Evening star., 1943-08-05

ulO SpttCIl dbOu1 X#$$$# 49,
events in Italy David Lawrence.
and the world in general which
gave such an optimistic impression
of the way the war was going in
our favor that he actually discussed
plans for Army demobilization.
Certainly the public was justified
In deriving the inference that the
war might soon be over. But now,
within few days after that speech
comes one of the most drastic regu-
lations that a democracy ever has
to face in wartime. 1t is the an
nouncement that pre-Pearl Harbor
fathers will be called to the draft
on October ! and thereafter.
If, as so many people have as
sumed, the war is nearly over, why
is it necessary to draft fathers and
begin to disrupt families? Clearly
measures like this are not the kind
that precede an early end of the
war but rather envisage a prolonged
struggle and heavy casualties.
May Overhaul System.
Senator Taft, of Ohio, one of the
few Senators who have had the
temerity to question the efficiency
of National Selective Service Head
quarters and its regulations, says
the whole system may soon have to
be overhauled.
A House Military Affairs sub
committee, meeting in California
this week, has learned that $1,000
aircraft workers may have to be
pulled out of the factories to meet
the new draft call.
When a Nation reaches such a
critical point that 1t must with
draw aircraft workers to fill up the
Army, the average observer has a
right to inquire whether the Presi-
dent has told the American people
all the essential facts about the
war or whether big events are i'm
pending which will require more
manpower than we have ever used
before.
One Democratic Senator says the
purpose Of the big Army is to i'm
press Russia at the peace table. An
other report Is that the purpose OF
the s,nnnoning OF pre-Pearl Harbor
fathers is to force some Of them
from non-essential to essential In
dustYies. ....
VINO Diresarded.
The latter report sounds far from
plauxible because local draft boards
are not supposed to adopt the War
Manpover Commission definitions
Of essential" and "non-essential"
II they don't feel Ike 1t. In fact,
the National Selective Service
Headquarters itself disregards the
War Manpower Commission bull
letins, too, although the employers
OF the country are led to believe
that there really is some system or
order and some real regulation Of
the flow Of manpower on the basis
of essentially.
The people have much to learn
about the arbitrary manner in
which the Selective Service Law has
been administered The local
boards by and large have done q
fine job, but the viewpoint of the
National Selective Service Head
quarters is largely one Of militarism
a viewpoint that does not take
into account civilian requirements
or the true value Of manpower.
Misfits Put into Army.
Many Of the staff Of the national
headquarters and some State di-
rectors are military men, though the
public has been assured again and
again that civilians control every
thing. AS for manpower screening
and selective service, the Army is
constantly receiving for induction
and accepting men who are beyond
IS years Of age-the age at which
the Chief of Staff, Gen. Marshall,
has said that men are not suitable
for the Army-and there are many
men being inducted who, In the
opinion of psychiatrists, should
never be admitted.
There are high officials here who
complain that men have been
drafted from their Offices who are
among the most competent men in
professional work in the country.
Some of these have been doing
kitchen police in Army camps. A
thorough study of the way the Ma
tional Selective Service Headouar-
ters functions and the way 1t dis
regards War Manpower Commission
bulletins would be a constructive
step.
1t would be interesting to know
also who ordered the draft of pre-
Pearl Harbor fathers. Certainly 1t
doesn't seem possible that such a
move was made without the Presi-
dents knowledge and consent. If
1t was, then the lack OF co-ordina-
ton In Washington is worse than
most observers have been willing to
believe.
tReproduetion RiEhts Reterysd)