SELECTIVE SERVICE REGULATIONS PRESCRIBED BY THE PRESIDENT UNDER FORM 999 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1917 FOREWORD. THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington. The task of selecting and mobilizing the first contingent of the National Army is nearing completion. The expedition and accuracy of its accomplishment were a most gratifying demonstration of the efficiency of our democratic institutions. The swiftness with which the machinery for its execution had to be assembled, however, left room for adjustment and improvement. New Regulations putting these improvements into effect are, therefore, being published to-day. There is no change in the essential obligation of men subject to selection. The first draft must stand unaffected by the provisions of the new Regulations. They can be given no retroactive effect. The time has come for a more perfect organization of our man power. The selective principle must be carried to its logical conclusion. We must make a complete inventory of the qualifications of all registrants in order to determine, as to each man not already selected for duty with the colors, the place in the military, industrial or agricultural ranks of the nation in which his experience and training can best be made to serve the common good. This project involves an inquiry by the Selection Boards into the domestic, industrial and educational qualifications of nearly ten million men. Members of these Boards have rendered a conspicuous service. The work was done without regard to personal convenience and under a pressure of immediate necessity which imposed great sacrifices. Yet the services of men trained by the experience of the first draft must of necessity be retained and the Selection Boards must provide the directing mechanism for the new classification. The thing they have done is of scarcely one-tenth the magnitude of the thing that remains to be done. It is of great importance both to our military and to our economic interests that the classification be carried swiftly and accurately to a conclusion. An estimate of the time necessary for the work leads to the conclusion that it can be accomplished in sixty days; but only if this great marshalling of our resources of men is regarded by all as a national war undertaking of such significance as to challenge the attention and compel the assistance of every American. |