North Carolina Newspapers

V- THE CAROLINA WATCHMAN, SALISBURY, N. C. y-:.. ;"!' . . . - r..- - 4 if- ' t ; Cf : ; nPFRftTinN A, nri rrmiirv nnii-T Pleasures for Raising of Military Forces, as Agreed Upon by Congress. AGE LIMIT, 21 TO 30 YEARS MaJe Citizens, and Those Who Have Dedared Their Intention to Be come Citizens, of That Age, Liable to Draft Classes That Are Excused. Washington. The selective draft un der which the new United States army will be raised will be applied under the following provisions of the army bill : "That the enlisted men required to raise and maintain the organizations of the regulaivarmy and to complete and maintain the organizations embodying the members of the National Guard drafted into the service of the United States, at the maximum legal strength as by this act provided, shall be raised by voluntary enlistment, or if and whenever the president decides that they cannot effectually be so raised or maintained, then by selective draft ; and all other forces hereby authorized shall be raised and maintained by se lective draft exclusively; but this pro vision shall not prevent the transfer to any force of training cadres from other forces. Age Limits Are Fixed. "Such draft as herein provided shall be based upon liability to milifary serv ice of all male citizens or male persons not alien enemies who have declared ' their intention to become citizens, be tween the ages of twenty-one and thirty years, both inclusive, and shall take place and. be maintained under such regulations as the president may prescribe not inconsistent with the terms of this act. "Quotas for the several states, terri tories and the District of Columbia, or subdivisions thereof, shall be deter mined in proportion to the population thereof and credit shall be given to any state, territory, district, or sub division thereof for the number of men who were in the military service of the United States as members of the National Guard on April 1, 1917, or who have since said date entered the military service of the United States from. any such state, territory, district, or subdivision, either as members of the regular army or the National Guard. , . tes n! all offi. cers herein provided -for shall, from the date of said draft or acceptance, be subject to the laws and regulations governing the regular army, except as to promotions, so far as such laws and regulations are applicable to persons whose permanent retention In the mili tary service on the active or retired list Is not . contemplated by existing law, and those drafted shall be re-, quired to serve for the period of the existing emergency unless sooner dis charged, provided that the president is authorized to raise and maintain by voluntary enlistment or draft, as here in provided, special and technical troops, as he may deem necessary, and to employ them into organizations and to officer them as provided in the third paragraph of section 1 and section 9 of this act. "Organizations of the force herein provided for, except the regular army, shall, as far as the interests of the service permit, be composed of men who come, and of officers who are ap pointed from, the same state or local ity." No person liable to military service will be permitted to escape therefrom by furnishing a substitute qr the. pay ment of money, and the -payment of bounties for recruits Is prohibited. Men Who Are Exempt. The persons who will be exempted from military service are thus desig nated by this provision of the bill : "That the vice president of the United States, the officers, legislative, ' executive, and judicial, of the United States and of the several states, terri tories, and the District of Columbia, regular or duly ordained ministers of religion, students who at the time of the approval of this act are preparing for the ministry in recognized theologi cal or divinity schools, and all persons In the naval service of the United States shall be exempt from the selective draft herein prescribed. "Nothing In this act contained shall be construed to require or compel an- " other person to serve in any of the forces herein provided for who is found to be a member of any well-recognized religious sect or organization at pres ent organized and existing and whose . existing creed or principles forbid Its . members to participate In war in any form and whose religious convictions ? are "against war or participation there- ; In In accordance with the creed or principles of said religious organiza- ' tion; but no person so exempted shall be exempted from service in any ca ' pacity that the president shall declare to be noncombatant. t r, trtam masses to Be Excused. TThe president is hereby authorized S to exclude tslr' discharge from said se lective draft "and from the draft under ; the second paragraph of section 1 here . - of, or to draft for partial military serv-V1- ice only from those liable to draft as '.f": In thl art nrovidAd nonuma a iati- lowing classes : County, and municipal DETAILS OF NEW CONSCRIPTION LAW Washington, May 10. Special. Outstanding features of the universal service law as drafted by the senate and house conferees. Ages of Draft, 21 to 30 inclusive. Ages of Volunteers, 18 to 40 inclu sive. Number subject to draft. .11,000,000 To be Obtained by Draft or Volun teers: Number to be drawn by se lective conscription . . . .1,000,000 In two draft 500,000 each. Regular army 300,000 National Guard 625,000 Special and technical troops 76,000 Total strength provided 2,001,000 Term of Service: Period of Emergency. Exemptions: Federal and state officers. Ministers of religion and theological students. Members of religious sects opposed to war. Liable to Exemption: County and municipal officers. Customhouse clerks, mail em ployees. Employees of armories, arsenals and navy yards. Persons engaged In industries, In cluding agriculture. Those supporting dependents. The physically and morally deficient. Method for. Draft: Proclamation by the president for registration. Immediate registration by those of draft age. Selection from register of men for service. Dispatch of men drafted to nearest training camp. Provision for Pay: Second-cl ass private $25 First-class private 31 First-class private 31 Corporal 32 Sergeant of the line $36 and 42 -Quartermaster and hospital ser geants 46 First sergeant : 50 Safeguards Thrown Around the Army: Prohibition. Suppression of the social evil. officers, customhouse clerks, persons employed by the United States in the transmission of the mails, artificers and workmen employed in the armories, arsenals and navy yards of the United States, and such other per sons employed in the service of the United States as the president may designate; pilots, mariners actually employed in the sea service of any citizen or merchant within the United States; persons engaged in industries, including agriculture, found to be nec essary to the maintenance of the military establishment or the effec tive operation of the military forces br the maintenance of national inter 'flt durHig'the emergency; those In a status with respect to persons degend ent upon them for support which ren ders their txclusion or discharge advis able; and those found to be physically or morally deficient. "No exemption or exchision shall continue when a cause therefor no longer exists: Provided, that notwith standing the exemptions enumerated herein, each state, territory and the District of Columbia shall be required to supply its quota in the proportion that its population bears to the total population of the United States." How Exemptions Are Determined. The machinery created for determin ing of exemptions Is thus described by the bill: "The president is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to create and estab lish throughout the several states and subdivisions thereof and in the terri tories and the District of Columbia local boards, and where, in his discre tion, practicable "and desirable, there shall be created and established one such board in each county or similar subdivision in each state, and one for approximately each 30,000 of popula tion in each city of 30,000 population or over, according to the last census taken -or estimates furnished by the bureau jof census of the department of commerce. Such boards shall be ap pointed by the president and shall con sist 'of three or more members, none of whom shall be connected with the military! establishment, to be chosen from among the local authorities of such subdivisions or from other citi zens residing in. the subdivision or area in which the- respective- boards will have jurisdiction under the . rules and regulations prescribed by the' presi dent. Powers of Exempting Boards. "Such boards shall have power with in their respective jurisdictions to hear and determine, subject to review as hereinafter provided, all questions of exemption under this act, and all questions of or claims for Including or discharging individuals or classes of individuals from the selective draft, which shall be made under rules and regulations prescribed by the presi dent, except any and every question or claim for including or excluding or discharging persons or classes of per sons from the selective draft under the provisions of this act authorizing the president to exclude or discharge from the selective draft 'persons engaged in industries, including agriculture, found to be necessary to the maintenance of the military establishment, or the ef fective operation of the military forces, or the maintenance of national interest during the emergency.' Additional Boards Provided. "The president is hereby authorized to establish additional boards, one in each federal Judicial district of the United States, consisting of such num I ber of citizens, not connected with the military establishment, as the presi dent may determine, who shall be ap pointed by the president. "Such district boards shall review on appeal and affirm, modify or re verse any decision of any local board having jurisdiction in the area in which any such district board has ju risdiction under the rules and regula tions prescribed by the president. Such district boards shall have exclusive original jurisdiction within their re spective areas to hear and determine all questions or claims for including or excluding or discharging persons or classes or persons from the selective draft, under the provisions of this act, not included within the original juris diction of such local boards. "The decisions of such district boards shall be final except that in ac cordance with such rules and regula tions as the president may prescribe, he may affirm, modify, or reverse any j such decision." I All persons subject to registration must have attained their twenty-first but not their thirty-first birthday, and such persons as fail to register will be subject to imprisonment for not more than one year. Persons temporarily absent from their legal residence may register by mail under presidential regulations. Provisions for Volunteers. The provisions governing voluntary enlistment in- the regular army and National Guard follow: "That the qualifications and condi tions for voluntary enlistment as here in provided shall be the same as those prescribed by existing law for enlist ments In the regular army, except that recruits must be between the ages of eighteen and forty, both inclusive, at the time of their enlistment, and such enlistment, and such enlistments, shall be for the period of the emergency un less sooner discharged. Plan Grouping by States. "Provided, That all persons enlisted or drafted under any of the provisions of this act shall as far as practicable be grouped into units by states and the political subdivisions of the same ; pro vided, further, that all persons who have enlisted since April 1, 1917, either in the regular army or in the National Guard, and all persons who have en listed in the National Guard since June 3, 1916, upon their application, shall be discharged upon the termination of the existing emergency. "The president niay provide for the discharge of any or all enlisted men whose status with respect to depend ents renders such discharge advisable, and he may also authorize the employ ment on any active duty of retired en listed men of the regular army, either with their rank on the retired list or In higher enlisted grades, and such re tired enlisted men shall receive the full pay and allowances of the grades in which they are actively employed.'' Provision for Increased Pay.- Tho nrmv nnv inrrff8s nro ftot forth in the following provisions: " "That all officers and enlisted men of the forces herein provided for other j than the regular army shall be in all j respects on the same footing as to pay, ' allowances, and pensions as officers and enlisted men of corresponding grades and length of service in the reg- i ular army; and commencing June 1, 1917, and continuing until the termi- j nation of the emergency, all enlisted men of the army of the United States j in active service whose base pay does 1 not exceed $24 per month shall receive an increase of $10 per month ; those whose base pay is $24, an increase of j $8 per month ; those whose base pay is j $30, $36, or $40, an increase of $6 per j month, and those whose base pay is $45 or more, an increase of $5 per j month ; provided that the increases of pay herein authorized shall not .enter into the compilation of continuous service pay." .President's Powers Broadened. An entirely new provision of the bill as drafted is: "That the president is authorized to increase or decrease the number of or- ! ganizations prescribed for the typical 1 brigades, divisions, or army corps of t the regular army, and to prescribe such ! new and different organizations and personnel for army corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, squad rons, companies, troops, and batter ies as the efficiency of the service may require; provided further that the number of organizations in a regiment shall not be increased nor shall the number of regiments be decreased, The president will officer the regu lar army and National Guard under ex isting law, and for the conscript force he is empowered : "To provide the necessary officers, line and staff, for said force and for organizations of the other forces here by authorized, or by combining organ izations of said other forces, by order ing members of the officers' reserve corps to temporary duty in accordance with the provisions of section 38 of the national defense act approved June 3, 1916; by appointment from the reg ular army, the officers' reserve corps, from those duly qualified and regis tered pursuant to section 23 of the act of congress approved January 21, 1903 (thirty-second statutes at large, page 775), from the members of the National Guard drafted into the serv ice of the United States who, have been graduated from educational institu tions at which military instruction is compulsory or from those who have had honorable service in the regular army, the National Guard, or the vol unteer forces or from the country at large; by assigning retired officers of the regular army to active duty with such force with their rank on the re tired list and the full pa and allow ances of their grade ; or by the appoint ment of retired officers and enlisted men, active or retired, of the regular army as commissioned officers In such forces." WAR REVENUE BILL PLANNED 10 RAISE $1,800,000,000 IN YEAR Ten Per Cent Increase Added to All Existing Duties and Articles Now on Free List Are Taxed 10 Per Cent Incomes Are Hit HardAn Extra Tax of One-Third Added to Ail Individual Incomes for 1916. Following are some of the articles in daily use which will be taxed under the new war revenue bill : Stock Exchange Transactions On each sale future delivery for each $100 m 2 cents Capital stock on each original issue of $100, 5 cents; on transfers on each $100 face value 2 cents Bonds, debentures, etc., on each $100 face value...., 5 cents Indemnity bonds, 50 cents; where premium is in excess of $100 ...... .1 per cent of premium charge Drafts, checks, notes (and renewals, 6r extensions) for each $100 2 cents Deeds, conveying lands or realty, for the first $100 to $500, 50 cents; for each $500 or additional or fraction...... ...50 cents j L-'fe Insurance policies (except industrial I Marine, international and fire insurance I casualty policy premiums -j per Cent j Freight bills ., ......... .3 per cent j Passenger tickets .;10 per cent i Steamship tickets for foreign port, $10 to $30, $1 ; $30 to $60, $3; ex ! ceedlng $60, $5. : Seats, berths or staterooms, rail or water.. 10 per cent Express rates ...,........... 10 per cent j Automobiles and motorcycles .V. . .5 per cent on wholesale price ! Tires .. : . ... . 5 per cent Light, heat and telephone bills :. ....... .7. ..5 per cent : Telephone (long distance) 5 cents on each; toll message, over 15c ! Musical instruments 5 per cent on those costing over $10 j Talking machines 5 per cent on those costing over $10 Jewelry , .v. . 5 per cent Cosmetics and proprietary medicines 5 per cent on wholesale price ! Amusement tickets (charity excepted).. 1 cents for each 10 cents of'ad ! mission price, except where maximum is 5 cents. Washington. The administration war revenue bill as unanimously agreed upon by the house committee a and means and reported to the house Wednesday, is estimated to produce $1,800,000,000 a year. If the framers overlooked any tan gible article upon which it is possible to levy a tax, it was not because of any desire to do so. " Incomes, inheritances, business prof its, amusements, liquors, tobacco, auto mobiles, moving pictures, baseball games, medicines, letter postage, trans portation and jewelry are among some of the things which will feel the bur den of taxation. Tariff Will Yield $200,000,000. The committee found it necessary to go to the tariff to make up a deficit off something like $200,000,000. Thisva$ done by an agreement to a tax'C- 10 per cent upon all articles now on the free list and 10 per cent additional upon all articles now upon the dutiable list. Income-tax increases as made public v-1,ul1 1AJUU "-J by Chairman Kitcbin follow: ' c ycM c,.u.a 01, isio, nave Deen mcreasca cActtujr one-third. Thftse taxes are due ir June. Exemption limits have been reduced to $1,000 for single men and $2,000 for married men. The normal tax on new classes of incomes to be taxed, . those between $1,000 and $3,000 for single men and between $2,000 and $4,000 for married men, has been fixed at 2 per cent Normal taxes on all incomes former ly taxed, those above $3,000 for single men and $4,000 for married men, have been increased from 2 to 4 per cent. Increases in All Surtaxes. The Increased surtaxes are as fol lows: $ 5,000 to $ 7,500 1 per c;nt 7,500 to 10,000 .... 2 per cent 10,000 to 12,500 3 per cent 12,500 to 15,000 4 per cent 15,000 to 20,000 5 per cent 20,000 to 40,000 6 per cent 40,000 to 60,000 8 per cent 60,000 to 80,000 11 per cent 80,000 to 100,000 14 per cent 100,000to 150,000.. 17 per cent 150,000 to 200,000 20 per cent 200,000 to 250,000 24 per cent 250,000 to 300,000 27 per cent 300,000 to 500,000 30 per cent 500,000 and upwards 37 per cent The inheritance tax starts with one-half of 1 per cent as the basic tax on all estates of $50,000 or less. The remainder of the schedule is ap plied to the various excesses In grad uation as follows : Inheritance Tax Scale. On excess of more than $50,000. but not exceeding $150,000. 1 per cent. On excess of more than $150,0001 but not exceeding $250,000, iy2 per cent. On excess of more than $250,000, but not exceeding $450,000, 2 per cent. On excess of more than $450,000, but not exceeding $1,000,000, 2 per cent. On excess of more than $1,000,000, but not exceeding $2,000,000, 3 per cenu On excess of more than $2,000,000, but not exceeding $3,000,000, 3 per cent. On excess of more than $3,000,000, but not exceeding $4,000,000. 4 per cent. On excess of more than $4,000,000. but not exceeding $5,000,000, 4 per cent. Lodging-House Geometry. Learning is one thing and wit is an other, but that does not prevent them from meeting at times in the same brain. One of the most amusing, of those jests, which it takes a certain amount of scholarship to make or en joy, was the collection of Euclidean axioms. that Prof. Stephen Leacock of McGill university wrote some years ago !or Truth. Here is, one of the cleverest of them: If there be two boarders on the same flat and the amount of side of the one be equal to or'weekly) ..8 cents on each $100 premiums 1 per cent On excess of more than $5,000;000, but not exceeding $8,000,000, 5 per cent. On excess of more than $8,000,000. but not exceeding $11,000,000 7 per cent. On excess of more than $11,000,000, but not exceeding $15,000,000, 10 per cent. On excess of more than $15,000,000, 15 per cent. The income tax schedules were not changed except for the determination to place an added tax of one-third on individual income taxes which are due in June of this year. Under this pro vision those who already have paid tfyeir income taxes for the year ending December 3i. 1916, will have to pay another oneftftird'of their taxes again, and those wijo have not paid will have to j?ay one-third more when they do pay. The tax on excess profits was not changed and stands as printed previ ously at 16 per cent on profits over 8 per cent and $5,000. Liquor Touched Up. The tax on spirits, whisky and sim ilar beverages has been increased to $2.20 per gallon. The tax on beer is $2.75 per barrel. The tax on rectifiers is 15 cents per gallon. The tax on tobacco has been dou bled. Tli taxes on cigars have been ad vanced to a new- schedule ranging from 50 cents to $10 per thousand, retail value. The bill specifies that purchasers shall pay the 10 per cent tax on amusement, theater, and baseball tick ets. A new tax of 5 per cent on heat, light, and telephone bills was Inserted in the bill. Under this section when the householder goes to pay his month ly bills for these articles he will have to pay an additional 5 per cent of the amount of the bills for the support of the government. The stamp tax on telephone and telegraph messages was fixed at 5 cents on each message the toll of which is more than 15 cents. Commuters' tickets were exempt from the passenger ticket tax of .10 per cent tax where the one way fare is less than 25 cents. Mail Rate Increases. The second-class mail rate increase was decided on according to the zone system. On .motion of Representative Dixori of Indiana, , this was reduced to the following: . Two cents a-pound .on second-class mail .Ifr first and second zones. Three cents a pound on second-class mail in trie third and fourth zones. Five cents a pound on second-class mail in the fifth and sixth zones. Six cents a pound on second-Class mail in the seventh and eighth zones. Religious,, fraternal, labor and agri cultural papers not operated for profit were put on a straight one and one-half-cent-a-pound basis. The old regulations concerning the free distribution of small papers with in the county were unchanged. A tax of 5 per cent was inserted in the bill on pleasure boats. Musical instruments costing less than $10 each, were exempted from the provisions of the 5 per cent tax on these articles. A motion was made In committee to reduce the automobile tax to 3 per cent, but failed by a large margin. the amount of side of the other, each to each, and the wrangle between one boarder and the landlady be equal to the wrangle between the landlady and the other boarder, then shall the week ly bills of the two boarders be equal, each to each. For, If not, let one bill be the greater. Then the other bill is less than it might have been, which is absurd. Youth's Companion. On the Job. The Sphinx knew how to keep her month shut and it still in business. OPPOSE INCREASE ON POSTAGE RATES SECTION REFERRING TC NEWS PAPERS IS LIKELY TO BE MODIFIED. TO REACH VOTE THIS WEEK Newspaper Men in Great Numbers Strongly Protest With Effect. Many Other Protests Are Made ta Different Sections. Washington. Opponents of the Ways and Means Commitee's proposal to erfiat.lv increase postal rates on newspapers and magazines showed such a strength during debate on the war tax bill that it appeared likely the postal section of the measure would be one of the few to be mater ially modified before passage The attack brought the first defec tion from the ranks of the committee itself, which had approved the bill un animously and whose members of both parties have consistently urged its passage unamended. Just before ad journment Representative Sloan, a Re publican committeeman, told the House that, while he would stand be hind every other provision in the measure, he could not support a pos tal increase amounting to "a punitive expedition against newspapers and magazines." Representatives Madden, of Illinois and McCormick, of Illinois; Meeker, of Missorui, Republicans, and Moon, of Tennessee, Democrat and chairman of the postal Committee, joined in the attack, which proceeded while a large delegation of publishers was telling the Senate Finance Committee that enactment would force many publica tions out of business. Debate Near Close. General debate in the House closed at 4 o'clock Tuesday and the bill prob ably will be brought to a final vote be fore the end of the week. The com mittee hopes to put through most of its proposals without important amendment? for the opposition has scattered its fire against many indi vidual sections and has developed . a concerted attack on only a few of them. When the measure goes over to the Senate, however, many chaaiges are expected. Representative Longworth; Repub lican, made a loiig defence bi th for the cojafltf while, there !were l apiinjealities, passage was necessary to give the needed war revenue. He declared 95 per cent of the taxes proposed would fall upon the wealthy or those of moderate means. Representative Meeker . predicted that enactment of the proposed postal increases would mean the end of Na tional circulation for daily papers and Representative Madden attacked the new rate schedule as "the most unjust tax ever imposed by a Government." Chairman Moon presented two amend- ! ments to cut down the proposed rates. Representative McCormick suggest ed that the whole schedule should be re-written so that the levies would fall on publications in proportionto their incomes. Representative McMormick also criticised the income tax section of the bill and declared the proposed ex cess profits taxes were oppressive and ; unjust. He predicted that the measure as a whole would work immeasurable harm to industry. Senate Hearing. Spokesmen for newspapers and pe riodicals, large and small, and from all parts of the, country appeared be fore the Senate Finance Committee to attack as unreasonable and confis catory the war revenue bill provision which would create a zone system with greatly increased rates for sec ond class mail matter. They declared If the measure went Into effect, many i publications would be compelled to suspend. Don C. Seitz, of The New York World, representing the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, said the proposed increase was not a war tax "but an effort to further re press and embarrass the newspaper industry." He told the committee there already had been a big slump in business which, if It continued, would paralyze the newspapers. The publishers, he added, were not seek ing special favors, but wanted to be placed on the same level with people engaged in other business. Arthur Dunn, speaking for the smaller newspapers of the country, said they could not stand the increase In postal rates with the increased cost of print paper, and that many wou'.d be compelled to go out of business if the bill was enacted. RUSSIAN SITUATION CONTINUES TO BE SERIOUS. Russia still looms in the eyes of the "world as a portentous obstacle to an early successful issue of the war for the Entente Nations and the United States over Germany and Allies. While there have been rumors that the Work men and Soldiers haave called for an armistice, official denial of this ir made by t4i council. On the contrary, it is stated by the council that an ap peal to the soldiers Is being drawn up r.lartnr aralnat a separate peace. Jt 'A