Section 69A. Former regulations in effect in certain cases.

Any registrant of the class of June, 1917, who has registered on or before September 12, 1918, and who has not been assigned a serial or order number before the date on which these regulations are promulgated shall have such serial or order number assigned in accordance with the Rules and Regulations for Determining the Order Number of persons in the class of June, 1917 (Form 500), the provisions of which shall remain in effect for the purpose of assigning such serial or order number.

Any registrant of the class of June, 1918, who has registered on or before September 12, 1918, and who has not been assigned a registration or order number before the date on which these regulations are promulgated shall have such serial or order number assigned in accordance with the Rules and Regulations for Determining the Order Number of persons in the class of June, 1918 (Form 74), the provisions of which shall remain in effect for the purpose of assigning such serial or order number.

Section 69B. Assignment of prefix "A" before order numbers of "Class of September, 1918."

For the purpose of identification and to distinguish between registrants of earlier registrations who bear the same order numbers, the letter "A" shall precede every order number assigned to a registrant of the "class of September, 1918."

Section 69C. Numbers vacated not to be reassigned.

Order numbers and serial numbers which are now or which hereafter may be vacated by reason of death or canceled by reason of error or fraud or duplication of registration shall not be reassigned.

PART IV.

CLASSIFICATION RULES AND PRINCIPLES.

Section 70. Reasons for and effect of classification.

The military needs of the Nation require that there be provided in every community a list of names of men who shall be ready to be called into service at any time. The economic needs of the Nation, while deferring to the paramount military necessity, require that men whose removal would interfere with the civic, family, industrial, and agricultural institutions of the Nation shall be taken in the order in which they best can be spared. For this reason the names of all registrants liable to selection shall be arranged in five classes in the inverse order of their importance to the economic interests of the Nation, which include the maintenance of necessary industries, occupations, or employments, including agriculture and the support of dependents.

The group of registrants within the jurisdiction of each Local Board is taken as the unit to be classified. Within each class the order of liability is determined by the national drawing, which has assigned or will assign to every man an order of availability for military service.

All men who have attained the age of 21 since June 5, 1917, and who registered in pursuance of the proclamation of the President dated May 20, 1918, or in pursuance of the proclamation of the President dated August 13, 1918, have been or will be placed at the bottom of the list of those liable for military service who registered prior to May 20, 1918, in the several classes to which said registrants are assigned and in the order determined by the drawing.

All men between the ages of 18 and 45, both inclusive, registered and to be registered under the act of Congress approved August 31, 1918, and any proclamation or proclamations issued by the President by virtue of said last-mentioned act, shall be called for service in such sequence of ages and at such time or times as the President may prescribe.-

Every registrant is to be considered as belonging in Class I until his status, giving to him the right of deferred classification, is clearly established under and in accordance with the principles and rules governing classification hereinafter stated.

The term "deferred class" includes the second, third, fourth, and fifth classes of the five classes in which registrants shall be placed. All registrants placed in Classes II, III, IV, and V have been temporarily exempted or discharged. The effect of classification in Class I is to render every man so classified presently liable to military service in the order determined by the drawings. The effect of classification in Class II is to grant a temporary discharge from draft, effective until Class I is exhausted; and similarly Classes III and IV become liable only when Classes II and III, respectively, are exhausted. All classifications are conditioned upon the continuing existence of the status of the registrant which is the basis of his classification.

A. CLASSIFICATION IN RESPECT OF DEPENDENCY.

Section 71. Essential principles governing classification in respect of dependency.

Section 4 of the Selective Service Law exempts no person from military service on the ground of dependency. It only authorizes the exclusion or discharge from draft of "those in a status with respect to persons dependent upon them for support which renders their exclusion or discharge advisable." The present plan is designed, by the creation of several classes, arranged in the order of their availability for military service, to defer the induction into the Army of registrants upon whom other persons are mainly dependent for support until persons without actual dependents have been called. There are certain conditions of dependency which it is advisable to recognize to a fuller extent than others. The present classification is designed to afford the maximum of protection to dependents consistent with the military necessity of the Nation.

It is to be recognized that war must bring inconvenience and sacrifice to all. No person has a right to refuse to sacrifice luxuries; on the other hand, it is not the intent of the law to deprive the dependents, whom the law and regulations are designed to protect, of a reasonably adequate support. No definite meaning can be given to the term "reasonably adequate support" as used in the classification rules and schedule. The determination of this question must be left to Local Boards, who have abundantly shown that they will approach each case with sympathy and common sense, and, while defending the interest of the Nation from selfish and thoughtless claimants on the one hand, will afford the decent protection here designed for meritorious claimants on the other.

Note 1.-In order to resolve doubts expressed by Local Boards as to the classification of registrants, the following is to be noted : Reasonably adequate support can not be determined by a rule of thumb but it must be determined intelligently and with full sympathy in each individual case. What would be adequate support in one locality or in one set of circuinstances might not be adequate support in another. The question of adequate support must be determined by the Boards after careful consideration of all interests of the dependents on the one hand and the needs of the Government on the other and with the thought always in mind that the present classification plan is designed to raise our armies with a minimum of hardship and suffering to those who are to be left at home. (Telegram A-1923, Dec. 29, 1917.)

Section 72. General classification rules-Dependency.

RULE I. In determining whether a claimed dependent is mainly dependent on a registrant for support the board will consider all existing or available reasonably certain sources of support other than the labor of the registrant, excepting only public charity, and including:

(a) Income of the claimed dependent from any source whatever, including gifts, and including also the income (or what

reasonably and justly should be the income) from the labor of the claimed dependent; except that where the dependent is the wife or child of the registrant the income (or what should be the income) from the labor of the claimed dependent shall only be considered where its consideration is expressly authorized in the classification schedule.

(b) Income of the registrant from any source whatever, including gifts and excluding his labor.

(c) The contribution which the registrant may reasonably and justly be expected to make, or which he is required to make, from his pay as a soldier. (See Part XII.)

(d) The amount of support which the claimed dependent would receive from any provisión of Federal law made or hereafter to be made to support such dependent during the absence of the registrant or to insure such dependent against loss entailed by the death or disability of the registrant. (See Part XII.)

(e) The effect of any moratorium statute, made or hereafter to be made, on the claimed condition of dependency. (See Part XII.)

(f) The amount which other persons (who have or have not hitherto mainly or partially supported the claimed dependent and who can reasonably and justly be expected to do so) are able and willing to contribute to the support of the claimed dependent during the absence of the registrant; except that, where the claimed dependent is the wife or child of the registrant, support by persons other than the registrant shall NOT be considered.

If, considering such of these circumstances as the board is authorized to consider, or other circumstances not herein mentioned, the board finds that the removal of the registrant will deprive the claimed dependent of reasonably adequate support (see sec. 71), the board may find that the person claimed to be dependent is mainly dependent upon the registrant's labor for support.

Note 1.-The attention of Local Boards is called to the necessity of carefully scrutinizing all claims for deferred classification on the ground of dependency, the registrant's answers to his Questionnaire, and other proof in support of such claims, in order to ascertain whether or not contributions claimed to be made by the registrant for the support of dependents other than his wife and children are, in whole or part, payment for his own board or subsistence; and in case of claimed dependent parents, to ascertain what other children of such parents have contributed or ought to contribute or are under moral or legal obligation to contribute to such parents. In case of claimed incumbrances on the property of a registrant or a dependent, boards should carefully examine the proofs in order to ascertain whether or not the encumbrance is of such a nature that the payments on account thereof are in whole or part payment of the purchase price; for example, building and loan association mortgages, monthly-payment plan, etc.