The Benson signal., 1917-12-29
LABOR NEEDED
FOR WAR WORK
United States Public Service Re-
serve Being Inaugurated by
the Government.
PRODUCTION TO Be SPEEDED
Skilled and SemiskIIed Men Not Now
Engaged In Producing War Ma
teriaI to Be Enlisted in the
Public Service.

| terlaI TO BE Enlisted in the
Public Service.
WashingtOn.-A United States pub
lie service reserve is being inaugu-
rated by the department of labor in
an effort to get men for work in the
shipyards. The department is work
ing in cooperation with the shipping
board and William Edwin Hall is di-
rectfng the work. State directors are
being appointed and local Organiza-
tions are being perfected in every
state.
"The primary object of this cam.
paign," said Mr.. Hall, 'is to obtain a
large list of skilled and semi-skilled
men who are not now producing war
material or doing work useful to the
prosecution of the war, and to get
them into the shipyards and the fac
tories which must be maintained at the
highest speed if industry is to meet the
Unsuitable demands Of large army at
the front.
1T appears from published reports,
such as the arrival of the Rainbow Di-
vision in France, that the number Of
American troops at or near the firing
line is constantly increasing, and we
civilians whom these troops have gone
over there to protect would be shame
fully derelict in our national duty and
quite wanting in patriotism If we did
not make every personal sacrifice to
| loon
piled.
Labor Needed in War Work.
ga number of the non-essential in
dustries are employing labor which is
urgently needed for war work-in the
shipyards, for example. One is sur
prised to see how many kinds of work
ers are needed to build a ship. The
shipping board has prepared for the
public service reserve a list of So diff
ferent "peace" occupations from which
men must-absolutely must-be drawn
in order that our tremendous shipbuild-
ing can be carried out in time. You
often hear it said that ships will win
the war; but today it is being put in a
little different way by those who know
the situation: A failure on the part
of American civilians to build the nee
essary number of ships will make it
impossible for the United States to
continue to fight. A lack of ships may
lose the war;
"The United States public service
reserve" explained Mr.. Hall, 'is work
ing at high speed today to obtain all
these men needed for shipbuilding for
making equipment, for gun manufac-
turing, for mechanical draughting, for
hundreds Of other vital operations,
from the 'non-essential industries
that is, from industries which are i'm
portant to a country at peace but, in
the final analysis, virtually unneces-
Sary to a country at war.
"Our effort is always to obtain the
workers for war industry without
crippling the peace industry. We will
not draw away an Over-productiOn Of
ployer. War means suffering. A con-
any one industry, from any one en-
pjloyer. War means suffering. A con-
siderable disturbance of industry is
inevitable. The public service reserve
proposes to bring about the necessary
shifting of labor with just as little dis
turbance as possible. We want no in
dustry and no employer to have to
bear any more than a fair, legitimate
share Of the burden which the per-
emptory demands of war throw upon
all of U.S."
Differs From Army Enlistment.
"Men who enroll in the United
States public service reserve state
their trade and suggest other classes
of work they could do, if necessary, for
the war. The enrolled men will re-
main at their present jobs and when
they are notified that an opportunity
to put them into war work has arisen,
they are under no obligation to accept
the new jobs unless satisfied with
wages and conditions. Thus their en-
rollment in the reserve differs from en-
listment in the army, where the soldier
has no choice but to obey.
Every day more and more Ameri-
can workers are beginning to feel in
their hearts that in this critical period
Of the nations history they should be
devoting their energies to the actual
war needs of their country. BY en-
rolling in the United States public re-
serve they enjoy happier conscience,
for they know that they have thereby
declared their patriotism and that the
moment a war indusry needs men of
their type they will be given chance
to serve the country without leaving
civilian life"