The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-10-25
We Need Chinese Labor

Mr.. G. a Otis, head of the Con-
servation and Resources Bureau of
the War Industries Board, said at
Syracuse recently that the Board
was considering the propriety of i'm
porting 100000 Chinese coolies to
meet the rapidly increasing scarcity
of labor here A Washington des-
patch Of the same date said very en-
lphaticaily that the War Industries
Board had never so much as thought
lof importing Chinese laborers, no
mater how short the labor supply
might become.
The divergence between the Otis
land the Industries Board statements,
[ as quoted in the news dispatches, is
mot necessarily of much Importance
| What is regrettable is that apparent
| ly we are not going to be able to get
Chinese laborers here now when their
services would be so valuable, and
when they would release just so much
other muscle for more direct appli-
cation to the task of winning the
war. France has imported thousands
of Chinese for this purpose and their
services have been, and still are, IN
valuable. If French labor organiZa-
tons have resented the presence Of
the celestlals, they have been patrio-
tic enough to smother their hostility
to the gcy crnment's course and to
postpone action or even consideration
of the labor question involved until
after the war Whether our own la
Dor leaders and the American Fedora
ton Of Labor would just now be
equally broadminded in their patrio-
tism is another thing At present
the Indications are that they would
-.itrongly oppose any such action on
the ground Of the effect the presence
of the Orientals might have on labor
conditions when the war is over.
They insist now that the Chinese Ex-
clusion Act in itself would automati-
cally block any plan for using coolies
in this country:
III the e&igencies of the war Meth
er of these objections should be in
surmountable. We have gone over
the top Of worse barriers than
the Chinese Exclusion Act by giving
desirable ends the prestige of being
"war measures and it would seem
that importation regulations as re-
CARDS the Cinnamon might be SO link
ed up with provisions as TO their
expectation after the war as ultimate
ly to meet the objections of the lab
or organizations and their leaders.
We need the Chinese labor. We need
it now. We are going to go on need
ing it mort and more with every
week and month that the war is pro-
longed. He who, in the glamour OF
recent Victories, believes the war is
going to end this winter is feeding
himself with decisions. He who be-
lieves it will end next year is opti-
mistic. He who believes 1920 will
see the end of the horrors and the end
of the horrible Hun is not far away
from the conviction of those persons
both here and abroad whose mental
poise and Information should carry
confidence in the soundness Of their
judgment
And if labor scarcity is a serious
problem now. what will it be next
year and the year after? Shades Of
the late Denis Kearney to the contra
ny notwithstanding, it is a safe guess
that long before 1919 ends there will
be Chinese labo''c"s here by the
thousands, and that even revival Of
the flaming oratory Of The San Fran
cisco sand lets will not suffice to stay
the tide.-No1th American Review
War Weekly.