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this problem the experience of Great Britain is of great importance. At the beginning of the war their men were rushed to the front regardless of whether they were necessary in munitions production, and when the army was in the trenches it was found that there was needless loss of life because the men were not sufficiently supplied with arms of defense and offense. The needless loss of thousands of men brought Great Britain to the realization of the fact that the men in munitions factories were just as essential as the men on the firing line. Then began an intricate process of filtering out of the army the skilled mechanics to do the munitions work. All of this story was vividly and eloquently told to the committee on labor by the two representatives of the British labor movement sent by Lloyd George.

In 1915 Great Britain enacted a munitions law by which those engaged in munitions production were exempt from military service. Certain trades were selected as indispensable and the men employed in these establishments were classified as in the industrial service. In order to distinguish those who were engaged in this munitions work the minister of munitions was given authority to issue war service badges to such persons in accordance with the rules. The rules forbade the wearing of such badges by any persons except those engaged on munitions work or work for war purposes. However, the British labor representatives told us that the wearing of the industrial service badge had not been made compulsory and had by unfortunate circumstances often fallen into disrepute. They suggested that it would be advisable to make the wearing of the badge compulsory and to make it always an honorable distinction.

When the question of the exemption of individuals in a particular trade arises due to the change in the working arrangements in the establishment, the last person employed is the one to be released for military service. This simple regulation has pre

vented what otherwise might work a great hardship upon the labor organization, for all workers are familiar with the ingenuity with which employers can find reasons for discharging those who are active in the labor movement. If there were no such provision, all "undesirable" labor leaders would be at once drafted into military service.

Another feature of exemptions in Great Britain is important. All full time labor officials have been exempt. This provision is based upon the recognition which the British government gives to the importance of maintaining the work of the organized labor movement, and thus enabling it to perform its function as an essential element in organization for production.

Practically all war agreements affecting wage earners in Great Britain have been the result of conferences between the representatives of trade unions and the government. There has

been a spirit of co-operation that has made it possible for them to work out problems developing in war production. In all matters affecting the interests and welfare of workers the workers have had their own representatives on the various boards and councils. This result in Great Britain came through the initiative of the government. there is a full realization that there must be this co-operation. Here, however, the initiative has come from the trade unions. Those workers indispensable to the production of munitions who are comprised in the unions affiliated to the metal trades department have offered the secretary of the navy to enter into an agreement with him based upon standards of justice, to furnish workers necessary for the production of munitions and to arbitrate all differences that may arise. Similar action has been taken by the miners. The carpenters and various

In our Own country

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other organizations have offered their services in any way that they can best be used. As yet, however, the government has made no answer.

The fundamental demand which labor makes in connection with the conscription act is that representatives of wage earners must be upon every board, national, state and local, which has to do with the administration of the law. This demand is in accord with the methods found necessary in Great Britain and is founded upon justice and democracy. The wage earners will be vitally affected by selective conscription and they ought to have representatives in such strategic positions.

The spirit of labor in the nation's emergency has been generous and patriotic. They are willing to do their part and to give that which is part of their very lives. They must be met in the same spirit of fairness and co-operation by both the government and employers in order that the ideals of our republic may be maintained in the contest in which we are now engaged. -James Duncan, in The Granite Cutter.

"BLIND" EMPLOYERS

BLAMED FOR STRIKE. Seattle. The Evening Star hits straight from the shoulder in placing the blame for the eight-hour strike of timber workers throughout the northwest. This newspaper courageously says: "It is a monstrous, hideous situation, a crime against our country. And why?

"Because, even in this day and age, when the whole world is offering its blood in order to make democracy secure, there are small-souled men, controlled by the greed of gold and the avarice of the slave master, who autocratically deny the fundamental right of an eight-hour day and the right of workers to organize.

"The eight-hour day now undoubtedly has the sanction of society in its favor and should be adopted as a basis for wages.'

"So declared the commander-in-chief of our army and navy, our leader in

this, the hour of our great national crisis, President Woodrow Wilson.

"Let the 'lumber' barons charge President Wilson with being an I. W. W.!

"It is time these smug gentlemen, and the 'kept' newspapers who are attempting to confuse the issue of the eight-hour day and the right of men to organize, took a tumble to themselves.

"They are not keeping up with the march of affairs, which, during this war, has moved with the tumbling rapidity of a turbulent river.

"Everywhere in the world, of late, a broader spirit of humanity has been developing.

"But here in the Northwest, in this 'land of the free and the home of the brave,' exploiters of labor combine to resist the inevitable eight-hour day. Still seeing things through the same smoked glasses as of yore, they point out the prospect of million-dollar contracts to be lost, and prattle about patriotism.

"Fatriotism!

"Unemployment now, with the country at war, is disloyalty,' says an editorial in the current issue of Collier's Weekly, and bad employment comes close to treason." "

NOT ACCORDING TO THE UNION SCALE.

A bookseller purchased a stock of books out in one of the new towns in Oklahoma territory. Finding several sets of Charles Dickens' works in this stock he decided to make a special price on them, so he put all of them in the large show-window, with the following sign in very large letters:

Charles Dickens Works All Week

for Two Dollars

A Kansas farmer, who had drifted down that way to try his luck for a farm given to the lucky ones by Uncle Sam, walked up to this window. Reading the sign, he said: "Now, that's what's the matter with this country the idea of a man working all week for two dollars."

In Memoriam

WHEREAS, The Supreme Builder has seen fit to enter our Local's membership and remove our

BROTHER CLYDE SCHULL

from life's activities to the ranks of the silent ones who are awaiting the great day of judgment; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That we, the members of Elevator Constructors, Local No. 37, drape our charter in mourning for thirty days, and that our heartfelt sympathy be extended to the mother and brothers who mourn his loss.

RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the Journal for publication and also entered in minutes of our Local.

D. O'NIEL,
C. NAEGELE,
J. D. BOYLE,
Local No. 37.

In Memoriam

WHEREAS, It has pleased the Almighty to call to

Himself

BROTHER C. S. JENNINGS.

AND WHEREAS, Brother Jennings was one of the pioneers of Local No. 2 and staunch friend and brother in every sense of the word, conscientious in all his dealings and beloved by all whom he worked with; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That we join with his many friends in offering our condolences to those whom he left to grieve their loss, adding a fervent prayer that the Almighty Comforter will aid and protect them in this their hour of sorrow and bereavement; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this resolution be spread upon the minutes of this Local, and that a copy be sent to the International Journal for publication.

WM. TURNER,

President.

WM. PEASE,

Recording Secretary.

INTERESTING QUOTATIONS

"Love women, but not a woman.”—Corelli.

"That too often sad and weary thing a man.”—Corelli.

"I was born of the willow, not of the oak."-Earl of Northampton.

"Reform, like charity, O, Bobus! must begin at home." -Carlyle.

"A monarchy is the best, or worst of human government."-Anon.

"The end of a feast is better than the beginning of a fight."-Sancho Panza.

"The way to heaven out of all places is of like length and distance."-Utopia.

"Weak fool to let love in upon your life, save as a plaything."-Wilde.

"It is of the hell of the poor that the paradise of the rich is made."-Hugo.

"I have courage enough to walk through hell barefoot." -Swetzer, the Robber.

"It is good to exercise the soul with grief and the stomach with hunger."-Petrarch.

"A free man has no right to act so that he ought to spit in his own face."-Ibsen.

"Hell is useless to sages, but necessary to the blind, brutal populace."-Polybius.

"I dread the tongue of subtle statesmen, grown old in the chancery of a court."-Brutus.

"The spirit of the world is a lying spirit and vice, a deceitful, treacherous friend."-Schiller.

"Never yet has law formed a great man; 'tis liberty that breeds giants and heroes."-Schiller.

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