Evening star., 1944-05-14
New Draft Rules
Add 10 Jam al
Appeals Board
District Unit LODGES
Protest With
SeIective Service
By MIRIAM OTTENBERG.

With a backlog of approximately
1000 draft .deferment cases to re-
view under orders from Congress
last fall, the District Board of Ap-
peals now faces thousands Of addi-
tional cases from other areas be-
cause of the new draft regulations.
District draft headquarters, fully
expecting the board to bog down
under the new load, already has
protest with National
Selective Service, it was learned
last night.
National draft headquarters in
turn has asked the House Military
Affairs Committee to permit selec-
tive service to bypass the review
law for men 80 and over. whom the
armed forces don't want anyhow,
but the committee has ordered Sc
.ective service to proceed according
to the law.
Deferment Plan Cited.
When Congress was trying to help
the fathers last fall, 1t wrote into
the draft law provision that the
cases of all men occupationally de-
ferred in one community, but work.
ing in another, would have to be
reviewed by the appeal board in the
area where they worked.
The idea was to squeeze out un-
warranted deferments, thereby
postponing the draft for the fathers.
More than 10000 review cases were
dropped on the District in the
f1rst three weeks of the laws opera
ton while less than fourth of that
number were sent from the Dis
trict to be review by appeal boards
elsewhere.
The new regulations provide for
the deferment of all men 80 and
over IN such wide range of home
front activities that most of the
older men now in la are expected
to win deferments and a substan-
tial number are registered in one
place and working in another.
= The cases of 4-F men who are
put into the occupational classes
because of their jobs will add thou
sands more cases to the task Of
the appeal boards-all in addition
to their regular function, consider
ing the cases Of men appealing
from Ia.
Recently Government deferments
have been granted sparingly be-
cause of the activities of the Pur-
year Committee which has to pass
on all Government cases, but under
the new draft regulations many
OF the 1000 Government employees
over Is now will be entitled to de-
ferments and substantial number
OF them are registered outside the
District.
New Form to Be Mailed.
In that connection, Edgar Pur-
year, chairman of the Government
Committee, announced that all
Federal agencies will receive forms
tomorrow by which they may des-
ignate to draft boards which Of
their employees are 80 and over,
regularly engaged in Federal work
"and therefore entitled to reclassi-
fication under new selective serv-
ice policies" =.
Mr.. Puryear said that where en-
ployes 80 and over are facing i'm
mediate induction, the Federal
agency involved should notify his
committee Immediately. The En-
ployes Board, Mr. Puryear said, will
be notified that he is engaged In
essential work and a stay of in
duction will be asked.
This procedure will be followed.
Mr.. Puryear said, in the cases of
older Government employees who
have already received induction no.
tices. Several of these cases, he
said, have been called to his COM
mittee's attention.
All this spells more headaches for
an already worked District Ap-
peal Board.