Racine County, Wisconsin - Chapter 7: Racine and the Selective Service Law, 1920

Chapter 7: Racine and the Selective Service Law

THE success of the Selective Service law was due to the fact that the American people realized that if we were to win the war, in a military sense, we must put in the field an army large enough to crush Germany. The sooner this army was ready the better, and while half a million men promptly volunteered for the army and navy, this number was not enough. The actual induction of men into service by means of the draft was not carried into effect until the volunteer method had been shown to be too unreliable to answer the purpose of modem warfare. The American people were ready to accept the draft cheerfully, because they had seen all other nations in the war gradually adopt universal military service as the only fair method of providing enough men for their armies and navies.

It would not be truthful to say that all young American men accepted gladly the chance to get into service via the Selective Service law. There are cowards and slackers in this country as elsewhere; there are men who place their personal prosperity and comfort above their country's welfare.

Local boards foresaw more trouble from "slackers" than actually )ccurred, however. The great majority of eligible men, certainly, accepted the order to report for service without protest. A few opposed their induction bitterly, taking advantage of every possible claim to exemption. Some even swore that they had dependents and otherwise perjured themselves to escape service. Usually such subterfuges were of no avail. Their claims for exemption had to be proven worthy, and were judged by strict rules laid down by the judge advocate general's department.

As a general thing, Racine county draft boards gave the benefit of the doubt to the government in case of a dispute. Protesting parents and other relatives were lectured upon their obligations to the government, and weak-kneed candidates were handled firmly but

However, these cases of would-be slackers were but the exceptions that proved the rule. The public accepted and favored the draft law. Criticism of it was considered unpatriotic and decidedly bad form, especially as no one could question the fairness of either the law itself or its administration. Those who were called to the colors under its terms realized this and of all the thousands thus summoned, few indeed were intentionally delinquent.

Racine was the headquarters of the district exemption board, which heard appeals from the decisions of the local boards. Its members were Harry W. Bolens, Port Washington, chairman; A. J. Horlick, Racine, secretary; Chester D. Barnes, Kenosha; Dr. Grove Harkness, Waukesha; G. L. Harrington, Elkhorn; Stephen Benish, Racine, chief clerk.

A few days after his appointment as chairman of the Registration Board in May, 1917, the writer met a well known manufacturer of Racine at the Post Office corner, who without breaking his stride as he proceeded up Main street, greeted him with an expressive wave of the hand and the following reassuring prediction: "Gene, in three weeks you will be the most hated man in Racine." If his idea was to "throw a scare" into us he did not succeed, for our mind was made up to stay with that job if it was the last thing we ever did. Whatever his notion then he has since given full proof of his patriotism to the credit of himself and his home community.

At that time, however, there was a general feeling of uncertainty, bordering on apprehension, concerning the attitude of the people toward the Selective Service Law when its administration should be begun, and the prediction seemed safely within the probabilities. It may now be stated truthfully that not "three weeks" after that day, nor at any time since, has any member of Local Board Number One been made aware that he had incurred the hatred of any person whose approval would have been worth having.

On the contrary, it may be recorded as a fact concerning Racine county, that although the United States Government, for the first time in more than a half century, was undertaking the experiment of drafting men for war, and for war in a foreign country, the response of our people in the emergency was so nearly unanimous in approval, that what little opposition was felt, was, for prudential reasons, almost entirely self-suppressed, and the local boards had the enthusiastic, effective co-operation of nearly all of the factory, fraternal and church organizations, as well as the encouragement and support of influential individuals when and where they were needed.

The work of the local boards was serious business. Not since the Civil War, if ever in this country, has such power been given civilian bodies as was theirs to exercise in their discretion, under the regulations, in the raising of the new National Army. There were 4,648 of these boards, including those in the territories, with a total membership of 14,416. That there should have been some misuse of that power was to be expected under the circumstances; that such misuse was in fact a negligible quantity and did not at all seriously affect the generally efficient administration of the law, is the testimony of Provost Marshal General Crowder, author and administrator in chief of the Selective Service system. In closing his report on the work of the local boards he said: "But it is idle to attempt to put into words here the full story of what the local boards achieved. Every military man must recognize what they did for the Nation's army; and every civilian must recognize what they did for the Nation's Liberty and welfare. And every American is proud of them. Whatever of credit is accorded to other agencies of the selective service law, the local boards must be deemed the cornerstone of the system."

With the power placed in their hands there was laid on the local boards also a burden of very great responsibility, the sobering effect of which, in connection with the fact that not only were the board members acquainted, more or less intimately with the people with whom they had to deal, but the people knew the board members who dealt with them, operated generally to secure a just administration of the law, through mutual sympathy and understanding. Attention is called here to the paragraph in the final report of the Provost Marshal General to the Secretary of War in which this phase of the work of the local boards is discussed.

Gen. Crowder says: - "It will be seen that the responsibility of the Local Boards was staggering. Men hitherto safe from the turmoil of life were being withdrawn from sheltered homes; to be thrown into the maw of a military machine. The course of lives was being radically and violently turned. Most of the selectives were severing family ties. All were called for the supreme sacrifice of their lives. Any other than a democratic government would have scouted the idea of intrusting to civilians, in most cases untrained in administrative capacities, such an enormous and complex task. The tremendous menace of the German military machine was never more obvious than at the time America took up arms. Many wise men of our own government doubted the feasibility of creating an army entirely through civilian agencies. It is an irrefutable proof of the high capacity of our people for self-government, and an everlasting vindication of true democracy, that a system so intimately affecting the lives of our people should have been entrusted to untrained representatives of the local community and that it should have been so well executed."

The success of the local boards was, in our opinion, due chiefly to the fact that the law which they were called upon to administer, was perfectly adapted for the purpose for which it was devised. It was reasonable, just and fair, and where honestly administered left no room for criticism. As the war progressed and the system developed, difficulties were encountered, in the meeting of which it was a frequent cause of surprise and satisfaction to the local boards to discover that almost every eventuality had apparently been foreseen and provided for in the law and the regulations.

Another thing that contributed largely to the efficient working of the Selective Service System was the policy of the Provost Marshal General and his aids in disclosing to the local boards only one step at a time in its development with the result that for many weeks after their organization there was not at any time any great amount of work in view ahead. The regulations came along in a series, one set for each developing phase, and each a little more serious in its demand on our resources of time and talent, until it seemed that we had been extended to the limit, and still they came, and the apparently impossible had to be done.

Fhdtos By Leunar

and was done. It is our conviction tliat if the whole scheme of the Selective Service System had been a matter of public knowledge at the beginning of the war, the final report of its operation would have been a different and less satisfying story.

In this connection we are reminded of a scene in the board room on the day that the "mobilization regulations" came, that we will not soon forget. The new rules contained the first intimation that had been given them that the local boards would have charge of the actual drafting and mobilizing of the soldiers. From the manner in which they were received it was evident that no hint of that responsibility being put upon them had previously entered the mind of any member our board.

As John B. Simmons read the document aloud, and the serious nature of its contents began to appear, the faces of the men made an interesting study in expression which we will not attempt to interpret now. The surprise was so complete, and the prospect appeared so serious, that there was nothing else to do but to have a good laugh at the situation in which we found ourselves, and then to settle down to get an understanding of the instructions, and woi-k out the program outlined therein, which we proceeded at once to do.

The administration of the selective service law in Racine began with the appointment by the Governor of two registration boards, one for the city of Racine, and one for the county outside the city. The members of the city board took the oath of office and organized for business on May 28, 1917, about six weeks after the declaration of a state of war between the Imperial Government of Germany and the United States. The board was composed of three members:

At this meeting Mayor T. W. Thiesen. tendered to the board for the transaction of its business, the use of his offices in the city hall, which offer was promptly accepted and these rooms were the headquarters of the registration board, and of Local Board for Division Number One, during the entire period of the war, from May 28, 1917 to March 31, 1919, when the work of the local boards was officially ended.

The uniform courtesy of the city officials in granting us also at all times the free use of offices, committee rooms and the council chamber, frequently at inconvenience to themselves.

The Racine Registration Board had charge of the registration in the city on June 5, 1917, of all men of the ages of 21 to 30 inclusive, of whom there were 6,461 who reported, (including late registrants). The regular polling booths were used, and the work was accomplished without cost to the government, by the voluntary assistance of 114 registrars, under the supervision of the board.

The mayor and city council very generously provided the funds necessary to employ clerks to copy the registration cards, and to publish complete lists of the names and addresses of the registrants in the Journal-News and the Times-Call, the total appropriation being $450.50.

The registration in the county was accomplished under the supervision of the County Registration Board, composed of the sheriff, Peter Breckenfeld, executive officer, and the county clerk, Joseph Patrick, clerk, with headquarters in the office of the latter in the courthouse. There were registered in this jurisdiction, on June 5, 1917, 1,930 men of the ages of 21 to 30 inclusive.

The work of the registration boards was finished in June, and they were superseded, early in July, by three local boards in Racine county which were designated as follows: - Local Boards for Division Number One and Number Two for Racine City, and Local Board for Racine County, Burlington, Wis.

Dr. Pope, however, did not qualify on account of his enlistment at this juncture in the Medical Department of the army, and R. C. Thackeray was appointed physician member of the board on July 6, 1917.

Photos By Billings

was to safe-guard the interests of the government in the classification of the registrants. When in his judgment an exemption was improperly granted, or secured, it was his duty to appeal the case to the district board in an effort to hold the man for service. John H. Liegler was government appeal agent for local board number one.

Each local and district board was authorized to appoint a chief clerk, whose duties were those which would naturally devolve upon such an officer. Miss Muriel Fischer was chief clerk of Local Board Number One, and it is a notable fact in connection with her service that from July 31, 1917, when it began, until April 1, 1919, when it ended, she was not absent from duty for one hour, except to attend the funeral of an uncle during the afternoon.

Dr. Hanson served as a member of the board until Nov. 1, 1917, when he entered the Medical Department of the army, and E. A. Taylor was appointed physician member in his stead on the same day. W. S. McCaughey resigned as secretary on November 20, 1917, and George Porter was elected secretary the same date, and served until March 31, 1919.

Board Number Two was located first in rooms at the branch library, corner of Washington and Hamilton Avenues, but these soon proved unsuitable, and on July 16, 1917 a suite of rooms on the second floor of a new store building at 1508 Washington Avenue was leased which was thereafter continuously occupied until the close of the war.

L. H. Rohr, chairman, Burlington; A. J. Topp, secretary, Waterford; John J. Wishau, Route 1, Racine; F. A. Malone, Waterford; George Ella, Rochester.

Lewis J. Quinn, Racine, was government appeal agent for this board. There were three chief clerks in the course of its history; Louis F. Reuschlein served from July 23, 1917, to

March 26, 1918; J. H. Wards from April 1, 1918 to June 15, 1918; and Florence Strassen from June 15, 1918 to March 31, 1919 when the work of the board was ended. J. H. Wards, entered the military service of the United States on the day his service as Chief Clerk ended.

Although the registrations under the jurisdiction of this board were only about three fifths as many as those of either of the city boards, its work was much more difficult because of the natural disadvantages under which it labored, which made it difficult to get in touch quickly with its registrants, for the reason that they were widely scattered over the county on farms and in small communities.

The headquarters of the County board were located in the offices of Mr. Rohr, its chairman, who contributed their use to the government during the whole course of the war without compensation. They are located on the second floor of the Bank of Burlington Building, on the third floor of which are also located the rooms of the Burlington Business Men's club which the board was permitted to make gratuitous use of for the physical examination of registrants.

The first serious duty that the local boards were called upon to perform was to assign to each registrant an order number, which number determined the order of his liability to call to service. These numbers were assigned in conformity with a master list of serial numbers which had been furnished the boards from Washington. It will not be practicable to make here a detailed explanation of the method by which this master list was made and the order numbers assigned, but it may safely be said that no single official action of any branch of the government was ever before examined with so close scrutiny to detect flaws, or watched with so universal and jealous an interest to insure fairness, as was that first drawing of serial numbers in Washington, on July 20, 1917.

When the drawing was finished and the order numbers were assigned, there was universal and complete acceptance of the result. Since that first drawing three others have been made for as many registi'ations, and none of them caused a ripple of question concerning the wisdom of the method or the fairness of its operation.

The physical examination of registrants to determine the degree of their fitness for military service was a matter of the first importance. Special regulations governing the method of conducting them were promulgated, which were amended from time to time as ex- perience revealed the need. This branch of the work was under immediate supervision of the physician member of the board, and he was provided with as much assistance as was necessary.

Local Board Number One with whose operations the writer is most familiar was fortunate in its staff of examiners. Twenty-two hundred and eight men were examined by them, but the work was so systematized that the great amount of time and labor involved was reduced to a minimum. It nevertheless was an exacting and laborious service that they, in common with examiners of other boards, performed as a patriotic contribution toward the raising of an army and the winning of the war, and should be given fitting recognition.

What has been said in appreciation of the examiners of board number one, is true also of the other boards of the county. The regular examining board for board number two was composed of the follovnng physicians:

W. E. White, John W. Powers, W. A. Prouty. W. A. Fulton, and L. N. Hicks, Burlington; F. A. Malone and M. G. Violet, Waterford; R. W. McCracken, C. A. Obertin, and H. C. Werner, Union Grove; L. G. Hoffman, Chicago, Illinois.

The regulations governing the first draft provided that every registrant should be physically examined, and that those found fit should be called for service in the order of their liability. Only those were to be exempted who were pronounced physically unfit, or who made claim of exemption, and produced satisfactory evidence in the form of affidavits in support of the claim.

This procedure was early recognized as being cumbersome, slow and otherwise unsatisfactory in practise, and in November, 1917, new regulations requiring all registrants, except those already sent into United States service, to answer, execute and file with their local boards, a questionnaire, which was the basis to be used

Five classifications were provided for under these rules: in class one were placed all those who were first to be called. In classes two, three and four were placed all others who were liable to call, but whose call was deferred, and those so classified were to be called in regular order, only when the class above it was exhausted. In actual practice the supply of men in class one was never exhausted, and none in classes two, three, or four were called for service. In class five were placed those who were entitled to complete exemption from call, which included among others those physically unfit, and aliens.

In the spring of 1918, large drafts were made on the local boards for men to be sent to cantonments to be trained for over-seas service, and the numbers of those in class one were being rapidly depleted. It was the very evident desire and purpose of the government that none but class one men should be called, and in order to provide for the emergency that threatened, a registration of all men who had attained the age of 21 years since June 5, 1917 was called for June 5, 1918. Another similar registration was had on August 24, 1918, and the result of these two registrations was the addition to the lists of registered men in Racine county of 738 names, divided as follows:

The men who came in under the two last registrations were called the class of June 5, 1918, and for very obvious reasons furnished a much larger proportion of class one men than the class of June 5, 1917. They furnished enough at any rate to supply all needs until September 12, 1918. when all men between the ages of 18 and 4.5 both inclusive, who had not previously reported, were required to register. At this registration 10,191 men reported in the county, divided as follows:

The mobilization of the men called for service, including their entrainment for camp, was the culminating feature of the work of the local boards. It was a more or less continuous performance, once it got started. Every entrainment of newly-made soldiers was an event of compelling, vital interest to a large number of people the number varying with the size of the contingent going to camp.

Except on occasions when very few men were leaving there was always a parade, and the men were escorted to their train by the city and county officials, and military, semi-military and other organizations, accompanied by one or more brass bands. Each occasion was a historic event that will not be forgotten by those who were a part of, or who witnessed it.

The men were always entrained at the regular passenger platforms at the railroad stations with one exception; this was on July 26, 1918, at 2:00 p. m. when 447 men were sent to Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky, from the two Racine City boards alone. A special train was provided for them, the yards south of the C. & N. W. station were cleared, and one of the largest gatherings of the people of Racine that ever assembled, was there to see them off, and bid them God speed.

The first entrainment by Racine boards was on September 6, 1917, when eleven men were sent to Camp Custer. The last contingent entrained was on November 11, 1918, (the day the armistice was signed) when 191 men were started for Camp Logan, Texas, by the city boards. They did not get quite as far as Chicago, however, being stopped by a telegram from the war department, and they returned to Racine the same day, a disgusted lot of "raw" recruits. They were discharged on November 13th, and given three days pay.

When a call for men came to a local board, accompanied by a train schedule, a list of the correct number of names was made up in the order of their liability to service, and an impressive notice was sent to each man to the effect that he had been selected for service, and directing him to appear for roll call at a certain hour of a certain day which was fixed so that it was not less than six nor more than twenty-four hours before the hour of entrainment.

A second roll call Tvas had at board headquarters an hour or thereabouts before the hour of entrainment and a third at the railroad station on arrival there. From the hour designated for the first roll call, the inducted man was in the service of the United States whether he had put in an appearance or not. If he failed

All of the local boards availed themselves freely of some very generous and competent voluntary assistance, without which patriotic co-operation their record for efficiency would have suffered. Pupils of the High School, and of Wisconsin Business College, did much valuable copying for Local Board Number One and some forty or fifty grade teachers in the public schools came day after day and helped in more important work, under the supervision of principals W. L. Hood of the Winslow school and D. A. Shepard, of the Garfield school.

Besides these there were individuals who helped at various times when the work was crowding, and altogether the volunteer assistance was a valuable and much appreciated contribution towards the success of the work of the local boards.

At Board Number Two, principal H. U. Wood of the Howell school, with the assistance of Ann Rank and Hazel Wichern did valuable work in October and November of 1918, in making up reports called for by the Provost Marshal General at a time when the other work of the boards was most pressing.

In the late summer of 1918, it appeared to dawn on the military authorities that special preliminary instruction in military tactics, and in many other matters of interest to prospective soldiers,, was desirable and feasible, and in special regulations sent out in August, local boards were directed to appoint Boards of Instruction.

A detailed account of the work of these boards would be an interesting and informing story, but it will be enough to say here that before the signing of the armistice on November 2nd, they had had time to demonstrate clearly the wisdom of the plan; each succeeding contingent of men went away better trained, better informed, in better spirits, and in every way better fitted to begin camp life than the preceding one. It is a matter for regret that these boards could not have gotten into action sooner, for the value of the work they did in the little time they had, was not only very great, but promised greater things for the future had it been necessary to go on.

Photos By Leonard

As the members of the local boards review the labors of the twenty-two months of war service, there is one feeling that dominates, and that compensates for all the weariness and the worry, and that is a sense of gratitude that we have had the privilege of helping in a small but more or less vital and effective way to win the great war. Nothing else matters much in comparison. All else will pass. That will remain.

The following gives the date, number of men and cantonment camps, to which selective men were sent from Racine in groups under call of Provost Marshall Crowder: