Omaha daily bee., 1918-09-30
American Labor IN France

"The spirit of American labor in France
transcends anything that can be imagined on
this side of the water. 1t enables our unskilled
as we'll as our skilled labor to perform miracles.
c. Frank Reavis, representative in congress
from Nebraska, brings this message from the
battle front. In the seven weeks tour from
which he has just returned Mr.. Reavis con-
| fined his attention to France, where he visited
every American hospital, every American base
| of supplies and every part of the line in which
American troops are engaged. He went over
seas to study conditions, military, industrial
and social. He talked to boys in every branch
of the service. He saw our soldiers on duty in
the humble as we'll as in the heroic tasks as
signed to them.
"Our industrial achievements have astonshed
the allies quite as much as our military attain
ments," said Mr.. Reavis. France is amazed
as it beholds warehouses and hospitals rise as
if by magic, railroads extended, many miles in
a day, and bridges thrown across rivers in
places where difficulties appeared nsurmount-
able. The fact is that, at the beginning of the
war, France had no labor-saving devices in COM
mon use, and although progress has been made
in the introduction of machinery, our appliances
that belong to our everyday activities are still
marvel to them.
Gas an illustration of the situation even now,
I think the unloading of ships furnishes fair
means of comparison between French methods
and American methods, | watched the unload
ing Of two big vessels at the docks of port in
France. From the French ship walked the
blacks from Algers and the Sngalese steve
dores, carrying on their shoulders heavy loads,
to be sure, but after all little compared with
| the immense cargoes to be thus handled Carts
waited for the bundles dumped into them and
when 1000 pounds had been placed on them,
the vehicles were slowly drawn up the street
| L. Al III L..
hitched tandem. Near the French ship one of
our freight vessels was discharging its cargo by
means of an electric crane that dropped three
| tonned burden, every time it moved into
three-tonned motor truck, which speedily rolled
away with its muffler wide open and an Ameri-
can negro driver at the wheel.
This same difference in methods OF work
may be seen in all lines of industry and right
here | want to say that it looked as if every
man working here in any form of labor had his
duplicate over there One felt this close broth
erhood of toll for the war, this constant CO.
operation between the workers behind the
army lines in France and the workers, who are
their energies in workshop and factory here at
home.
zone Of the noticeable things about the work
ers in France is their complete concentration
on the job that engages attention. Each man
as he labors with what appears to the allies an
almost superhuman energy attends to his own
special work and pays no attention to what is
going on even in his immediate vicinity For
instance, many of the men who are laying rail-
roads had never taken time to question who
supplied the ties and when l mentioned the
10000 soldiers working in the woods far away
from the scenes of actual conflict they were sur
prised. They had never heard of the forestry
service, and | want to say something about
&L4ra
and honor that is accorded the soldiers that do
the actual fighting.
Il visited the camps of the forestry service
which is seldom if ever mentioned in the news
papers, There | found as fine lot of boys as
can be found anywhere in the army, splendid
specimens in physique, in character and train
ing. These young soldiers from all parts of the
United States are most anxious to go into the
front lines, but they must obey orders and so
they do with will their part. To them the
army must look for all the timber for its hos
pitfalls, its cantonments and its hangers. Our
warehouses and our railways must wait for
them, but their service gets no headlines in the
newspapers. They are to be numbered with
the millions of workers here at home on whom
our armies must rely for the support that means
victory. But our soldiers are serene in the
abiding conviction that our industrial supremacy
which so astonlshes our allies will enable them
to overcome every obstacle in the way of COM
plete triumph over the enemy.
"While the mobilization of industry here at
home has been accomplished on a scale never
before attempted, the thousands of factories and
the miles of moving motor transports are scat
tered over vast areas of Our country But in
France activities are concentrated Even an
American who goes to France is overcome in
the contemplation of the vastness of our in
dustrial enterprises, the stupendous darings of
our great preparations and present day achieve
ments for supplying every possible need brought
about by the war.
'! saw armies Of mechanics and carpenters as
well as armies of infantrymen and artillerymen
Think what it means to build hospitals with
capacity of from 10000 to 10000 beds Imagine
miles OF warehouses, hangers covering acres and
acres and barracks that will house troops by
the hundreds of thousands. 1t is we'll not to
forget for one moment that Our workers make
possible our lighters, but no can really feel
the significance OF this until one has beheld the
fnarvels of industry behind the lines.
Because I saw the miracles performed by
every class of labor now engaged in France
have predicted that the war will end within
year, for with such workers as we have sent to
support such soldiers as we have trained the
hnal miracle. speedy peace afte- comDlete vic
tory, seems to me probable When looked
into the faces of our boys over there recog-
nized a power in them which is different from
that of any other nation in the world We are
so accustomed to our American types that we
do not take account of the fact that our young
men are different from the young men Of other
lands. They have rugged strength, splendid
vlriltv, fresh enthusiasm and a reckless cour-
age that make them stand out among the great
armies of the allies. They wear the same
khaki: the same steel helmets, but no one can
mistake them: no one hesitates in classifying
them. Even though the soldier serving under