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The Commoner
10
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Z0h' 17, NO. 6 ,
1
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L-f,
Selective Conscription Law
L
ulaf
motfbearlB to tho total population
of tho United States. v '
Tho President Is hereby author
ized, In his discretion, to create and
establish throughout tho several
statos aid subdivisions thereof and
in tho territories and tho District of
Columbia, local boards, and where,
iu i"i4 discretion, practicable and de
sirable there shall be created and
established one rup.1i lnnnl hnnrrl In
each county or sim'ilar subdivision
in each state, and one for approx
imately eash 30,000 of population
in each city of 30,000 population or
over, according to tho last census
taken or estimates furnished by the
bureau of census of tho department
of commerce. Such boards shall bo
appointed by the President, and shall
consist of three or more members,
none of whom shall bo connected
with the military establishment, to
bo chosen from among tho local au
thorities of such subdivisions or from
othor citizens residing In tho sub
division or area in which tho re
spective boards will have jurisdic
tion under the rules and regulations
' proscribed by tho President. Such
boards shall have power within their
respective jurisdictions to hear and
determine, subject to review as here
inafter provided, all questions of ex
emption under this act, and all ques
tions or claims for including- or dis-
charging individuals or classes , ,of
individuals from the selective draft,'
which shall be made under rules and
regulations prescribed by the Presi
dent, except any and every question
or- claim for including or excluding,
or discharging persons or classes of.
0$mmmi
',
.ii r iwf "ink
PARENTS
I who love to gratify H
II children's desire for
1 the same articles of H
ID food and drink that M
II grown-ups use, find J
I Instant 1
I Postum I
H just the thing. m
H "There's a Reason' B
norsons from the selective draft un
der -the provisions of this act au
thorizing the President to exclude or
discharge from the selective draft
"persons engaged jn industries, in
cluding agriculture, found to be
necessary tp the maintenance of the
military establishment, .or tho ef
fective operation of tho military
forces, or to the maintenance of na
tional interest during tho emer
gency." The President-' is hereby author
ized to establish additional boards.
ono in each federal judicial district
of tho United States, consisting of
such number of citizens, not con
nected with the military establish
ment, as the President may doteiv
mine, who shall be appointed by the
President. The President is hereby
authorized, in his discretion, to es
tablish more than one sucli board
in any federal judicial district of the
United States, or to establish one
such board having jurisdiction of an
area extending into moro than one
federal judicial district.
Such district boards shall review
on appeal and affirm, modify or re
verse any decision of any local board
having jurisdiction in tho area in
which any such district board has
jurisdiction, under the rules and
regulations prescribed by the .Pres
ident. Such district boards shall
havo exclusive original jurisdiction
within their respective areas to
hear and determine all questions or
claims for including or excluding or
discharging persons or classes of
persons from the selective draft, un
der the provisions of this act, not
included within the original juris
diction of such local boards.
.Tho decisions of such 'district
boards shall be final except that, .in
accordance with such rules and reg
ulations as the President may pre
scribe, he may affirm, modify or re
verse any such decision.
Any vacancy in any such inmil
board or district board shall be filled
by the President, and any member of
any such local board or district
board may bo removed and another
appointed in his place by the Pres
ident, whenever he considers that
the interest of the nation demands it.
The President shall make rules
and regulations governing the or
ganization and procedure of such
local boards and district boards, and
providing for and governing appeals
from such local boards to such dis1
trict boards, and reviews of the de
cisions of any local board, by the
district board having jurisdiction.
and determining and prescribing the
several areas in which the respective
loqal boards and district boards shall
have jurisdiction, and all other
rules and regulations necessary to
carry out the terms and provisions
of this section, and shall provide for
the issuance of certificates of exemp-
tiuu, ur lmruui or limited exemp
tions, and for a system to exclude
and discharge individuals from se
lective draft.
Section 5. That all male persons
between the ages of 21 and 30, both
Inclusive, shall be subject to regis
tration in accordance with regula
tions to be prescribed by the Presi
dent; and upon proclamation by the
President or other public notice
given by him or by his direction
stating the time and place of such
registration it shall be the duty ot
all persons of the designated ages
except officers and enlisted men ot
the regular army, the navy, and the
national 'guard and nayal militia
while in the service, of the United
States, to present themselves for and
submit to registration under the pro
visions of this act; and every such
person shall be deemed to have no
tice of the requirements of this act
upon tho publication of said procla
mation or other notice as aforesaid
given by the President or by his di
rection, and any person who shall
wilfully fail or refuse to present
himself for registration or to sub
mit thereto as herein provided shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and
shall, upon conviction in the dis
trict court of the United States hav
ing jurisdiction thereof, be punished
by imprisonment for not more than
one year, and shall thereupon be
duly registered; provided, that in
the call of tho docket precedence
shall be given, in courts trying the
same, to the trial of criminal pro
ceedings under this act; provided
further, that persons shall be sub
ject to registration as herein pro
vided who shall have attained their
twenty-first birthday and who shall
not have attained their tnirty-first
birthday on or before the day set for
the registration, and all persons so
registered shall be and remain sub
ject to draft into the forces hereby
authorized, unless exempted or ex
cused therefrom as in this act pro
vided; provided further, that in the
case of temporary absence from ac
tual place of legal residence of any
person liable to registration as pro
vided herein such registration may
be made by mall under regulations to
be prescribed by the President.
Section 6. That the President is
hereby authorized to utilize ,the Sfcr
vice of any or all departments and
any or all officers or agents of, the
United States and of the several
states, territories and, the Dis.ttfct :Of
Columbia, and subdivisions therAnf.
in the' execution of this act,, and. all
umuers ana agents of the United
States and of the several states, ter
ritories and subdivisions thereof, and
of the District of Columbia, and all
persons designated or appointed un
der regulations prescribed by the
President, whether such appoint
ments are made by the .President
himself or by the governor or other
officer of any state or territory to
perform any duty in the execution
of this act, are hereby required' to.
perform such duty as the President
shall order or direct, and all such
officers and agents and persons so
designated or appointed shall hereby
have full authority for all acts done
by them in the execution of this act
oy tne direction of the President.
Correspondence in the execution" of
this act may be carried in penalty
envelopes bearing the frank of, the
war department. Any person charged
as herein provided with the duty of
carrying into effect any of the pro
visions of this act or the regulations
made or directions given thereunder
who shall fall or neglect to perform
such duty; and any person charged
with such duty or having and exer
cising any authority under said act,
regulations or directions, who shall
knowingly make or be a party to
the making of any false or incorrect
registration, physical examination,
exemption, enlistment, enrolment, or
muster any person who shall make
or be a party to the making of any
false statement or certificate as to
the fitness or liability of himself or
any other person for military ser
vice under the provisions of this
act, or regulations made by the Pres
ident thereunder, or otherwise
evades or aids another to evade the
requirements of this act or of said
regulations, or who in any manner
shall fall or neglect fully to perform
any duty required of him in the exl-
ecution of this act, shanTTT
Ject to military iaJ ' f ,not nb.
misdemeanor, and uinn gUlIty ol a
the district court of ?UVlct,on
States having jurisdiction !! Un,lel
punished by imprisonment?0 be
more than one year 1 f for not
military ,aw, BCtfj
martial and suffer sue , , ? C0Urt
as a court martial ! n,ment
Section 7. That Iect
and conditions for v'oUt
istlng lawafSorthen toSSSS
ular army, except that ecrul "
be between the ages of tl S must
years, both inclusive, at LT 40
their enlistment; and mini Ume ot
ments shall be for tL n "i en,,st'
emergency un?es8 soone? 5 i f the
All enlistments, lncludw arged'
the regular army reserve wi .T in
in force on the dVte of L h are
M CS!
struerVoreScir
existing enlistment, proV ?d,0f Z
!" pe,?on; enlisted or drafted unde
any of the provisions of this S
shall as far as practicable be grouped
int unI,ts by states and the Seal
further, that all persons who have
enlisted since April l, ion elthS
in the regular army or in the nation
al guard, and all persons who have
??, J I6, ?e national guard since
June 3, 1916, upon their application,
shall be discharged upon the termin
ation of the existing emergency.
The President may provide tor
the discharge of any or all enlisted
men whose status with reapect to de
pendents renders such discharge ad
visable; and he may also authnri7.fi
the employment on any active duty
of retired enlisted men of the regu
lar army, either with their rank on
the retired list, or in higher enlisted
grades, and such retired enlisted men
.Shall receive the full pay and allow
ances of the grades in which they
are actively employed.
. Section 8. That the President, by
and with the advice and consent of
the senate, is authorized to appoint
for the period of the existing emer
gency such general officers of appro
priate grades as may be necessary
for duty with brigades, divisions and
higher units in which the forces pro
vided for herein may be organized
by the President, and general officers
of appropriate grade for the several
cpast artillery districts. Insoiar as
such appointments may be made from
any of the forces herein provided for,
the appointees may be selected ir
respective of the grades held by them
in such forces. Vacancies in all
grades in tho regular army resulting
from tho appointment of officers
thereof to higher grades in the forces
other than tho regular army herein
provided for shall bo filled by tem
porary promotions and appointments
in the manner prescribed for filling
temporary vacancies by section H
of the national defense act approvea
June 3, 1916: and officers appoints
under the provisions of this actio
higher grades in tho forces otner
than the regular army herein pro
vided for shall not vacate their per
manent commissions nor be prej
diced in their relative or lincai
standing in the regular my.
Section 9. That the appointments
authorized and made as Vdeaw
the second, third, fourth, Mfial
and seventh paragraphs of section
and by section 8 of this act, and tn
temporary appointments In the res
ular army authorized by the nr
paragraph of section 1 of this
., .n
L V" AiJ.