EMPLOYERS HAVE DUTY
SHOULD HELP IN WORK OF
CLASSIFYING THE NEW '
REGISTRANTS.
rotating out tlio duty of employer
of InlKir In assuming n proper hlmro
of responsibility for the classification
of now registrants under the selective
ervlee net, a communication from Pro
vost Marshal tlcneial Crowder has
been made public. The points empha
sized are as follow:
I have, notleed, In the general ex
pressions of the public attitude which
reach this oWee. two frequent features
wHtli lead me to the present com
ments. One of those features Is the
belief that the process of awarding de
ferred classification to a registrant re
quires merely the filling out of the
questionnaire, and that the selective
service boards will perceive the pro
priety of making the deferment, with
in:! the assistance furnished by the
registrant's formal claim Indicating
the deferment desired. The other fea
ture Is the employer's failure to real
lw hi responsibility to Intervene In
Hiding the board's determination, and
therefore to Inform himself fully on all
the considerations which should affect
the division as to deferment.
1. As to the first mentioned belief.
It must be pointed out that If it were
universally act.nl upon, the process Df
classification would be seriously hain
.eml and delayed. Someone must In
dicate that the Individual ense Is one
which should arrest the special atten
tion of the lMards In respect to the reg
istrant's occupational status. The
boards do not possess a superhuman
omnlscence.
Boards Will Make Examination.
The boards will do all that they pos
sibly can. on their own Initiative, to
reach a Just decision by a complete ex
amination of the questionnaire, even
where no claim Is expressly made. A
registrant Is therefore at liberty, If he
sees fit, to trust to the scrutiny of the
boards to discover the necessity for his
deferment.
Nevertheless, the boards will wel
come and will need all the aid that can
be furnished by the Indication of a
claim made for deferment.
2. Why should the employer, or oth
er third person. In such cases, make
the claim? Because the employer In
this situation represents the nation,
because (In the statutory phrase)
"the maintenance of the military es
tablishment or of national Interest
during the emergency" requires that
some well-advised third person should
look after that national Interest, which
the registrant himself may not have
sufficiently considered.
It Is often forgotten that the selec
tive draft Is only one element In the
depletion of a particular industry's
man-power. A second and large ele
ment is found in the voluntary with
drawals for enlistment; how large this
Is may be seen from the circumstance
that the total inductions by draft have
reached some 2,000,000. w hile the total
enlistments In army ami navy amount
to some 1,400.000 nearly three-quarters
as many. A third element, very
large, but unknown as to its precise
extent, has been the transfer of labor
power from one industry to another,
namely, into the distinctively war In
dustries offering the Inducements of
higher wages. How relatively small.
In actual effect, has been the effect of
the selective draft Is seen In the fact
that, for all the occupations represent
ed In the 8.700.000 classified regis
trants of January, 1918. the percen
tage of the entire Industrial popula
tion represented by the class 1 regis
trants amounted to only C per cent. It
ran as low as 3 per cent for some oc
cupations, and correspondingly higher
for some other occupations; but the
national average was only 6 per cent.
Any notably larger depletion In partic
ular Industries must therefore have
been due, partly to enlistments, and In
probably greater degree, to voluntary
transfers Into other Industries.
Must Remember Nation's Needs.
These other Influences are therefore
to be kept In mind by employers and
others. In weighing the question wheth
er the best solution. In the national
Interest, Is to ask for the deferment
Of Individuals or groups of men. Such
deferments may assist the Immediate
situation In the particular establish
ment; but they merely force the army
nd the navy to seek elsewhere for the
flame number of men thus deferred.
The quantitative needs of the
military forces are known and Im
perative; and any given quantity of
deferments will ultimately have to be
made up by the depletion of some
other occupation. Thus It becomes
the employer's duty to consider these
aspects of deferment. In seeking that
solution of his own problem which best
comports with the national interest
The keynote of purpose for all of
us ought to be, and I am sure will be,
that wise and profoundly significant
phrase tn the act of congress under
which we operate. the maintenance
of the military establishment or the
effective operation of tne military
forces or th maintenance of national
Interest during the emergency.
Be
iter iLojmpped
. u
THAN EVER BEFORE
r
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J4 ZA
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In our first real war year the University will play an
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clearly the duty of every college man and woman to be
informed. The Daily Nebraskan will keep you posted.
A Dollar Well Spent
S u IBSCIR
now
AT STUDENT'S ACTIVITIES OFFICE