The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-01-05

LuSVH UOA4 W dSllIllt llldb the country faces a complete mili- tary mobilization of It's manpower for war production, but something akin to that may not be as far of as you might think. You must re- member that the new selective serv- ice law calls for the registration of all males from 18 to GA. Latest esti- mates of the Census Bureau put the number of men in this age bracket at 42 million. By law, the 2.5 mill lion men of 18 and 19 are exempted from active service. The Army wants only men from 20 to A inclusive. There are about 26 million in this age group, but only from ' to 10 million of them will be found fit and eligible for active duty. The 135 million men in the 45 to GA age group plus the 10 to 13 million re- jects in the 20 to A group make up the bulk of the country's labor force which will have to man the machines in the war industries.
 MIGHT USE
 REJECTS
 The exact form of registration which this inventory of manpower will take has not yet been deter mined and it's a touchy question. The Army doesn't want these re- jects, yet the Army, through the se- lective service boards, will have these men on call and 1t could mus ter them into service quickly if the need ever arose for mobilization of a specific task" force to be sent to a certain factory to do 8 certain war industry job.
 In industries where there is large scale unemployment during the shift from civilian to war production, the displaced workers not covered by unemployment insurance might be inducted into the service for special non-combatant duty or for further training to fit them for war in- dustry job.
 Using this quasi-military service employment would bridge several of the gaps in the existing unemploy- ment compensation machinery. Under the social security laws, fac tory workers are covered. If a fac tory worker is displaced by civil ian goods industry shutdown, he car draw his unemployment insurance from the state. s BAD FOR
 DRUMMERS
 Salesmen, however, aren't covered. In the automobile and tire business, now worst hit, these sases forces are sizeable. And the tens of thousands Of salesmen scattered about the country face none too bright 1922 until they get war jobs.
 If they require training or re- training in lost skills, there Is no provision to pay them a learners wage until they are competent to take a regular job. And once the trade Is learned, there is no proW- sion to pay for the transportation of the worker to his new job. It might involve sending a sewing machine worker from Elizabeth, N. J., to an aircraft factory in California.
 There is and there has been talk of asking Congress to broaden the social security laws to provide un- employment insurance for occupa- tions not now covered and to pay expenses of training and transpor- tation for displaced workers from old jobs to new. But If the country got right up against 1t, this new se- lective service law calling for reg istration of all manpower from IS to GA provides machinery for mobiliz- ing a labor force not only to run the war industries but also to alleviate the unemployment burden during the transition period.
 Organized labor will question any moves toward compulsory mobiliza- ton of workers. That is violation of the principle of free labor. Draft ed labor is supposed to be slave labor, and one of the things the war is supposed to be about is the freeing of labor from dictatorial bondage. But it takes all kinds of sacrifices to win war.