Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1917 — EXEMPTS FACE WAR SERVICE [ARTICLE]

EXEMPTS FACE WAR SERVICE

WILL BE USED WITH SPECIAL FORCES BEHIND THE FIRING LINE. Nearly 200,000 men already called for examination before draft boards and exempted because of physical disability may find they are not exempted at all and may be at the head of the list for the new national army draft, under the new draft regulation which have just been made public. This was the opinion expressed by officials of the provost general’s office.

The new regulations provide that men suffering from minor ailments such as flat feet, slightly defective vision, and other troubles that would preclude their valuable service on the firing line, may be certified for service with special forces where their work will not require the rigorous body or physical perfection of

men in the fighting front. Accurate estimates are not yet available at draft headquarters, but on unofficial returns from the first draft it is estimated that possibly 400,000 or 500,000 eligible called for examination were exempted because of physical defects. In nearly half of these cases the ailments are of such minor character as to permit the eligibles to earn their own livelihood without their defects being commonly These men will be used in the organization of road and wagon gangs and in special trades in which they are especially qualified.

It is not believed they will become subject to the first draft, all of which probably will be mobilized December 15, the time at which the new regulations go into effect, but they will in their regular order of liability. Most of the regulations, including, the parts of more importance public, become effective at noon of December 15, and up to that time all men called for mobilization or entrainment will be’called under the first draft regulations. After that date and as soon as a classification list is drawn up from the new questionnaires men now selected for the service but not yet called will be reclassified under the new regulations, but in most cases their order of responsibility for service will not be greatly changed.