The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-11-12
ENGLAND FACING SITUATION

1t is being faced by England on a
big scale. The first step is to find out
who and where the workers are and
where and by whom they will be required.
The reconstruction committee, which was
appointed a few months ago by the prime
minister, is hard at work on these prob
lens and the Communicating of the
magnificent National Liberal club build
ing was one Of the first steps in the
after the war reorganization. This build
ing Is to be the home of a gigantic card
index, which will contain the names Of
every man in the army, particulars OF
their work in civil life, their promises or
hopes Of employment after discharge
from the army and so on. 1t is. pro-
posed to make this card index part of
basis of rehabilitation. Other commit
tees are now. comforting with the great
employers of England both as individ-
uals and by industries, and before very
long the government will have at Its
disposal not only the particulars of the
capacity of every man in the army but
the particulars of the demand for his
service On the basis of these two classes
of information it is proposed to conduct
the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES of course, in
all cases to military necessity.
DISPEL DELUSION
Peraps 1t would be we'll at this stage
soon as the war ends, or winthin q
week or two, 100000 or 100000 men
will at once cease to be soldiers and
| become civilians. Nothing could be
further from the fact. The completion
of rehabilitation in less than two
years is not contemplated and even
when it is completed the army will re-
| main much larger than it was before
the Kaiser plunged Europe into Ar
mageddon Generalization will go on
! at the rate of probably 100000 a week
and the problem will be to let out the
| men for whom the employers are clam
| oring and to keep in the army the men
| for whose civilian labor there is nc
| immediate demand. Thus engineers
| for instance, will be in demand imme-
diately after the war.
CARD INDEX STARTED
The card index at the old National
Liberal club will supply a list of all
the engineers in the army and the En-
cheering Employers federation will
be able to tell the government how
many engineers it can give immediate
| employment. A few weeks before de-
| mobilization all the engineers in the
army will be concentrated in the units
to be demobilized and their places will
be taken in their old units by men who
are more needed in the army than in
CIVIL life. The same Will De done WITH
shipbuilders, with cloth weavers and
so on, and the men will be directed
to the districts where they are needed
In most cases indeed they may go di-
rect to jobs found for them by the
i government labor exchanges. They
will be entitled to have their fares
paid to their new homes and in the
case of men of family the bounty paid
when they are disbanded will doubtless
cover the cost of the family moving
| 1t may seem that such system may
| cause endless REORGANIZATION and con-
| fusion in the army, but 1T Is only on
| a large scale the process that is going
on all the time when units which have
been in action and which have beer
| badly cut up or are sent back to be
/ reorganiZed and filled up with fresh
men. 1t will only mean that in the
! reconstructed units officers and mer
| will have to get acquainted and this
is much easier under peace conditions
than in all the hurry and excitement
of war.
With regard to the munition workers
the same plan will be followed Al