THE UNITED STATES AND CONSCRIPT SERVICE. - ,
That Congress should give the President permanent _
authority to conscript the man-power of the nation for .
immediate military service in time of war may seem to follow strangely upon the heels of the Geneva Disarmament Conference. The recommendation comes at this time largely because of the exigencies of departmental routine. In pro- posing to give the President power, whenever. Congress authorized a declaration of war, to call up at once men between 18 and 45, the Bill which has been introduced is intended merely to avoid the delays and evasions experienced during the World War. The selective service laws and the conditions which arose in their application during the War have been under review for some time. The study was completed after the new Secretary of War took office, and the recommendations now brought forward follow simply as a logical result. No new principle is involved. While the Bill is significant as evidence of the zeal for efficiency, it should not be taken to indicate any change of heart on the part of the Administration in respect of the disarmament policy declared at Geneva.
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