Evening star., 1919-03-09

Wey, IchnzS tHht
IN Il serious difficulties threaten. After
ko great a cataciysm our industrial
life will not return to exactly what II
bsed to be, but we shall have no seri-
GUS disaster, simply because In some
measures we have prepared against
l..
The world famous educator Is at a
vantage point. He should know
whereof he speaks, for he is at the
head Of the great system OF employ
IN ent bureaus in New York state. and
at It's headquarters in New York great
numbers of discharged sailors and SOL
diers daily apply for that employment
Which will start them on the road or
normal life again. For his important
post, which really Is the most vital
In the country at this particular mo-
,nent, he has certain particular quail
ifications. Among them Is the fact
that for many years he has been o
leader In the work OF rehabilitninS
discharged prisoners, task wnich "
seems sacrilege to link with that OF
rehabiiitating discharged soldiers, but
which. none the less, Is that or link
ing up the lives of those whose human
progress has suffered violent Interrupt
tion likely to baslcally alter viewpoint
and psychology,
'4The two appropriation bills on
which the federal employment service
is depending" he went on. "and
which I am sure stand between the
nation and the development of great
deal of social and industrial unrest,
as we talk. still hang in the balance.
without them we are placing in en-
ployment approximately hundred
thousand men per week throughout
the country. and even SO cannot be
said to be coping with the situation.
The deficiency appropriation bill pre-
vides for carrying the federal 'crn-
ployment service along till June 3o
Should this appropriation be defeated
we would be under the tragic neces-
sity Of stopping the good work April
l. The appropriation. which is in
cluded in the sundry civil bill. sup
plies funds for another year. Both
are in a grave danger and there is
grave doubt ii either will go through.
From the beginning the service
has been combated by an energetic
opposition. A part of this has come
from the state services in New York
and elsewhere. who feel that their ex-
tivities as ours remain parts of the
federal machine. 1t is not unnatural
that officials and others benefiting
from the various state bureaus exist
ing prior to the federal activities
should oppose perpetuation of ma
tional agency. sure In the end tand
before long) to absorb them.
u have no desire to say anything
i'll of state employment services. They
were established for useful purpose.
fka vnrlf eta fA
ganization functioned well as long as
the conditions which gave birth to 1t
existed in their original form But
the necessities of war production and
quite beyond the capacity of any state
organization to cope with. Such plans
are good enough. but they are retail
and the problem now Is wholesale.
The New York state bureau had
half dozen Offices distributed
throughout the state while the fed
eral department has sixty in the same
territory. The situation in several
other states is similar If less acute.
In New York it is a little dangerous.
because a considerable number of
large employers maintain partisan
attitude toward the state service, de-
manding it's support, and thus array
ing II and themselves against the fed
eral organization.
Il am a strong believer in the fed
eral service for the present moment
job. although / believe that In the
long run the work will be done bet
ter by the states than by the federal
government. This however. will
nccc9sitates a notable improvement
which cannot come to pass till the
states bureaus take their work more
seriously, making for 1T bigger ap-
preparations, and engage in it far
more perfectly trained personnel /
am familiar with no state bureau save
that of New York, but imagine that
New York conditions are measurably
duplicated elsewhere.
can opposition far more formidable
to the federal service than that of the
state bureaus comes from various or
ganizations Of employers. This is very
stiff and definitely reactionary, found
ed on the fact that throughout the ma
tion the federal employment service
acts as q link between organized en-
ployers and organized workers. It's
basis Is the hope of cooperation be-
tween those who hire and those who
are hired. In each state are state ad-
visory boards and In each industrial
district Of the nation are community
labor boards equally made up of rep
representatives of capital and repre-
sentatfveS Of organized labor. I re-
gret to say that a large class of en-
ployers still remains distrustful of