The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-03
ENGLAND SbLANHNG DRINK FOR UNUSUAL
 LABOR SITUATION
White Paper Issued By the Government Contains Let ters From Naval Of-
 ficers and Others

| London, May 2.-tS:44 D. m.)--De- transport services and the slow output of war munitions is blamed on drink Tn white paper issued tonight by the British government.
 From the commander in chief of the home fleets down. officers responsible for the navy, report the white paper ciscloses, that the short hours worked by the men in private yards is due to drlnk They describe conditions as de- plorable. and urge the government to adopt the total prohibition of alcoholic drinks or restrictions on the sale of them.
 The slackness of the men, it Is all 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 condemned, as it is contended double ages earned that day lead the men to lay off two days during the week
 Admiral JellicO Uneasy
 Vice Admiral Jellicoe, commander in chief, in letter to the admiralty says:
 "I am very uneasy about the labor situation in the Clyde and the Tyne. An officer in a responsible position has arrived here and his account of things on the Clyde is most disquieting. He said the men refused altogether to
 work on Saturday afternoon; that they took Wednesday afternoon off every week, if not the whole of Wednesday, and worked on Sunday because they got double pay for it. He said also that they only worked in a half hearted manner. My destroyers docks and refits are delayed in every case by these labor difficulties, and they take twice as long as they need to. feel you ought to know the facts, and so I put them before you' Rear Admiral Frederick C. Tudor says:
 Briefly the position is that now l 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. I hus the problem is not how to gel | the workmen to increase their normal peace output, but how to get them tc | do an ordinary weeks work of ol oi | 53 hours, as the case may be. '.The reasons for loss in time no doubt | are various, but it is abundantly cleal
 that the most potent reason is the facili' | ties which exist for the men to obtain beer and spirits, with high rate o wages and abundance of employment
 Opinion on this point is practically unani ! mous."
 Letters From Shipbuilders l Letters received from shipbuilders ant
 officers experimenting work for the ad miralty as quoted by Admiral Tudor urge either to total prohibition, martia | law, or the restriction of the hours il
 which drink may be obtained.
 The captain-superin of the Clyd | in his report says:
 'In the ship yards last week, where | warship was under repair. the work ol the inner bottom of the ship was so badl carried out as to suggest at once on in spection that it could not have been don by men who were sober"
 | Capt Clement Greatorex. director O naval equipment, reports:
 '"rhe condition of labor is deplora b1
 and the men are in a most uncertain am undependable state. This Is SO seriou that at any time the whole of the ship building work on the Tyne may com
 to a standstill."
 The director of transport reports tha