Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-05-03
CURSE OF DRINK IS
HURTING ENGLAND
Has Serious Effect on Output Of
War Munitions and Repairs
to Warships.
SUBJECT OF WHITE PAPER
Government Urged to Adopt
Total Prohibition or Restric-
tons on Sale.

LONDON, May 2-Delay In repairs
to warshfps and in the transport SER
vice. and In the slow output Of war
munitions is blamed on drink in a
white paper Issued tonight by the
British government.
From the commnnder-in chief of the
home fleets down to officers responsible
for the navy report, the white paper
dlscloses that the short hours worked
by the men In private yards Is due to
drink. 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 al
legged. is due to the fact that they are
that while they have any to spend they
Will not work. Sunday work is con-
demned, as 1t Is contcnded double wages
earned that day lead the men to lay
off two days during the week
vICE-ADMIRAL JELLICOE
UNEASY ABOUT SITUATION
Vice-Admiral Jellicoe. commander-in
chief. in letter to the admiralty says:
II 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. II not the whole of Wednesday,
and worked on Sunday because they
got double pay for 1t. He said also that
they only worked In half-hearted man
ner. My destroyers' docks and refits
arc 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 80 1 put
them before you"
NOW DOING LESS WORK
THAN IN ORDINARY TIMES
Rear-Admiral Frederick C. Tudor
says:
Briefly. the position is that now,
while the country is at war the men
are doing less work than would be re-
garded as an ordinary weeks work un-
der normal peace conditions.
Thus the problem Is not how to get tho
workmen TO Increase their normal peace
output but how to get them to do an
ordinary weeks work OF ffty-one or
hfty-three hours. as the cnse may be.
The reasons for loss In time, no
doubt. are various, but II is abun-
dainty clear that the most potent rea-
son Is the facilities which exist for the
men TO obtain beer and spirits. with
n high rate OF wages and abundance
OF employment. Opinion on this point
is practically unanimous"
Letters received from shipbuilders
and officers experimenting work for
the admiralty. as quoted by Admiral
Tudor. urge either total prohibition,
martial law. or the restrictions of the
hours In which drink may be obtained.
The captain n-superintendent OF the
Clyde, In his report, says:
I'm the shipyards last week, where
a warshtp was under repair the work
on the inner bottom of the ship was
SO badly carried out to suggest at once
on inspection that 1T could not have
been done by men who were sober"
MEN IN UNCERTAIN AND
UNDEPENDABLE STATE
Captain Clement Greatorex, director
OF naval equipment. reports:
THE condition OF labor Is deplorable.
and the men are in a most uncertain
and undependable state. This Is SO
serious that a any time the whole of
the shipbuilding work on the Tyne
may come to a standstill.'
The director OF transports reports
that transport work is being con-
Quoted under serious difficulties"
THE workmen," the director con-
tinues, rapidly are becoming abso-
lutely out of hand. Yesterday
the crew Of n transport deserted. The
same thing happened the day before.
Firemen go aboard the transports
drunk. making it impossible to get I'D
full head of steam. thus endangering
the lives Of thousands Of troops by
making the vessels targets for sub
marines. The root and cause for the
serious congestion 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 drinI. for
the rest OF the week.
What is wanted in addition TO
proper control of the drink traffic Is q
scheme to bring seamen under the
naval and other workmen employed by
the government under military au-
thority.
I'm my opinion. measures are neces-
sary to withdraw all licenses to sell
Intoxicating liquors throughout the
country"
Reports by armament firms de-
scribe the situation in their plants as
not so serious as that in shipyards.
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