The Draft

In early May 1917, Hobart's "Roll of Honor" was augmented by the name of Fred Bowlby. The 18-year-old who had lately been playing penguin was now to be a cavalryman, and there was no play about this business.

Those who did not volunteer would soon face the draft. On April 30 Congress had passed a conscription bill. The War Department set about working out the details, and by mid-May the Hobart News was able to print this explanatory summary:


(Click on image to enlarge)

The exemption available for agricultural workers was relevant to this rural area. Food production had become a matter of vital importance to the support of the U.S. military and of the allies, both military and civilian.

(The "social evil" to be suppressed was, I believe, prostitution. The federal policy of protecting servicemen from prostitution led the city government of New Orleans, under threat of force by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, to close down its notorious Storyville district in November 1917 — but that's another story.)

On May 21 President Woodrow Wilson signed the draft bill and set June 5 as the date for registration.


Sources:
♦ "Details of New Conscription Law." Hobart News 17 May 1917.
♦ "Draft Wins By Big Majority in Both Houses." Hobart News 3 May 1917.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 4 May 1917.
♦ "President Signs Draft Measure; Troops to Front." Hobart News 24 May 1917.
♦ Rose, Al. Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1974.