The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1918-03-16
BY RHETA cHILDE DOOR.

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and complicated piece OF mechanism
containing many tools. The girls firm
Young fingers handled the machine will
perfect certainty, turning out with gtea
fapidlty a steel fixture that was des'
lined TO form one Of the essentials
oi a machine gun
This girl" said the instructor who
was showing me the school, rs golng
10 become a crack mechanic Already
she produce, twelve OF these pieces IN
given length OF time where formerly
a man produced ten Still, YOU can't
Judge from thi, one fact that the girl
IL the better mechanic
"ln the old days the union decided
what the output was TO be- and a man
who produced twelve pieces where the
union said ten. got paid for the ten,
and no more OF course, the men never
worked full speed Why should they
IN those circumsiances
Symbol OF Democracy.
That ros, faced English girl, working
In mans trade" is a symbol OF the
new democracy born Of the world war.
She must have arrived some day but
her sudden appearance, as war nece'.
sily. means that the whole industrial
world has undergone a radical change,
The change. which necessarily will re-
suit m more and more labor unrest
is a change Of employers The private
employers are giving way 10 the state
When the trade unionSt leaders met
Mr.. LLOYD George IN a conference on
the man power bill he talked TO them
f oaniidly and fairly but he made It
plain II was the government and not
the trade unions that was running the
war. II they did not like the govern
ncnt they could change il
This they will probably try TO DO In
a circular Just issued by Herbert Tor
rison, secretary Of the London labor
party, it is stated that mere representa-
-tion in parliament no longer satisfies
the workers THE aim is the early
establishment Of a labor government
supported in parliament by a majority
OF members drawn from the ranks OF
the labor and socialist movement
Would Make Kaiser Go on Knees.
II that could happen during the war
it would certainly cause the kaiser to
20 on his imperial knees and thank he
thing he calls Colt" Happily for
civilization and the peace Of the world,
il cannot happen. What can happen
however is that the British working
men NAV down tools"-that is, strike
against the man power bill which has
been framed to summon more men TO
the colorS.
Not that there was anything ap-
preaching industrial peace in England
before the war. In 1914 there was so
much labor unrest that Germany was
almost justified in betting that Great
Britain could not enter the war. Be
tween Ireland and the trade unions
there seemed to Germany small likli-
hood that England could raise a loyal
army
The plain truth is that England could |
not at that time have introduced con-
scription Almost any British states
man will candidly admit the fact The
glorious band that made up England'S
first fighting force, the "contemptibleS'
they call them here. adopting the
kaiser's appellaton, were all volun-
teerS
Many Of Skilled Men Can't Come Back.
An effort was made to bring back
the skilled men, and a large number
were retrieved Some, of course had
been killed, more permanently disabled,
and this at a time when their industries
were being expanded at an unpre
cedented rate. Something had to he
done and what was done was an enor-
nous dilution of the industries by men
and women from other trades. The
skilled men and semi-skilled were pro-
NOTED, and the simpler Jobs were taken
over by the new workers.
How the English government moved
great masses of labor from one part ot
the United Kingdom to the other and
from many industries into the war in
dustries how the workers were trained,
how their health and comfort have
been studied and conserved; how the
Industries have been brought up TO an
unheard of state Of productive eff
cheney is a story in itself and | shall
tell it later.
lust now 7 want to explain why the
engineers and the government have
had so many difficulties between them.
The engineers were very strongly or
sani1ed, but although there were many
women in the mechanical trades, some
Of them doing highly skilled and semi
skilled work, the union was entirely
Women were barred from
joining and they were denied the union
rate Of wages
10000 Women Work.
In the autumn of 1914 when the gov
ernment began TO take stock of possible
recruits 10 industry, it was estimated
that the number of women working on
automatic and Scmi-automatic ma
hines in the engineering trades was
lose to 10000, This in spite of the
act that in nshy districts in England
md Scotland the trade unions had pro-
libited their employment.
In the districts where they were toll
Fated il was natural that the muni
ions factories where more help was
allied for at he beginning Of the war
hould open TO women. At first the
women were given only the lowest paid
obs what is known as boys work But
hey gave such satisfaction that many
{ hlem were advanced to the semi
killed occunations-at half the wages
aid men. This was in October, 1914
nd right then did England's war time
lbor troubles begin.
emaie Labors to Stop When War Ends
An agreement in writing was made