Registration Certificate — draft card — for John Edward Barlow of Columbus, Ohio. Both houses of Congress passed the Selective Service bill on May 16, 1917, and President Wilson signed it into law two days later. All men then eligible — that is, between the ages of 21 and 30, both inclusive — were required to register on June 5, 1917, as Barlow and ten million others did.
Registration CertificateNo. 119 (This number must correspond with that on the Registration Card.)To whom it may concern, Greetings:These presents attests, That in accordance with the Proclamation of the President of the United States, and in compliance with law John Edward Barlow Col O, Precinct A County of Franklin, State of Ohio has submitted himself to registration and has by me been duly registered this 5 day of June, 1917.Jesse Riggs Registrar.
". . . all male persons between the ages of 21 and 30 inclusive shall be subject to registration in accordance with regulations established by the President: And upon proclamation by the President and other public notice given by him or by his direction stating the time and place of such registration it shall be the duty of all persons of the designated ages, except officers and enlisted men of the army, the navy and the National Guard and Naval Militia while in the service of the United States, to present themselves for and submit to registration under the provisions of this act."
Excerpt from Section 5 of the Selective Service Act, which was passed by both houses of the United States Congress on May 16, 1917 and signed into law by Woodrow Wilson on the 18th. Registration was required between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on June 5th for all those then subject to registration. President Wilson included Sections 5 and 6 of the Act in his Proclamation Establishing Conscription. In his April 2, 1917 address to the joint session of Congress requesting a declaration of war on Germany, the President had stated his opinion that American males should be universally liable to service, and that 500,000 men should be immediately added to the military with 'subsequent additional increments of equal force' depending on need and the resources to train the men. There are slight discrepancies (e.g., 'the ages of 21 and 30, both inclusive') between the text Dos Passos provides and other sources.
Mr. Wilson's War by John Dos Passos, page 215, copyright © 1962, 2013 by John Dos Passos, publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
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