Evening star., 1946-04-13
Offers Plan
To RaiseDraft
Age 70 70 Years
It's Wrong to Put
Children in Army
He Says in House
BULLETIN.
The House voted tentatively
today to raise the minimum
draft age from 18 to 20 years.
BY the Assoeiofed Press

Pleading for a ban on induc-
tions of 1S and 10 year old youths,
Representative May, Democrat,
OF Kentucky, told the House to-
day "it's wrong to put children in
the Army"
Departing from the stand of the
Military Affairs Committee, of which
he is chairman, Mr.. May intro
duced an amendment to draft ex-
tension legislation to raise the min
1mum induction age from Is to 20.
In a speech supporting the pro-
posal, he told the House he believed
1t also would be "a wise move" to
stop all inductions while voluntary
enlistment program is in operation
Andrews Opposes Amendment.
An amendment to extend the draft
law from May Is of this year to
February Is, 1947, but to prohibit
actual inductions between May Is
and October Is of this year, is
pendinA
Mr.. Mays committee has urged a
straight nine-month extension with
no change in existing age limits and
no draft holiday"
In support of his contention that
teen-agers are not needed, Chair
man May said Gen. Eisenhower re-
Gently told the Senate Military At
fairs Committee that teen-age SOL
diers are mot so suitable" for mill
tary service.
Opposing Mr.. Mays amendment,
Representative Andrews of New
York, top Republican on the mill
tary committee, told the House
there were not enough acceptable
men in the pool over 10 to furnish
the manpoWer needs of the armed
services between now and July l,
1947.
Draft Holiday" Gaining.
To extend the draft law but to
prohibit induction of teen-agers.
Mr.. Andrews claimed, would be
meaningless and would not furnish
sufficient men.
Another Republican on the COM
mittee, Representative Harness of
Indiana, asserted, however, that the
people want to stop taking 18-year-
old boys into the peacetime Army"
MIR. Harness said he believed the
Army and the Navy could get all
the men they need through enlist
ments.
House leaders appeared ready to
go along on the draft holiday" pro-
posal but were set to fight Mr.. Mays
amendment to the last ditch.
Apparently there wasn't much
they could do about either the "hol-
iday" proposal or the teen-age ban,
for both rolled up heavy support
when outlined yesterday during the
opening of debate on the draft ex-
tension measure.
Will Be Disposed of Today.
These two red-hot issues are
scheduled to be disposed of one way
or the other by nightfall, along with
a motion to kill outright the entire
extension legislation. And to allow
plenty of time for decision, Speak
er Rayburn called the House into
session at 10 am. for the second sue
cessive day in an effort to send the
bill to the Senate for vote next
week.
Draft holiday" support has been
nowhere near as conspicuous in the
Senate, whose Military Affairs Com
mittee has recommended a straight
away extension of selective service,
without any such innovation. The
present odds seemed to be that the
two chambers would pass radically
different measures, leaving the ulti-
mate form of the draft extension to
be worked out by conferees.
The House draft holiday" plan
was offered by Chairman Vinson of
the Naval Affairs Committee and
embodies many provisions of an
amendment by Representative Har-
ness, which the Military Committee
first accepted, then rejected early
this week.
Six-Month Moratorium.
The Vinson proposal would con-
tinue the draft law in effect until
next February Is, but with an in
duction moratorium of at least six
months to give a voluntary enlist
ment campaign an opportunity to
fill Army manpower needs.
If enlistments proved inadequate,
the President could order resump-
ton of inductions after October Is
and until February Is.
To many members, the attractive
feature of the Vinson amendment is
that any actual drafting of men be-
fore the congressional elections in
November would have to be ordered
by the President instead of by Con-
QrfSS