The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-11

vast variety Of work that must be
/ done to supply the men at the front
the production Of food. ships. mu-
nitions And 30 the labor problem.
/ both agricultural and Industrial. is a
( very pressing and very perplexins
, war question
Each war Industry clamors for
more men, The shlpyards the man
ufacturing establishments, the con-
struction outfits, the fa rns--each and
sll want more workers. And all must
he supplied, in some fashion.
This requires first of all. that We
set rid Of all lost motion and utilize
TO the utmost all our possible man
( power---coming right down to go
/ to work or go 10 fail basis. If that
/ is necessary-as il will not be safe TO
2 very small class. And, second, we
must make use Of hitherto unused
sources Of possible labor. Looking at
the problem from an agricultural
standpoint this means the utilization
9 Of boys from sixteen to twenty-one
years Of age as farm help. the use OF
town and CITY men who once lived on
farms and whose affairs can be 80
adjusted as to allow them TO DO tenn
porary farm work in this emergency
and finally. the use Of town and city
men who have had no farm expert
euce. II Is not deslra bic t. try 10
make and save sF.1s,s with this kind
Of farm lahor--hut It is infinitely
/ better to bear with the diff 'ulties OF
farming under such conditions and
. win the war than 20 fall down on food
production and lose lie war.
What Causes the Shortage.
The shortage Of experienced farm
labor is not caused entirely by men
y,F e., n
the army and navy or having been
selected fc& military service, Because.
in addition 70 the farm men who raj
lied to the flag of their country when
their country called, there were thou
sands Of men from farms who left
agricultural work last year and OBJ
tanned EN- loyment IN cantonment
construction munitions factories. and
Industrial plants where war materials
were being made ana high wages
We're offered The practical suspen-
sion of immigration for more than
three years is the chief cause OF la
Dor shortage
The farm labor shortage has been
especially pronounced IN the Eastern
and New England states and in the
territory surrounding industrial CEN
ters and cautoument sites all over
the country.
In the South thousands OF negroes
left the fields last sprng and vent
TO Northern cities to work in fac
tories where thev were offered high
er wages. This winter the severe cold
Of the North has been SO unpleasant
10 many Of the negroes that they
have returned to their old homes. In
some parts of the South this return
movement NAV contribute somewhat
TO relieving the Ia Dor shortage.
In the Northwest AVID in states
along the Canadian border the farm
labor shortage in some sections was
accentuated LAST summer by the fact
that even before we entered the war
labor had been scarce. In several OF
these states-American farm work
ers having gone TO Canada to work
in munitions plants or other war in
dustries at higher wages,
Sectional Conditions.
In the southwest there was an eN-'
odur Of Mexican labor for time
last wear A considerable part OF the
unskIled labor used in the border
states comes from Mexico. A misun-
Outstanding Of the selective-service
iact-and other misconceptions. which
were aggravated no doqbt by Ger
man propaganda caused thousands
Of these laborers TO swarm across the
{ border INTO LtEit WV 'NA'st-i = 1872
MANY Of them were not engaged d.
rectly in farm work, the general Ia
Dor shortage caused hv their depart
uric Was felt on the farms and seri-
ousl,. reduced the farm labor supply
I'm places This sectional problem
promises to be less acute this year,
In the Middle West last year an
army OF outside harvest hands was
needed for the harvest, This is al
ways true in the grain belt Each
YEA q big supply Of outside help must
he secured The war conditions Will
mike il somewhat more difficult to
get this help but officials OF the
United States department Of agricul-
.turt and of the United States depart
nent Of labor anticipate much less
trouble in securing emergency har-
.ycst help than in solving some other
phases OF the probiem--for instance
ending enough experienced farm la
Dor for steady all-year work.
II Is preferable of course. that All
fam workers shall have had farm ex-
perience and technical familiarity
with the work they are TO do. How
ever, II a. certain county or commu"
ritY or section after exhausting all pos
sibilities, cannot get enough expert
erced help for harvests and emer-
cause Of the war emergency, to call
In unskilled town volunteers-and
while this will inconvenience the farm
er. il win not he nearly SO distressing
10 him as PruSs!an occupation Of his
farm would be-
TO the extent that is possible. the
United States department of agricul-
It;Ire. the United states department of
labor, state agricultural colleges and
other agencies, cooperating in hand,
ling this problem, viii try to reduce
the necessity of the farmer using I'M
skilled labor The object Is to make
available all the trained farm labor
thai can possibly be found and APP
Piled to farms A. this emergency
but we must face the f$ct that even
after this effort is mgde it will still
be necessary to use some unskIlled
farm lahor--how much,no one can say
accuratelN at the present time.
Fnryn- Labor Surveys
Surveys being taken by the United
States department 81 agriculture this
winter, with the assistance of state
agricultural colleges and county school
Will show the amount
Of farm labor that will be needed in
every part Of the country this year
IN order TO supply the needs. men
who have had farm experience but