LAW OFFICES
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING
LUMBERTON, N.C.

November 7th, 1917.

Hon. T. W. Bickett,
Governor of North Carolina,
Raleigh, N.C.

Dear Sir:-

We have called and accepted a number of married men, and some three or four are now in Camp Jackson in training. Among these is Mr. Carl A. Thompson, whose father went to Raleigh last week and saw you and discussed the matter of re-opening his case before this board. Mr. Thompson came to see us today and gave us your views, and also the views of the Adjutant General, and he feels that under all the circumstances his son ought to be exempted. We take the same view, that is, we take the view that all the married men ought now to be exempted until the single men are drafted in view of the change in regulations recently made by the War Department. In other words, we feel that the new regulations ought to be retroactive, and while the instructions from the Adjutant General and from General Carter to us are to the contrary, we feel that we would be justified in re-opening all cases in which married men have been sent to the camps and discharging them until the single men have been exhausted. We would not feel at liberty, however, to pursue this course unless we had the approval of the Governor in doing so. We will thank you to write us a letter, advisjng what your views in the matter are, and whether you think we would be justified in opening these cases and discharging the men, at least until such a time as the class in which they would fall under new regulations is called.

Awaiting your prompt reply, we are,
Yours very truly,

T. L. Johnson
Chairman.

TLJ-w.