The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-12-29


/ was iA4nSsrtss bsssa. ~ - h
war workers. :. stating that the dfssO
i luton Of the board and ~ aeCeasftl
/ OF baking preparations - - ABROAD
], for the peAce conferences made n I'm
possible FOR him TO attend the meet.
ing
/ Johsess Men . Dar6ger.
/ There is every prospect" declared
Mr.. Smyth. that onleee remedial
measures are promptly taken, thu
sight of stranded, voorhees,. money
less soldiers will - cosnmon throuSh-
out the land. Soldiers are being dis
| charged by the thousands daily on
the basis Of military units. with no
reference to whether they arc needed
turning up In the cities, improvidcnt,
i broke away from home. without
work. applicants for civilian relief.
Many OF them don't want work yet.
Many others are unwilling to under
take the day labor tohs which alone
they can find. The great danger in
the coming four months Is that there
won't be jobs enough 10 60 around:
that Unemployment will come with
attendant misery and social unrest al
a time whom anarchistic tendencies
are contagious.
An ahnormally high emigration is
in sight. according to Mr.. Sniyth. and
any inflow Of immigrants during the
next year does not seem likely. He
called upon labor to appreciate tho
TO hesitate lii getting the wheels
moving with tho utmost speed, and
upon employers to understand la boris
problem and to realize what it Will
mean If wages drop before the cost
of living Each must refrain from
taking advantage of the weakness Of
the other" he declared Thus in
united understanding can we work to-
gethcr to triumphant solution of
the problem OF retonssruction.'
A Social RerDnstructlon Measure
Declaring that the old Idea of look
ing upon labor as a commodity must
be abandoned. Mr.. Lescohier said:
The Boisheviki, I. W. W.. snd simi>
lar organizations may be crushed as
organizations, bat the revolt they ex
press will so On, for they are a con-
crete expression Of the economic dis
content of the peasant and common
labor classes. Those Of us who be-
lieve in democracy az contrasted with
antocracy and anarchy should waste
no time. 1t is our task to discover
the real causes for these movements
and point out the social reconstruc-
ton which will remove them. An
unorganized labor market has made
IL impossible for employers to got Ia
bor from any central agency an they
get capital from the banking system.
They have had to depend upon the
picking up of tabor wherever they
could find IL lying around loose.
During the war ne continued.
the government established an en-
ployment service and they are trying
to Organize the labor market: but we
that service il piece OF war ma
ch.nery rather than a piece Of econ
ornic machinery; II was not estab-
lished to help solve either the EN-
ployers or tho employees employ
ment problem. but to facilitate the
transfer Of labor from non-essential
TO essential industries in war time. 1t
had a war junction. not an economic
function. We devoutly hope that the
United States Employment Service
will be perpetuAted and developed
into permanent system of control
over the employment market"
That there is an adequate labor
supply for the immediate future with
out any immigration II labor eff
cheney is conserved by constructive
reduction of turnover, adequate SUP
ply of necessaries OF life, and a ma
tlonai system Of labor distribution.
was the opinion expressed By Mr.
| Lescohier.
The sufterings which the workers
have endured because Of irregular
employment" he said have beer
many times greater than is necessary
They are one OF the deep seatcd
causes of bitterness among workers
They are sin against humanity for
which our civilization will pay dear
price II they are allowed longer Ia
continue"
Unemployment Insurance Urged.
Mr.. Tead said it II possible TO re.
movo the risk OF involuntary idleness
We can create n permanent and ef-
fective Federal employment servsce,..
he said, We can integrqte indus.
4 tries 50 that. they vii more and nsdfy
produce in relation to known de.
mand. We can guard against any
REMAINING risk -nf ialeaess- through
} unem ploymcnt insurance. This is th<
irreducible minimum n we are sin
cernly eager to take from people tn,
horrible dread that they will have M
bread to eat because no man will
! hire them.
THE Federal Employment Service
n,uyt be made by law q permanent
national agency. adequately financed
com petently organised. and ably led.
ne insisted. "A definite part Of tn
legislative program Of the next Con
gress should be bill creating thi
service. administered by a separate
bureau of the Department OF Labor
} under an executive directly respon
sible to the Secretary OF Labor and
appointed by him. whose staff woult
be under the necessary civil servic,
regulation. All this WIN do littl,
more than make permanent the or
ganizat:on which the war ernergenc,
has evoked"
AS a practical method OF organic
ing industry within itself SO as to b
able to provide consecutive work fol
ALI. Mr.. Tead. suggested responsible
organization within each Industry or
a national scale representative equal,
OF employers and workerr' associa
tons IN that industry. to determine
labor standards. apprenticeship. ant
Regulation Of production and market.
ing so AZ to stabilize output.
| RFlclAns snnn IN