The plan the contractor should follow as to labor supply is: First, make application to the nearest local agency of the United States Employment Service. If this agency can not meet the request, the contractor should. Second, have the local agency ask the Federal director of the United States Employment Service in the State to supply the men. If the Federal director in the State is unable to secure them, the contractor should. Third, request the Federal director to have the Director General of the United States Employment Service in Washington authorize recruiting for the men in other States. At the same time the contractor should transmit to the Industrial Relations Division his request that his application be referred to the director general.

The contractor should not attempt to secure his common or unskilled labor from any other source than the officially authorized agencies of the United States Employment Service. If men apply on the ground for employment without

solicitation by the contractor or his agent, the contractor is permitted to give them work, but he should not attempt to take labor from any other contractor or employer by any inducement whatsoever. "Scouts" or field agents to secure men may be used by the contractor, but under control of the Employment Service.

The contractor should keep the Industrial Relations Division of the United States Housing Corporation thoroughly informed as to his applications for labor other than those made of the local agency. The contractor should also supply the Industrial Relations Division with a statement covering his probable future demands for labor at monthly intervals, over a period of six months from the time the contract is let. This statement should be revised monthly, and more fre quently when found necessary. The contractor is especially instructed not to ask at any one time for more workers than he can actually and profitably use.

The contractor must put forth his best efforts to have conditions of employment and of living such as will tend to keep the men on the job. The policy of the United States Housing Corporation is for all contractors to conform, as much as possible, to standard rates of pay, hours of work, and conditions of employment.

At the outset of its work the Industrial Relations Division prepared a blank form to enable all contractors of the Housing Corporation to make out their requirements for labor. These reports were to be sent in weekly. The schedule provided in the first column for the total number of men needed, and this was explained as meaning the number needed at any specified time and not accumulatively by weeks. That is, if the contractor needed 200 workmen the first week and 300 additional the second week, he was to report his requirements on each corresponding date as being exactly these numbers and not a total of 500 on the second week. He was also instructed to eliminate from his total requirements the number of men he already had at work. These reports being revised weekly, it was thought that the division would be able to keep in close touch with the labor demand on all its projects. The form provided in its second column for the date when specified number was needed; the remaining 14 columns of the blank permitted the enumeration of specific workers required, such as common laborers, carpenters, electricians, lathers, plasterers, steam fitters, and painters. Several blank columns were left for writing in at the top particular trades required which were not designated in the blank itself. The schedule indicated the location of the particular project as to its number, city, State, and, of course, the name of the contractor.

The instructions sent to the contractors covering the filling out of the schedule contained the following:

It is expected that each contractor will ask only for the number of men that he can actually and profitably use on the dates specified. Do not ask for more than will be needed with the expectation that not all of them will be sent you. Our policy is, as far as possible, to send the exact number requested. While we may not be able to do this in every case, the aim is to supply the number needed.

One contractor failing to carry out these instructions asked for 20 painters on a specific date. These painters were brought all the way from Kansas to Maryland on the date specified. Upon their arrival at the project it was found that the contractor would not need painters for two or three weeks. It was necessary either to retain these men on the project in idleness at regular day wages or else return them to Kansas, no other housing project in the immediate vicinity being in need of painters at that time. The result was that this contractor had to meet the trans

portation expense of these 20 painters from Kansas, their expense for food and lodging for several days, full day wages while the men were there and in addition the cost of their transportation back to Kansas. It proved a very expensive experiment to the contractor. This instance was cited to other contractors in order to prevent a repetition of this method of reporting their labor needs and it had a very salutary effect.

As is the case with nearly all attempts to measure conditions by means of blank forms or schedules, a close watch had to be kept not only on the filling out of the form by the contractors but also in seeing that the schedule was sent in regularly to the division.

It was quite a difficult task to secure uniformity of procedure from so many different contractors engaged on the housing projects who were accustomed to conducting business in their own way and in accordance with their own methods. This difficulty was encountered especially in the direction of securing accurate and frequent reports and in particular at the beginning of the project. Instead of complying with the policy of the division, contractors frequently failed to send in these forms weekly but would wait until their need for labor was pressing and then would excitedly telegraph in their requirements.

The progress of housing construction measured by the demand for labor of various kinds as outlined in this blank form by the contractor is illustrated in the schedule from the New Brunswick, N. J., project. Work on the houses there began October 1, and the anticipated requirements for labor were given as common laborers and carpenters for the first two weeks; masons and painters the following week; bricklayers, plumbers, and steam fitters at the beginning of the third week; plumbers and electricians were in demand by the end of the month. Lathers were required within a month after the contractor began work and plasterers and roofers were added within five weeks to the other crafts. Assuming no interruption to the progress of the work, the demand for employees increased steadily from 50 on the first day to 1,257 on the forty-fourth day. This latter marked the peak of employment which was to continue approximately three weeks. By the end of that time construction was to have progressed far enough to permit a gradual laying off of the workers until at the beginning of the fifth month the project would be ready to be turned over to the Housing Corporation for operation. On this theoretical basis the employees first dismissed would be the masons and bricklayers, next the lathers, then the steam fitters, the plasterers, roofers, plumbers,

and electricians, while the last to go were carpenters, painters, and a few common laborers.

So many conditions arose to interfere with this outline of labor requirements that it was found necessary to keep a close check on the actual needs each week. Such a schedule did not permit of ascertaining on any particular date how many men in the different crafts were already engaged on the project, and for this reason such a schedule did not prove satisfactory for the purpose of making requests of the United States Employment Service. It was found necessary to insist upon a weekly revised statement as to the number of men at work and the additional number required, by occupations.

The requirements for labor on the housing projects as ascertained from these revised reports of the contractors were compiled and immediately transmitted to the United States Employment Service after inquiry had developed that the contractor was unable to secure the labor needed from the local or State supply. Applications were made at first almost daily for particular projects and usually each week for all the projects together. The extent of this demand is indicated in the weekly application made under date of October 26, 1918, at which time the total number of workers required on all housing projects of the corporation reached 12,356. Of these, common laborers and carpenters comprised about 80 per cent of the total, common laborers alone making up as much as 58 per cent. The other building trades in demand by the Housing Corporation usually comprised bricklayers, cement finishers, concrete workers, electricians, heaters, hod carriers, lathers, linemen, masons, painters, plasterers, plumbers, rock men, roofers, sheetmetal workers, steam fitters, stucco finishers, teamsters, and helpers in many of these various crafts.

Notwithstanding the efforts of the United States Employment Service, labor was coming to the Housing Corporation projects in such small numbers and the situation was so unsatisfactory on virtually every project that the Industrial Relations Division found it necessary to endeavor in various other ways to secure the necessary labor. To this end it established field agents or labor scouts in New York City and Boston, employed traveling field agents on its staff, and instructed all the Housing Corporation contractors to employ one or more labor scouts to take care of their own particular needs. The activities of these representatives comprised an area as far west as North Dakota and Arizona and as far south as southwestern Texas, labor being brought all the way from these distant points to as far east as Norfolk, Va. The division also operated directly

through constant touch with officials of the various unions of skilled labor. It caused letters to be inserted in the newspapers of the unions calling upon the members voluntarily to refrain from engaging in nonessential work and to take up the more essential work on the nearest Housing Corporation project. Addresses were made at the Sunday meetings of the various skilled trades by representatives of the division, urging upon the members the importance of carrying through the housing projects to an early completion. Advertisements conforming to the regulations of the United States Employment Service were also inserted in the newspapers.

The difficulties in the way of securing an adequate supply of labor for carrying on the projects of the Housing Corporation were innumerable but not insurmountable. By November, 1918, within four months after actual work had commenced, the housing projects were about 50 per cent manned. This means, of course, that some projects had a much larger supply and others, especially those just starting operations, a smaller working force. The largest number on the pay rolls of all the projects at any one time exceeded 17,000 employees.

EXPERIMENTS IN SECURING LABOR.

Prior to the armistice all the housing projects were being held back very considerably and their cost was being largely increased by inability to secure the necessary labor. Some of the factors bringing these results are indicated in these extracts from the report of a works superintendent:

The labor situation on this operation has daily become more and more serious until it is now acute. The temporary quarters and commissary are being held up, freight is rolling in, but the yard is far from being completed and the car congestion is being cumulative. The agencies through which we are permitted to seek labor are seemingly unable to furnish the same. Of the 50 carpenters, 50 plumbers, 50 plumbers' helpers and 50 laborers that they telegraphed they could furnish and which we are assured would reach us yesterday, only 10 arrived. The plumbing work on the commissary is practically at a standstill. Unless laborers can be secured at once to unload cars the demurrage expense will be a serious item and in addition there is always danger of an embargo by the railroads against the project if the cars are not handled promptly and as promptly released. There are now 25 loaded cars on one siding, 19 on another, and other cars are rolling in at the rate of 15 a day. We suggest that further shipments be retarded until labor can be secured to unload the cars. Immediate and drastic action is necessary.

Coupled with this serious lack of sufficient labor on the one hand retarding house construction were the insistent and almost imperative appeals for houses and more houses for workers in munition and

small-arms plants, in arsenals, proving grounds, navy yards, aviation factories, gun carriage plants, and scores of other similar war activities.

It is no exaggeration to say that the output of American plants engaged in war production was being limited below the needs of the Army and Navy because of this lack of houses for industrial workers. And this lack of houses was now being largely caused by the lack of sufficient labor with which to build them. The situation was such that the Housing Corporation could not depend upon the regular machinery and methods for securing labor.

The progress of the war and governmental regulation of industry had quite seriously interfered with private enterprises and this was particularly true as to the usual peace-time building operations. To many contracting firms and individuals the ordinary avenues for their activities were thus closed. These contractors had each developed a group of employees who were regarded as key men and as a nucleus around which to build a construction or building organization. With such a nucleus to start with an organization for constructing houses could not only be built up very much quicker but it was also more cohesive and would hold together longer and operate more smoothly and more efficiently. Under the system of letting contracts adopted by the Housing Corporation it quite frequently occurred that the firm or individual securing a particular project was a resident of some other city. Thus the problem of transporting these key men of the contractors' force to the scene of operations was a vital factor in the success of housing projects. When the contractor undertook the movement of these employees from his home city to the locality of the housing project he encountered the rules and regulations of the Employment Service and at first permission to move these employees was refused. This question was taken up with the Director General of the United States Employment Service and permission was secured in such cases to transport a sufficient number of the contractor's men.

Experiments in securing labor by appealing to the patriotism and local civic pride of the population were made on the housing projects at Davenport, Iowa, and Watertown, N. Y. As to the success at the former project the following report from the works superintendent is of interest:

We have on the project now about 650 men of all kinds. We have about 350 laborers. Of these 75 per cent are made up of volunteers from the schools, colleges, and business firms in Davenport. When we first started this project we inaugurated a publicity campaign with a view of creating sufficient enthusiasm and interest in the project to bring to us volunteer laborers to excavate the cellars and pour the concrete.

The plan worked very well, and, strange to relate, the Spanish influenza epidemic, which soon followed the starting of this project, also assisted us quite materially. We have now about exhausted the support of the local public and business firms and as soon as the influenza ban is raised from the schools and other institutions we are likely to lose the greater portion of our unskilled laborers. We expect to be able to continue as we are for at least two weeks longer, but even as it is we could use about 200 more laborers. When the volunteers desert us we will require at least an additional 200 to continue the work successfully. Our present labor requirement as transmitted to your division to-day is for 350 laborers, anticipating by this request relieving the high-school boys and business and professional men as soon as possible.

A somewhat similar appeal to patriotism and local pride was made for the housing project at Watertown, N. Y. Weeks had been spent by the contractor in trying to secure through the Employment Service an adequate supply of common labor and skilled mechanics. Recourse was even had to efforts to induce Indians from the reservation in New York State to go to Watertown and work on the project. All the surrounding sections in New York State, as well as in the neighboring States of Vermont and New Hampshire, were scoured for workers and endeavors were made to secure 300 laborers from the Middle West. The Employment Service admitted its inability to secure workers for this project, and it was practically at a standstill with the winter months rapidly

approaching.

Some of the complications are indicated in the report of the works superintendent.

"We have approximately only 15 per cent of the number of laborers we should have at this time in order to complete our excavating and other work on time," this report stated. "The factories near by are paying generally 40 cents an hour for common laborers and the men work a lot of overtime, including Sundays, without losing time on account of inclement weather, and for this reason prefer factory work to work on our project. The contractor called at the New York office of the Employment Service and considered recruiting in that city, but when the officials of that service were told that the common labor at Watertown was 40 cents, the contractor was informed that it would be a waste of time to scout in New York city where contractors were offering as high as 55 cents an hour. The contractor has been advertising for laborers in accordance with the regulations of the Employment Service, but he does not believe this notice will bring any material results. If we raise the rate of common labor to 45 cents an hour for a 10-hour day, the last two hours of which will be paid for at time and one-half, it will amount to $4.95 a day, but we are paying carpenters 62 cents for 8 hours, which would make the common labor rate but 5 cents less per day than that of carpenters. Of course, carpenters would be dissatisfied with any such scale and we would undoubtedly be compelled to increase their rate. Laborers near here have gone on strike for a rate of 50 cents an hour."

Some 300 houses were being constructed at Watertown for the New York Air Brake Co., which latter was engaged in making shells and gun carriages for the Ordnance Bureau of the War Department. The project was greatly undermanned. There were approximately 100 laborers on the job when there should have been 400; progress in house construction was proceeding at the rate of about two a month when the rate should have been somewhere around two a day; expenses were accumulating at a ratio indicating that the

project would cost about twice the sum provided for in the contract; the rate of progress was such as to carry the work along for several years before it could be completed, instead of within the six months allotted in the contract.

The labor situation was such in October that the Housing Corporation was compelled to depend entirely upon Watertown to meet its labor requirements on the project there. This situation was brought to the attention of the mayor of the city, who was told that "the construction of the houses there was seriously handicapped owing to the lack of unskilled labor. The country east of the Mississippi River has been scoured for men with no appreciable result. It developes therefore that if Watertown wants these houses, it will be necessary that the city voluntarily loan to the contractor sufficient unskilled labor to man his job. May we impress on you as strongly as possible that there is no other way to get these houses built than your complete cooperation and the sacrifice of your manufacturers and business men? It is absolutely necessary that they release men at once for this work."

In response to this telegram the mayor of Watertown promised every assistance within his power and at once began laying plans for a number of meetings of the leading citizens. The board of public works met at the call of the mayor and agreed to turn over to the Housing Corporation virtually all the laborers then employed by the city, excluding, of course, the street sweepers. These available laborers numbered about 20.

The situation was also presented to the leading manufacturers of the town. They were informed that attempts in all other directions having failed to secure a sufficient supply of common labor to carry on the project as originally planned, the Housing Corporation as a last recourse was being compelled to ask that the necessary labor be voluntarily assigned to the project from the factories, plants, mills, and other industries in that section.

They were very patriotic in regard to the matter and promised to do everything within their power. Each manufacturer was asked to loan for six weeks a number of men in proportion to his total employees. Officials of the New York Air Brake Co., for which corporation the houses at Watertown were virtually all being built, alone were not encouraging, indicating that they themselves were so greatly in need of labor that it would seriously interfere with their contract with the Ordnance Department if any of their men were loaned to the housing project. As the promises of the other manufacturers depended naturally upon the expectation that the Air Brake people would furnish their proportion, the whole plan was endangered. The vice president of the Air Brake Co. in New York City was informed by wire that the situation was serious enough to require his presence in Watertown; that the project was in a critical condition, and that it was imperative that 400 laborers be supplied immediately or the project would have to be closed down.

The mayor of Watertown had called a meeting of the leading manufacturing interests for Wednesday evening, in spite of the influenza epidemic which had caused the public authorities to prohibit all large gatherings. Before this meeting assembled, another meeting was called by the local community board for Wednesday afternoon. It developed later that this afternoon meeting was at the request of the vice president of the Air Brake Co., which employed about 80 per cent of all the labor in Watertown and vicinity. At this meeting a representative of the New York State advisory labor board pre

sided, and among the speakers was the production expert for New York State of the Ordnance Bureau. The tenor of their remarks was to the effect that nothing could be done or should be done that would interfere with the output of the New York Air Brake Co. Both the vice president and the superintendent of the company gave the meeting to understand that they were unable to see how they could lend any of their laborers. This afternoon meeting appointed a committee of seven to undertake an analysis of the situation and report to the meeting called by the mayor for that evening.

This evening meeting was not as largely attended as was expected, probably due to the afternoon meeting. The vice president of the Air Brake Co., the representative of the New York State advisory labor board, the production expert of the Ordnance Bureau and the superintendent of the Air Brake Co. were not present. There was a general discussion of a number of proposed plans for meeting the shortage in the local labor supply but they all centered around the original proposition for the different manufacturers to supply their given quota from their own employees. The Air Brake Co.'s quota was as low as 25.

By Thursday morning the entire situation had changed. The manufacturers did not seem to be as enthusiastic as they had been on Monday and Tuesday, and several of them explicitly made it understood that they were not willing to give of their employees unless the New York Air Brake Co., for whose interest the houses were practically all being built, also showed willingness to help out. Thursday afternoon the citizens' committee reported that the local interests of Watertown were absolutely unable to supply the men needed.

"The manufacturers' committee," the report stated, "in response to your suggestion, has made a thorough canvass of the unskilled labor situation in the industries of Watertown and vicinity. The prevalent influenza epidemic has made it impossible to make immediate progress. Several of the large mills are closed down and all are operating under restricted production due to this cause.

"We have inquired of all of the manufacturing corporations in Watertown how many common laborers can be released to assist the housing project and have not succeeded in getting any for immediate use. The total number of unskilled workers in the plants aside from the New York Air Brake Co. and J. B. Wise Co. does not exceed 200. If these men were discharged from their present plants it would be absolutely impossible for the manufacturers releasing them to unload cars, make shipments of finished products, and carry on their operations. They are now stripped to the bone of common labor.

"Outside of the city of Watertown, we are informed that practically all of the common labor is now employed by the New York Air Brake Co. The paper mills, outside of Watertown, employ very few common laborers, and if denied these could not operate their plants. These mills principally produce newsprint paper and food and shell container papers.

"The New York Air Brake Co. is employing 4,900 people, and the Wise Co. approximately 500. This constitutes at least 80 per cent of all the people of the city of Watertown engaged in manufacturing.