The sun., 1918-11-07
MUNITION MAKERS
GET>DRAFT SCORING
Louis MARSHALL Tells Them
Hereafter Exemption Claims
Must Be Proved.
TOO MANY MEN ESCAPE
War Industries Helped in La
Dor Problems at Meeting
Called by U. s. Bureau.

ammunition. guns, airplanes. motors and
other war products--representat OF
some Of the worlds largest factories
were hauled over the Goals at a meet
ing In the Washington Irving High
School last night by Louis Marshall.
lawyer and member of the New York
district draft board. who said that some
OF these men had perjured themselves In
obtaining exemption for employees on
the ground OF indispensability in indus
try; that the draft board had been ''un-
Intentionally deceived" and that from
: now on the mere afiidavit OF a manufac-
furer that an employee was essential
would not be sufficient; the assertion
must be proved.
The producers Of war material gath
cred in the high school on Invitation Of
the Bureau OF Aircraft Production of the
War Department and the United States
Employment Service to receive Informal
ticn which would help them TO meet labor
problems and increase their output. This
they received In abundance. One OF the
speakers. II. e. Miles, chairman Of
the division OF training of the
Federal Employment Service, revealed
by speech and lantern slides how our
allies and some American manufacturers
have trained In a marveilously short time
women, boys and men above military
age or In the limited service classes to
lease the nghting men for the front. 4
MARSHALL Speaks His Mind.
After hearing Mr. Miles and seeing the
pictures Mr.. Marshall, who Us n member
Of the law firm o. Guggenheim, INTER
myer q Marshall, spoke his mind in a
way that seemed to astonish a large
portion of his audience. ~
Mr.. Marshall said the occasion de-
manded frank words
There has been," he said. consistent
perjury on the part OF some OF the most
important manufacturers. In that they
have said that certain laborers are in
dispensable to their industries. They
arc not Indispensable. These, applica-
tons have been made to the district
draft board of New York because of the
inertia that controls the average mind
You manufacturers have got the men
and you want to keep them You say
they are Indispensable because that is
easier than looking around. You would
rather keep men of fighting age than
!, look for a woman who, after a short
time. can do THE work better than
man.
1.-THE practical application OF my re-
marks Is -this: give you my assur-
Ance that although we might have been
strict In the past, from now on we shall
enbject every application for deferred
classification to the severest analysis;
TIE draft board has got to be shown be-
4pre any man win be adjudged essential
- industry. e
Must Give Exemption Proof.
= this Is not a threat 1t is a fact
: We shall not yield to mere application
stating that certain man who operates
. drill press or constructs the wings of
airplanes or airplane parts and the like
p 20 essential that he cannot be re-
placed by a woman or by a man from
one OF the four deferred classes.
I'VE know now what We didn't fifteen
months or a year ago.. that men hereto
fUfe claimed to be exempt are not in fact
entitled to deferred classification. We
have been told in the past for instance,
that man working on a micrometer re-
duires tremepdous skill and ability. We
ind that a woman can operate this ma
chine better than a man after, a weeks
training.
"Unintentionally you men have de-
0eived us. This Is strong language but
true. We have received information
which we had mo- right to expect from
you. These pictures we have seen to-
night prove that we are not receiving
that cooperation in the employment If
women that has been achieved in Eng
land, France and In some places in this
country. too.
Last Thur day our draft board had
q conference with thirty-hve manufac-
furers In your line. Ons of them a mu-
milton manufacturer, admitted that he
could substitute women for men in rs
per cent of the work. but hadn't lore
S3t 1t would require effort, change the
opening of a training school. something
thAt the factory was not accustomed 10.
Men Sinking Their Duty.
"YQu are going along the paths of
least resistance. You are employing men
Of fighting age In their best years for
dght'ns. men who instead of being at
the front are Sinking In the shops.
That's what 1t amounts to-shirking L
assure you that hereafter you have got
10 ind your working men and women
where you can do 1t without injury to
the fighting line. IT.
IF the war keeps on we shall have to
resort to transcription of labor as well
~ soldiers; that will be the solution In
the end"
The manufacturers who had sat silent
under all this castigation applauded for
the first time. Mr.. Marshall told of a
factory owner who had given him figures
Of the constant coming and going of
workers at his plant.
tinued. "'You haven't. got fplant
you've got parade ground The man
who shifts about from factory to fac
to-y-the place TO put him Is right at
the front; he'll get some discipline then"
This provoked both handciapping and
cheers. proving, that Mr.. Marshall had
touched a responsive chord.
MY reaction from what we have
heard and seen tonight" the speaker
concluded, is a. practical one. Take to
heart what Mr.. Miles has shown you
Afte- the war you'll have to meet the
keenest competition. To meet 1t you
must have competent workmen.
To" Much Rule OF Thumb.
We've been doing business In this
country by the rule OF thumb, ineffi-
GENTLY. We have got to stop boasting
that we work with our brains. We have
said that our workmen are the best in
the world. 1t isn't true. but. you can
make II true. But remember this: A
mere general statement that a man is
Indispensable will not go with the draft
board hereafter. You need not be afraid
that any really essential man will be
sent into the army. but we've got to be
shown"
Percy s. Straus. a member OF the firm
Of r. II. Macy & Co. and a representa-
tive OF employers on the advisory COM
mission Of the Council of National De-
X fence. was chairman Of the meeting.
He said that although there was much
talk OF peace actual peace was SO far
away that war production must be in
creased rather than retarded. and at the