The Washington herald., 1916-11-26

ture 1.14Qlo0o mem; in engineering and
metal work OF all kinds, 1.f7.eoo men; In
transport, 1.39s, 900 men: In mining. is0S9.-
900 men; In textile work, 900 men; In
sovernment and municipal work, 25S,00c
men; and there were 1o2. .eo0sgas and saui-
tary engineers. The total number work
ing at these trades which are more indis-
pensable now than then was, In fs11. 5,s7e.
900 men. !
Great Industrial Army.
It is the textile workers who are
expected to turn out the uniforms, not
for the British armies afone. but. for
millions of allied soldiers. The coal
miners have to supply the greatly In
creased naval demand as well as the
normal public consumption. Never
has the strain upon transport workers
been SO heavy as In this war. More
men are now engaged in clerical work
than ever because or the vast COM
plexity Of the war machine. Perhaps
most of 1,477,080 engineers and metal
workers in the figures Just given fig
ure also in the number of those en-.
gagged on munition. work today, but
even substracting them from the total
a remarkable result is obtained.
| 1t seems that Britain, is carrying
on vital Industries which in peace re-
quired the services of 4,4ss.000 men
and are now more important than
ever, with a total labor body Of 2.l6S,-
900 men, plus the women who have
taken the places of men during the
war. And. Of course, not all the q
166, 900 are working at these indus
tries, though most of them are.
The object of these figures has been
to show that the army cannot gel
more men from these islands, and
must look to Ireland or elsewhere II
re-enforcements are to be had. But
they seem to show more than this, to
make clear the fact that this Is a
woman's war; that 1t could not be
carried on for a day without the work
of women in mems Jobs. 1t must not
be forgotten. too. that Germany and
France and Austria are in much
worse plight, from fapor point oi
view. than England. even though the
figures 1 have just given seem absurd
and impossible in the light of peace
experiences.
Agriculture Hardest HIT.
Agriculture seems to be hardest hit OF
all the indispensable industries OF Brit.
ain. Lord Crawford declares that llzOo'
acres of cultivated ground have already
been allowed to 60 to waste for lack OF
labor, 1t has been found more difficult
to persuade women to work as farm Ia
borers. or to teach them to perform the
heavy labor even when they are willing
than to put them in the places OF men ir
most other employments.
There are other factors which keep the
country going under labor conditions thai
are 90 unprecedented. One is the enor'
nous number OF older men who had re-
tired from active work who are now do
ing their best. in their own humble
sphere, to win the war; their number
must run into the millions, and at tht
other end of hfes ladder. boys and gtrls
are working who ought to be in school
Then there has been a general increast
in the number OF hours worked in al
employments which has speeded up pro-
duction; and the abandonment by the
labor unions OF restrictions upon output
have had a good effect. All these things
taken together give some idea Of how
the everyday work Of the nation can be
carried on with nearly four-fifths Of the
peace-time workers fighting or making
munitions.