service. This last statement is indeed amply borne out by an
examination of the ages of males employed in Oct. 1918, which
shows that approximately 43% were boys under 18 or men over
51! a very high proportion indeed. When to these considera-
tions is added the fact that never in the history of industry had
work to be carried at greater speed, at such continuous pressure,
and in such circumstances of physical and mental strain, the
deficiency to be filled is difficult to estimate in numbers.
To meet this deficiency the one effective method was the regulation of labour so as to spread the skilled men over the widest possible area, to automatize the work to the last degree, and to introduce unskilled labour (by which in the last resort is meant woman labour) into every possible piece of work from which a skilled man could be withdrawn. The history of " dilu- tion" is therefore in practice the history of how the deficiency was as far as practicable met. The other expedients, except the direct release of men from the colours, had a much smaller comparative effect. Such expedients as the use of part-time labour and the control of building licences to prevent the pro- secution of private work had no doubt their effects. It is claimed, for example, 1 that 2,400,000 hours of part-time were worked in 1918, and that building licences in respect of work totalling 1,500,000 were dealt with in the same period. But when it is remembered that the average working year during the war was not less than 3,000 hours, this gives us the time of 800 men, and incredibly composite men at that!
The diversion of men from less vital to vital work was a more serious contribution, and still more serious the release of men from the colours. So far as the first is concerned, however, this was achieved rather by patriotic impulse, and economic and military pressure, than by any direct Government action. Vari- ous attempts were made from time to time to close down forcibly the luxury trades, notably by the first National Service Ministry. But these efforts were neither successful nor necessary. Greater forces than orders of Government departments were at work remorselessly weeding out the unnecessary business, and either converting it for use in some effective national capacity or dis- tributing its workpeople to national work. For not only did patriotic citizens resent being kept on private as opposed to war work, but the less patriotic, as compulsory service began to draw on, were quick to realize the protection from military service afforded by work of national importance.
On this point it is perhaps sufficient to give the actual figures of additional males absorbed by July 1918 into the principal occupations that may be described as directly involving war work. In three branches of trade only, and these three the most vital to the prosecution of the war, was there a net increase in the number of males employed at July 1918 as against July 1914, as may be seen from the statistics:
July 1914
July 1918
Metals (including engineering, etc.)
1,634,000
1 ,824,000 plus 1 1 -7 %
Chemicals Government establishments (National factories, etc.)
159,000 76,000
162,000 plus 2-1 % 257,000 plus 237-6 %
In all other occupations there was a net decrease, which bears something like a direct relation to the remoteness of the industry from immediate war work, reaching at its highest in the build- ing trade a net decrease of 52-1%. Except in the case of actual Government establishments, this huge shifting over must be at- tributed to causes other than direct Government action, though the machinery which put the changes into operation the priority lists and the employment exchanges of course facilitated a natural process which, without these aids, would undoubtedly have taken far longer to complete itself, and might indeed have been, if not directed, self-destructive. In this respect the employ- ment exchanges rendered a service difficult to overestimate (see UNEMPLOYMENT).
The second device for increasing the available supply was the release of men from the colours. Of all the tasks set to the
'War Cabinet Report for 1918 (Cmd. 325).
civilian authorities in control of labour supply, this perhaps of its nature offered the most obstinate difficulties in administra- tion. Nor is this surprising when it is remembered that the men had to be recovered from an army liter- Release ally gasping for recruits. It has been stated above colours. that 700,000 men in all were released from the colours for civilian work. The vast majority of these were re- leased on medical grounds. The number of fit soldiers actually recorded in Nov. 1916 as having started work was 51,781. The percentages of these over the trades in which they were em- ployed was shown in Sept. 1917 as follows:
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 30-
Mines and quarries j.
Metal smelting, forging, rolling, casting and drawing . . 23 '
Chemicals and explosives 6
Machinery plant and tools ....... 13
Arms and ammunition 14
Aircraft 4
Transport vehicles . . . a
Miscellaneous 3
4 5%
9% 7% 7%
The actual number of men recovered is perhaps not a fair criterion of the value of the scheme, as many of them were or described themselves as pivotal men, but on the other hand a considerable proportion were found to have been released under a misconception as to their skill. On the whole, however, it was obviously necessary to attempt something of the kind, and when the difficulties are considered the civilian authorities are entitled to congratulate themselves on a not inconsiderable achievement.
This brings us to the really substantial contribution which was by way of bringing into bearing a completely new body of labour, and this resolves itself largely into " dilution." The schemes for bringing in Belgian and Dominion labour, like the schemes for part-time labour, were more attrac- tive in appearance than of actual service. So far as the Belgians were concerned, a certain number of skilled men came over in the first rush after the fall of Antwerp. To supplement the ranks of these, an organization, which worked with tireless energy, was set up in Holland to bring men over from that country. But though a good deal was accomplished the results with certain notable exceptions were disappointing. It was found in practice undesirable for various reasons that Biitish and Belgian workmen should work side by side. It followed, there- fore, that they could only be employed either in factories solely manned by men of their own nationality, or by firms so large that they could allocate to them a completely separate sphere of work. As a result they came to be employed only by such firms as Vickers, by one or two Belgian firms started in England for the manufacture of munitions, and finally and most suc- cessfully at the Birtley national factory. While, therefore, the high hopes originally entertained were not realized, a substantial, if limited, contribution was achieved.
The reenforcement by Dominion labour was less fruitful, and for obvious reasons. In the first place the number of skilled men (and the most acute shortage was always in this class) was not extremely high in the Dominions. But even if the number had been high it was never clear from the point of view of pro- duction whether it would not be better to use their services by placing contracts in Canada, Australia, etc. Indeed, it is proba- bly true to say that as the war went on the general tendency was in this direction rather than in the direction of bringing the men over to the United Kingdom. And there were good grounds for this. In the first place, particularly as regards the Australians, there had to be taken into consideration not only the great distances to be covered, but the extreme difficulties with the immense calls on the mercantile marine of providing transport. In the next place, labour conditions as to wages, hours, etc., differed radically as between the Dominions and the mother- country. To introduce into the same shop men working side by side on the same work at different rates of pay necessarily would be productive of difficulties, and experience showed that anticipa- tions on this score were not ill-founded. In spite, however, of all these considerations a certain number of men were brought from Australia, Canada and South Africa, and on the whole the
