nst him.

Commenting on the facility with which the selective draft was put into
effect, the report of the Provost Marshall General stated in part:

"The expedition and smoothness with which the law was executed
emphasized the remarkable flexibility, adaptability and efficiency
of our system of government and the devotion of our people. Here
was a gigantic project in which success was staked not on reliance
in the efficiency of a man, or an hierarchy of men, or, primarily,
on a system. Here was a bold reliance on faith in a people. Most
exacting duties were laid with perfect confidence on the officials
of every locality in the nation, from the governors of states to
the registrars of elections, and upon private citizens of every
condition, from men foremost in the industrial and political life
of the nation to those who had never before been called upon to
participate in the functions of government. By all administrative
tokens, the accomplishment of their task was magic."

No distinction regarding color or race was made in the selective draft
law, except so far as non-citizen Indians were exempt from the draft.
But the organization of the army placed Negro soldiers in separate
units; and the several calls for mobilization, were, therefore, affected
by this circumstance, in that no calls could be issued for Negro
registrants until the organizations were ready for them. Figures of
total registration given previously in this chapter include interim
accessions and some that automatically went on the rolls after September
12, 1918. Inasmuch as the tables prepared by the Provost Marshall
General's department deal only with those placed on the rolls on regular
registration days and do not include the accessions mentioned,
comparisons which follow will be based on those tables. They show the
total registration as 23,779,997, of which 21,489,470 were white and
2,290,527 were black. Following is a table showing the distribution of
colored and white registrants by states:

Colored
Total registrants
Colored June 5, 1917 Colored Total
and white Colored registrants colored
registrants. to Sept 11, Sept 12, registrants.
1918. 1918.
--------------------------------------