Evening star., 1918-08-22
WORK-F|GHT PLAN
|NEX|ST|NG LAWS.
Proposed Amendment, Wor-
rying Organized Labor, Is
Non-EssentiaI.
HOW LAW HAS WORKED
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

ance or controversy-and the same
making. The work-or-fight rules
have been in operation for many
weeks under powers obviously de-
rived from the original selective
service act of May, 1918. but now the
Senate military affairs COMMITTEES.
without any request or recommenda-
tion from the War Department. has
decided to incorporate the work-or-
fight principle into specific law.
The American Federation Of Labor
consequently has kicked up fuss, in
sisting that reflection on the loyalty
of labor as well as an attempt at
industrial conscription is conveyed
in the language of the proposed
fairs committee\ tried to determine
just how much the administration
cared about the amendment and asked
both Maj. Gen. Crowder and Sec
retary Baker some specific ques-
tions. and. though a little uncertain
taken together. nevertheless con-
cluded that since the amendment
was not in the original War Depart
ment bill it could be omitted.
Already Has Work-or-Fight Power.
The fact of the matter is that Maj.
Gen. Crowder. the provost marshal.
assured the House committee that he
already had sufficient authority to
carry out the work-or-fight idea. while
the amendment would mean conscrip-
tion of labor, replied that 1t would
not mean that under the rules the
President would promulgate. And
those rules were exactly the rules
now in force-the ones which Gen.
purposes.
The truth is, Secretary Baker
didn't want to say the amendment
was not acceptable. for it embodied
a principle already in operation. and
of course there was nothing in the
amendment to which the War De-
partment could take exception. As
to the wisdom of bringing on a con-
troversy with labor and giving the
leaders, as well as their followers.
the impression that some roundabout
and covert means Of effecting indus
trial conScription was planned, that
was something for both houses Of
Congress- to decide 1t would not be
surprising, however, II finally the
President or Secretary of War found
it necessary to say that II labor con-
sidered the proposed amendment = re-
Election 1t could be omitted.
Government Now Can Decide.
For under the power of the selective
service act now in force and which
would be unaffected by the new
amendments making the age limits
eighteen to forty-five the government
has the right to say what shall con-
stitute an industrial exemption. Con-
gress wisely left this to the discre-
ton of the executive branch. of the
government, which in turn passed 1t
on to the district boards. From the
power to say what Is an industrial
exemption comes the right to with
draw a deferred classification once
granted and place the individual in
class l eligible for immediate mill
tary service. Similarly with the oues-
tion of dependency. a discretionary
privilege, the various boards can ap-
ply an effective remedy to idlers and
those engaged in useless occupations
or those who work irregularly at
useful occupations
while the work-or-fight order caused
rush to useful trades. some of the
idlers retained their Stacker habits
by working only four or five days
out of a week. while others would
work only four or five hours a day
irrespective of the fact that they
were offered bonuses for extra hours
and that they originally contracted to
work a full day.
Remedy for Industrial Slackers.
District and local boards are re-
minded by the War Department that
a remedy for these delinquent work.
ers is to be found in the work-or-
fight regulations now in force which
say, in part:
The following grounds shall be &C.
cepted by local and district boards as
excuse for temporary idle
ness or Tor being engaged in non-
(a) Sickness. (b) reasonable vacation,
(c) lack Of reasonable opportunity for
employment in any occupation outside
of those described in the foregoing
section ION useless occupations), (dl
temporary absence (not regular vaca-
tionS) from regular employment. NOT
to exceed one week, unless such tenn
porary absences are habitual and fire.
quent. shall not be considered as idle
ness
In other words, If absences from
work are not due to extraordinary
circumstances that can be justified,
but are merely habitual Interruptions,
such an employe can be cited to appear
before the local and district board,
and on the evidence submitted, can
be required to forfeit his deferred
classification.
Power Under Existing Regulations.
There is plenty Of power to do all
this under existing regulations, and
the movement to write into the law
additional amendments of a specific
character covering the work-or-fight
order is really not essential and is
already source Of misunderstanding
among many labor leaders who UNDER
stand the present regulations, but who
think something new and more dras-
tic is being included in the new bill.
As the amendment is now drawn il
could be construed to mean that IL an
employe leaves his present employer
he may haveshis deferred classifioa-
tion taken from him and be forced
into military service. He might even
transfer. from one employer engaged
in a productive industry to another
employer in the same line of produc-
tion. just as essential to the war as
the first
their men, but, as q matter Of fact, q
strict application Of the present rules
would bring the same result. The
man who changes employers would
have to prove that he was indispen-
sable to the new employer. a fact
which would be difficult for him to
prove, inasmuch as the second en-
ployer had been able to conduct his
enterprise or war contract for the
period already elapsed without the
service Of the 'so-called indispensable
While that would prevent
a registrant who had been given q
deferred classification for industrial
reasons from leaving the shipyards,
for example. to go to some other
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