls and
at the same time observing de-
tendency deferments were removed.
the boards would not be forced to
call men with special skills as these
officials allege is now being done.
Congress has expressed vigorous
opposition to calling married men
with children before it is absolutely
necessary, insisting that family ties
should be maintained as long as
possible.
SicNutt Refuses Forecast.
AT his press conference yester-.
day, War Manpower Chairman Nc
Mutt refused to predict when fam
lily men might be called because
he said, he believed it unwise to
excite family men until he was
certain, and he was not certain
now. He added that as much no.
tice as possible would be given
StreSSing that occupation is be-
coming more and more important,
he said, in response to a question
whether occupation would finally
become the sole basis of deferment,
that one could apply logic" to get
the answer to that.
Draft boards were told some time
ago to reclassify men in ga into
BIB if they meet the tests of having
dependents and are in an essential
activity. This is considered an in
centive to attract men into the IS
essential activities.
Quotas Adjusted.
Although draft boards were in
structed in directive last year to
start calling married men when the |
supply of single men. with and with
out secondary dependents, was ex-
hausted, they were told not to call |
married men with children until |
they received further notice from |
national headquarters.
Those instructions were to keep !
the call on men as uniform as pos
sible in the various States, re-
adjusting State and even local |
quotas so that areas which were
short of single men would not have |
to dip into the pool OF family men
before other States.
AS result of the statistics now
being compiled, notice to call family |
men may be forthcoming in the next |
few months. Before instructions are |
given, however, decision will have
to be made on the order in which |
they should be called. whether order |
numbers will be followed or the call |
based on the number of children in
q family.