The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-20
SOLDIER EMPLOYMENT

There is a good deal Of sentimental ecstacy poured out over
the returning soldier, by a lot of wel-intentioned people, that
he might quite reasonably wish to avoid unless it is accompanied
by a practical suggestion as to how he may speedily secure the
job upon which he is dependent for a livelihood from the day
he is mustered out of the service.
The ovation, of course, is pleasing, but the pleasure is fleet
ing, transitory and entirely lacking in the qualities that appease
the call Of an empty stomach. We take it that the men are
about satated with ovations. The multitude applauded them in
France, and the shopkeepers added a few francs to the price Of
their merchandise by way of complimenting the men from the
country where money is plentiful and opportunity knocks as
loud as any knocker in the land. They get a tremendous ova-
ton in New York as soon as the transport swings up to the
pier. and along the route home, getting one last fling at the
Red Cross canteen as they are checked through the railway
station at the conclusion of the last leg of the journey.
lin The cheers and chocolates, salutations and sandwiches are
deserved and necessary, but they should be merely incidental,
rather than the end. Without disparaging the charms of the
excellent women who help to make them comfortable on their
way it is our candid judgment that the soldier is more likely
to fall upon the neck of the man who says to him: Here is
your old job back
In yesterdays news columns there was a story SAYING that
IS soldiers were in need of positions. They were skilled in
their respective branches, 1t is Our information that letters have
been sent to a great many concerns offering to provide soldier
help, and that in a majority of cases the answer has been that
they were not needed.
From this immediate section something like 5000 men went
into the army. Only a few Of them have returned, and if some
of those are unable to find employment, the question arises
what is going to be the situation when they are all home again?
The soldiers themselves should be impressed with the neces-
sty of making a personal effort to secure employment. They
should be encouraged to return to the localities from which they
were drawn, and as far as possible they should negotiate with
the concerns with which they were connected before going to
war. In this way a difficult industrial problem will be given
la personal touch, and satisfactory results are more likely to
ensue, .'r
The men should be encouraged as far as possible to return
to their original pursuits. The disposition naturally will be for
some of them to seek easier if not more remunerative employ
ment. Some of the men who were called from the farm will be
reluctant to return to the humdrum and entirely prosaic exist
ence.
But it is to the farm that as many as possible should be
encouraged to return. 1t is not overstating the case to say that
the farmer has all the best of it now, and will have for years to
come, The American farmer must take his part in feeding
Europe. That country is in need of food. The demand there
will govern to a large extent the price in this country, and food
values, the wageearner must confess regretfully, promise to
remain high for a long time to come.
There are indications of disturbances in the labor market
The hired man is going to be in competition with other hired
men. There will be no rivalry on the farm, except of the good
natured kind among %neighbors, who strive to excel one another
in the quantity and quality of their product.
AS a profitable and satisfactory enterprise for the next few
years, at least, there is nothing that will approach the indie
pendence and the reward that comes from a we'll conducted
farm.
If the returned soldier is a farmer he should receive every
encouragement to return to the farm, and the thousands that
have neither the experience nor the desire to farm should have
the best jobs obtainable,