Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-05-03
The London Times Declares
Against PenaIizing Nation
to Stop Drunkenness.
"WHITE PAPER" DECLARES
NAVY SITUATION CRITICAL
Men in Shipyards and Munition
Factories Refuse to Work Full
Time Owing to Drink.

oiiicldl government report. which shows
that workmen in private dock and ship
building yards are delaying dangerously
the repairs to transports and warships,
and employees in munition factories
ffampering the output through drunken
ness and refusal to work full time due
to big pay. brings home to the nation in
an impressive manner the gravity of the
situation. What causes the greatest in
d1gnatlon in the newspapers is the fact
rot hitherto realized that drink is
hanpering the work in the shipbuilding
and transport trades
Judging from the editorial opinion ex-
pressed in this mornings newspa pers.
however. serious the situation is thus
depicted. tt Is not regarded as justifying
lava Lloyd George. chancellor of the ex-
chequer. In penalizing the whole nation
ny the excessive taxation of the liquor
.''hstrF 1t is pointed out In the edi-
, r"erals .nat the trouble arises from the
men earning much larger wages than they
nave been accustomed to- and the sug-
sestlon IS made that some means should
ee 1ound for deferring payment of this ex-
cess OF earnings until after the war
any one reading Mr.. LLOYD Georges
brief, says the Times in an editorja :
VIII wonder more than ever what his
general prohihitive duties have to do
WIN the matter Ample grounds are
cited for local restriction. but not for
the proposed large surtaxes"
May Withdraw Surfaces.
Most of the morning newspa pers take
the same view as the Times, although
the liberal papers naturally are less
frank in opposing Mr.. Lloyd George.
The Daily Chronicle. which may be re-
garded as voicing the government view.
seems to hint that the new surtaxes
will be Withdrawn or modified.
we may be sure" says the Daily
Chronicle. that no attempt will be
made to carry them by force on party
division. Unless the opposition assent
they will be withdrawn, and doubtless
large latitude of amendment will be
given in order to avoid such a result.
The scheme of taxation is not
In the least inseparable from the policy
of the proposed bill. 1t would be quite
feasible to have one without the other.
Nevertheless. some national forms
of prohi bition or deterrence in addition
to the local forms which the bill con-
templates seem to be very necessary"
Vice Admiral Jellicoe's Report.
The serious effect that drink is hav-
ing on the repairs to the warship and
transport services and in the output of
munitions is disclosed in reports from
firms and officers throughout the coun-
try.
From Vice Admiral Sir John r. Jel
licoe. commander in chief of the home
fleets, down, the officers responsible for
the navy are of the opinion that the
short hours worked by the men in pri
waite yards are due to drink. They de-
scribe conditions deplorable and
urge on the government the necessity
of adopting the total prohibition of al
coholic drinks or restrictions on the
sale of them.
The slackness of the men. it Is al
legged, is due to the fact that they are
earning more money than usual and
that while they have any to spend they
will not work. Sunday work is con-
demned. as it is contended that the
double wages earned that day lead the
men to lay off two days during the
week.
Vice Admiral Jellcoe. in letter to
the admiralty on this subject. says:
IT am very uneasy about the labor stu
alton In the Clyde and the Tyne. You may
think am exceeding my sphere of action
in doing so. but the efficiency OF this fleet
is SO affected by it that l felt it my
duty to wire today.
AN officer in a responsible position
has arrived here He said the men re-
fused altogether to work Saturday after
noon: that they took Wednesday after
noon off every week. If not the whole of
Wednesday. and worked Sunday because
they got double pay for it. He said also
that they only worked i'll half-hearted
manner My destroyers docks and retits
are DELAYED in every case by these labor
difficulties. and they take twice as long
as they need to. I feel you ought to
know the facts. and SO 1 put them before
YOU
Third Sea Lords Comment.
Rear Admiral Frederick c. Tudor, third
sea lord supplies statement showing the
effect of excessive drinking on the out
put Of work, as regards shipbuilding. re-
pairs and munitions of war. which is
being carried out by contract for the adj
miralty. Admiral Tudor says:
Briefly, the position is that now, while
the country is at war, the men are doing
less work than would be regarded as an
ordinary weeks work under normal peace
conditions
doubt are various but 1t Is abundantly
clear that the most potent reason is
the facilities to obtain beer and spirits,
with high rate of wages and abun- |
dance of employment Opinion on this
point is practically unanimous"
Drunken Men at Work.
The captain superintendent of the
Clyde. in his reports, says:
I'm the shipyards last week, where a |
warship was under repair. work on the |
inner bottom of the ship was so badly |
carried out as to suggest at once on |
inspection that it could not have been |
done by men who were sober. 1t was |
dangerous and had to be condemned"
Capt. Clement Greatorex, director OF |
naval equipment. in his report says:
The condition of labor is deplorable |
and the men are in a most uncertain |
and Indispensable state: at any time
the whole of the shipbuilding work on
the Tyne may come to a standstill'
The director of transport reports:
1.-THE workmen rapidly are becoming
a absolutely out of hand. Firemen go
aboard the transports drunk, making
it impossible to get up full head of
steam, thus greatly reducing the speed !
and endangering the lives of thousands
of troops by making the vessels tar
gets for submarines.
The root and ca use for the serious con-
geStion at some of the docks is not the
shortage OF labor but the fact that the
men can earn in three days what will
keep them In drink for the rest of the
week.
In contrast to the hours worked in pri-
rate yards, figures are given showing that
IN the government yards during the week
ending April "a. IS per cent OF the men
worked sixty hours or over, and only > |
per cent worked less than the normal |