Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-27
: NO MORE ALIENS
| FOR SHIP YARDS
Draft Boards Asked to Expedite
Exemption of Skilled
Workers.

| All known or suspected enemy aliens,
, no matter how proficient they may be
as craftsmen, are to be excluded from
American shipbuilding plants A. rapidly
AZ workers OF known loyalty can be
! trained
| This was one of several decisions reach
ed in conference yesterday at Atlantic
| City of employment managers and other
! officials of all shipbuilding corporations
represented in the Atlantic Coast Ship
| builders Association in the district be-
! tween Bath, Me, and Wilmington.
Both the Harlan and Pusey and Jones
| plants of this city were represented at the
! meeting As far As alien enemies are
concerned, both the local plants have
eliminated them from their plants, but
| Others have not taken - decided step.
How to speed up the yards and at the
same tame get the largest possible measure
of cooperation from labor with a minimum
| of danger from enemy sources were topics
| before the conferees
| Men fresh from the shipbuilding hrng
| line said the advent of Charles NJ Schwab
with supreme authority for construction.
already has put pep in the industry.
| Philadephians said Hog Island already il
| "A more efficient machine. Workmen are
talking of Charley Schwab as their
| big boss and avowing their intention
| to show him that Philadelphia workmen
are not laggards
"America's great need in shipbulldIng
| today is an army n 500 900 trained ship
workers" said Henry &. Hunter, secre-
tary of the Atlantic Coast Shlpbulders'
| Association we had $1,000 or less
when America went into the war We
| hsvp about 20O.000 now We want
| 400 900 Just rs soon rs it is pnsslhlc for us
| to get and train them. and we will need
| 10000 men proficient in oil branches
Of the industry before We yet through
EMPLOYMENT MANAGERS ORGANIZE.
The employment managers upon whom
dcvnlvcs the task of getting the men and
establish ing training schools IN the hath
Wilmington district. organized with -. u
Kennedy, Of the American international
Shlpbuilding Corporation. which owns the
Hog Island plant, AS chairman
10 insure prompt working out Ot
co-orcrative plans for hiring, training
and distributing men the conference
providcd for the immediate creation OF
an cmpIovmcnt committee to be COM
pr,sed OF one representative from each
shipbulding district represented IN the
Atlantic Coast ASSOCIATION.
How 70 hIrr men. the conference de-
clarcd. is tho great problem now confront
ing the shlpbulding industry How
to house them rs a secondary problem.
If pr,,duction ~ to be speedcd up the
government itself must cooperate through
some modification OF the draft law a. 1T
is now applied IN Philadelphia and other
shiphulldlng oenters
10 meet this situation the conference
appointed q committee of employment
executives t. present tho situation clearly
to Mr.. Schwah. the United States shipping
board and the Emergency Fleet Cor
poraton With respect to this question
the conference issued this explanatory
statement.
II is frequently found that delay on
the part Of draft exemption boards IN
acting upon applications for the placing
Of shlpyard workers III deferred classl-
fication lists results In their being sent
into military service and In many cases
losing the men altogether from the yards |
The conferecs recommended also that |
the forces of instructors employed to |
turn raw material into trained workers 50 /
that speeding up may become an actuahty, ,
be largely increased Some OF the ship |
wards have efficient training departments, |
while others seem to have lost sight |
altogether Of the Importance Of this pre- !
hminary branch OF the program.
The conference received reports OF !
substantial progress at Hog Island !
Much Of the criticism, it was asserted,
has been unwarranted and unfair. Start
ing with nothing but mud flats six months
ago. Hog Island has eleven keels under
way and is ready 10 lay down thirty
nine more as soon as Mr.. Schwab finds
the steel. The $4,000 men now employed
at the plant represent virtually so per
cent of all the shipyard workers on the
Atlantic coast al the beginning of Ameri-
cas- participation in the war.
MUST RID YARDS OF ENEMIES
There was no division of opinion in
the conference as to the advlsabllity, If
not the necessity, OF eliminating all
known enemy alien workers from the
plants as soon as they can be weeded
out and replaced. Any setbacks through
the temporary loss of their labor while
substitutes are being prepared IN the
training schools will be more than
offset by the removal of the danger elc-
ment and the greater enthusiasm which
ioyal workmcn will bring to their tasks
Besides Chairman Kennedy, the con-
ferees included &. J. Drennen Sun
Shipbuilding Company, Chester; Paul
CcndelI, New York Shipbuilding Com
pany. Camden; II n, Diederichs, Harlan