OCR Text |
Show PLAN TO KEEP MEN'SJAMILIES Manufacturers Seek Wisest and Most Patriotic Way of Caring for Dependents. U. S. SHOULD AID Enormous Fund Needed If Million Soldiers Families Are Provided For. NEW YORK, April 13. Leading manufacturers In the United States are seeking to discover the wisest and most patriotio way of dealing with the problem of industrial payrolls during war time and making provision for dependent de-pendent families of men who enlist in any branch of the national service. A definite effort Is to be made, it was learned today to urge the government gov-ernment to provide "subsistence allowances" allow-ances" In the United States to dependent de-pendent families of men who enlist on a similar basis to thatadopted by the governments of Great Britain and Canada and the creation of a national ( Continued on Page 4 ) oo ML11 u 1 iimlLILu (Continued From Page 1) patriotic fund will be urged to he handled han-dled by tho American Red Cross, assisted as-sisted by the charity organization society so-ciety and local commercial organizations organiza-tions in the maiter of necessary investigation. in-vestigation. Enormous Fund Needed. An enormous fund would have to bd raised in this country, it is said. Even if only 1,000,000 families should be involved in-volved it would mean only $20,000,-000 $20,000,-000 a month for "separation allowances" allow-ances" alone Most of this, it is calculated, cal-culated, would bo an additional tax on American business. It is understood under-stood everybody would be asked to contribute to this fund. Information obtained from authoritative authori-tative sources in Great Britain and Canada, as to how the problem was handled there, disclosed what are do-scribed do-scribed as the "most staggering kind of experiences." It appeared that because be-cause the war was sudden, prominent firms and corporations, in a burst of patriotism, publicly announced they would givo full pay during the war to every man who bore arms. This was intended, it was explained, to .encourage .encour-age enlistmenL Something like ruinous confusion and chaos threateno'd many of the important im-portant industries of GreatBrltain and Canada after a year or more of this drain upon business, the American manufacturers were informed. The generous offers made at the beginning of the war set a pace which public sentiment fostered and encouraged', but which business was unable to keep up. The result has been, the Investigation Investi-gation showed, that undertakings made by heads of firms throughout the industries' to their employes had been cancelled and the entire method of dealing with the problem in Great Britain and Canada has had to be readjusted. re-adjusted. Among Canada's chief difficulties was with the system by which individual individ-ual firms permitted their employes to go to the front on full or part pay, thereby establishing an "undemocratic "undemocrat-ic order of things" In the trenches. Tho Canadian employers concluded that a condition whero men fought side by aide with a different ratio of remuneration for their patriotism naturally nat-urally bred discontent and then their opinion was morally wrong. Enlistments, Enlist-ments, moreover, were encouraged '' "'"' TBnca-uimiP'- i, ., t r-- without regard to skilled or unskilled labor, with the result that production was severely handicapped. Employers who had promised their employes to givo them back their own jobs found it impossible to fulfill thoir promises. Many came back maimed and injured and after two years of war a vast army of temporary help had been created In the factories. The problem of getting rid of this temporary tempo-rary help on the return of the soldiers proved a difficult one. Selective Conscription. The employer In Great Britain and Canada would, first of all, It was explained, ex-plained, provide for "selective conscription," con-scription," taking young unmarried men and even from this first draft, send back to the factories every man who was a skilled workman. The British and Canadian governments govern-ments have decided, the American manufacturers have been Informed, to pay a "subsistence allowance" to each dependent family, representing a figure fig-ure sufficient for food and rent alone. That has been figured out to bo $51.68 a month for a family of two adults and threo children, paid by the government gov-ernment direct to the dependent family. fam-ily. Then there is-tho "separation allow- , hi ,, inui&mmmt i . v" ' ' f ance" of $20 a month per family, for moderate comforts, clothes, etc., and the "compassionate allowance," made at discretion. Distribution of Funds. These "separate" and "compassionate" "compassion-ate" allowances are not paid by the government, but come out of a national nation-al patriotic fund raised by voluntary r?hrnn;ifUbsCr,ptIons and distributed II through some central agency. 11 It is understood that in this conn- II KL t lGry finite analysis would M n 'lei ."lade for the adjustment Jff. witt wanccs, in accordance tA SStanard8 of livinS existing in I IlliPart3 of thp CoUntry |