THE NOME NIJGGET
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MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW DRAFT TO FIT
MEN TO WAR JOBS
Total of 50,000,000 Will Be Available For Services
Brig. General Lewis B. Hershey, Director of Selective
Service. Is Calling All Men “Fit to Fight.
Washington —A major move toward increasing the
Army to the wartime size necessary to execute Presi
dent Roosevelt’s program of hitting the enemy at any
world point where he can be reached was started on
Feb. 16, when about 9,000,000 men between the ages
of 20 and 44 inclusive will register for possible military
service. They will add their names to the approximate
ly 17,500,000 male citizens and aliens between 211
and 37V-> who had registered under thepeacetime draft
program. Later, 2,500.000 men of 18 and 19 years will
be registered for non-military service, as will about
20,000,000 more from 45 to 64 inclusiv.
Need For Workers
There must be trained men to operate the airplanes,
tanks and modern ordnance which have been proved
to be essential to the waging of successful warfare to
day. Trained men also are essential to produce these
armaments. Thus, one of the chief jobs of the govern
ment now is to obtain an army of the size needed
without unnecessarily disturbing production or tear
ing apart the basic social fabric of the nation. Wether
on the war or on the home front, the plan is to have
no slackers in this war. Each person, and particularly
each man, must do his part, whatever the direction his
effort may take. No one physically able to work is to
be allowed to be jobless. Women will be called upon to
help.
The War Department is not encouraging talk about
the size of the Army it is planniny to evolve from the
present base of about 2,000.000 men. The general opin
ion in Washington seems to be, however, that the
Army will be increased to 4,000,000 men fairly rapidly.
And a fighting army of 10,000,000 men eventually, to
aid in crushing Germany, Japan and Italy, is not deem
ed impossible. The bulk of the fighting men will come
from the 20-to-37-year-old group because these men
obviously are better able to stand the rigors of wai
than their elders, And in the nature of things — be
cause they are at their prime as fighting material, be
cause they have less responsibilities and because few
er of them are indispensable in production jobs—more
soldiers will come from the 20-to-28 group than from
those 29-to-37 inclusive. Some also will be taken from
the 37-to-44 inclusive span, although there will be
fewer of these for the same reason.
Elders for Civilian Defense
Men 45 to 64 inclusive will, after classification, be
called upon to take civilian defense jobs and to work
in industry. Even though they may have retired from
the latter at 56 or 60 years of age. As yet, however,
there is no law, as there is in Britain, to make it man
datory for these non-combatants to serve. Everything
but actual induction into military service can be ac
complished by officials with the 18 and 19 year old
group. The selective process can be completed with
regard to this group, even though its members are not
inducted into service until they are 20.
What is the best age for modern soldiers. The War
Department is still arguing about that, and expert
opinion differs. None of our paratroops is over 23
years of age and our mechanized forces are composed
largely of men not more than 28 years old. Youth and
quick reactions seem to be essential for maximum
performance in such arms of service. The consensus'
appears to be that males under 21 lack sufficient sense
of responsibility and tire more quickly than most in
the 21-28 year range.
Tasks After 28
It appears to be agreed that, after 28, some quick
ness in execution is lost and stamina is somewhat
less. On the other hand, in combat tasks like engin
eering, or even artillery service, where judgement may
be more important that hair-trigger decisions, some
what older men do better than younger ones. But, as
Brig. Gen. Lewis B Hershey, director of the Selective
Service, points out, the considerations of last year in
dicated unmarried, healthy young men as the type
especially desired and they were available in quan
tities sufficient to meet the need. Since Dec. 7, the
picture has changed. “A basic principle of Selective
Service,” said General Hershey, who has studied the
.subject even since the last war, “is to procure men
for the land and naval forces (including air) without
unnecessarily disturbing vital industry and other
agencies and facilities which contribute materially to
the stability of our national life. The degree to which
wo interefere with the normal life of our nation is
measured by the need for men for several functions
which contribute directly to the successful prosecu
I
tion of the war.
“Married men with dependents have been deferred
because it is to the interest of the government to main
tain if possible the family as the basic social unit,”
General Hershey explains. “Married men with de
pendents will continue to be deferred until the need
for men becomes much greater than it is at present.
To Protect Industries
“There will be no reduction in vigilance to protect
the production of industries engaged in the supply
ing of our own armed forces and those of our allies,”
he continues. “The Seective Servcie system will be
mindful of the need for feed and for the men who
know how to grow it. “At the same time, the Selective
Service System will expect industry and agriculture
to use the maximum individuals who do not possess
the capacities for the armed forces. It will expect a
gradual but constant substitution of women for men
who are fit to fight.”
W A R BOS S—This is Donald M. Nelson, 54, who as chief of the
new w?ar production board is vested with absolute authority over
wartime procurement of materials, and production. He was born
in Hannibal, Mo., was merchandising chief of Sears Roebuck.
Naming of Nelson Hailed by \villkie
c. J
Power Given Production Chief Held Necessary
But Belated Step Toward Victory
President Roosevelt’s appointment of Donald M.
Nelson as chairman of a war production board with
full power to mobilize American industry and labor in
an all-out effort was commended by Wendell L. Will
kje as a necessary but belated step toward winning
the war. In a speech at the twenty-first annual lunch
eon of the Women’s National Republican club at the
Hotel Astor in New York city, the former Republican
nominee for President declared that it was the func
tion of the Republican party, as the opposition, to
force the use of measures advantageous to the nation,
and continued: “Today the Republican party of the
United States should be greatly gratified. Recently
the President of the United States appointed a single
director of the national production effort. This morn
ing he issued an order giving that director such au
thority as to make him effective in the job he has
, been called upon to do.
Focal Point of Campaign
| “In the last campaign the very focal point of the
Republican presentation of the issues was the neces
sity of making America strong through production.
Perhaps you will recall how many times in that cam
paign in vour behalf I said: “Only the productive can
be str.ng and only the strong can be free.’ I asked my
secretary yesterday to check for me how many times
n the course of that campaign I called for the appoint
ment of a single director in charge of the national pro
duction effort, and, as near as she could check in for
mal and extemporaneous speeches, the call was made
eighty-seven times during the campaign and thirty
! seven times since the campaign was concluded. Re
j publicans, it is our duty as a party and each in his in
dividual capacity to do all we can to assist the man
who has been appointed to bring American productive
1 effort to the utmost.”
j Other speakers were Mrs. Anne O’Hare McCormick,
j who spoke of the part women must take in the war,
and Governor Dwight P. Grisw’old of Nebraska, who
said the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had unified
, the nation and that the farmers of the Middle West
would continue to produce so that neither soldiers nor
i workers would lack for food as they fought and work
ed for the nation. Mrs. Hilliam Henry Hays, president
of the club, presided. About 1,800 persons, many from
other States, were present.
PIONEER I
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FRONT STREET. NOME
No Time for Petty Politics
Mr. Willkie expressed
hope that the Republican
party at this time would
forget all petty politics. He
continued: “Friends of
'mine say to me from time
: to time, ‘Mr. Willkie, don’t
you know that the nation
al Administration and the
Democratic party are us
ing the defense effort for
political purposes and pet
ty politics? Do you not
recognize the conniving
that goes on in Washing
ton?’ My fellow-Republic
ans, no one in the United
States sees these things
] with a sicker heart or more
weary heart than I do.
j “Others say: ‘Since you
| recognize that these things
• do exist, do you not want
the Republicans to adopt
similar methods?’ My plea
is: ‘Don’t do it under any
! circumstances. Don’t do it
l because this country is at
1 war. Don’t do it because
freedom is at stake.’
“The Republican party
should be engaged in find
ing more efficient ways of
winning this war, in find
ing better ways to build
the instruments of warfare
in seeing to it that our mili
tary operations are carried
j out effectively, that the
people’s substance is not
wasted in useless expendi
tures and that social chang
, es are not brought about in
the guise of an emergency.
“We should have this con
structive approach not
alone because America is
at war, not alone because
freedom is at stake, but be
cause as Republicans it is
the practical thing to do.
“This is a time when peo
ple will separate the gold
from the dross, This is a i
time when the people are
much interested in public
affairs and will see through
& if the Republican party
becomes and remains a con
structive force for the sav
ing of freedom, the Repub
lican party will surely re
turn to power. If it returns
to power as such a force, it j
will play a major part in]
the reconstruction of the
world after this war, the
construction of a world in
which free men can live.”
A Washington’s Birthday pro
gram will be presented by the
Bering Native Brotherhood and
Sisterhood Fob. 23, at the gym- ]
nasium ’of the Native school.
Look for the Friday Nugget
for further details.
SCHENLEY
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Spirits .. . Schenley Blends
Give You Perfect MILDNESS
Schenley Black Label 65% Grain
Neutral Spirits, 86.8 Proof. Schenley
Red Label, 72^% Grain Neutral
Spirits, 86 Proof. Blended Whiskey.
Copyright 1941, Schenley Distillers
Corporation, New York City.
SERVICES FRIDAY
The World Day of Prayer Ser
vices will be held at the Eskimo
Church Friday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m.
The theme “1 am the Way”
will be developed and given by
seven readers and the "Mothers
Club” chorus. Mrs. Lydia Bell
will preside. Mrs. Emma Willoya
will lead the offering Litany.
‘•America’s Prayer Minute”
v/ill be observed at 6 p.m. that
day and continuing for the dur
ation of our national emergency.
The plan is nation-wide arid
world-wide.