U.S. CONSCRIPTION — What It Means to You (9-15-40)

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The Pittsburgh Press (September 15, 1940)

CONSCRIPTION — What It Means to You
By Leo M. Cherne, Executive Secretary, Research Institute of America

Leo M. Cherne is the author of M-Day and What It Means to You, a best-selling volume of U.S. defense plans. The Research Institute of America, which Mr. Cherne heads, is one of the nation’s leading editorial research organizations. This series of articles, of which the following is the first, will answer the questions millions are asking about what the draft will do to your home, your job, your future.

How will peacetime conscription work?

Conscription will mean, if you are within the specified age limits, that you must register for military training. Once registered, it will then be necessary to classify you in order to determine whether or not you are more valuable at home or in a training camp. Once classified, those who are found to be immediately available for military training will be selected for actual induction into training camps by a national lottery.

How many men will be covered by conscription and what proportion will be taken for military training?

There are approximately 16,500,000 male citizens in the United States between the ages of 21 and 36. This critical age group must furnish the bulk of those required for the land and naval forces in the event of war. Over 10,000,000 of this body of men will probably be initially deferred from military service for various reasons.

Since the Conscription Bill prevents the taking of more than 900,000 men at any one given time, the chances of an individual within the age group of 21 to 36 are 1 out of 18 that he will be called within the next year. Allowing for the fact that many will be deferred, it may be said that the chances of the unmarried, unskilled man are about 6 to 1 that he will not be required to train within the next year, barring war.

Is there any provision for the conscription of women?

No, nor is there likely to be.

May I still volunteer despite conscription?

Yes. Not only will voluntary enlistment continue, but the Conscription Bill encourages voluntary enlistment by providing for one year enlistment in the Army, instead of three as previously required.

Will I have a better chance of getting into the kind of service I prefer if I enlist immediately?

The rough answer to this question is yes. Both the Army and the Navy need men with special training in many fields, especially under the conditions which exist today as a result of the intensive rearmament. Those who come first will therefore have the first chance of the new opportunities that will arise. Remember, however, that the services are not organized to suit your convenience, but will want to make use of your abilities where they will do most good.

Can I choose the Army or Navy for the period of my conscription and can I advance in rank?

No, you will be called to the colors as need arises and be assigned to a specific branch of service. You will, however, have the same opportunities to qualify for promotion as men who enlist.

Will workmen in key industries and skilled labor be refused a chance to enlist?

No matter how great your skill or how invaluable you may be in your private or industrial activity, you will not be denied the opportunity to enlist, unless you fail to meet the physical requirements.

The Army and Navy have no desire to remove from the home front skilled workers and the individuals who are more vital and can render greater service in their civilian activities than in the armed forces. Unfortunately, there is no way of controlling this problem so long as voluntary enlistment continues. Recruiting officers must accept all who apply, despite the experience in the last war when skilled men enlisted in droves.

Congress, in the conscription law, has declared that:

Any person between the ages of 18 and 35, regardless of race or color, shall be afforded an opportunity to voluntarily enlist and be inducted into the land or naval forces (including aviation units) of the United States for the training and service prescribed in the law.

If you are a skilled worker and do enlist, you may be certain that the Army and Navy will make good use of your ability. It is estimated that the minimum requirements of the Army for skilled personnel are approximately 18-20% of the total enrolled. The Navy’s requirements are considerably higher, ranging from 35-40% of the Navy’s total manpower.

Will I be trained for specific industrial work required by national defense?

The conscription law is confined to the problem of raising manpower for military training and service exclusively.

The original training program suggested by President Roosevelt at a press conference proposed the training of young men and women for the necessary industrial and corollary needs which are expected to arise from an intensified rearmament. This is now being undertaken largely by Mr. Sidney Hillman’s labor section of the National Defense Advisory Commission, in cooperation with the national labor organizations and the federal and state labor, youth and employment departments.

What pay will I receive if I enlist or am drafted into the Army?

As a buck private, you will get a regular monthly wage of $21 for the first four months, after which you will receive $30 per month. If you are promoted to a higher rank, you will of course receive a higher scale of monthly wages, depending on the grade you hold:

Grade Rating Less than 4 years’ service (per month)
1–Private Master Sergeant $126
2 Technical Sergeant $84
3 Staff Sergeant $72
4 Staff Sergeant $60
5 Sergeant $54
6 Private First Class $36
6–Specialist 1st class ($30 plus base pay) $66
6–Specialist 2nd class ($25 plus base pay) $61
6–Specialist 3rd class ($20 plus base pay) $56
6–Specialist 4th class ($15 plus base pay) $51
6–Specialist 5th class ($6 plus base pay) $42
6–Specialist 6th class ($3 plus base pay) $39
7 After four months $30
7 First four months; also for determined inefficiency $21
7–Specialist 1st class ($30 plus base pay) $60
7–Specialist 2nd class ($25 plus base pay) $55
7–Specialist 3rd class ($20 plus base pay) $50
7–Specialist 4th class ($15 plus base pay) $45
7–Specialist 5th class ($6 plus base pay) $36
7–Specialist 6th class ($3 plus base pay) $33

In the time of war, 10% additional is paid for overseas service. Added sums may be paid “for special qualifications in the use of the arm or arms which they may be required to use”. Men who earn the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross or Soldier’s Medal are entitled to further pay increases.

Men who are now in the Reserves will be interested in the following table which shows the wages paid to Army officers:

Rank Type Annual Base Pay
General Chief of Staff $8,000
Lieutenant General Army Commander $8,000
Major General $8,000
Brigadier General $6,000
Colonel Over 26 years’ service $4,000
Colonel First appointment above Captain $4,000
Colonel Less than 26 years’ service $3,500
Lieutenant Colonel Over 30 years’ service $4,000
Lieutenant Colonel Over 20, less than 30 years $3,500
Lieutenant Colonel First appointment above Captain $3,500
Lieutenant Colonel Less than 20 years’ service $3,000
Major Over 23 years’ service $3,500
Major Over 14, less than 23 years $3,000
Major First appointment above Second Lieutenant $3,000
Major Less than 14 years’ service $2,400
Captain Over 17 years’ service $3,000
Captain Over 7, less than 17 years $2,400
Captain First appointment above Second Lieutenant $2,400
Captain Less than 7 years’ service $2,000
First Lieutenant Over 10 years’ service $2,400
First Lieutenant Over 3, less than 10 years $2,000
First Lieutenant First appointment above Second Lieutenant $2,000
First Lieutenant Less than 3 years’ service $1,500
Second Lieutenant Over 5 years’ service $2,000
Second Lieutenant Less than 5 years’ service $1,500

What arrangements are made for sending all or part of my pay back home?

Laws already on the books assure the right of men in the armed forces and even civilians permanently engaged in Army work abroad to “allot” part or all of their wages to be sent directly to members of their families, to insurance companies for payment of premiums, or to banks. As a general rule, commissioned officers, enlisted men and permanent civilian employees may make such allotments to banks only while serving outside the continental limits of the United States or in Alaska.

You may at any time request that the allotment be discontinued. In the event of death, discharge, desertion, mental incapacitation or absence without leave, the authorities may discontinue or suspend payment of the allotments. Allotments of pay will under no circumstances be permitted if they are intended for alien enemies or allies of alien enemies.

If you send home a monthly allotment in any amount up to $15 in time of war, the government will make a contribution of equal size.

A message from NMS to TimeGhost Army members — if you have any additional questions about the U.S. peacetime draft, please feel free to write them down in the comments. With peacetime conscription now an inevitability, you can also freely express your opinions about the draft and explain your positions.

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What was the volunteer to draftee ratio of the U.S. Armed Forces between the passage of conscription & the attack on Pearl Harbor?

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SPOILERS!

The volunteer to draftee ratio (for males aged 21-36) between October 16, 1940 and December 6, 1941 is 1 in 16.

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The Pittsburgh Press (September 17, 1940)

What happens if I have been deferred and the reason for my deferment no longer exists?

If you have been deferred from training as the result of dependency and your dependent then dies or becomes self-supporting, or if you have been deferred because of your work and then lose or leave your job, you must report the facts to your local board within five days after the event. It is a criminal offense to conceal any such change, or to make a false report concerning it.

Your local board is under duty to keep informed about registrants in the deferred class. It will make periodic investigations, directing inquiries to you, or anyone else connected with you, from time to time. The local police authorities or the government appeal agent may be requested to investigate. It is almost certain that all employers will be required to report any changes in their personnel to the local board.

The classification made by the local board in your case will never be final. At any time before your final induction into the military or naval service the board may reopen your case, receive new evidence, and reclassify you. If for any reason you have been placed in Class I but are not yet inducted into military service, and a change does occur in your status justifying a deferment, don’t hesitate to request a rehearing from your local board.

Your inquest will not automatically operate to postpone your induction into the military forces. Only if the board actually reopens your case before you are called to the colors will the induction be postponed. Should the local board refuse to reopen the case, you cannot appeal its decision to any higher authority.

Are any particular occupational groups exempt from service?

Ministers and divinity students need not serve, but they must register. Similarly, while holding public office, the following persons are relieved from military training:

The Vice President of the United States, the governors of the several states and territories, members of legislative bodies of the United States and of the several states and territories, judges of the courts of the United States and of the several states and territories and the District of Columbia, while holding office, are to be deferred. Other executive officers, etc., safety or interest are also in the deferred class. Other executive officers of the United States and the several states and territories and the District of Columbia whose continued service in the executive offices held by them is found to be necessary to the maintenance of public health, safety or interest.

Men whose employment in industry, agriculture or any other occupation, or whose activity in other fields of endeavor is necessary to the “national interest” or to the “maintenance of the national health or safety” will also be deferred. Where the claim for deferment is based upon the work performed by the claimant, the deferment is to be made on a personal examination of each individual and not by occupational groups.

What type of firm must I work for to be deferred?

The conscription proposal originally would have deferred only essential workers in essential industries and workers supporting dependents, according to the plan for Selective Service after M-Day. The industrial deferments would, in effect, have been limited almost completely to men working for firms directly or indirectly engaged on national defense orders. If applied to peacetime, this would have left the great majority of firms in the position of having to find replacements for employees between 21 and 36 who were selected for military service.

The final law, however, enables the deferment of all those who are irreplaceable or more vital to the national well-being in their civilian activity.

The important effect of the new deferment clause is to widen the right of deferment to include employees in practically every business, trade and industry. Regulations defining the phrase “necessary to the national interest”…are now being drafted by the Joint Army and Navy Selective Service Committee and it is almost certain that the definition of the clause will be negative. That is, local boards will probably be instructed that it is unnecessary for them to decide whether or not a business, occupation or industry is essential to the nation.

A few groups will be considered as not being in the national interest, such as the clearly marginal activities that are either illegal or semi-legal, like gambling, manufacture of gambling devices, and perhaps some of the more frivolous amusements, etc. Most amusements, however, will probably be considered vital to the national morale under this clause. The local boards’ only problem in this respect will be to determine how long it will take the particular employer to replace the individual under consideration, without undue hardship.

Which employees will be deferred because of their civilian work?

The following rules can definitely be given unless Congress further changes the section which creates the privilege:

  1. Every deferment will be made on the facts of the individual case, rather than by occupation or group skill.

  2. Men skilled, but without jobs, or not in vital work or training, will not qualify for deferment.

In order to determine whether or not an employee is necessary to a business enterprise and, therefore, eligible for deferment, the following questions will be asked:

  1. Is he engaged in an industry, occupation, employment, agricultural enterprise or other field of endeavor which is “necessary to the maintenance of the national health, safety or interest” and is he competent and qualified in his capacity?

  2. Would his removal result in direct substantial and material loss and be detrimental to the effectiveness of the enterprise?

  3. Is the available supply of men competent in his capacity so small that he could not be replaced without direct, substantial, material loss and detriment to the enterprise?

If the answer is “yes” to these three questions, the great probability is that the employee will be deferred, even though the employing firm is not engaged on national defense orders.

Who will not be deferred?

Almost the entire group of unskilled employees in all industries and those possessing little skill will find deferment difficult if not impossible. The types to be included here are, for example, clerks, untrained office workers, unskilled laborers, messengers, doormen, waiters, bellboys, cab drivers, shipping and wrapping boys.

No deferment will be allowed where the little skill required for the job is capable of being transmitted to others, particularly when there is an adequate available supply of older men or women.

Which activities and occupations are best protected against the possibility of draft?

It is impossible to designate with any degree of completeness types of occupation which are most likely to be protected by deferment. As a matter of fact, the law expressly forbids the administrators of the Conscription Law to grant deferment to occupational groups as such and requires an examination of the position occupied by each individual claiming deferment.

However, it can be said without any hesitation that if you are a necessary worker in any industry that is essential for war, you will have no difficulty in establishing the fact that you are essential for the maintenance of the national health and interest, and your call to the armed services will be deferred until a replacement can be secured.

Understand, too, that war industries, or those connected with war, constitute only the minimum, and that other industries will also be entitled to deferment under the present peacetime Conscription Law. An examination of the following table, showing the industries in which deferments were granted in the first World War, should indicate those activities and occupations where deferments are most likely to be granted.

The chart shows the percentage of applicants for deferment who were held service in the last war, as against those who were discharged. For instance, 71% of the claimants in the iron and steel industries were relieved from military service, whereas only 14.8% of those in the paper and printing industries successfully claimed occupational deferment.

Industrial group Total claims for deferment Deferred from service
Basic iron and steel munitions 10,205 71%
Shipbuilding 3,824 69.9%
Chemicals for military use 2,878 62.9%
Metal industries (except iron and steel) 2,376 58.7%
Fertilizer, paint, soap factories, etc. 700 55.6%
Telegraph and telephone companies 1,925 53.6%
Charcoal, coke, tobacco, electric light and power, oil, rubber industries, etc. 5,179 52.4%
Agricultural implement, automobile, car rail-industries, etc. 4,201 52%
Building industries 3,256 45.9%
Mines (except coal) 540 40.6%
Oil and gas wells 367 39.9%
Textile industries 1,054 39.2%
Forestry 274 38.8%
Agriculture 75,170 38.3%
Transportation and maintenance (except steam railroads) 1,619 35.8%
Steam railroads 5,256 34.6%
Animal husbandry 1,602 33.7%
Clay, glass and stone industries 404 33.7%
Coal mines 2,601 32.7%
Food industries 2,021 32.5%
Leather industries 538 31.2%
Clothing services 574 30.7%
Public service 1,255 29.3%
Domestic and manual service (except common labor) 1,839 26%
Lumber and furniture industries 653 25.1%
Common labor 902 24.3%
Paper and printing industries 379 19.1%
Liquor and beverage industries 55 15.4%
Professions 4,842 15.3%
Trade and merchandise 4,403 14.8%

What proof must I offer to secure an occupational deferment?

No claim for occupational deferment will be granted merely on the basis of your application. It will have to be supported by two affidavits, which must be filed with the questionnaire required of all registrants. The two affidavits must be made by two persons in conformity with the following provisions:

  1. If you are engaged in agriculture, your affidavits must be made by the owner of the land on which you are working and by a near neighbor. If you yourself are the owner of the land, then two affidavits must be secured from near neighbors.

  2. If you are engaged as an employee in an industry or occupation other than agriculture, one affidavit must be made by your immediate superior and the other by the executive head of the company. If the firm operates in more than one state, the second affidavit can be made by the head of the division or plant in which you are actually employed. If your immediate superior is also the head of the enterprise, he must make out one affidavit, and a substantial citizen in your community must make out the other.

  3. If you are a part owner of a business other than agriculture, one affidavit must be made by a stockholder or a co-partner, and the other by a substantial citizen in the community.

  4. If you are the sole owner of a business other than agriculture, both affidavits supporting your claim for deferment must be made by substantial citizens.

Notice that both your claim for deferment and your supporting affidavits must state specifically the period of time for which the deferment is asked. There is no sense in making a deferment claim for a year if your employer’s affidavit merely asks for a deferment for 90 days to allow him to find a replacement worker.

After your affidavits have been filed, your local board may require you to appear at any time to give any other evidence it wants.

Does industrial deferment mean that I am permanently exempt from service?

The broad answer to this question is no. There will be no such thing as permanent exemption because of industrial or agricultural activity. Only your physical disabilities or your age can raise any such bar. If you are granted deferment, it will be only for a definite stated period.

Your occupational deferment will not be forgotten once it has been granted. Your local board will maintain an Occupational Suspended File for registrants who have been placed in Class II. At the end of your deferment period, you may again be questioned by your local board and reclassified. If your deferment is not extended, you will immediately be placed in Class I for induction into military training.

The original deferment, you will find, is granted to enable your employer to acquire and train workers who are not between the ages of 21 and 36 or who cannot for some other reason participate in training. Of course, if it is impossible to replace you in your necessary activities, the deferment may be renewed again and again. But, it is going to be hard to justify continued demands for occupational deferment.

Only if you are really irreplaceable in work essential to the national morale will you have your deferment renewed. However, if you should leave your work, the deferment will end immediately. There is no indication at the present time whether or not going out on strike would have that effect.

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The Pittsburgh Press (September 18, 1940)

Can any student still at school qualify for deferment?

Students who have for more than one year been prepared for the ministry in theological or divinity schools are exempt from all training and service, but they must register.

College students, who during the academic year 1940-41 are enrolled in courses leading to a degree in Arts or Science as a prerequisite, will be deferred for that academic year – but in no case beyond July 1, 1941.

A provision in the law enabling the deferment of those men whose “activity in other endeavors” is essential in the national interest may be held to include students in aeronautical engineering, mechanics and other courses of instruction not associated with an Arts or Science degree but of primary importance now to the national defense program.

Who will be placed in Class III for dependency?

The problem of local boards in determining who is to be deferred because of dependency is fundamentally simple. Though there are no absolutely rigid tests, we have well-defined guides and rules. You will be placed in Class III, the dependency deferment class, if it is found that you have one or more of the following relatives dependent upon you for reasonably adequate support:

  1. A wife or child.

  2. A mother or foster mother, aged or invalid father, foster father, or grandparents.

  3. A brother under 16 years of age, a sister under 18 years of age, or an invalid brother or sister regardless of their age.

The term “dependent child” includes unborn child, stepchild, a child legally adopted before the declaration of war, or a child for whom you, in good faith, before the declaration of war, assumed and fulfilled the obligations of a parent. Boys over 16 years and girls over 18 years, unless they are invalids, will not be considered dependent children.

Furthermore, you will not be given a deferment unless the relative you cite lives in the United States or one of the territories and possessions.

Who will be considered dependents?

Any one of the relatives just listed will be considered your dependent if his income, plus your income from all sources except work, is not enough to provide reasonably adequate support. Inquiry will be made as to all of his and your fairly certain sources of income, excluding, of course, public charity and the income which you provide from your own labor. If there are other persons under a legal obligation to contribute to his support, that fact will also be taken into consideration in deciding whether or not he may be counted as your dependent.

If your dependents have in large part been supported by money which you or your dependents have been receiving from a close relative, rather than from your income, it will be difficult for you to support a claim for deferment. But, if a wealthy relative merely could supply, but thus far has not supplied the support for your dependent, you may be deferred unless that relative is under a legal obligation to support the dependent.

Will married men be deferred?

The law makes no such specific exemption. It does not give the President power to defer the service of men with dependents and also those who are physically, mentally or morally deficient. As a matter of fact, the final law is so worded as apparently to bar deferring on grounds of dependency a married man whose wife is self-supporting. The Army, however, would prefer to waive the question of support where the wife lives with her husband.

In all probability, marriage entered into before the registration takes place will result in deferment for the husband during peacetime if the military view is followed, unless his wife may be earning enough to support herself.

Is a husband paying alimony to a divorced wife entitled to deferment?

No specific provision has been made in the proposed regulations for the support of a divorced wife. However, in those states, where the husband is under a legal obligation to support his divorced wife, she will unquestionably be considered a dependent for the purpose of deferment. If, however, the wife has remarried or is receiving income from other sources or is herself working, then she is no longer dependent upon her divorced husband, despite the fact that he continues to pay alimony or to make payments under a divorce settlement.

Must I live on my salary to qualify for deferment because of my dependents?

Unless you and your dependents, other than your wife, are living almost entirely on your salary, you will probably not be able to secure a deferment. For instance, if you earn $50 a week, but also receive $100 a month from a trust fund and the $100 a month would be enough to support your dependent, the loss of your salary would not justify your deferment. But if your dependent’s sole source of support is your present salary – which would end on your induction into the Army – then obviously all that remains would be your military pay and if that amount is insufficient to support your dependent, a deferment would be granted.

The sources of income which will be studied by the authorities includes the following:

  1. Your pay as a member of the Army or Navy, which you would be expected to send home as a contribution to your family.

  2. The amount of support your relatives would get during your absence, from any provision of law, such as state old-age pensions (in many states, old-age pensions are given to persons over 65 if they have no other means of support. Your aged parent or grandparent eligible for the old-age pension could not count as a dependent).

  3. The amount of money you receive from any devise, legacy, or bequest as a result of a will or a deed, or some other legal transaction.

The government does not intend to force your dependents to reduce their standards of living materially. If you can show that a serious reduction will take place if your salary is denied to them, you will be entitled to deferment. You must prove that they have actually been dependent on you and that they cannot maintain themselves without your support.

Can I plead dependency if either my dependent or has property?

If either you or your dependent have income-producing property that can support you or her, your claim to deferment will be denied. On the other hand, if the property produces no income or produces insufficient income, the proposed regulations do not require that it be sold to support your dependents while you are in the Army or Navy. The basic consideration is not property but income. Accumulated savings would not be considered income, but the interest on those savings would be. This would be true even in time of war.

How will the local boards decide who has dependents?

The regulations charge the local draft boards with the duty to render humane decisions. Whether or not reasonably adequate support exists in a particular case cannot be determined by rule of thumb. Intelligence, accompanied by full sympathy, must be shown. What would be adequate in one locality or in one set of circumstances might not be adequate in another.

The boards are expressly instructed by the regulations to approach each case with sympathy and common sense. While safeguarding the interests of the nation, they are required to give protection to meritorious claimants, with the thought always in mind that the classification plan is designed to enroll an armed force with a minimum of hardship for those who remain at home. If you seek deferment, the board will be required to study the facts in your questionnaire, in the affidavits you submit, as well as evidence obtainable from any source.

If the board finds that induction into the service will deprive your wife, child, brother, parent, or grandparent of reasonably adequate support, you will not be taken away from them. Bear in mind that you are granted only a deferment, not an exemption. At any time, a shortage of manpower may compel the government to call you anyhow and a change in your home life is certain to end the deferment.

What is a conscientious objector and what happens to him?

A conscientious objector is now defined as one who, “by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form.”

It should be noted that in the last war, only persons who were members of a well-organized religious sect whose principles forbid its members to participate in war in any form were considered conscientious objectors. The new definition extends the term to cover persons who may not be formally affiliated with any church or sect, but who nevertheless can establish that they hold religious beliefs against participation in war.

A conscientious objector cannot be compelled under the law to enter combatant training or service in the land or naval forces of the United States. He will not, however, be completely relieved from service. A person adjudged to be a conscientious objector may be compelled to take either (1) training for noncombatant service, as denied by the President, or (2) if he is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation even in noncombatant service, he may be assigned to work of national importance under civilian direction.

All claims for exemption from non-combatant service are to be turned over to the Department of Justice for investigation and determination by it.

What noncombatant activities are open to conscientious objectors?

Here, your only guide is the experience of the last war, since no formal list of noncombatant activities has as yet been prepared. In 1918, President Wilson defined the following as types of noncombatant activity:

  1. Service in the Medical Corps wherever performed. This included service in the sanitary detachments connected with combatant units at the front; service in the division sanitary trains composed of ambulance and field hospital companies located on the line of communications, at the base in France and with the troops, as well as hospitals in the United States. Supply and repair activities in the Medical Department are also included.

  2. Service in the Quartermaster Corps in the United States and in the rear of the zone of operations. It included activity in stevedore companies, labor companies, remount depots, veterinary hospitals, supply depots, bakery companies, the subsistence service, the bathing service the laundry service, the salvage service, the clothing renovation service, the shoe-repair service, the transportation-repair service and motor-truck companies.

  3. Engineer service in the United States and in the rear of the zone of operations. Such activity included railroad building, operation, and repair; construction of rear-line fortifications and auxiliary defenses; construction of docks, wharves, storehouses and cantonments, as are built by the Corps of Engineers; topographical work; camouflage; map reproduction; supply-depot service; repair service; hydraulic service and forestry service.

What happened to conscientious objectors who refused to accept non-combatant service in the last war?

Men whose attitude in camp was defiant, whose sincerity was questioned, or who were active in propaganda were subject to court-martial. From September 1917 to November 1918, 371 professed conscientious objectors were tried by court-martial, convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from three months to 50 years.

All others professing conscientious objection – that is, men who refused to obey military instructions, but gave no cause for criticism or who were acquitted by court-martial – were segregated at the Fort Leavenworth camp, but were not put under arrest.

The Secretary of War set up a board of inquiry charged with examining personally each man who was found to be a conscientious objector. Those believed to be sincere in their attitude and those willing to serve within the limits of their conscientious scruples were furloughed by the commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth for agricultural service. No person was recommended for such treatment who did not voluntarily agree to receive as his wages from the government an amount no larger than a private’s pay, plus an estimated sum for subsistence, if it was not provided by the employer. Monthly reports as to the industry of such a person were prepared. If a report showed that a man was not working to the best of his ability, his furlough ended automatically.

Reports of the board set up to examine conscientious objectors are summarized by the following table:

Disposal of conscientious objectors Number
Total cases of objectors inquired into 1,697
Found to be sincere entirely or in part 1,461
Found insincere 103
Remanded for further inquiry 88
Remanded for examination as to mental deficiency 7
Otherwise disposed of 38
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