The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-08-02
A FARM LABOR RESERVE

! A FARM LABOR RESERVE Y
Business men are today callvassing the city for
farm labor reservists; men who can be called to
duty in the field if necessity demands. It is a
patriotic service that all should offer who are
conveniently situated to do so.
| Farming, the chief of the Essential war indus
tries" has Jared badly in the indiscriminate COM
petition for labor ~
| 1t was first to suffer. The fall of 1914 saw
the foreign element moving across the seas to
answer the call of their respective countries, while
the great munition factories, to supply the enorn-
GUS demands Of the allies, were even then draining
the eastern sections of farm labor. With the ex-
tension of this demand for labor into the west
and the mobilizng Of the militia, the farmer felt
the pinch Of labor shortage before the entrance
of the United States into the war. With this
event came the frantic speeding up: Of munition.
manufacture, the building of ships, the .seective
draft, the construction of cantonments, etc. and
the farms were practically stripped Of the normal
supply Of labor Il. 4. ~ ....t IT,. &s
|, Now, with warning world looking to America
for food as the fundamental element in the win
ming of the war what will the American farmer
do? = s.s.,.,. .,, u =: ". .,.s . K. e.s
4 The answer, in general terms il that nextsyear
as this year, the farmer will face the situation
with the same spirit Of patriotic rallying to the
call of his country and the same discrimination
to Garry on" over ali difficulties that is actuatng
the real American man in every line Of business
What has the banker done to replace the expert
banking help called to the colors or drawn into
war emergency. work by the lure Of high wages?
Has the banker walled to heaven that only expert
labor could save the bank from failure or enable
it periodically to serve the government in this
period of stress? No. The banks of the country
are full of young women being trained to do the
work, and reports from the bankers indicate that
this new help is doing wonderfully successful
work. H.::: j ysgg
The farmers of the country will pursue a sim
liar course. t,s e. 4 IN ii. s:,.s;2$ Y
They are meeting the situation this year with
men, retired from the drudgery of farm work. are
returning to the fields. Farming in every section
has become family affair, and the women and
children have become real soldiers of the soil"
to make good the promise Of the country to the
world. A spirit of closer community cooperation
has been born of the stress of wartime neces-
sity The floating labor" has been modified BY
the efforts of the farm service division Of the
department of labor, service that has coordinat-
cd the labor supply as never before for states and
sections of the country. g:r s5s
The results even now show themselves in the
fact that bumper wheat crop, scarcely less than
last years field, is practically SAFE 5s.:
| The farm labor situation we believe will tend
to clear up rather than grow worse. Farmers will
more efficiently utilize the family efforts and the
community labor supply and will more and more
|break in the new lands that will be available.
The boys working reserve furnishes the most
striking example of organized effort directly to
create new labor supply for the farm. During
the present year 100000, American boys between
Is and 81 years of age have been, trained, and
their efforts added to the army of patriots who
are cultivating and harvesting Americas great
crops. This quarter of a million is the nucleus
of great army that will soon swell to q, million
effective farm workers. This army Of young men
constitutes the one real source of farm labor dur
ing the period of the war. # Al n.
That the farm labor situation is a most serious
problem, and one that must be solved to keep
effective the nations most essential of essential
war industries, is patent to all. That it's solution
along lines already initiated is possible with the
helpful cooperation of the farmers over the coun-
try is the belief of the labor department whose
fingers are constantly on the labor pulse of the
country.