The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-08-03
DAY, AUGUST 3, 1918. "
GOVERNMENT RECRUITS LABOR

a0vERhMEhT RECRUITS LABuR
FEDERAL AUTHORITIES TO TAKE
CONTROL OF COMMON La
BOR.
for War Industries Will
be Apportioned to Various States
Men Will be Sent Where Needcd.
! New York, July 31.-The federal
government will take over In every
State tomorrow the recruiting of COM
mon labor for the furtherance of the
war. Labor requirements for war IN
hustries have been iapportioned to
the various States on basis OF popu-
lation and as mer are needed they
will be moved forward to meet the
demand wherever this ,ay be. The
aim is to eliminate the wasteful turn
over Of labor, stabilize wages, M
crease the: production Of essentla.S
and give efficient support to the m:ln
in the trenches, who needs from SIX
to ten men to work for him in this
country every day he is in France.
Announcement of this plan WIS
made at luncheon given in Ne"
York today for Secretary Wilson by
Grosvenor B. Clarkson, secretary OF
the Council of National Defense, to a
gathering Of newspaper publishers.
Mr.. Wilson in an address dwelt upon
the problems facing the government
in tn. mater of mobilizing labor and
the steps taken to meet the sltua-
tion.
John B. Densmore, director general
Of the federal employment bureau.
outlined the plans for prompt trans
fer of workers to the field where :heF
are most needed, and from the non
essential to the essential industry.
Independent recruiting Of common
labor by plants employing over lou
men will be diverted, effective Au-
gust /, to the United States employ
rnent service, and there will be re-
strsctions upon private advertising
for labor. At the same time the
project will be conducted with the
least possible injury to labor as =
whole.
The country has been divided into
IS federal districts, each district IN
charge of a superintendent of the fed
seral employment service. The States
within each district are in turn Ii
charge of a State director who has
full control of the service within his
State.
|s In each community there has been
sforned a local community labor board
(which has jurisdiction over recruiting
and distributing labor in it's locality
These boards will, if necessary, ask
Eemployers of non-war workers to give
Eup labor to meet the needed require
aents for war purposes In order
that each community g may be ftills
prot rulings have been issues
that no labor shall be transported ou:
of any community by the y United
States employment service without
the approval of the State director;
nor shall any labor be removed by the
service from one State to : another
without the approval of the United
States employment service at Wash
ington.
While the restrictions against the
private employment Of labor apply &C
common labor now, these restrictions
will, as soon as possible, be extended
to include skilled labor. In the mean
time skilled labor for war productlor
will be subject to federal regulations
now being prepared.
While nonessential industries viii
be drawn upon to supply necessary
labor for war work, the Withdrawal
will be conducted on an equitable
basis in order to protect the individual
employer as much as possible.
Farm LABOR will be protected, foI
the industrial program includes spe-
cial efforts to keep the farmer sup
piled with labor.
This federal labor program doe;
not at present apply in the following
cases:
1. Labor which is not directly OF
indirectly solicited.
2. Labor for the railroads.
8. Farm labor, to be recruited IN
accordance with existing arrange
ment with department of agriculture
4. Labor for nonwar work
5. Labor for blishments whose
maximum forces does not exceed lO0
In certain cases it might be advis-
able to issue permits for employers
having enrolment machinery of their
own to do a little independent recruit
ing wherever this is permitted. re-
cruiting will have to be done entirely
upon the direction of the State direc-
tor and wherever labor is removed
from one community under govern
ment order that community will BE
credited for the number of men re-
moved
AMERICAN CASUALTY LIST.