In every Federal judicial district one or more district boards were organized, consisting usually of five but in some cases of a larger number of members, comprising leading citizens of the community and appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the governor. District boards exercised appellate jurisdiction over local boards and original jurisdiction in industrial and agricultural claims.
[Sidenote: The order of liability of registrants.]
[Sidenote: The drawing in Washington on July 20, 1917.]
The initial step in the process of examination and selection was to establish the order of liability of each of the 10,000,000 registrants to be called for service. The cards within the jurisdiction of each local board, taken as a unit, had been serially numbered when completed and filed; and duplicates of the cards so numbered were deposited with the governor and with the district boards. The average number of registrants within the jurisdiction of a local board was about 2,500, the highest being 10,319. In order to establish the order of liability of each registrant in relation to the other registrants within the jurisdiction of the same local board, a drawing was held July 20, 1917, in the Public Hearing Room of the Senate Office Building in Washington, as a result of which every registrant was given an order number and his liability to be called for examination and selection determined by the order number.
The official lists of the numbers drawn by lot were furnished to every local board and from these lists the boards made up the availability order list of all registrants within their respective jurisdictions.
[Sidenote: Physical examination and elimination.]
The determination of the order of availability left only the process of physical examination and elimination. The War Department, through the Provost Marshal General's Office, had already determined and given notice of the number of men to be furnished by each State, and at the date of the drawing practically every State had ascertained and notified its local boards of the number required to complete their respective quotas for the first draft. The calculations of the War Department and of the States for the quotas were based upon section 2 of the act of May 18.