I am profoundly convinced that it would be extremely unfortunate to name sheriffs and county clerks on local exemption boards. In North Carolina and in all other states these officials are of necessity deeply interested in politics. The conscientious discharge of their duty on exemption boards would probably result in their defeat at the next election. The failure to conscientiously discharge their duty on exemption boards would result in wholly unfair exemptions. Neither these officials nor the public safety should be made subject to risks involved in their appointment on local exemption boards. Exemptions should be free from the suspicion of political influence, and this is simply impossiblt if men are appointed whose tenure of offices they now hold depends on their regard for political considerations. I therefore urge that you issue a general order that sheriffs and county clerks be not named on local exemption boards where other good citizens are available. In my opinion such a general order is vital to an impartial administration of the law. A general order from the War Department to this effect is necessary, for it would be embarrassing to a governor of a single state not to name these officials on exemption boards under existing instructions.