Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-05-22
Gee Camps Prepare for
War with Feverish Haste
By a Washington ccc Worker


In the state of Washington the
Civilian Conservation Corps camps
are in feverish activity: building
military roads. making telephone
connections with look OUT sta
tions and other strategic positions
in the mountain regions of the Pa
cific Coast.
While this work is done under the
supervision of the Forestry depart
ment actually all work OF the For
estry department comedies with the
war specifications of the military
which is i'm command in each CCC
camp.
Military Drill
Rumors that military drill will
be instituted in each camp soon
are generally circulated. The ground
has been laid for this for some
time The men are organized into
squads, and all work is done thru
the organization of crews in groups
similar TO squads, with one leader"
or assistant leader" in charge Of
three to ten men.
The men in the camp are paid
$50 a month. The rated" men
leaders and assistant leaders, are
paid $45 and sS6 respectively. They
win these ratings thru a clever
system of favoritism. The Educa-
tional Advisor is nothing more than
Government stool pigeon. He
holds classes which are subtle
means of forcing childish propa-
ganda over to the men.
Roads built under the camouflage
of fire trails are nothing else than
military roads which guard the
mountain passes. They are built
for Army trucks.
Censor Mail
Strict censorship of all commun-
ications and printed matter is a
widespread practice throughout the
camps. Everything is inspected by
the company commander. He can
summon anyone before him in a
trial identical to a military court
martial, in which he is the prose-
cutor, witness and judge, while the
defendant is without assistance. In
every case the defendant is i'm
pressed by the authority of the
company commander, and is driven
to the sharp realization that he is
in the army now.
Each man goes through a mil
itary physical examination before
being admitted. Then he is sub
jected to the vaccination and inoc-
ulations given in the army. A very
extensive questionable has to be
filed in which is complete identifi-
cation and record for military mob
ilization. Everything except finger
prints and photographs is taken
Duplicates of these records are
kept in camp, one copy is sent to
eft. Lewis), another copy reaches
the Preside of the Ninth Corps
Area (San Francisco), and doubt
less all information is sent to the
war department in Washington, D
G.
The earlier enrollments were al
most entirely composed of young
men under the age of 25 years
Now large numbers of older men
up to AS and so are taken in, par
ticularly if they are experienced
in some skilled trade.
Graft Rampant
Graft is carefully concealed, but
nevertheless constant, and winked
at. During the period of one en-
listment of six months, much is
actually lost in the way of tools
and clothing in the hills. Some is
stolen. To cover these losses the
Company Commander merely pass
es the loss on by way of entering
it on the record of someone who
is recently dishonorably discharged
That many of the losses" are
faxed is commonly understood in
the camps and the commanding Of
ficers joke about 1t on the sly.
In spite of this encircling miltar-
ization and mobilization for some
capitalist war to plunGer others,