Evening star., 1943-05-22
Draft Boards
Ready 70 Weigh
Fathers Claims
Sympathy Pledged,
But SentimentuIity
Will Be Stunned

When fathers are drafted, Dis
trict draft bards will look with
sympathy but not sentimentality"
on their claims for continued defer
ment as extreme hardship cases,
District Selective Service Director
William E. Leahy said today.
Although there can be no hard
and-fast rules as to what consti-
tutes extreme hardship" Mr.. Leahy
said, "the earlier conception that a
family needs the fathers control,
love and affection can no longer be
the controlling factor in placing
men in class Sd"
Glass Sd was created recently by
Selective Service to take care of
cases where induction would result
In extreme hardship to dependents.
Since fathers are not yet being
drafted, the class now is limited to
single men with collateral depend
ents and childless husbands where
extreme hardship is involved.
Local Boards Confer.
Mr.. Leahy's comment followed a
week of meetings with 25 local
boards "in order to perfect some
reasonable rule of uniformity in the
District"
The discussions, Mr.. Leahy said,
centered on the new Sd classifica-
ton "in anticipation of the time
when national Selective Service
headquarters will authorize the in
duction of fathers who are, as yet,
still deferred"
Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey re-
Gently predicted that the induction
of bona fide fathers would begin
around August l. He said he hoped,
however, that fathers would be given
80 days notice before the general
draft of men with children begins.
Boards to Demand Facts.
"A registrant seeking classification
in 3D. must be careful to submit
concrete facts to substantiate his
claim and must thoroughly prove
his case because each one will be in
vestigated carefully by the board"
Mr.. Leahy said.
obviously there can be no gen.
eral definition of extreme hardship
as no two cases will be exactly alike.
Often it is much easier negatively to
determine what does not constitute
a case of extreme hardship than
affirmatively what given situation
may be one of privation. In the end
we must and can depend with con-
fldence on the good judgment of the
local board members.
From this weeks discussions, 7
have found that our boards are al
ready approaching the matter intel
ligently and from practical stand
point. I am sure they will not be
confronted with too much difficulty
in passing on this new classifca-
ton. The experience in classifca-
tion built up during the past two and
half years in determining depend
ency and occupational deferments,
will undoubtedly aid them in prop
erly passing on these hardship cases.
Sympathy Promised.
II am sure the board members will
approach all such claims from the
standpoint of this experience and
registrants will be given every con-
sideration consistent with the Selec-
tive Service regulations However, al
though the boards may be sympa-
thetic, that does not mean that
either they or this headquarters will
be sWayed by sentimentality."
A detailed explanation Of the
working of replacement schedules
also was given the board members
during this weeks meetings. These
replacement schedules, filed by en-
ployers, list all their employees with
in draft age, their particular jobs
and the time necessary to find and
train replacements. In providing
for the orderly withdrawal from
civilian employment of these men,
Mr.. Leahy pointed out, replacement
schedules are proving a definite
benefit to both the employers and
the Selective Service System.
A considerable number of private
concerns and Government estab-
lishments in Washington already
have submitted replacement sched-
ules, the District director reported.
Although the filing of such sched-
ule is not required as a prerequisite
to seeking the deferment of an es-
sential worker. plants with large
numbers of employees subject to
being drafted have been urged to
file them so that war production
will not be unduly disrupted by
workers leaving to join the armed
forces.