Several letters have come to this office from different parts of the State, indicating a fear on the part of a few people that local boards may not in all cases act with absolute impartiality in passing upon claims for exemption and in prescribing the order in which persons not exempt shall be called to service.

It is not necessary for me to say that I do not personally share this fear. Your recommendation by me to the President of the United States for this patriotic service carried with it my abiding faith that you would do your duty without fear and without favor.

I deem it proper, however, to call your attention to the apprehension reflected in these letters and to beg you to hold your sacred office so high above personal or partisan considerations that when the work is done your enemies will be forced to concede that in every case you acted with the fear of God and the love of your country before your eyes. Above all things, let me beseech you not to allow political influences to touch the hem of your garment. It would be a tragic and nauseating prostitution of a wise and just law if politics should be considered when the lives of men and the very destiny of the race are in the balances.

It is proper to say that the letters mentioned have come from less than five per cent of the counties in the State, but the fact that the fear has been expressed at all makes it my duty to advise all members of local boards to the end that their work may be done on a plane of patriotism so high that no breath of suspicion can reach it.