Labor Conscripted

On May 22, 1940 the British Parliament passed an Emergency Powers Defense Act giving the Government full control over everybody and everything. As Minister of Labor, horny-handed Ernest Bevin could --if he chose--walk into London's stuffy Athenaeum Club, tap the Archbishop of Canterbury on his bald pate and order him to Sussex to dig trenches. Having, as the London Times put it, placed "our ancient liberties ... in pawn for victory," Britons wondered what their Government intended to do about it. Last week they found out.

Bolstered with statistics, Minister Bevin appeared before the House and announced that Britain's war Government had decided to conscript both men and women for industry.

"This policy has been approved by the Cabinet," he said, "and we shall proceed with the rules forthwith. Any person so required must render the necessary war effort in one capacity or another." "Lords as well?" asked a Laborite, because even last week the idea of a lord with greasy hands seemed incredible to many Britons.

"Everybody," snapped the Minister. "There will be no exception because of rank. We shall have to call into service men and women who in normal circumstances would not take employment. . . . Inefficient management will have to be replaced. ... A minimum of work hours must be prescribed."

The Plan. Britain's reservoir of man power, he explained, has now run "practically dry," and in order to fill war factories just coming into production, organization and restrictions must be imposed. In vital industries the right to dismiss employes, except for misconduct, will be removed from owners and managers. Employes may no longer leave their jobs without permission. People whom the Government considers to be in nonessential employment will be shifted, and nonessential industries may be temporarily suspended. Britain's women, Bevin declared, will also have to toe whatever line the Government draws, even if it means placing their children in the custody of others while mothers work.

Britain's wartime labor requirements are about 10% above peacetime demands or roughly 2,000,000 additional workers. The 4,000,000 men now under arms must also be replaced. Registered unemployment last month had reached a 20-year-low figure of 705,279. Of these, some 75,000 are unemployable. Economists estimate that Britain's high standard of living, under which workers normally enter industry late and retire early, fewer women work, and numerous luxury industries flourish, provides a reserve of 3,000,000 workers. A 10% lengthening of the working week makes up for an additional 2,000,000. That still leaves a deficiency of 1,000,000 workers, partially offset by the employment of a quarter-million aliens as an "international labor force."

How Britons felt about knuckling down to labor dictation, even with a Government pledge that full rights and privileges would be restored after the war, was indicated in a Gallup poll. To the question: "Do you think that the Government should be able to make people work where and when it thinks fit?" 31% said "Yes"; 25% said "Yes, with qualifications"; 30% said "No"; 14% had no opinion.

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