Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-02-27
SELECTIVE SERVICE
AND NATIONS NEEDS

Discussing "the future" Provost Mar
shall General Crowder, in his report 10 the
Secretary of War on the operations OF the
SeleGtiye- SerVice act, says:
When the GREATNESS haste OF the tlrSt
draft was over there was time to con-
slider the problem in its larger aspects and
to make provision against the future
The industrial and agricultural needs
Of the Nation were strongly developed as
result Of the first draft. IN the light
Of literal thousands of special MFgings
and claims for consideration arising from
the emergent need of every activity in the
Nation, and pressed with patriotic single
ness Of purpose, but not always with
patriotic broadTesS of view, the needs OF
every department of national activity had
been emphatical1y presented to this office.
In these circumstances the whole prob
lem may be regarded as having been pre-
scented in full perspective.
Principal Demands for Labor.
Tt may be shortly stated thus:
The needs of the war have resulted in
an unprecedented demanded for labor in
the following vital fields: Cd Shipbuild
ing ana manning, CD munitions manu-
facture, {3) agriculture These three
principal activities are listed in this or
der after considerable thought and a wide
experience and discussion. The predica-
tion for this result is roughly as follows:
The national industrial and agricultural
need may in the light of the experience
of years be relied upon to move towaru
adjustment in the mutual reaction of
supply and demand, accelerated by GER
tain indirect methods of which the draft
Military effectiveness First.
The guiding principle of this office
must be military effectiveness first,
but when military effectiveness is en-
meshed with marine effectiveness, as it
must be in a forcing war on a battle field
5000 miles from our coast line, there is
no room for hesitation. If our soldiers
are to be effective, if the munitions We
produce are to be effectice If our agri-
cultural productiVeness is to be effective,
we must produce the bottoms to carry all
aboard. When we find coupled with this
q promise for the future which meets
need untitled in 80 years of peace-time
effort there can be little room for hest
tation Since we are in war military
effectiveness comes first, but there never
was more fortunate corollary for the
Nation than that marine effectiveness
comes next. However, soldiers are help
less without weapons and what has been
said can never be taken to mean that the
manufacturer of munitions is to be ham
pered by the building of ships or the
disproportionnate raising of armies.
Must Move spontaneously Forward
ALL Of these things are to be carried
spontaneously forward, and the problem
is simply one of relative adjustment from
month to month and year to year with
no thought of carrying one to dispropor-
tionate prejudice of the other The same
is true of agricultural productiveness.
The problem is to carry each evenly for
ward, avoiding the destruction OF any.
1t must not be forgotten however, that
the problem does not stop here. The en-
tire effectiveness of the Nation has not
been enVisioned when we have mentioned
the manufacture of the Instruments OF
war, the instrumentalities for the over
seas transportation of them, and the men
who are to manipulate them, The Nation
must be an economic integer and a very
effective one, and all is by no means said
when these essentials are mentioned
Upon the most superficial survey it was
apparent that we are already facing a
unique disarrangement of the labor sup
ply appurtenant to every normal indus
try, and especially that appurtenant to
agriculture. Urgent drafts had been
made upon our Industrial and agricul-
tural industries by the war in Europe be-
fore our own participation therein. Vital
necessities abroad had invaded our mar
kets with unusual demands, resulting in
unusual labor requirements. The avail
able credit of the world had been rem
dered contributory to new Industries
with resulting eoalescenes Of raW-laboI