Evening star., 1943-10-26


Executive Branch of the Co..
ernment.:
There has recently been much
loose and harmful talk about the
employees of the Federal Govern
ment. In an effort to discredit
those in public service, groundless
charges are being made and ire
sponsible rumors circulated that
the Federal Government is
haven for draft dodgers" and
"slackers."
In simple justice to the many
fine, public-s spirited and devoted
persons in the Government
employ, these unfair accusations
must be emphatically denied.
Here are the true facts con-
cerning the draft deferment of
Government employees. I am
sending them to you so that they
may be made a part of the
permanent record.
On July 81, 1943 (the latest date
for which complete figures are
available) there were in the Gov
ernment service 2,825,9O4 full
time employes-men and women
in the continental United States
less than 9 per cent of whom
work in Washington. According
to the latest available informa-
tion, it is estimated that there
were 154,500 additional civilian
employees outside the continental
United States, the greater part of
whom were working for the War
and Navy Departments or for the
Panama Canal
In addition. there were 145 ,808
part-time paid employees, such as
consultants, specialists and for
est-fire fighters: PSI, 1858 persons
were working without compensa-
tion or for one dollar a year, such
as members of local ration and
draft boards and industrial ad-
visers. 1t has been the Govern
ment's policy not to seek defer
ments for part-time or uncom-
pensated employees or for dollar
a-year men. We can thus at the
ouset dispose of about 100000
persons who under no circum-
stances can be regarded as draft
dodgers"
OF the 1926 904 full-time, paid
civilian employees in the United
States, 1852 700 men and women,
or more than two-thirds, are
employed by the War and Navy
Departments. Let us consider
first these civilian employees of
the War and Navy Departments.
Most Are Engaged in
War Production Activities.
The greater part of them are
engaged in war production in
Government arsenals, ordnance
plants. powder factories and navy
yards, or i'll essential work at
Government depots, warehouses,
proving grounds, air bases, naval
training stations and Govern
ment hospitals They consist of
engineers, craftsmen, mechanics,
skilled artisans. procurement eX-
perts, scientists, specialists and
administrative personnel. They
perform many difficult and i'm
portant functions with regard to
the far-fung supply. production
and other problems of the Army
and Navy.
If the items of war material
now being made in these Gov
ernment-oWned plants were pro-
duCed, instead. in civilian owned
plants, the working men and
women would be the very same
clvillans-and in the same num-
ber. And they would be deferred
as essential war workers the same
as other essential war workers are
deferred
Those who constantly bemoan
the rapid growth of Government
payrolls usually overlook the fact
that it takes hundreds of thou
sands OF men and women to pro-
duce guns and ammunition in
Government arSenalS and to con-
Struct and repair battleshipS,
cruisers, destroyers and Subma-
rlneS in Government navy yards.
the same as in privately owned
and operated plants. One hun
dred per cent of the battleshipS
now in construction, 43 per cent
OF the aircraft carriers, 10 per
cent of the cruisers. 8 per cent of
the destroyers and about 81 per
cent of the submarines are being
built in these Government yards.
Our civilian workers make 86 per
cent Of the Garand rifles built
in this country. These are Just
few examples.
The War and Navy Depart
mentS. like private manufacture
ers, must see to it that production
is not disrupted by the drafting
Of their workers before systematic
arrangements for their replace
ment are made. Accordingly, re-
placement schedules. similar to
those used in private war plants
and factories. have been prepared
for most Army and Navy civilian
workers. Deferments for such
workers in these departments
operate on the same basis as in
private industry. viz. the defer
ment lasts for limited period of
time, during which new people
women or older men or younger
boys-are trained to take the
places of those who are inducted
into the Army or Navy-eXcept
those who are indispensable and
irreplaceable. These replacement
schedules have to be approved by
the Selective Service System be-
fore they become effective.
War, Navy Departments
Employ Many Women.
The vast majority of these
1,952,700 civilian employees of the
War and Navy Departments con-
sist of women, men below or over
draft age, men who have been
classified as physically unfit, and
fathers. According to the records
of selective service, less than 5
per cent of all of the civilian en-
ployes in these experimentation
about 81 000-have been deferred
for occupational reasons. Men OF
draft age are constantly being re-
leased for military dlltv and are