Group B 78,831 2.87 9.47 Group C 311,903 11.34 37.45 Group D 442,124 16.08 53.08 The percentage of Negroes unqualifiedly accepted for service, was 74.60% of the number examined; the white men accepted numbered 69.71% of the number examined. The Negroes it will be seen rated about 5% higher physically than the whites. No better refutation could be desired of the charge, having its inspiration in the vanquished, but unrepentant defenders of Negro slavery, mourning about its dead carcass, that the Negro is deteriorating physically, or that the so-called degenerative influences of civilization affect him in greater degree than they do the white man. CHAPTER XII. NEGRO SLACKERS AND PACIFISTS UNKNOWN SUCH WORDS NOT IN HIS VOCABULARY--DESERTIONS EXPLAINED--GENERAL CROWDER EXONERATES NEGRO--NO WILLFUL DELINQUENCY--STRENUOUS EFFORTS TO MEET REGULATIONS--NO "CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS"--NO DRAFT EVADERS OR RESISTERS--NEGRO'S DEVOTION SUBLIME--JUSTIFIES HIS FREEDOM--FORGETS HIS SORROWS--RISES ABOVE HIS WRONGS--TESTIMONY OF LOCAL BOARDS--GERMAN PROPAGANDA WASTED--A NEW AMERICANISM. The only phase of the selective draft in which the Negro seemed to be discredited in comparison with his white brother, was in the matter of desertions. At first glance and without proper analysis, the record appeared to be against the Negro. Upon detailed study, however, the case takes on a different aspect. The records of the Provost Marshall General show that out of 474,861 reported deserters, 369,030 were white registrants, and 105,831 colored, the ratio of white reported deserters to white registrants being 3.86, and the ratio of colored reported deserters to colored registrants being 9.81. Everyone knows now that many, yes, the bulk of the reported desertions among both whites and blacks, were not desertions at all. Circumstances simply prevented the men from keeping in touch with their local boards or from reporting when called. Desertions among white registrants might have shown a greater percentage had they not availed themselves of the exemption feature of the law. Negroes did not understand this clause in the act so well. Besides, as previously stated, many Negroes were placed in Class 1, even where they had dependants, because their rate of pay in the army would enable them to contribute as much to the support of their dependants as would their earnings outside of army service. This was a policy with many draft boards, but it is not exactly clear in view of the increased earning power of the Negroes through wartime demands for their labor. Following are the complete figures on so-called desertions, the variances in the several states being given: