June 26th, 1918.

Hon. F. M. Simmons,
United States Senate,
Washington, D.C.

My dear Senator:-

I deem it my duty to say to you that the people of North Carolina are not in favor of extending the operations of the Selective Service Law to young men between eighteen and twenty-one years of age, nor are they in favor of extending its operations, except in a qualified way, to men between the ages of thirty-one and forty-five.

Our people are willing to do whatever is necessary to the winning of this war, but the necessity for this enlargement of the operations of the Selective Service Law at the present time is not apparent to the people of this State. Upon any sort of calculation four million men are available under the present law, and it would seem to be an utterly useless expense and irritation to bring under the law practically all able bodied citizens until we have at least three million men in France.

I think that all of our people would favor an amendment requiring all unmarried men between the ages of thirty-one and forty-five to register and to be given the same status - as single men under the present law. This would make a considerable increase in the number of men available.

I think also that our people would favor a law requiring all men between thirty-one and forty-five to register, with a proviso that wherever it appears to the local boards that any married man between the said ages of thirty-one and forty-five is steadily engaged in some useful employment, such married man would not be subject to military service under the law. This law would gather in the idlers and loafers throughout the whole country, and would put into force the sentiment now dominant among our people that a man must work or fight.

I am writing you because I know that you are a very busy man with little time to ascertain the sentiment of the people at home, and because I am sure that you always welcome a frank expression of this sentiment.

Sincerely yours,

[unsigned]

B_G

Same letter to Hon. Lee S. Overman