Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-09-03

In the huge ammunition plants
that have made the United States
the arsenal of democracy" women
can be found in many capacities.
This lady war worker is tapering
shell cases for anti-tank guns at the
frankfort arsenal in Philadelphia.
some of the less glamorous indus
! tries.
One of the latter is the chemical
industry. Here the work is not SO
arduous as in the manufacture of
ships or planes or tanks, but it is
just as vital to the success of the
war. The wage rate is not so high
as in the metal working crafts and
similar lines, but it is still very in
teresting.
Chemical workers generally need
some training before starting in the
plant, but high school chemistry is
often sufficient background for one
of the advanced positions. There is
opportunity for after-war careers in
this field, probably more than in
most other lines.
Safety Pins Necessary, Too.
While manufacturing of planes,
guns, tanks, and other weapons and
equipment used directly in combat
is holding the spotlight, there are
thousands of other articles most i'm
portant to the army and navy that
are made by companies turning out
their regular peacetime products.
Army quartermaster corps officers
say that they buy at least $4,000
articles in the open market, that
is, the same goods that are made
for civilian use. Women are need
ed to make all these things, both for
Servicemen and for civilians, who
must live during wartime too.
Those women who are employed
on farms are doing most neces-
sary job, of course. They should
not be tempted to leave their food
production to go to a factory. Food
is a "munition," and is so recog-
nized in military circles.
With all this change in the tradi-
tional role of women, however, So
cial minded thinkers are pointing
out alarming possible after-effects
when the war ends. They ask
whether women who have been
earning high wages and have
achieved large measure of indie
pendence are going to be content to
return to their homes and live on
the comparatively lower standard
that their husbands income will
provide? Or whether there will
not be more friction than ever be-
tween married people, as wives who
formerly worked at high rates be-
come dissatisfied with the frequent
ly drab task of maintaining home
and caring for children? Sociolo-
giSts, clergymen, juristS and others
interested in social welfare are per-
turbed about what may happen.
There is also grave concern voiced
about the effects of the times on
children of war workers. Mothers
who are away from their children
for long hours are not able to give
them that care and affection that
no agency can supply. Many chill
dren do not get even the made
quate supervision of playground di-
rectors, kindergartens or nurseries.
The results of haphazard parental
direction in formative years may
be serious matter, a few years
hence.
But this is war, and war is always
profoundly disturbing to the social
fabric. More optimistic commenta-
tors believe that America can re-
cover from these shocks and come
out of the war with conspicuous
gains. Having millions of women
who can do skilled work is hardly
thing for any nation to deplore.
New products will mean a higher
standard of living and thereby bet
ter health and educational opportu-
mites for all.