Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-06-19
Our Nations
Labor Bureau

/, vice of the Department Of Labor has now
| reached that stage IN its development
| where 1T ~ equipped to take over entirely
| the work of recruiting and distrlbut ny
| labor Of all kinds for war production
/; The aim of this governmental agency is to
| provide an organization for making the
| industrial and agricultural manpOwer Of
the nation IN war service as effective IN its
accomplishments az is the War Depart
rnent organization for placing men in the
| fighting line
This must not be taken to mean that
anything akin 10 the CONSUMPTION Of labor
| has any part in the policies Of the govern
ment at this time The most effective
| distribution Of the labor supply through
| the voluntary corporation Of worker and
| employer, to the benefit Of both and the
| welfare Of the nation, is the purpose To
which the United States Employment
Service has devoted itself since its re-
organization as a separate DIVISION ot the
| Department Of Labor
70 observe the waste Of energy IN the
| placement Of war workers at the present
time one has only IN turn 10 the Help
| Wanted advertisements in almost any
newspaper There are columns and col-
| umns of appeals for men wanted 10 work
on war contracts, 10 create those supplies
| and munitions Of war without which our
| soldiers in the trenches would be power
| less Now consider the lneffi7ency and the
loss Of precious time involved IN those
| thousands Of printed lines.
WASTE FOR THE woREIEGyAy.
They are waste for the workingrnan be-
cause, after tramping city streets and
standing IN line for hours, he will often he
assigned IN n job beneath his ability, or
told that the position for which he asks ~
filled II is also wasteful for the employer
because he has no way of gaugnR an
applic,nt's ability beforehand, and will
often find later that men hired under tfls
hnpf azard system are Inefficient or un-
suitable II Is waste for the nation IN It's
time Of greatest need because every eY-
periencc Of III IL kind " terferes with maxi
mum war production, ard Is that much
rust on the bearings Of America war
machine.
New CONSIDER the substitution III
great free national employment agency
for this hit-or-rniss. outworn method of
connecting employer and employc. such
an agency, with Headquarters in Wash
il gton and branch Offices in every indus
trial ard agricultural center Of the land,
is found in the newly organized govern
The United States Employment Ser
vice. organized by decree Of Secretary Of
Labor Wilson. MS a separate arm Of the
Department Of Labor, now has $50
hrar ch offices and thousands Of enroll
inert agents; it pcnetrates IN every part
~ the United states and offers To en-
pIoyer and employe alike a systematic
ed nationwide service of labor EirEg
AN AiI~ImpoRTAsr NATTER.
When millions Of men are summoned
by their nation TO serve IN battle the
efficient distrls utIon Of those WHO are left
10 man the Industries At home .ecomcs an
aIl-important matter What mas already
been accomplished is TIE best Indication
Of the future Of the Federal Employment
Service Almost all shinya rds, the western
railroads and undrrris Of individual en-
plovers have agreed to obtain their labor
exclusively through the service. By an
agreement witch has Just gone INTO
effect all dock labor employed in loading
and unloading ships engaged in carry
ing war supplies 10 Europe will hence
forth be supplied by the United states
Employment Service.
Thomas v O'Cornor. president Of the
lorgsL bremen I union. has beef appointed
an .of;cer OF the service for tins purpose,
with the title OF Director OF Stevedores
and Marine Workers.
Altogether about 1000 workers daIlv
are now being placed by the service IN the
shipvarcis, rnunitIon plants mInes on the
farms and in the other war industries 81
the nation.
QUALITY a. well Is quantity supply is
assured By the Federal Employment
service Every man on the rolls has been
interviewed b. an examiner OF the service
to insure that he Will make good in the
particular line OF work for which he Is
listed The employer knows that the men
he hires through the service will be pa
tr'otic, faithful and intelligent The en-
ploye knows that he is going to perTnan-
ent Job where he Will be treated squarely,
with standard pay and government super
vision Of his working and living conditions.
Both sides are protected and the service /
is gratuitous to all In this respect the
work OF the United States Employment
Service marks an epoch IN the industrial |
history OF America.
The activities of the United States !
Employment Service fall naturally into !
two divisions labor finding and labor |
placing. With the general disorganization !
and readjustment which faced the ma
ton In passing from a peace to q war |
footing the necessity OF lntelhgently |
placing labor was evident Important as |
the recruiting of labor was from the start /
and all-important as it will become as the |
war goes on, the first step, nevertheless. |
was the conservation Of existing supply /
and the development OF a nationwide |
machinery for placing labor wherever the |
need is gr eatest. The recruiting Of add /
tional labor would have been Of little /
avail without the development Of ma !
chinery whereby labor supply could be /
distributed among the various war IN |
dustrieS according 10 need
LINKING THINGS UP
70 this end the Federal EMPLOYMENT /
Service proceeded immediately To link up /
all existing state and municipal free EN-
poyment agencies, thus providing the /
groundwork Of A national organization
There were some states and many cities
where the problem Of labor supply had /.
ALWAYS been left TO the old haphazard I
method Of advertising and private en-
ployment agencies, and In these districts
the reorganized government service lost
no time IN establishing new branch Offices
As d result there Is today national I
employment office system covering the
entire country with branch offices IN every
State and the territories of Alaska and |
Porto Rico. Radlating from one central
in Washington the nation is
dotted with these local points of distribu- /
ton. The Capitalization of authority |
makes duplication of effort impossible |