New Britain herald., 1918-03-27

there are no ships to transport them. So, unless our ship workers do their best, other industries must slow down or halt completely with the result that thousands of workers through out the country will suffer for leck of employment.
 1T believe that labor has begun to realize that fact, but I want to drive 1t home to them; for there are some, I regret to regret to say. who do not yet sense their responsibility. There are many who are not working to tn cir full capacity. There are many who, because of the high wages they are earning. are prone to take too many holidays. Labor generally throughout our shipyards Is today re- ceiving the highest rate of wages ever paid for similar work In the his tory of the world. The additional cost of our ships, due to increased wages in shipyards covering the pro- gram We have mapped out, will be in excess of ssoo.OOO, 900. We expect, and we have a right to expect; the country has a right to expect that labor will render for this increase of wages & corresponding increase in production-that is, the output of ships.
 Handicaps Of Labor.
 "A1l has not gone smoothly Tn the labor situation and there have been times when this phase of the problem was enough to cause discoura gome ent, The vast majority of laboring men patriotic; the leaders, whom 1 have known through close contact in Washington, especially MT. Gompers and his immediate associates, have my confidence and the country rec ognizes their patriotism. With only one exception, the leaders of the shipyards crafts generally have shown a spirit of cooperation, ready to sink their personal differences in the common pool of patriotism.
 We have established a labor ad- justment board whose complete fair ness cannot be questioned. The scale of wages awarded by this board has been most liberal. We have not blamed labor for the reduced aver age output in various yards. There are some labor restrictions which we would like to have worcestershire tions against output. We would like to see the whole body of labor put forth Its maximum effort, encourag- ing each individual workman to do his best, without any fear of estab- fishing new average standards when they increase the output When all the leaders and all the men take this view of the national emergency, the efficiency of all the yards will be measurably increased.
 There have been inefficient ship yard owners as well as inefficient workmen. Where there Is an inef- ficient owner who does not understand oiy,t of loh y6 hn IFa only Of his profits, labor has right to complain. In the speed that was necessary in the early days when the plans were being made and the first contracts were being let, some of the work was given the men who have not proved their ability to get re- suits As We have strengthened our contracts and distributed the work with greater deliberation and care, we have likewise had in mind the weed ing out of the employers who are get ting the results which, experience has shown us We could get from efficient men. We intend to know what the costs and the profits are in every yard. We feel that the public is entitled to this information.
 "In 1916 there were less than 5000 men employed in all the shipyards of the country, and on March 2. 1918, We had increased this number to 236,0O0, Of which 17O,589 were working on ac- tual ship construction and the remain der in yard construction and other branches of the industry. Thousands of others are employed in taking out the timbers for our wooden constrrc- 1 ton and at the scores of inland steel plants which are fabricating the parts 1 for steel vessels.
  1 to what have been popularly called ! our three fabricating shipyards. The so-called fabricated ship is almost 8 ! new method of ship construction-al- 1 most as new to England as 1t IS to us. l But from the progress of the work as 1 it has thus far developed, we are con- l fldent that it will be the means Of add l ing millions of tons to our merchant l marine.
 'These three assem bling plants, with their 50 ways at Hog Island. 2S 1 at Newark Bay and 12 at Bristol, will, | when they are in full operation, pro- ] duce in a single year more ships than 1 England has ever been able to turn out in the same length of time. AL lsready at the yards of the Submarine Boat corporation, at Newark Bay. 5 keels have been laid and 13 more will be put down as soon as the remaining ways, now in course of construction 1 are completed. By the time the last way Is finished, the vessel on the first l way will be we'll on toward comple- ton; and as soon as 1t has slipped into 1 the water, another keel will be laid 1 in it's place and we will thus nave | 8 continuous series of vessels drop ping into the water from this yard at the rate of two a week. Even greater tonnage will be produced at Hog Is- land with its larger number of ways and the bigger type of vessls that are being constructed there.
 There is no doubt but that we are destined to be one of the leading ship 1 building nations of the world. We