THE "DRAFT" OF LABOR

To manufacture non-essentials in time of war is to deprive essential industries of supplies and to withdraw labor from more necessary occupations. It is the most effective method of competing against the Government, both in forcing up prices and in limiting the wherewithal for prosecuting the war. Under these conditions the War Department now puts into force a measure which will effectively limit such production, and which will draw men into useful trades.

Drafting labor is theoretically as sound as drafting an army. Practically it meets with the overwhelming opposition of the nation's entire public opinion. It is for this reason that the Government has diverted labor into more essential channels by means of the military draft, a method devoid of the repulsiveness of more direct labor compulsion and yet equally effective in practice. In threatening immediate military service for those not employed in essential industry, a real incentive is supplied toward securing a more perfect war organization. This measure means the elimination of idlers of all types. It recognizes that while the complexity of modern society and the need of preparing for the future require as few changes as possible, essential industries demand the first attention of our population. The manhood of the nation is being organized as never before. It is a sign which portends the maximum of accomplishment within the minimum of time; it is war-efficiency.