Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 April 1917 — SPEEDY ACTION ONCE BILL IS PASSED [ARTICLE]

SPEEDY ACTION ONCE BILL IS PASSED

Census of Men of Military Age Under Way Ten Days After Bill Is Passed—Vigorous Training.

With enactment of the selective draft army bill apparently assured, the war department is preparing to set machinery in motion without delay to produce under the measure within two years a trained army of 2,000,000 men. Within ten dhys after the 'bill is signed every township in the country will be registering its young men for duty, and work will be begun on the sixteen training cantonments or camps where preparations of the forces of war will start August or September. Sites for the cantonments have been selected (tentatively, and arrangements made for the concentration of the troops assigned to each. Decentralization of the administration will be sought by the department In every move it miakes. Details will not be disclosed until the bill has passed, but it is known the registration will be carried out through sheriffs and other county officers and added by the postmasters and other federal agencies. Instructions and farms have been prepared and will be forwarded -to the state adjutant generals for distribution among county officials. Wide publicity is planned, so that no man liable for registration will have a good excuse for falling to respond. On a date to be set every citizen affected by the act will be required on pain of heavy penalty to present himself at 'the nearest registration place where .machinery will be provided for classifying the recruits and eliminating those exempt. Doubtful cases will be referred bo higher autliority. When the roll of those Hable for service compete, the task of selecting the men to igo in. the first increment of 500,000 will begin. It has been suggested that this be done by means of a county jury wheel. The first man whose name is dfiaiwn will ■ go, under the plan, with the first 500,000, to be called out for training within a few months. 'Those drawn second will go with an increment to be sent six months later, the third increment with a duty ait a year off, the fourth with tlie first increment and iso on.