Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-04
NO PATENT REMEDIES ARE
NEEDED TO ADJUST LABOR
Enterprises Held Up by the War Are Await
ing the Chance to Go Ahead-Adjustnent
of Wages to Prices the Main Difficulty

up has Job whem he 20ds drafted
gotng to get It bac'; again 'Ohen he 's
konorably discharged from the service?
What is to become of the men and
,com.n. the boys and girls, toho took
the Jobs of The men drafted into the
ormy2
What use is % be made Of the Workers
cnDloged fm the ,rGr industries 7Vho 4ctH
be discharged as rapidly az the indus
tries cease function'ng!
These are questions in the answer to
which several million people are vitaIly
interested.
There is fear in certain quarters that
unless the Government does something
there will be grave labor crisis, with a
period of unemployment and suffering.
The Secretary OF the Interior has de-
veloped plans for putting the returning
| soldiers Of reclaimed land. He appar-
emily thinks that the men cannot be
| reabsorbed in the industries in which they
were originally employed or else that
the men who have torn themselves loose
from their old surroundings will look
| about for new enterprises and will seek
the land in large numbers.
Frank Morrison, secretary Of the
American Federation of Labor. has asked
! the National Civic Federation to demand
that the Government pay the fares Of
men released from the war industries
from the place of their present employ
| ment to other places where they can get
| profitable work and that they be sup
ported by the Government until they
have readjusted themselves. He has also
proposed that Congress restrict immigra-
| ton for a period Of five years in order
| that the labor market may not be glut-
ted
President Wilson, on the other hand,
seems to see little more clearly than
some other observers, for he told Con-
gress on Monday that the working Of
natural forces was likely in many cases
to bring about readjustment Of the coun-
try to normal conditions faster than any
| plans for it could be made in Washing
ton. While he was not speaking partlcu-
larly of the labor situation, there are
| known facts sufficient to justly the be-
| lief that there is likely to be immeasur-
| ably less friction in the reabsorption of
| the soldiers into the industrial life and
| the employment of the war workers in
peaceful industry than the alarm SITS
| have anticipated.
In the first place, there has been a
shortage of labor for more than three
years. 1t was noted long before we
entered the war. The virtual stoppage
of immigration at the end of the fiscal
year of 1914, which was about a month
before the war began, stopped the annual
increase of crude labor necessary on the
railroads and the farms. immigration
fell from 1,21s,00O in the fiscal year Of
1914 to $4,000 in 1916, to $4,000 ir
1916 and to 295,000 in 1917. The rail
roads have had to import Mexicans anG
draw on the women to keep their tracks
in order. There was shortage Of labor
also in industries where more or less
! ShlIl was icuNlICh Vi tliC WI hCIos
Then, still further to increase thu
scuteness of the labor shortage, we en-
tered the war and have drawn about fou
million young men from the arts Of peac'
to the arts of war. This has forced tn
stoppage of all public works save thos
which could not be delayed. Right her
in Philadelphia it has stopped work Of
the extension of the subway system, o.
the Free Library building, on the sew
ers, on bridges and on a score Of othe
public enterprises. 1t has brought grea
building operations to a standstill an
it has prevented private industries from
expanding by healthful growth.
Expansion Of private industry and tn
creation Of the necessary public work
to accommodate the growth of the cite
have been at a standstill for about tw
years. Now that the fighting has cease
and the armies are being disbanded tn
labor supply necessary to enable US t
catch up with the work delayed for tw
years is slowly becoming available. Vii
tually every large employer of labor i
, this city has said that he will take bac
, all the men who left him to enter tn
. army. This will relieve thousands G
. soldiers of any need of worry about whs
they are to do when they put off the
.. uniforms. Other thousands will find en-
ployment on public works and sti
others on building operations that wi
, begin as soon as the men and materi
can be found. The employers are lookin
, for men instead of the men looking fl
: work.
The conditions which prevail here al
i repeated in every large city. Word can
from Nebraska the other day, whe
: there are no big cities, that there W,
| work in that State for $4,000 more me
!. than could be found. The people of IL
State have accumulated nm apor,, =,