New-York tribune., 1918-03-10
Go to Work or Go to Jail,
Jersey Drones Are Warned
Governor Edges Proclamation Reveals Teeth of Anti
Loafing Act, Designed to Increase Man
Power of State

of this proclamation until the termi-
nation of the war in which the Unit
ed States is now engaged.
an its wisdom the Legislature has
ordained that, following the issuance
of this proclamation, it shall be the
duty Of the Commissioner of Labor
to prepare and publish such rules and
regulations governing the assignment
of persons to work as shall insure
equality of treatment and take into
account age, physical condition and
any other circumstances Of the indi-
vidual. This is imperatively neces-
sary because of the plain fact that
the success or failure of New Jerseys
anti-loafng legislation will depend
upon its application.
Must Increase Man Power
"The selective service principle
should prevail as in the making of
our military forces. In this task we
are drafting for the industrial army.
There are kinds of work too severe,
IN physical sense, for the society
ldler, who may, however, be compe-
tent to handle such tasks which
would be impossible for slackers of
the hobo type. Sound Judgment
must be employed in our experiment
to rid the human hive Of its drones,
and call upon the Labor Department
OF the state to employ all of its avail
able resources, including the Federal
state municipal employment bureaus.
IN providing machinery to obtain the
kind of work suitable for specific
cases.
"To put into motion the machinery
thus to be provided by the State De-
"a yfr Af IN1N
cooperative touch of law-enforcing
officers all over the state. there
fore call the attention of sheriffs,
mayors and heads of police depart
ments in all municipalities to the
necessity of maintaining sharp vigi-
lance and keen eye for those work
less individuals whose lack of ambi-
ton and fondness for idleness con-
stitute not merely a financial burden
to every community but also a
genuine menace to the welfare of
the nations manhood under arms
and their safety on the battlefront.
Will Curb Vagrancy
Executives of municipalities of
10000 population or over will have
their police departments compile
list of all habitual idlers in the COM
munity, to the end that each may be
individually warned of the penalty
of $1O0 or three months in Jail. or
both. prescribed for deliberate non
employment and that the names of
those having no work may be GER
titled promptly to the State Labor
epartmentaas available for employ
ment.
"Our farms and industries need
more man power than is available to
meet extraordinary demands for
production. By making Chapter 55
of the laws of 1918 something more
than temporary sensation we shall
be helping to supply this demand and
at the same time curbing vagrancy,
uselessness; mendicancy. immortality
and crime"
James E. Warner, Sheriff of Union
County, N. j., said yesterday that he
didn't believe the anti ti-loafng act would
cause him much extra work. "Most ot
US work pretty steadily over here,
said Sheriff Warner, "but if there are
any idlers III soon smoke them out
They will be put to work on the new
prison farm near the mountains back
of Plainfeld. We could use few
hands there for the spring planting"