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with it all, military knowledge of the best military intellect of the country

The task was entrusted to Provost Marshal-General E. H. Crowder. Mr. Crowder had graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1881, and in 1886 took his degree as Bachelor of Laws at the University of Missouri. In his military service he had held almost every army rank, being many years in the Judge Advocate's Department. His education and training eminently fitted him for this task. The Selective Service Regulations, Form 999:

The Provost Marshal-General and his assistants brought out one of the most remarkable systems in the Selective Service Regulations that has ever been devised. It presents a wonderful plan for selecting the men best fitted for military ser

all matters affecting the registrant's availability or availability for military service, and the further plan of providing suitable and extra assistants to aid registrants to fully answer the questionnaire were two of the most important features in the new Selective Service Regulations. The questionnaire was produced by the same brain that had created the Selective Service Regulations, and the difficulty of providing suitable assistants to advise and assist registrants in making their answers was met by calling practically the entire Bar of the United States to this service.

Under the first draft very few lawyers were used in the machinery for selecting men. The local boards were made up largely of men engaged in business, agriculture and other vocations.

Aid of American Bar Association,

vice, so as to interfere the least possible with manufacturing, agricultural and general business, and also to leave at home those having family dependents upon whom they relied for support.

These Selective Service Regulations were approved by the President on the 8th of November, 1917, and the same day were promulgated by the Secretary of War. It might be here stated that both the President and the Secretary were edu. cated in law, the President having taken his law degree at the University of Virginia, and Secretary Baker at Washing

At the annual meeting of the American Bar Association in August, 1917, action was taken offering to the President the services of all the members, to be used in such manner as he saw fit in the prosecution of the war. The President availed himself of this offer.

The new regulations made provision for the creation of a Legal Advisory Board to work in connection with each local board of the United States.

Section 45 of the Selective Service Regulations provides for the appointment of Legal Advisory Boards composed of disinterested lawyers, with associate members consisting of capable lawyers and laymen, for the purpose of advising registrants of the true meaning and intent of the Selective Service Regulations, and of assisting registrants to make full and truthful answers to the questionnaires, and to aid generally in the administration of said law and regulations.

In Section 46 it is provided that “all lawyers and physicians should regard it as their duty to identify themselves with the advisory boards provided for in Sections 44 and 45, and freely, without compensation, to give their best service to the United States. It is inconsistent with this duty for lawyers to seek

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ton and Lea.

It is manifest that a system for the selection of men most suitable for military service, to be drawn so as to least interfere with the home establishment, should provide for a distribution of registrants into various classes, according to their family relations, their occapations, and the case with which they could be spared without interfering with the home estab

lishment

It is also manifest that the number of local boards of limited membership of three or four each could not, with any celerity, question each man and ascertain whether or not he should be taken.

le plan of providing an extensive questionnaire in which

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clients for the purpose of urging and advocating individual cases in any other way than as disinterested and impartial assistants of the Selective Service System."

In his proclomation on the 8th of November, 1917, promulgating the Selective Service Regulations, the President said: "I arge men of the legal profession to offer themselves as assoeiate members of the Legal Advisory Boards to be provided in each community for the purpose of advising registrants of their rights and obligations, and of assisting them in the prepapation of their answers to the questions which all men, subject to draft, are required to submit."

Legal Advisory Boards Appointed On the 14th day of November, 1917, a State Legal Advisory

The State Board proceeded immediately to select the necessary lawyers in each county, using the members of the Tennessee Bar Association and members of the American Bar Association and others. They also conferred with members of the Supreme Court, Court of Civil Appeals, other Judges and Chancellors and lawyers throughout the State. After the lists were completed Chief Justice Neil went over them. When finally submitted for appointment by the President, the entire list had met the approval of our Chief Justice. These boards were appointed, and a sufficient number of associate members were also appointed. This practically utilized the entire Bar of the State.

In the meantime, a thousand copies of the Selective Service Regulations were secured and made available to all members and associate members of the Legal Advisory Boards. The Boards were requested to immediately organize and prepare for their work.

Board for each state was appointed by the President. The first duty of each of these boards was to nominate to the Governor for appointment by the President a Legal Advisory Board for rach local board in the State, to be composed of lawyers wherever available; and also for the appointment of additional or associate members of the Legal Advisory Boards in number sufficient to promptly serve all registrants who might call for

The first questionnaires were to be sent out on December 15th, and several days prior thereto all Legal Advisory Boards that had not reported fully organized were communicated with by telegraph or long distance telephone, and this process was continued daily until by the 16th of December, 1917, the day the first questionnaires were received, every Legal Advisory Board in Tennessee was fully organized and prepared to discharge its duties.

assistance.

The members of the State Legal Advisory Board for Tennessee received a telegraphic notice of their appointment on Nov. 14, requesting them to immediately report to the Governor for instructions. The members of the board met with the Governor and Maj. Rutledge Smith early the next morning, when their

These Boards had held conferences with the local Boards, and in the larger counties had held public meetings where the duties of the registrants were discussed. Full publicity was given through the newspapers, advising registrants to call upon the Legal Advisory Boards in their locality for aid in answering the questionnaires, and advising that no fees would be charged for any service rendered by them. In the larger counties special quarters were rented, and the Boards and associate members arranged that a sufficient number be in attendance throughout each day to serve promptly all registrants. In some of the Boards twenty to forty members were in constant daily attendance, handling the registrants as rapidly as they could come in.

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Juties were pointed out.

The first duty was to select for nomination the Legal Advisory Boards throughout the State, there being one local board for each county, the four larger counties had more, four for Hamilton, four for Knox, six for Davidson and seven for Shelby, making a total of 113 local boards in Tennessee.

It required 339 lawyers to constitute the Legal Advisory Boards. About 76 lawyers had already been selected for Gov. ant Appeal Agents, and 25 placed on the local boards, and

available on the Legal Advisory Boards.

As the time approached for answering the last of the questionnaires reports were made at frequent intervals to the State Board, showing the number of questionnaires sent out, number answered, so that the progress was indicated from day to day.

Advisory Boards When the answering of the questionnaires was finished, the Legal Boards assisted the Local Boards in locating those who had not answered; thus in some counties every registrant was finally accounted for and classified. The work was completed January 22, 1918.

Adjournment of Courts There were 184,000 registrants in Tennessee, under the June, 1917, registration. Of these approximately 14,000 had been accepted under the first draft, leaving about 170,000 to answer their questionnaires. Most of them had to be assisted. The law. yers could not properly render this service and continue daily attendance upon court.

The total number of Legal Advisory Boards in the State was 113. with 339 permanent members. The entire Legal Advisory Board organization numbered 3,993. Nearly every lawyer in the State practically gave up his practice and devoted his time gentrously and unreservedly to this most important work.

About 170,000 registrants were assisted. With the questionnaires the Local Boards were able with great rapidity to classify the registrants, and within a short time after the questionnaires were returned classification was completed. This would have been an utter impossibility without the assistance of the Legal Advisory Boards.

About December 12th, 1918, the State Board sent a request to every Judge and Chancellor in the State, asking that the courts adjourn so as to relieve the lawyers from court duties and enable them to give their entire time to this service. Practically all the courts in the State adjourned, and many of the Judges, including members of both Appellate Courts, joined the Legal Al.

Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act

visory Boards in their work.

Branch Boards Established December and January saw the coldest weather that Tennessee had known in many years, heavy snows and zero temperatures were common. Roads were almost impassable.

To meet this situation, the Legal Advisory Boards in the rural districts organized sufficient number of Branch Boards throughout the county to accommodate the registrants and their dependents without long or inconvenient travel. The Board members often made long journeys through the snow and over the mountains or bot.

On March 8, 1918, Congress passed a law to extend protection to the civil rights of members of the military and naval forces of the United States engaged in the present war. This Act protected soldiers and sailors from the prosecution of suits or claims against them, and from the loss of their civil rights during the period they were in military service. Notwithstanding this Act, many persons insisted upon prosecuting claims.

The State Legal Advisory Board sent copies of this Act to the various Legal Boards and to every Judge and Chancellor in the State. Every member of the Bar throughout the State, acting with the Legal Advisory Boards, gladly accepted the opportunity of seeing that the soldiers and sailors were given the benefit of this law. Thus from the date of the passage of the Act down to this time, the Bar of Tennessee has stood as a guardian of our absent fighting men against the cupidity of those unpatriotic enough to insist upon enforcing claims against them during their absence, and it will continue to protect them as long as this protection shall be necessary.

toms to take the affidavit of a sick dependent.

In some of the counties, after all the lawyers had been mobil. ized, more aid was required, and county officials, postmasters school teachers, magistrates, bankers and merchants were called upon and rendered valuable service. In James County, for er ample, there was only one lawyer available, and in Polk County only two, and other counties not enough, so that quite a number

-ans not lawyers were called upon to serve on the Legal