INTRODUCTION After the fall of France in June 1940 the Government of the United States took steps to increase its defense measures by speeding up production of armament and by enacting the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (54 Stat. 885). This act, the Nation's first peacetime conscription law, was approved by President Roosevelt on September 16. On the same day the President issued a proclamation setting October 16, 1940, as the date on which all males within the continental United States from the ages of 21 to 35 inclusive should be registered for the draft. On September 23 the President prescribed regulations for the organization and administration of the Selective Service System; on October 14, he appointed as National Director Clarence A. Dykstra, President of the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Dykstra continued in office until April 1, 1941; after an interval he was succeeded Brig. Gen., later Maj. Gen., Lewis B. Hershey. The purpose of Selective Service as set forth in the act of 1940 was "to increase and train the personnel of the armed forces of the United States." To this end, the act designated the President as the head of the Selective Service and authorized him to create a System including a director, local boards, and appeal boards to administer its provisions. The training period was to be 12 consecutive months. The peacetime "slant" of the act was evidenced by provisions that men were not to be inducted until camp facilities were adequate; that no more than 900,000 inducted men were to be in training at one time; that the number of inductees should not be greater than could be provided for by current congressional appropriations; and that service should not be required outside the Western Hemisphere except in Territories and possessions of the United States. The framers of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 attempted to avoid certain errors of the past and to make positive guaranties in certain fields. Among these guaranties was the provision that there should be no racial discrimination in the administration of the act. Conscientious objectors were not made subject to combat training and service if they were conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form; as a substitute they were made liable to induction into noncombatant service or, if they opposed such induction, to assignment to work of national importance. The act set up safeguards in the form of appeal boards and machinery for the referral of certain types of questions to the Department of Justice. Although group deferment was prohibited, certain deferments and exemptions from service were to be made on an individual basis. Another important provision of the act was that concerning the restoration of an inductee to his former job after his period of service was over. 1 This basic law of 1940 was altered by several items of supplementary legislation. A Joint Resolution of August 18, 1941, known as the Service Extension Act of 1941 (55 Stat. 626), authorized the President to increase the length of service of inductees to 18 months. An amendment to the act of 1940 (56 Stat. 621), approved on August 16, 1941, permitted the discharge from the Army of men over 27 years of age. After Pearl Harbor another amendment (56 Stat. 845) made men between the ages of 20 and 45 liable for service. Still later the age was lowered to 18. As soon as the basic law was enacted, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8545 translating the generalities of the law into specific terms of organization and administration. This order authorized the Director of Selective Service (responsible to the President) to prescribe amendments to the Selective Service regulations, issue directives, appoint employees, delegate his functions and powers, and obligate appropriated funds. The order charged the Governor of each State with the responsibility for administering the Selective Service law in his State. As a result of this order National Headquarters was set up in Washington, and State Headquarters for Selective Service, the operating costs of which were borne by the Federal Government, were set up in the States. Each Governor appointed a State Director of Selective Service, usually the Adjutant General of the State, but in some cases a civilian or an Army officer. Headquarters were likewise established for the District of Columbia and the Territories' of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. To these were later added Headquarters for New York City and the Virgin Islands, making a total of 54 units at the State level. State Headquarters had administra tive supervision of the local boards but had no power to make decisions regarding individual registrants. A field service, responsible to National Headquarters and operating regionally, kept in touch with all the State Headquarters. Below the State Headquarters were the 6,443 local boards, one for each county and one for each unit of 30,000 population within cities. Each board consisted of three or more civilians, citizens of the United States who resided in the political subdivision in which the board had jurisdiction and who were ineligible for service in the armed forces. These boards had the basic authority for registering, classifying, and exempting or deferring registrants under the Selective Service Act. The board members were nominated by the Governor and appointed by the President; eventually over 20,000 such persons were chosen. As soon as a board was constituted, it proceeded to elect a chairman and a secretary. Although the board was provided with paid clerical assistance, its members served without pay. Associated with each board was at least one examining physician, who likewise served without compensation. In all, more than 100,000 persons gave their services voluntarily; among these were members of medical advisory boards, members of appeal boards, members of advisory boards who assisted registrants with their questionnaires, and 6,443 appeal agents. 2 |