THE BAN ON IDLENESS

Loafing is now a crime. In three states, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey the workless man is no longer tolerated. The movement to suppress idleness has officially begun, and should and will spread over the nation.

The Compulsory Work Law of New Jersey is the best known and the most comprehensive of the new acts, and differs radically from any previous economic legislation. All able bodied male residents of the state between the ages of eighteen and fifty years are required to be engaged regularly in some lawful and recognized employment, trade or profession until the end of the war. A minimum of thirty-six hours of labor a week is also set. But the law does not stop with the definition of the crime; it was enacted to be effective and severe penalties are included for non-compliance with its provisions.

Possible abuses in the operation of the act have been carefully and wisely safeguarded. The grasping employer cannot hold the laborer to his ill-paid job by threat of imprisonment or fine if the latter ceases work. Persons temporarily unemployed by reason of differences with employers, as the law phrases it, are not included in its provisions. The law-makers, however, have not exempted the so-called "idle rich." The receipt of income from property or other source is not considered the equivalent of "gainful employment." Students are the only other class of citizens excluded from the law's operation.

Furthermore, persons not engaged in work have no excuse before the courts because of inability to secure employment. Federal, state and municipal employment offices guarantee to all applicants suitable work. If by any chance such work cannot be provided, exemption cards are issued. In the allotment of positions preference is given to the more essential war-time activities, agricultural, shipyard and munitions work.

In West Virginia the enforcement of the Compulsory Labor Law has been singularly successful since its passage a year ago. As a part of his punishment the convicted loafer must work upon the roads or other public works. A larger fine and longer imprisonment for delinquents are provided in the Maryland act. In their essentials, however, the laws of the three states agree.

The loafer in peace times is a drag upon society. In war he is a parasite who endangers the safety of the state. Three commonwealths have officially put an end to war-time idleness. In the remainder of the country, where loafing must be equally frowned upon, the same stringent measures are necessary. With the Government drafting millions into military service, the vagrant poor and the idle rich have no place in social organization. The effectiveness of the war's prosecution depends upon the gainful employment of everyone able to be of real service, at home as well as abroad.