New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-01-24
war Department
WITHOUT PLAN FOR
DEMoBIL|zINC
rs BLINDLY SETTING SOL.
DIERS ADRIFT WITHOUT
THOUGHT OF THEIR FU.
TURE WELFARE" SAYS
WASHINGTON WRITER
Special to State Record.

Special to State Record.
Washington, Jan. 2l-The policy
of the War Department in demob
lizing our troops exceeds. if possibl,
in its utter lack of orderly svsten
the record the Department has Sc
in most of its big undertaking,
throughout the war. The fact i,
that the signing of the armistict
found the United States without an,
plan whatsoever for the intelligen,
withdrawal of our men from the
fighting forces. and their replace
ment in the industries of peace
To the officials at Washington "de-
mobilize" meant simply to discharge
and on that assumption they have
worked.
Military units in France, arbitra
rily selected by General Pershing
from the standpoint of their use
fulness to his military needs. have
been and are being brought home.
transported to the place of their en-
l:stment and discharged. There has
been no regard whatever, apparent
ly. for the ability of the DISCHARGED
soldier to affiliate himself promptly
with some other means of livelihood.
and the inevitable result has been
that the labor market is being randi
ly filled. At the present time. ac-
cording to Secretary Morrison Of
the American Federation OF Labor,
there is glut of labor in practicallv
all parts of the country. with
the exception of the southeastern
section. extendinr from PhiladeIohia
to Florida and inland as far as West
Virginia and Alabama
How different has been the course
followed in Englfrt' vcar ooo
comprehensive demoh;i;,atior r'ors
were worked ont in detail. and whon
n" armisticc brouoff cessaf;or 70
hOS'E'ieS mc1ns wcre 1T harl f1-
returning the eoli;ers to 0e~o ~
occrnators accordinr 70 a wr',-
ch@rrinr thr mcl Wv Uni, units, '' ,hoeo
were selected IT first who were
needed IN their trades ~ homo IN
that wav all the men who have re-
turned have found WAGES wait;rr
for them in the industrial world
and there has been comparatively
little unemployment
IN the United States the same
scheme could have been followed
as readily Int mate records Of
everv man in the service are on file
in the Department. showing the
nature of his employment before the
war. The same sort of selection that
the draft could have
featured the decentralization. with
minimum of discomfort to the DIS
charged soldier and his dependents.
The excess of labor will! become
greater as more of our men are
brought home. until social cordi-
fion is created that will be positive
danger II is admitted by all who
have made study of the situation
that Bolshcvism is the greatest
menace in the world todav. It should
be avoided in the United States at
all hazards. The greatest incentive
10 Bolshevism is idleness. and con-
'equent poverty and. lack of food
0ur strongest security against it is
in constant emnIoyment AT far
wames. In blindlv setting our SOL
Tiers adrift with no thonrtt of their
"trrc welfare. the War Department
c nlaving with fire. and the sooner
heir economic mistake is rrct;f;ed
md new scheme of dcmoh;i;z,tion
ldopted the further removed will be
he dancer OF olunoing the United
states into the SOCIAL depths Of some
# the countries of Europe