Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-08-20
ONE MILLION LABORERS
WANTED IMMEDIATELY
Secretary Kelley Stresses Need for
Immediate Cooperation
with Governments
MAY SHUT DOWN soME PLANTS
Hundreds Of Men Now Employed Un-
ncccssarily-Wnr Industries Must
Go Forward and Labor BE Found
to Man New Industries.

to Man New Industries.
one million unskilled laborers are
Sunie" Immediately iIr absolutely CO.
sential war work. and the situation
SO far as II affects skilled labor Is al
most as serious. The government does
not intend to risk any shortage of
supplies for Its new army. and unless
those engaged in the less essential in
dustries agree voluntarily to curtail
their labor requirements. the general
government will be forced to take the
most drastic measures to secure labor
for its inevitable nece stiles.
Yesterday G. r. Kelley. executive
secretary OF the Virginia Council OF
Defense, received a telegram from -. NJ.
Reynolds. in charge j. the publicity
for the labor mobili- ttion campaign
of tho government. setting forth clearly
the urgent demands OF the government
and the steps that IL might be neces-
sary to take. He urged upon Mr.. Kelley
the necessity OF corresponding at once
with city officials, chambers OF com
mcrce md labor leaders throughout the
State. laying the facts before them and
requesting their cooperation.
The government is II. I tolerating any
indifference toward Its program.
wire was sen, TO the Governor OF
Georgia Sunday notifying him that
unless the State could guarantee at
once 5000 laborers to be used at tho
big pcric acid plant at Brunswick
the entire construction work there
! would stop Immediately What had
been built would be sacrificed and the
| plant would move out OF Georgia.
| THOUSANDS OF MN NEEDED
/ FOR WAR INDUSTRIES
/ Mr. Reynolds repoi.- that the Mid
! vale Steel Plant at Gainesville. Penn
has been forced to an' down part Of
Z, its plant for lack of labo,. and this
is only one of several instances where
labor must be had onte for war
work.
Up to the present" said Mr.. KELLEY.
mo Virginia war plant appears to be
III jeopardy but recently in Washing
ton Mr.. Eidlitz. head of tho United
states housing bureau. informed tho
Secretary of Labor that not less than
10000 man. possibly $1,000. would be
needed i'm the very near future for
war work in the vicinity of HAMPTON
Roads. This demand was for existing
industries. Others have been estab-
lishcd there since. and others arc be-
ing established elsewhere in Virginia.
Great numbers of men and women Will
be needed at Seven Pines. More than
1000 men will be demanded for tho
operation OF the boiler plant near
Richmond. Still another 1000. pos
sibiy more. will be required for the
Rockefeller gas plant. which now
seems certain to come to Richmond
These are conditions we must face
like men. Some of the retail mer-
chants Of Richmond, notably the gro
GERS, are showing a very decided dis
inclination to abide by tho govern
ment's request that they curtail de-
liverics. If deliveries are not cur
tailed. at least to the extent asked
by the government, 1t is extremely
possible that all deliveries except for
heavy materials which cannot be car
ried will be cut out entirely The
government must have men for its
essential work, and II certainly can
the same route as even remotely essen
tial
There are probably not less than
] 900 grocery wagons in the city OF
Richmond. and the experience of other
cities has demonstrated that this
single delivery system releases not
less than % per cent OF the delivery
force for more essential work. This
means that through this single line OF
business in Richmond not less than
$50. perhaps $50. men could be re-
leased TO make up part of the States
quota of $3.50. which the Labor De-
partment says must be diverted from
less necessary to essential work at
onces
Just how the labor draft boards re-
Gently created will handle this situa-
ton remains TO be seen, bu- it will
he up 10 everybody to give to these
draft boards the utmost in the way OF
encouragement. IL would he fatuous
to gather n huge army OF 100000 or
100000 men. congregate this great
force in camps, and then leave them
unsupplied with absolutely essential
equipment. The government is not
going to tolerate any such condition.
nor will it tolerate any sl' w-down or
let-up in it's building program or ships
or aero2lanes.
Coal must Be had. FOOD must be
had. and transportation mus not be
disturbed. Therefore there will be no
demand for men to be diverted from
any one of these branches of industry
but other branches of work must be
very closely related to efforts TOR sup
plying the army or meeting tho
inevitable needs OF the people for them
to be permitted to hold anything like
their present quota of employees.
The government docs not desire
unnecessarily to cripple business. To
the contrary, IL the manufacturers and
the merchants exhibit proper in