The Washington times., 1919-08-20
SEES MORE Jobs
THAN MEN SOON

NEW YORK, Aug. 2O.-Col. Arthur
Woods, special assistant to the Sec
Eetary OF War. is finding employment
for every ex-service man, soldier,
sailor and marine, who cannot get
his old job again. The man who does
not want his old job any more Is
also being taken care Of.
So confident is Colonel Woods that
every employer who possibly can VIII
offer his old employees such attractive
terms that they will be glad TO re-
sumo their pre-wsr positions that the
problem for him resolves itself INTO
one of getting better jobs Tor Ihe
men who have learned to handle bet
ter jobs during the war, or to create
Jobs for men whose old jobs nave
actually disappeared. Colonel WOODS
was formerly police commissioner or
New York city, and il IS because OF
his exceptional handling OF munlclpa4
problems, and the cOuntry-wlde repu-
tRtion that he established for force
ful and intelligent methods, that he
was chosen for one Of the most i'm
portant pieces Of work which the!
country has to offer today.
Only Apparent Shortage. @.
1--WE are really trying to find the
sob without a soldier and show II 70
the soldier without a job" said COL
Onel Woods in an interview. There
IS only an apparent shortage Of WoTk.
for men who want it. Actually we
have more work to be done in this,
country than there are soldiers or
sailors unemployed. Less than 4
900 900 men have been or are still
being discharged from service. They
are going out at the rate OF lO,OOO
or more a day.
SOf the four million men who
leave army and navy stations statis-
tics show that so per cent go directly
home to their old jobs, or to new ones
which they know are waiting for
them. The Government service for
unemployment has nothing TO do for
them. That means that considerably
less than two million men have reg
istered uncertainty as to their future
employment. During five weeks time
TT,7sS ex-service men applied TO Gov
ernment agencies throughout the
Upited States, and 5L928 Of these
were placed satisfactorily in posi-
S1ons. The remaining men are being
placed as rapidly as possible Pres
nntly there will be a shortage Of
tlbor. immigration, which averaged
1000, 900 for seven years before 1918,
has fallen of so that since 1915 the
yearly average has been 10000 in
stead of 100000. There will soon
De shortage Of labor, particularly
an the skilled trades"
Z Would Cut Red Tape.
Colonel Woods is trying to put the
ex-service man into a job without red
fape. He has not created new
bureaus. He has enlisted the Depart
ment of Agriculture, with $4,000 field
representatives; the Department Of
Interior, with $4,000 field representa-
kives; the Postoffce, Labor. and Navy
And Army Departments, volunteef
welfare organizations, such as the
Red Cross. War Camp Community /
Service, American Library AssOcia- |
tion, Knights Of Columbus, and numer- !
BUS private organizations, such as /
chambers OF commerce, merchants as /
principal labor oTganiza- |
tions. He Is using their machinery. |
He is cooperating with them, and |
unifying the work, so that il can move |
most expeditiously, and with an eye /
10 the needs and offerings Of indi- |
VidUal communities.
A soldier out Of a Job can apply al /
most anywhere, or write to Colonel |
Woods, and he Will be taken care Of |
with little fuss. For the basis Of I
Colonel Woods method is efficiency 1
and not red tape. He wants the best /
Jobs for ex-service men, and he is
moving employers why ex-service /
men are best suited 70 the best jobs.