all power of substitution, the fact that the processes of the law were worked out publicly, all cooperated to surround the draft with assurances of fairness and equality, so that throughout the whole country the attitude of the people toward the law was one of approval and confidence, and I feel very sure that those who at the beginning had any doubts would now with one accord agree that the selective service act provides not only a necessary mode of selecting the great armies needed under modern conditions, but that it provides a better and more democratic and a fairer method of distributing the burden of national defense than any other system as yet suggested. [Sidenote: Fundamental questions settled.] [Sidenote: Unity of spirit of American people.] This does not mean, of course, that the law is perfect either in its language or in its execution, nor does it mean that improvements may not be made as our experience grows and as the need for more intense national efforts increases; but such amendments as may hereafter be required will proceed with the fundamental questions settled and we have now only to consider changes which may be required to a better ordering of our military strength and a more efficient maintenance of our industrial and agricultural life during the stress of war. The passage and execution of this law may be regarded as a milestone in our progress toward self-consciousness and national strength. Its acceptance shows the unity of spirit of our people, and its operation shows that a democracy has in its institutions the concentrated energy necessary to great national activities however much they may be scattered and dispersed, in the interest of the preservation of individual liberty, in time of peace. [Sidenote: The Officer's Reserve Corps.] [Sidenote: Physicians commissioned in the Medical Department.] [Sidenote: Men from the Plattsburg training camps.]