National Affairs: Filling Up

Registration for the peacetime draft—which many an American had once thought would bring widespread protests —ended last week. Except for some noisy picketing, it had stirred up no fuss at all. But it had helped bolster the Army before even a single man was inducted. It had upped recruiting to the highest point since the wartime draft ended.

In August the Army took in about 45,000 volunteers—some 15,000 over its monthly quota. As a result—and until more training camps could be readied—the Army cut its first draft calls down to 10,000 for November and will probably call about 20,000 in December. As of Sept. 1, there were 1,504,357 men in the armed forces (the goal: 1,896,500 in 1949).