Any discussion of laws, their application, and enforcement, must
perforce be very general, since the different states vary greatly in
laws governing desertion and in equipment for their enforcement.
Suggestions for a uniform federal desertion law are not considered here;
the term "next steps" should be read as meaning not plans in actual
prospect but rather the increase in legal facilities desirable from the
social worker's point of view. In communities where no such facilities
exist, social workers are in a good position to collect illustrative
material and push for desirable changes in law and law enforcement.
Especially advantageous is the position of the legal social agencies
such as legal aid societies and special bureaus and committees for
increasing the efficiency of the courts, many of which are affiliated
with or maintained by the large family work societies.


1. Measures for the Discovery, Extradition or Deportation of the
Deserter.--The nation-wide registration of males between certain ages,
under the Selective Service Act, was widely utilized by social workers
in finding deserting men, with the hearty co-operation usually of the
draft boards. This fact forms no argument for universal registration as
it was carried on in Germany before the war; no system which meant such
cumbersome machinery or so much interference with the freedom of the
individual ought to be advocated for a moment if it were solely for the
purpose of keeping track of the small percentage of citizens who wish to
evade their responsibilities, marital and other. Even such a
non-military device as that which obligates every person to register
successive changes of address with the postal authorities to facilitate
delivery of mail would be contrary to the American spirit and easily