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Steel Shells and Silver Bullets.

8th July 1915, Page 9
8th July 1915
Page 9
Page 9, 8th July 1915 — Steel Shells and Silver Bullets.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Up to the time of going to press with this issue eleven supposedly civilized nations are ntwar. Incidentally there is such a state of activity in respect of the production of Government requirements that there is no need for a solitary capable British citizen to remain unemployed; there is room for all as soldiers or as arrnourers.

The war cry " Business as Usual," so widely sounded in the months that have passed,,has in no sense been justified. It is a fact that practically no business has been as usual since the first days of the war. We have not yet become sufficiently inured to the revolutionary changes which have overtaken so great a part of the world during the past ten months, to be unaffected by cute parrot-crying. A well-clipped phrase, if emanating from some popular source, be it newspaper or politician, is repeated ad 41auseanx until its original meaning is lost.

At present we are being taught that the thing to do is to " mobilize the nation," and the decision to establish a National Register, which is nothing more nor less than a census of the able-bodied, is likely to persuade the ordinary citizen, already wedded to the business-as-usual idea, that he must now take some public part in the country's programme.

There is, however, much uninformed impression as to this new war cry, " Mobilize the Nation." A vague idea exists that everybody Who is not carrying a rifle will; iii a few months, be making ammunition for the other fellow. to fife: . How we, war workers or mere civilians, are to be fed, clothed and carifed Meanwhile is a problem to which :very, little thought is given. Small concern is rrevealed as to who is to Pay the wages of the nation if every citizen. is to be employed by the State. The idea of mobilizing the nation does not, of course, in effect, cOntemplate such a foolish proposition, and it would be well if the public were to be instructed a little more carefully as to what is meant by this latest slogan. If we are to win this war it is imperative that civilian industry be maintained at as high a pressure as possible, consistently with the actual requirements of the military and naval authorities.

The man in the street rather has the idea that anything that may be called a lathe is suitable for turning out shells. He has little or no conception as to what workmanship is involved in such production. Lathes and shells are almost interchangeable terms to his way of thinking, and therefore great and careful organization should almost insure the production of odd shells in back parlours. There are few readers of THE COMMERCIAL Morroa, how. ever, who are not sufficiently familiar with mechanical procedure, to realize the stupidity of such a conception.

Not all the macha-nical engineers in this country can be profitably engaged in the production of shells and allied supplies. Even were it possible it would not be desirable. It is all important in this war to provide the silver bullet as well as the nickel-steel shell. If there be inconsidered and wholesale interruption to all the many branches of mechanical engineering, the effect on exports and hence upon the international financial situation willbe deplorable. We are minded to utter this warning because of a fact which has already become apparent in connection with the _much-advertised scheme to enrol munition workers. Those who cannot, or will not, enter the fightingiforces, and who are skilled workers, for obvious reasons are now being forced to the decision that they must show that they are working for the Government. Hence there are, as we write, signs of easoinewhat unforeseen crisis in connection with the difficulties of those engineers who are still doing their best to maintain the country's industrial credit, especially in respect of export productions. It must be remembered that it is not yet illegal to do work which is not for the Government, but it is deliberately being made increasingly difficult to appear in public with an empty buttonhole.

When talking to a prominent manufacturer whose works at present are not engaged on Governmbnt work, but are equally usefully employed in the production of articles for export as well as for home consumption, he plaintively told us that he wasbeing forced to apply for munition work and to abandon the whole of his civilian industry because none Wide men was content to remain as workers on anything but munitions. The situation then obviously arises that it will very shortly be impossible to obtain a skilled worker for any branch of engineering which is not concerned with workingfor the Government; in other words, the whole of the mechanical engineers in this country are to be paid'by the State,indirectly, of course, in most cases, and no work of that class can in future be carried out with a view to maintaining our civilian obligations. Such drastic stoppage is not, in our opinion, necessary in order to insure adequate • munition supplies. There must be, and indeed, there should be, more than enough men to supply all the munitions we and our Allies require. Mr. Walter Long has in • particular emphasized the necessity of disturbing existing industries to the least possible extent. Mobilizing the nation should not be allowed to be • interpreted as demobilizing the whole of our civilian activities. That way lies madness. There will be no money earned to pay those who are being forced in. such huge numbers to become Government , workers. The supply of silver bullets, for which so earnest an appeal is being made at the present time, will no longer be maintained, although we shall get plenty of shells. Many of our readers will recall that in articles " entitled " Enlistment and Employment," published on the 17th September and the 3rd December, last, we uttered a. warning as to the danger of recruiting skilled mechanics for the firing line. Much damage was done by such injudicious enlistment. The warning now is that not all the mechanics be •forced from non-Government work. The nation's trade must not stop. The wheels of industry must be kept turning. A.W W.

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Organisations: US Federal Reserve
People: Walter Long

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