NOTES ON ABBREVIATIONS

In Part I of this Manual: "Sec." indicates sections of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940.

In Part III: "Sec." indicates sections of the Selective Training and Service Act, and "Par." indicates paragraphs of the Selective Service Regulations issued thereunder.

In Part IV: "Sec." indicates sections of the National Service Life Insurance Act of 1940.

(7)

AMENDMENTS* OF SELECTIVE SERVICE REGULATION NO. 103

The fifth sentence of this regulation has been amended to read: "An Advisory Board for Registrants is appointed to advise and assist registrants in preparing questionnaires, claims, or other papers which will serve as a basis for classification" and the following paragraph has been added thereto: "It is not intended that members of Advisory Boards shall be precluded from disseminating such information and advice as to matters not directly connected with the operative processes of Selective Service which they in their individual capacity and not as officials of Selective Service may deem helpful to registrants, or their dependents such as advice in connection with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 or other matters about which registrants by reason of their probable induction may need assistance."

AMENDMENT OF SELECTIVE SERVICE REGULATION NO. 145

This amendment consisted of striking out the word "etc." in the third line and inserting 11 words in that place so that the first sentence of the regulation now reads as follows: "In each State, advisory boards for registrants shall be appointed by the Governor to insure that advice and assistance in preparing questionnaires, claims, or other papers which will serve as a basis for classification, are readily available to every registrant."

AMENDMENT OF SELECTIVE SERVICE REGULATION

NO. 135

All that part of this regulation after the third sentence has been stricken out and the following has been substituted therefor: "The duties of the person so designated are: To appeal from any classification by a local board which, in his opinion, should be reviewed by the board of appeal; to care for the interests of ignorant registrants and their dependents with respect to appeals, and where the decision of the local board is against the interests of such persons, and where it appears that such persons may not take appeals, due to their own nonculpable ignorance, to inform them of their rights and assist them to enter appeals to the board of appeal; and after classification, to investigate and report upon matters which are submitted for his investigation by the local board. It shall also be the duty of such appeal agent, where the interests of justice may require, to suggest to the local board a reopening of any case, and to impart to the local board any information which in his opinion ought to be investigated. The government appeal agent should expedite the examination of the records of registrants as soon as they have been classified by the local board in order that appeals to the board of appeal, where found necessary, may be filed within the time limit. specified in the regulations.'

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*See Federal Register, December 11, 1940, page 4893.

PART I

THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' CIVIL RELIEF ACT OF 1940

A. SCOPE OF THE ACT

1. In General

1

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Act of 1940 was enacted to promote and strengthen the national defense by making provision for the legal protection of persons in military service in order that they may be free from anxiety concerning their civil obligations. It suspends the enforcement of certain civil liabilities of such persons (sec. 100). The act permits payment to be deferred in the case of obligations such as rent, installment contracts, mortgages, taxes, and insurance premiums, where military service impairs the ability to pay.

2. Application of the Relief Act of 1918

In order immediately to protect the men called into service in 1940, certain benefits of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1918 2 were revived and extended by section 4 of the National Guard Act 3 and section 13 of the Selective Training and Service Act.*

The extension of benefits contained in section 13 is not applicable to any person because none were inducted into the service of the United States under that act prior to October 17, 1940, when the Relief Act of 1940 became effective. The latter statute provides (sec. 605) that section 13 "shall not be applicable with respect to any military service performed after the date of enactment of this act."

The benefits of the 1918 act may be available under section 4 of the National Guard Act to those members of the "National Guard, Reserve, and retired personnel ordered into the active military service of the United States" prior to October 17, 1910 (the day on which section 4 was also declared to be inapplicable by section 605 of the Relief Act of 1940), but as to any such person it seems clear that he would be entitled to resort to the 1918 act only if it enumerates a benefit which could be asserted against a creditor in an action instituted between the day on which such person was ordered to active duty and October 17, 1940. In all other cases the rights of persons in military service under the cited legislation are controlled exclusively by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940.5

3. Duration

The act of 1940 will remain in force until May 15, 1945, and, if the country is then at war, for a further period of 6 months after the proclamation by the President of a peace treaty (sec. 604).

1 Public No. 861, 76th Cong., approved October 17, 1940.

2 Act of March 8, 1918 (40 Stat. L. 440) (see U. S. C. A., Title 50, 1940 supp.). Public Res. No. 96, 76th Cong., approved August 27, 1940.

Public No. 783, 76th Cong., approved September 16, 1940.

For a discussion of the history and constitutionality of the act as well as its provisions, see the article by Capt. Karl R. Bendetson in Washington and Lee Law Review, vol. II, Fall 1940. See also "Mobilization for Defense," identically in Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Columbia Law Review, December 1940.