The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-01-14
Only e6 Out of 281 Who Have
Applied at Labor Bureau
for Positions Have Obtained
Work.
EMPLOYERS Indifferent
TO LOCAL SITUATION
Sent Away With Cheers and
Tears, Those Who Carried
On" Are Received CONNER,
CiaIIy With Goodness.
RY Z. p. MAcNIcoL.

The long room occupied by the united
States employment bureau was croWo-
ed with job-seekers when the door
swung open to admit strapping young
fellow in khaki Taking In at glance
the row OF desks on either side, the
soldier advanced to the railing, some
what uncertainty, a quiZzical yet nope
full expression on his thin, brown race
and announced:
81 want a job"
It was the work of but moment
for the clerk to take down his name.
age, address, etc, the usual routine
in indexing the application.
What is your line%'
The soldier shifted into a more com
Portable position, and the arm ne
stretched out along the top Of the rail
bore two chevrons on the sleeve, one
denoting six months in overseas ser
vice, the other an honorable discharge;
I'm a clerk" he answered. Got
anything for me?'
"Well, now," parried the bureau Of
ficial, I'VE have nothing open in your
line at present, but we'll do the best
we can for you"
There you have, in a nutshell, the
situation facing the returned soldier,
as it obtains in Memphis; a. condition
the ordinary enlisted man discovers
only when he makes the effort to get
back into the sphere he, forsook to
take ND arms The boy who was sent
away with cheers and tears at time
when the very fate Of the world hung
in the balance-and 10000 were con-
tributed from Memphis and Shelby
county-commercially is welcomed back
| with delays and apparent indifference.
| Not that. the labor bureau Is at fault
| but that the plan by which returning
| soldiers and sailors are TO be reab-
sorbed into commercial circles, the very
system itself, is wanting somewhere, Is
| 1afniapf in essential nTincinIR.
SO Get Jobs
To explain further: Since the armi>
stice was signed. no less than 2S1 SOL
diers and sailors, the vanguard of the
| home coming defenders Of democracy,
have applied to the labor bureau for
work. and of this number but S6. ac-
| cording to the bureaus records up TO
Monday. are known to have obtained
positions.
| Much as we may seek to sidetrack
the thought in evasions and excuses,
| the signing on the atuistfce has had
| q decidedly dampening effect on patri-
otisn in more ways than one. We saw
it's effect reflected in the recent Red
Cross Christmas roll call, We zee II
| manifested here and there In. attempts
or threats or predictions Of impending
advance in the price of commodities
essential to individual welfare. The war
| Is over every man to himself. 1t Is
the prevailing sentiment of the times,
an implication only, to be sure, but a
condition that certainly is to be de-
plored, a situation that should not be
permitted to blacken Memphis envia-
BILE war record.
Some idea of the vast variety Of po-
sitions sought by the returned soldier
may be gained by glancing over the
list on file at the labor bureau. The
LIST yPilI Show that the nogtiOnS sought
for soldiers include statesmen OF vart-
Gus kinds, farm managers. shipping
clerks, accountants, bookkeepers me-
chanics, plumbers, timekeepers, cleo
tricians, stenogra phers auditors, rail-
road clerks. cotton clerks, telephone
men, elevator operators-avocations al
most without limit in character And
only Sc have been reported as filled"
Employers having openings have failed
to report their needs to the bureau
Find Places Filled.
There Is another side of the ques-
ton, the side involving d moral obliga-
sent his employe to war with the as
surance that when he returned he
would find his old job waiting for him
Some of these pledges have been full
filled. Others will be- Still others
owing to the nature Of the business
affected. are, incapable OF fulfillment
while in others the pledge affected
only drafted men, not those who vol.
unfairly enlisted, though they, too, mus
be looked after in this era OF recon
struction.
But waving all these controversial
questions involving moral obligations
there Is no gainsaying the fact that
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