Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-05-05
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT or IA.
Dor RECRUITING YOUTHS FOR
WORK ON FARMS.
INCLUDES THOSE UNDER
MILITARY AGE, OVER IL
Labor Department Announces Organ.
ization Of Man Power in Industries
is Just as Essential as Sending Men
to Front-No Man to Be Taken From
Farm Unless He Can Be Spared.
Special to rimes-Republican.

Special to Times-Republicah.
Washington, May 1.-THE department
of labor has begun the organization OF
an army Of boys, under military age
but over 16 years Of age, for work on
the farms. This will relieve men Of
military age now employed on the
farms for military duty.
Formal announcement Of this plan
was made by the committee on public
information today. This is the official
censorship bureau headed by George
Creel. In the official announcement
Secretary Of Labor Wilson Is quoted as
saying:
Organization of the man-power IN
our vital industries at home is just
as necessary in this war as the proper
distribution and use OF our n,an-power
at the front. Our greatest contribution
to the coming victory will be an ample
supply of food, munitions and supplies
for the allied armies and peoples. ana
Of ships to carry them. We can &C
complish this only by using our man
power to the best possible advantage
and this will require machinery that
does not now exist for classifying ana
registering the nations workers ard
enrolling them for the services they are
best capable of performing.
Organization of boys over l6 ana
the enlisting of men out of employment
during slack seasons in their own
trades are tasks already undertaken.
The department already has definite
commitments to supplement the<a army
of skilled farm laborers now being re-
cruited by the department OF agrtcu-
ture with unskilled men to aid in har-
vesting the crops
To Exempt Farmers.
Just what effect the department OF
labors plan Of recruiting boys for farm
labor will have on the operation OF the
draft for the first conscript army OF
100000 rema ms to be seen. The great
est stress has been laid on the neces-
sity OF working the farms to their ut
most capacity to meet the growing
menace Of a world famine. Manifestly
no man will be taken from the farm
unless the government is convinced no
can be spared without endanEertnS
harvest yields. This wifi be prob
lem for the exemption boards in each
community to work out when they
come to deciding what numbers OF the
men Of military age registered for mil
itary duty should he exempted for SER
vice on the farms.
Governor Harding, here attending the
conference OF governors. conferred with
Ad1utant General Mccain. Judge Ad-,
vocate General 'crowder and other
army officials over details Of registra-
ton and other preliminaries to the
draft. He also conferred with the sec
rotary OF labor as to Iowa's big part
in feeding the nation at war and It's
allies. Prof. Pearson, of Ames, who is
giving the. government the benefit OF
his expert knowledge, serving as an as
sistant to Secretary Houston. and 0. II.
Benson. chief of the division of ex-
of the department and for-
mer Iowan, also have conferred with
Governor Harding as to utilization OF
Iowa.s man power in the great task OF
feeding the 20,000,000 allies under arms
and this nation while at war.