Denver labor bulletin., 1918-11-23


is written, the splendid record Of tht
workmen of America will be worthy Of
publishing beside that of the gallant
fighters for democracy on the battle
fields of Europe.
American labor has performed truly
wonderful works in the great conflict
1t has been the hope of the world
the one reliance of the hosts of de-
mocracy abroad.
England's man power and that OF
France were called for the building
up of armies to a point where both
countries were dependent on America
for many raw materials. America was
also called upon to furnish a great
army; but those who remained in the
factories redoubled their efforts,
knowing that upon them depended the
safety of those who had gone, and
| life itself for the unfortunate war
stricken nations allied with America.
Labor has not failed in it's gigantic
task. With practically the whole world
to feed, clothe, shelter and arm, one
could hardly have wondered if the
men at home had considered the con-
tract almost too much for them; but
the American workman is not of that
type.
Here is a job" was the subcon-
of the working women as well-"that
has got to be done. It's a big job,
but it can be done if we will that it be
done" And it has been accomplished.
Worlds Biggest "Scab."
Floyd Gibbons, the famous war cor
respondent who was wounded in
France, found how the workmen felt
about the war in a conversation with
little American soldier on a French
railway train.
''The kaiser is the worlds biggest
scab," was the young soldiers YER
diet. (He had, by the way, just come
from the upper Michigan peninsula,
where he was one of a number of
strikers who had just won a victory
in a strike for better working condi-
tions.) "The worlds on strike against
him, and we must win the strike"
The patriotic workman and the
understanding manager have won this
war for America. Senator McKellar
recently declared that the lions share
of the credit should go to the work
men. The plans of even the most
astute managers have gone awry; in
some projects there has been delay
and almost failure.
Magnitude of Labor's Task.
Few persons realize the magnitude
of labor's task in the great conflict.
What actually has been done almost
staggers the imagination.
| American labor has built the ships
| to carry American soldiers and sup
plies to Europe.
When the war began there were
rather fewer than 100000 shipbuilders
of any skill or training in the country.
Many times that number were needed.
The workmen of America, with no mo-
tive but the patriotic desire to be of
service, came forward to offer what
skill they had gained in like occu-
| pations = blacksmiths, carpenters,
sheet metal workers, and men of a
hundred other trades. They did not
know much about ships, perhaps, but
they were eager to learn. How well
they learned, and how well they
wrought, are illustrated by the proud
figures America recently gave to the
world, showing that American ship
ping is now greater than ever before
in history and that the United States
is in fair way to become the greatest
maritime power in the world.
Built Bridge to France.
The building of the ships, however,
was but a small part of the great
program. To construct the great fleet
that America has put upon the waves,
enough yellow pine was required to
have built bridge from here to France
with 100000 feet of timber left over.
Getting this timber out of the prime
val forests of the great Northwest,
hauling it to the railroad, transport
ing it 1000 or 5000 miles to gulf and
Atlantic coast shipyards, formed an
epic feat of labor that deserves cele-
bration by great poet.
Moreover, America had to get ready
to make the ships. The building of
the great shipyards was race against
time and the German submarine; but
they were completed thru American
genius and the devotion of American
| labor, and the submarine menace no
| longer exists.
Singing Song of Victory.
The nations $4,000 factories next
needed help; those and the farms.
While the wheat fields of the West
were clamoring for men to harvest
the great crop that must feed not only
this country but its armies and the
armies and civilian populations of the
allies, the munitions works in many
parts of the country were beginning
to feel keenly the losses they had sus-
tanned thru the draft. Here was a
double problem, which the United
States employment service was at once
called upon to solve.
This great organization, thru its
farm labor officials, succeeded first of
all in mobilizing all the spare labor Of
the wheat country-the older men and
the boys who could give effective serv-
f i