WOMANHOOD

When we consider that at least three civilian workers are necessary to maintain one soldier in the field; that it will be necessary for the shops and the fields of this country to supply many of the essentials of our allies in the war; that the undertaking upon which we have just entered is one of gigantic proportions and we fear will not soon be finished; that the first draft for soldiers will remove men who are now employed in industries most of which must be maintained, and that in all probability many other drafts will be made, it becomes apparent that there must be definite plans formulated to maintain a continuous supply of workers.

Several ill-considered plans and methods have already been proposed and some adopted. Most of these have been based on a proposal to secure additional workers without effort to readjust workers under new economies. In order to deal with the problem nationally we must determine which are the essential industries, whether men can be spared and women workers employed without injury to the women and therefore to the life of the nation. Some protests have been made to the employment of women workers, upon the ground that women should remain at home and not "desert the true sphere of women." Others, without even the pretense of scruples, are hastening women into employment for which they are not fitted and are advocating the importation of foreign workers or any other humans that can be exploited so that human flesh and blood can be coined into war profits.

Undoubtedly we must work out a national policy to deal with the matter of substitutions after drafts begin. There are numbers of women willing to work; willing to do their utmost for the nation. There is no

need to force them into industry now, but plans should be ready when men are withdrawn for military service. There are a number of trades which will necessarily have less and less work to do as the war progresses. Among these may perhaps be counted the building trades.

From many localities already reports come to the effect that all the building trades are not employed. For instance, in Chicago in more than half the trades of the building industry men are unemployed. There should be devised a comprehensive plan for dealing with the general problem of employment scientifically and humanely.

Such a plan should begin with an industrial survey, thus securing accurate information of opportunities for employment and of the labor power of the country. Then the necessary machinery to connect workers with opportunities for employment should be established and workers and employers intelligently advised in furtherance of the best interests of humanity as well as production.

women

Under such conditions, would be aided to find development in work instead of exploitation.

Instead of working out our problems upon a rational basis, we find that this has occurred: A skillfully conducted campaign is being carried on to establish the idea that a scarcity of workers exists, followed by clamorous demands for freely importing Mexicans and coolie workers and for rushing women into all kinds of employment. In Cleveland between 75 and 100 women are running Bradley hammers in one shop. Women are wiping engines in the running house at Akron, Ohio; many are running engines in the machine shops and doing other laborious work around large manufacturing plants. One woman has

been employed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a shop hand; and she packs journal boxes, which are on the axles of wheels and must be filled with waste and oil. Flag women have appeared on railroads. Women are employed in the foundry trade, in machine shops and munitions plants. One lumber yard in Chicago is reported to be employing women to handle lumber. Truly there can be no justification for employing women with so little discrimination. We can not disguise the fact that during the progress of the war women may be employed in constantly increasing numbers, but surely our nation has enough intelligence to see that women are not employed in handling Bradley hammers and doing the roughest sort of manual labor for which they are physically unfit and that when they do equal work with men they receive equal pay.

An intelligent way to start on this problem would be to have physicians and scientists formulate fundamental principles for guidance and then adopt a national employment policy based upon these principles. We can not afford to wage a war for humanity nd democracy and refuse to recognize the fundamental principles of human welfare in dealing with the women of our nation.

"LOYALTY ALL 'ROUND"

IS URGED BY UNIONIST. Chicago-Trade unionists will give without stint to the government in this crisis, says President Perkins of the Cigar Makers' International Union, but they do not propose to be robbed of their economic rights by profiteers and speculators.

"No one can tell what the final outcome of this war will be. Nearly every war of the past has had an altogether different ending from the one contemplated when the war started. Democracy was not the paramount issue when the present world war started. Democracy as the only safe means of a proper, just and lasting peace, has developed and has been

made a part of the purpose of the world-war since it started.

"The workers, especially trade unionists, while loyal to our country and determined to discharge their full obligations to the government and for our common country, will, nevertheless, strive with might and main to protect the economic condition and standards of work in civil life. While fighting the enemy from without we propose to fight the enemy within. While giving without stint or reservation to our government and our country in this crisis, we don't propose to be robbed by profiteers and speculators of our economic and social rights. To maintain our economic standards and well-being is just as important as it is to maintain the standards of well-being of the men on the firing line. It is claimed that it requires the labor of five people to fully sustain in all departments one soldier, hence it follows that in being loyal to ourselves, that is, loyal to and determined to maintain economic standards, we are loyal to our government and our country. Starve and cripple the workers at home and we expose the men at the front to untold suffering, hardships and extinction."

NEW LAWS IN EFFECT. San Francisco. Several beneficial laws passed by the last legislature are now in effect. One of these acts creates the state-land colonization board to carry out the colonization plan backed by the state.

Other important laws are: Examination of plumbers, inspection of elevators, requiring labels on prison-made goods, inspection of steam boilers, state meat inspection, continuation of social insurance investigation, free text books for high school pupils to be furnished by districts if desired until 1920, when the act becomes compulsory, strengthening of workmen's compensation act, making women eligible for jury service by having the law read "persons" instead of "men," extension of vocational training in schools.

In arguing for the value of trade unionism, the average friend of organized labor frequently makes the mistake of discussing questions which are debatable, and concerning which there will probably always be a diference of opinion. No doubt these debatable questions have their place in a full discussion of trade unionism, but for the sake of a better understanding of the aims and objects of organized labor, it would seem to be more tactful and more logical to first talk about what it has accomplished.

There are many matters with which organized labor has to do, concerning which there can be absolutely no dispute. Trades unionists would make more friends for their cause among the public, if they presented more frequently the ethical value of their organizations.

For instance, one might proclaim the fact that labor halls have come to be important social centers. Here helpful lecture courses on moral and economic subjects are frequently given. The labor press has its educative value. Many of the labor journals, especially those published by Internationals give courses in technical training.

A genuine moral uplift comes through the regular meetings of the union, because a man must present his facts in a definite, convincing form if he hopes to win over his associates to his beliefs. Every man has a fair chance to preach these views, no matter how unpopular they may be.

Nowhere does one get a more patient hearing than at a labor union meeting. Here, too, he learns the lesson of subordination to the wills of others. He learns the value of "team work" of co-operation.

In the labor movement the working

man learns the lesson of thrift. Rarely does a trade unionist apply to organized charity or any other form of charity for relief. It is easily possible to talk about the value of the trade union as a force for temperance. One can easily make a strong argument in this direction. The question of the education and the Americanizing of the immigrant must be discussed in favor of the trade union.

Child labor, the sweat shop, unsanitary conditions in shop and home, are all questions concerning which trade unionism need not be ashamed to speak.

Having clearly established these points, it will be easier to discuss the measures through which these ends have been and shall be secured.

An intelligent presentation of the broader work of organized labor must win to its support the thousands of impartial men and women whose endorsement will be of great value to the cause.

ALL'S GRIST THAT

COMES TO THIS MILL.

In view of war's necessities, the duty of every man to be of some use in this time of the country's needs, the legislators of West Virginia passed favorably upon a bill presented that required service of every male in the state between the ages of 16 to 60 and providing a penalty for any one refusing to work a certain number of hours.

It did not sound so bad when proposed. It was pointed out that this law was especially intended to reach the wealthy slackers, the young men who heretofore had no reason to work; to make of these valuable citizens of the commonwealth and of the country.

So far we have not heard of any of the class against whom, or rather, for the benefit of whom, this law was ostensibly adopted, that have been reached through it, but-there are possibilities in this law that have not been overlooked.

In every part of West Virginia the miners are awake to the necessity, and possibility, of self-aid through organization. They are organizing, and having organized, they are making demands, among others, for a voice in the adjustment of their employment conditions, through committees representing their common interests. company's representatives refused to meet such a committee at a mine on the Norfolk & Western road. The men insisted on recognition of their committees, and were locked out by the company.

The

Then this seemingly harmless law, supposedly directed against professional vagrants or rich ne'er-do-wells, was invoked against the striking miners. It was the intent to either make these men return to work at the company's terms or to secure their conviction and force them to work as convicted malefactors.

These case are still in court, that is, the company has asked that the cases be remanded to a section of the country where they believe they can secure convictions. The men have re

fused to be intimidated, however, and are still standing firm for their wellfounded demands.

In these times of patriotic devotion it behooves us to keep a watchful eye on the gentlemen ever ready to translate our wish to serve the country into an opportunity for selfish advantage. -United Mine Worker.

CAN'T ESCAPE 8 HOURS. Tacoma, Wash.-Department stores, furniture factories and other industries are wheeling into the eight-hour column as a result of persistent agitation by organized labor. The Tacoma Daily News is awake to the trend of events and this paper says:

"If ever an event cast before it a shadow whose perfect profile leaves not the slightest doubt of its identity in anybody's eyes, it is the eighthour day's coming. It is at hand.

"Men of ready vision see it, recognize it, welcome it, adopt it. They are going to make profitable use of it.

"The concern that delays the adoption of the eight-hour day on economic grounds at this time is wrestling with a non-existent dilemma, an imaginary problem."

LINCOLN'S REPARTEE.

When Lincoln was practicing at the bar the opposing lawyer in a certain case had delivered a speech for the prosecution which was conspicuous for its exhibition of the man's conceit. When he was through, Lincoln, who was attorney for the defense, rose slowly to his feet, and with that quiet dignity and droll wit for which he was so noted, adressed the court as follcws:

"Your honor, my colleague, who has just delivered this brilliant exhibition of oratory, reminds me of a little flatbottom steamboat that way back in the fifties used to ply up and down the Mississippi. It had a five-foot boiler and an eleven-foot whistle, and every time it whistled it stopped."