ERICANS OF COMING GAS ATTACK. SOLDIERS
DON MASKS AND SOUND THE ALARM. INSERT, LEFT CORNER, MACHINE GUNNERS.]

No elaborate defense of the Negro will be attempted in the matter of
the desertion record. It is not necessary. The words of Provost Marshall
General Crowder, the man who knew all about the selective draft and who
engineered it through its wonderfully successful course, completely
absolved the Negro in this connection. The following quotation in
reference to the above figures is taken verbatim from the report of
General Crowder to the Secretary of War, dated December 20, 1918.

"These figures of reported desertions, however, lose their
significance when the facts behind them are studied. There is in
the files of this office, a series of letters from governors and
draft executives of southern states, called forth by inquiry for an
explanation of the large percentage of Negroes among the reported
deserters and delinquents. With striking unanimity the draft
authorities replied that this was due to two causes; first,
ignorance and illiteracy; especially in the rural regions, to which
may be added a certain shiftlessness in ignoring civic obligations;
and secondly, the tendency of the Negroes to shift from place to
place. The natural inclination to roam from one employment to
another has been accentuated by unusual demands for labor incident
to the war, resulting in a considerable flow of colored men to the
north and to various munition centers. This shifting reached its
height in the summer of 1917, shortly after the first registration,
and resulted in the failure of many men to keep in touch with their
local boards, so that questionnaires and notices to report did not
reach them.

"With equal unanimity the draft executives report that the amount
of willful delinquency or desertion has been almost nil. Several
describe the strenuous efforts of the Negroes to comply with the
regulations, when the requirements were explained to them, many
registrants travelling long distances to report in person to the
adjutant general of the state. 'The conviction resulting from these
reports' says General Crowder, 'is that the colored men as a whole
responded readily and gladly to their military obligations once
their duties were understood."

So far as the records show, there were neither "slacke