Evening star., 1945-09-13


raphy, not the product of anybody.
imagination. Finally, however, ir
the interest of the war effort, tn.
producers met the Government,
request and that brief scene went
out.
What it showed was one of the
true horrors of the war-a seaman
being rescued from a sea of burning
oil. An American tanker had beer
hit and had exploded. The seaman
was dragged aboard a rescue ship
his face and body covered with
flames. A stream of water from 6
fire hose was played on him, much
as If he were burning log.
The Governments objection wa.
purely practical. A picture like
that, said the Government, made il
hard to recruit men for the mer.
chant marine.
Epic Story of the War.
One of the epic stories of the wal
we've just won is the part performed
by the men of the merchant marine
the working seamen on the ships
that. carried the goods to our Allies
and our own forces during the long
period of the submarines near su-
premacy. Theirs on the whole was
the most hazardous service of all
The percentage of death and dis
atlement among them during more
than two years of the war was higher
than that of the men IN the Army
or the Navy. Yet they were all
merely civilian employes-volun-
teers.
Now comes the payoff. These
seamen, many of whom returned to
duty after being torpedoed more
than once, have no protection what
ever under any unemployment COM
pensation law.
That is one of the conditions
which the Kilgore bill, urged by the
President and hotly opposed by
some elements in Congress, seeks
to correct. Seamen still have Jobs.
They still are in demand. But if
the situation should change there
will be no hand held out to help
them
Civilian War Workers.
The same can be said concerning
another class of workers-the much
abused Government employees. These
are the men and women who cause
some Congressman to raise their
voices in loud protest ever so often,
giving the country a picture of a
vast horde of chair warming clerks,
living life of ease at the Govern
ments expense. II isn't an honest
picture. The greater part of the
$4,000 Government employees have
been engaged in real war work, with
the accent on work.
For example, examination of the
rolls last fall revealed 349, 400 work.
ing in the navy yards, building, re-
pairing and servicing ships; "a 100
in naval procurement, supply, main
tenance and inspection; $1,000 in
naval ammunition depots, torpedo
stations, etc.; 1000 in naval air
stations: 51,700 in naval hospitals
and miscellaneous services.
The Army had hundreds of thou
sands in similar work in ordnance
plants, supply depots and the like.
In fact, the War Department en-
ployed almost one and half million
civilian workers. All war agencies
combined employed nearly two and
a half million. OF the remainder
350,000 were employed by the Post
Office Department.
Many Workers Recruited.
A large part of these workers were
obtained by active recruiting cam
paigns, including appeals to their
patriotism. They were needed to
win the war.
The Government has not been a
generous employer. Wages average
well below the wages in private in
dustry, Notwithstanding that the
Government supplies the money
with which private industry, en-
gagged in war work, meets it's pay
rolls. In number of places there
are Government shipyards and
private shipyards side by side. Ma
chinists in the Government shops