Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-05-28
ENOUGH LABOR
IN THE WEST
Supply is Equal to Demand
in Washington; Wages
Are Higher.

Spokane. Wash, May 27.-With
wages from 65 to 70 per cent higher
than before the the labor situa-
ton in eastern Washington and north
ern Idaho is in excellent condition,
with the supply equal to the demand,
it is declared by b. A. Hunter whose
office here supplies timber workers
for the camps and mills in this sec
ton, miners. for the Occur d'Alene
mines, farm laborers for the wheat
ranches and workers for construc-
ton work and miscellaneous activi-
ties, las it as part Of his duties to
keep in touch with the pulse of the
labor market and inform the govern
ment of conditions.
1t is only in the woods that there
Is any disarrangement in the labor
market. Mr.. Hunter said. and this is
due, not to a shortage of labor nor
to a surplus of workers. but rather to
the constant strife among rival or.
CARNATIONS of mill and timber men.
For this reason, the turnover. of la
Dor is far in excess Of what the con-
ditions in this field justify. he de-
clared. .
The problem of the returning SOL
der is not now proving to be any
pIOEIeIu dG Iii III ILLS SeCLlOn, MI.
Hunter declared. The worst of this
difficulty presented itself several
months 20. he said. shortly after the
signing of the armistice. and now has
readiusted itself.
I'VE are having no trouble now in
placing all the returning soldiers who
are seeking employment he said.
for work. Shortly after the signing
of the armistice. we were receiving,
on the cards we sent to the men from
this section requests for jobs. with
two or three preferences marked.
Now these cards are coming back,
some of them from France. with the
notation across their face, Don't need
any help in getting a Job or have q
job waiting for me-
THE fact is, that most OF the men
who are o returning had worked
themselves into business somewhere
or were skilled in some trade. The
man who has q regular trade or &C.
cupation is never long out of a job.
1t vas the high school students and
graduates. discharged from the off,
GERS training camps shortly after the
armistice was signed. who presented
the problems. Few of these has ever
had practical experience of any sort,
and yet they expected to get desirable
employment at good wages.
ISLuIHluS SOiulGTS are U0lHS dO-
sorbed by the labor market as fast
as they get back. For instance, dur
ing a recent week we had applica-
tons in this office from IS soldiers
for jobs. and placed 80 Of them. The
week before that. we had 81 applica-
tons, and placed all of them. besides
four others from the preceding week.
That, I believe. represents the gen.
erala labor situation as we'll"
The absence of war industries in
this section and the fact hat women
are giving UP their war time jobs to
returning soldiers are believed by Mr..
Hunter to be responsible in part for
the lack of a surplus Of labor here.
While there is a big demand for
mine labor from the Occur d'Alene
district of Idaho that cannot be sup
Piled Mr.. Hunter said this is due to
the low a being offered, When
common labor receives 81 q day for
outside work. men will not work in
the mines for $4.25sas day, he said.
He predicted that wages in this dis
trict will be advanced shortly to $5.25
a day for miners. and said that then
the men who have been working on
roads or at other employment will re-
turn to the mines. ana the demand
will be satisfied.
Another instance of labor waiting
for the sort 1t wants Ii offered in the
c&se of contemplated road construc-
ton work. Mr.. Hunter said. An i'm
mense amount of road construction
will be done this summer by the
county, state and federal govern.
ments. he predicted. and said there
ares6o0a TO 100 men now in this city,