The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-01-06
Thousands in Factories Now
Said to Be in Fear of
Discharge
REIMBURSEMENT FOR
MOST INDUSTRIES
Three Years Ago Problem Was How to
Get Workers, Now It is How to Get
Rid of Them-one Plant Laid OFF
1000 in One Day Recently.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn, January O.
Bridgeport S war prosperity bubble has
burst. Three years ago its problem was
to get workers. Today it is to get rid
of them. This so-called g Essen of
America which for three years has
teen the Mecca to which workers from
all parts Of the country lured by the
great wages, have made their way by
thousands, has become, almost over
night, a city with daily growing
army of unemployed who already are
planning a parade and street demon
stration to air their grievances.
Bridgeport is face to face with a
problem of industrial readjustmcnt
caused by the sudden ending of the war
and the consequent cancellation of a
large part of its contracts. As result
of these cancellations large numbers of
workers have been discharged and are
now without work The Remington.
Arms Union Metallic Cartridge plant
alone discharged some 1000 in one day
recently.
To those idle there are being added
| many homecoming soldiers who help
to swell the number of unemployed.
Just how large this number is today
| would be hard to determine. Labor
leaders claim that is is as much as
$4,000 and viii reach $4,000 in another
| month at the present rate of growth.
| The United States employment service
| admits it may reach 10000 or 10000
/ To realize just what Bridgeport is
confronted with it is necessary to re-
call that during the summer of 1914
previous to receiving war orders from
Europe, Bridgeport was a city of some
| ployed in its factories around 10000
hands. Between that time and the
signing of the armistice it had grown
to be city of 100000 population and
was employing $4,000 hands.
| While in normal times Bridgeport
manufactures almost every sort Of
article. at present nearly all of its fac
tories have been doing war work to the
exclusion of their regular lines and vii
not only require time to readiust theil
machinery to these lines, but VIII alst
have to obtain supplies of raw tnateria
and in many instances new. order III
so, before they can begin operatio'
again on peace basis.
VIII they lie able to do all thl
rapidly enough to absorb the constan
| laying off of help on the munition con
tracts9 Will they besable to start on
large enough scale of peace-time manu-
facture to use the additional worker
who have come to the city in the las
three years. These are the question
that are uppermost in the situation
today and which no one in the cit,
attempts to answer without bi
eff In fact the most certain thin
/ ebont Bridgeport industrial pros
poets for the next few months is thei
uncertainty
While there is no distress at presen
in the city, few weeks of idlenes
right now in the middle of the winte
and it would be sure to appear, Just a
! a failure to create an active deman
s for labor will result in large number
leaving the city. One large and uncer
| tain factor in the situation which di
reetly affects the prospects of thou
! sands of workers is the length 'of tim
Z it will take for the great plants bull
E | for the manufacture of arms and mu
nitions entirely 10 find some peace-tim
article to produce and equip themselve
| TO turn it out.
r There are rumors of large enter
c prises that are ready to step in an
I soon set peace-work in motion, bu
i they are vague and indefinite, with n
0 particular sponsors, and are more of
r popular hope than a conviction.