Revision of Draft To Give Fathers New Deferments

An increasing number of volunteers combined with smaller draft calls may allow fathers over 26 to be deferred from the draft in the near future, a spokesman for the Selective Service said yesterday.

In addition, men over 26 who are still single will be the last ones called under a tentative schedule being drawn up by the Defense Department, he indicated.

A member of a Draft Board here said that in recent months very few men have had to be drafted involuntarily. Generally, most men volunteer for the draft, and in some instances these men have to wait almost a year before they can be called.

Until July, 1952, fatherhood was always grounds for deferment, but in that month, it was cancelled to keep manpower up. But the needs for the services has so decreased in recent months that actually few fathers are called now. It is expected that the new deferment of fathers over 26 will be approved soon.

Order of Draft

Under the new program, the spokesman said, men would be drafted on the following priority basis:

1) Delinquents, defined as those who for some reason failed to register or to comply with local board instructions to report for physical examinations.

2) Volunteers.

3) Nonvolunteers between 18 1/2 and 26.

4) Men 26 and younger with children.

5) Men over 26.

Under this system, if a student went to graduate school, married and then had children, there would be a strong chance that he could escape the draft.