Evening star., 1918-04-07

Just at this 3unc4urs Of cur national
life. when the question Of labor IL ono
Of the most impor-
Iabor's Welfare tsnt factors in win
ming the war. the
In war Time. plans of the great
industrial plants Of the country for the
Improvement Of working and social
conditions for employees should be Of
very general interest It has been
thouxht Of sufficient importance for ex-
psrts Of the bureau OF labor statistics
70 carry on quite an extensive tnvesti-
ration, which has just recently been
completed.
The date Of he beginning Of welfare
work in many plants IL somewhat mis-
leading. Many firms had an employees
benefit association long before any
other work Of this character was even
thought Of. Those who made the sur
vey, however, think that 1t is safe to
say, that with the exception of COM
paratively few Of these establishments,
the major part Of the progress along
these lines would extend only the last
ten OF twelve years.
The extent to which the output is
affected by the welfare work is diff
cult to determine, both because of the
present unusual labor conditions and
the fact that few companies had made
any study of this point. A few firms,
however, gave 1t as their opinion that
the output had been increased by 1t,
although several of these stated that
this Improvement was only in part due
to the welfare work.
The stability of the force has also
been much affected in many plants by
perts say. One hundred and thirty
six establishments reported an i'm
provement in this regard, due, in whole
or In part. to the betterment activities.
In many cases this was more than a
mere expression of opinion. since many
pressed with the fact that a large
turnover fs very important item in
the cost of production. and have been
seeking to reduce this turnover by
more scientific management Of the en-
ployment departments and by the In
PRODUCTION of welfare features. One
firm. which had compiled statistics in
regard to the reduction in the turn
over, had an increase of 1874 per cent
OF employees OF more than two years.
service in 1915 over a similar group
for 1914. due largely. SO the manage
ment stated. to their welfare work.
It was found during the course Of the
survey that the administration Of this
weliare work is by employers alone In
looked into. This probably gives
somewhat wrong impression, the ex-
perts say. since there are necessarily
many Arms included which do not do
q great deal along these lines. The
most likely to control entirely such
features as they have, partly because
the kinds Of work first introduced are
usually those which naturally remain
anoer the immediate direction of the
hrm, and partly because it usually
takes some experience in order to
realize the desirability of giving the
employees an active part in the conduct
OF the welfare activities.
It is natural that the employer should
pital. although there are a number Of
cases where this has been given over
to the benefit association. Similarly,
several firms allow their employees to
operative basis or using the profits for
either the beneft or the athletic as
sociation. The employees quite fire.
quently have a voice in the manage
ment Of the clubrooms or houses, it is
said. in several instances being given
entire control of the clubhouse. In the
matter of athletics and recreation more
often the employer plays a passive
part. assisting financially. and also pro-
viding rooms for meeting purposes,
GymnasiUms and athletic fields.
x x
While cotton is still king in the
south, the peanut promises to dispute
or to share its dominion In
Peanut some sections as part of well
balanced farming practice.
0ioPs' The state of Texas. for ex-
ample, expects to more than double the
acreage Of 1915, according to experts Of
the Department of Agriculture. The
prospective crop is more than 10000, 900
bushels for the whole south.
Texas already had the largest acre
age in 1916. though In 1909 it stood
sixth. with most of the Atlantic and
from 10000 acres in 1916 to 100000 in
1917. The increase in Texas has been
an index OF the increase throughout the
lower south, though the proportionate
increase elsewhere has not been so
great and is not expected to be SO great
this coming year. For the south as a
whole, however. it is remarkable that
the acreage has increased from less
than a million and a quarter TO more
than two million acres.
The peanut may have been held in
light esteem in the popular mind, say
the departments experts, because of
its association with the circus and
clowns. or because the expression pea
nut politics" has designated low
form OF partisanship. Yet this crop
has long been important in North Caro-
lima, Virginia and Georgia, with Suf-
folk. Va, as the headquarters of the
industry. Here the price of peanuts Is
to a large extent established for the
whole country. and at prevailing prices
ton.
The boil weevil. about which so much
has been heard. drove many Texas
farmer to peanuts. From what seemed
to be a hopeless situation the peanut
has rescued him, and at the same time
rescued the oil mill men, who were on
the verge Of a shutdown with their
supply Of cottonseed diminished. The
department had long been advocating a
change from the single-crop standard
set by cotton. AS long as cotton was
the only money crop the arguments fell
on deaf ears, but. backed up by the
bear fruit. The farmers began to give
part of the cotton acreage to peanuts.
This presented new problem and the
pil mill men began to ask questions.
The south has great deal of sandy
soil. and in many sections corn sue
cumbs to the dry weather just at the
time when 1t most needs moisture.
Such soils in such sections furnish
Just the right conditions for peanuts.
which require less rain than corn. If
the peanut could choose it's own bed it
would pick these sandy lands as just
the right place.
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