To the Editor: Your May 18 news article about declining draft registration among young men highlights certain legal, ethical and political problems.

To the Editor: It is no great wonder that fewer 18-year-olds are complying with draft registration (news article, May 18).

He said draft registration would shorten by six weeks the time it would take to mobilize conscripts for military training.

A period of draft registration started this week for 18-to-20-year-olds, and lines formed around police stations as the young men lined up to comply.

In 2004 the platforms of both the Democratic and Republican parties opposed military conscription, but neither party moved to end draft registration.

October 16 - The draft registration of approximately 16 million men begins in the United States.

High compliance is insured in part by the fact that proof of draft registration is a prerequisite for Government jobs, job training or student financial aid.

In 1980, Congress approved draft registration for men only.

One of the examples that Farrell uses to illustrate male powerlessness is male-only draft registration.

For this reason, the report recommended, and presidents have retained, mandatory draft registration.