Official Government Statistics.
Male Population Registered and Not Registered
THE SELECTIVE SERVICE
"The willingness," Colonel Ayres says, "with which the American people accepted the universal draft was the most remarkable feature in the history of our preparation for war. It is a noteworthy evidence of the enthusiastic support given the war program that, despite the previous hostility to the principle of universal liability for military service, a few months after the selective service law was passed, the standing of the drafted soldier was fully as honorable in the estimation of his companions and of the country in general as was that of the man who enlisted voluntarily. Moreover, the record of desertions from the Army shows that the total was smaller than in previous wars and a smaller percentage occurred among drafted men than among those who volunteered. The Selective Service Law was passed on May 19, 1917, and as subsequently amended, it mobilized all the man power of the nation from the ages of 18 to 45 inclusive. Under this act, 24,234,021 men were registered and slightly more than 2,800,000 were inducted into the military service on the first draft. But during the war, from April 6, 1917, to November 11, 1918, about 4,000,000 served in the Army of the United States." The total number serving the armed forces of the country, including Army, Navy, Marine Corps and other services, amounted to 4,800,000. Approximately five men out of every 100 citizens were in arms. Of these, 2,086,000, constituting the American Expeditionary Force, were in service on the Western front. Those who saw actual fighting were 1,390,000.
It is interesting in this connection to record the fact that in our greatest previous war, the Civil War, 2,400,000 men served in the Northern Armies and in the Navy. In that struggle 10 men in each 100 inhabitants of the Northern States served as soldiers or sailors.
The fact is pointed out by Colonel Ayres that though the British sent to France more men in their first year than we did in our first year, it took England three years to reach a strength of 2,000,000 men in France whereas the United States reached that strength in France in a year and a half. But as an offset, it must be borne in mind that the British had to use men from the beginning to fill terrible casualty gaps, which was not the case with the American steadily building forces, and that the British also were sending men to several other battle fronts than those of France.
HOW THE DRAFT WAS MADE UP
Under the draft, registrants were subjected to a preliminary examination by the local boards to determine who were not of sufficient soundness and vigor for military life. Those accepted as qualified for service were sent to training camps where they underwent a second examination and rejections were made of those in any serious way defective. The not surprising result of the examinations was the demonstration that men representing the highest order of physical condition came from agricultural districts, the country bred boys far excelling those reared in the city. Taken by States it is noteworthy that men from the Middle West and those from Kentucky and Arkansas of the Southern States had the highest record, their physical condition enabling 70 to 80 percent. to pass the two examinations. The lowest percentage was in the New England States, in New York, in Michigan and in Western States that have for years been health resorts, where subnormal persons from all over the country resort. The percentage of men from those states who passed the two examinations was but 50 to 59. The intermediate ranges were 60 to 69. Under the two examinations not only did country boys make a better showing than city boys (100,000 country boys would furnish for military service 4,700 more soldiers than would an equal number of city boys), but the white registrants were better than the colored, the native-born better than the alien-born. Under the analysis 100,000 whites would furnish 1,240 more soldiers than would an equal number of colored; and 100,000 native-born would yield 3,500 more soldiers than would the like number of foreign-born. As 3,500 men are equivalent to an infantry regiment at full war strength, the value of these differences can be appreciated.