Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-29
LABOR CONDITIONS
BETTER; NO ALARM
Considerable Demand for Work,
but Many Industries Are
Calling for Men.

Washington, u. O., Jan. 2e.-Ihc an
nounccmcnt that Decentralization Is to be
specded up IN places IN the foreground thc
question oi providing Jobs for the d's-
charged sulher~ and sailors
The problem /, regarded by those IN
close touch with q here aS one ot redls'r-
hutton oi labor Reports from sections Q
the country whore the pIincipal Wat NJ
.iustrirs wcrr located show large amount
oi unemployment The industrial ''ntr'~
al the Northeast and the Middle West
appear to he the hardest ht hN the closing
down ol the war plants. tut u = not ne
hcvcd thrrr y any danger oi = panic or
business depression such as the country
has expcrlenccd IN the past when there was
a ght On the labor market
Tbc tgurrs collected ~ the nlted
States Fmplovmcut Service. branch
al the Department oi lah't Indicate
about 500 600 johle@s men h's Is
large figure. hut when u d considered that
sOn OOo mon have recently been discharged
from the army right M the midst oi the
closing out Of war industries the igurc
becomes less al rming
IL Is recognized there must necessarily
bc n temporary surplu, ~ labor ~ many
centres a. the soldiers cannot all he re-
absorbed IN industrial lite IA the course of
"a lew uANt. iibNtNtit NtiNAf tAlA iAitii'N
encouraging features 81 the situation.
The Emergency Fleet Corporation Is
calling for 500 900 men for the shpVards,
and there are many other lines Of employ
mcnt asking for additional help. nc
building ef a big merchant machine IS to
q forward without cessation and there :
plenty of opportunity ~ the ShpNards
for cmploNmeAt at high wages.
The automobile industry, the thlrd
largest in sire IN the country, Is rapldlN
getting back 10 "A peace basis, ana ail
reports Indicate that tins industry VIII
expand far beyond IT. pre-war iimlta-
tons Similar reports arc coming ~ from
other large industries indicating an early
demand for more labor m many directions.
The removal oi the restrictions on
building insurgs tremendous amount ot
construction work hclng started at an
early date which has been held up for
vear ar more Labor Department 9th
,lsls say this will be very helpful IN alb
sorblng some VI the labor surplus II rs
conservative 70 SAY that many OF the cS-
tImatcs which are being sent INTO Wash
ington of the number oi men out OF em-
plnvmcnt IN certain communities are
rough gueSscs IN some instances and the
actual figures vary widely from day 10
day. MANY ol the alleged IohieSs are
discharged soldiers from the rural dis
tricts who are taking few days of to
see the cities before returning 10 their
homes from army camps. rs the farms
are calling for labor everywhere many
N these bows will INT the done trail for
father farm before long
The mining regions all report a labor
shortage, except N the copper country
There Is SAID to toe a crisis IN the copper
mining industry, owing 20 the fact that
I.OO0ooO,Oo0 pounds Of surplus copper
are stored IN Arizona This metal Will
besin to move when Europe goes TO work
again.
The United States Employment Ser
vice and the War Department are coop
Grating IN connection with the labor stu
stion. in the cancellation 81 contracts
the locsl labor situation Is always taken
INTO consideration, and there IS = large
surplus It Is customary 20 taper of the
work rather than shut down abruptly.
Taken as a whole, the labor situation
IS much better than had been anticipated
by labor leaders with the cessation Of
hrhtlng and the domobIhzatIon OF the
fighting forces There rs = decidedly si-
yer lining 10 the cloud, and An lntclh-
gent handling of the situation viii as
>uredly result IN = read!ustment that
viii assure every man . !ob who wants
10 work