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\ The Daily British Whig 12 PAGES YEAR 84, NO, 211 - KINGSTON, ONTARIO, TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 11, 1917 THE NEED FOR GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF MUNITIONS PLANTS. By Benjamin Apthorp Gould. { ; Rha 'Hoye : . The facts that the contracts for, has, Fam informed, fixed prices which; These industries are a result of the : 1 1tar oF V1( e Canadtan-made munitions are not be-| will return a fair profit to the manu-| war, and a clear distinction should be ing largely renewed upon their com-| facturer providing his plant is effic-| made between them and those indus- Act, 1917 pletion may render it unneéessary to consider the question of government sontrol at any great length, Ac- cording to the best information I can get, it seems improbable that any very great quantities of munitions will be henceforward shipped from Canada, and it is usually thought that the reason for this is that the British plants are now capable of turning out the necessary quantities at a cost certainly mo greater than that of munitions produced in Can- ada. It is clearly much to the benefit of the Imperial Government if pos #ible to have the work on the shells, which constitutes thelr chief cost, done at home rather than here, be- cause {f a vessel carrying munitions is sunk by a submarine the loss in case the cargo consists only of raw nvaterial for shells is but a fraction of that where the cargo is made up, of completed shells, Nevertheless, it may be useful to consider what has been done in the past, together with its present effect upon the efficiency of the country At the beginning of the war the need for munitions was so great that the questions of cost were entirely | unimportant in comparison with prompt delivery some of the earlier contracts were at * prices which permitted of exorbitant profits, and those factories which were operated with wisdom. and ef- ficiency earned entirely dispropor- tionate returns upon their invest- ments, They also had such need for operators that they paid wages such as have never before been heard of in Canada, and they were none the less able to make very large profits. The practical results of contracts made by the old shell committee were such 4s to create an intense feeling against the owners of munitions plants ag profiteers of the worst kind, There was at least one instance of a | manufacturer turning back to the government a huge sum of money which he had earned and which, he eeclared that as a patriotic eitizen he did not Teel justified in retaining. The exaniple of this man was not, how aver, 'followed to any large ex tent, The present Imperial Munitions Board has gone into the matter of Canadian. Production of munitions on a much more businesslike basis, and As a consequence, | { fently organized. The exorbitant] profits of earlier days have been done | away with, and the possiblity of pro- | fit by plants not suited to the produc-| tion of munitions or under incapable] management has been eliminated. In figuring the cost of production the Imperial Munitions Board - has, however, been compelled to take into consideration wages almost as high| ag those paid at the beginning. It is! admittedly one of the most difficult things in economics to reduce wages which have been unduly high, es-| pecially at a time when there is a| shortage of labor, and consequently | the cost of munitions to the Imperial | Government has been, and is now,| much greater than would have been | the case if wages had not originally | been boosted to unheard of heights. | 1 personally know of case after case | where young and inexperienced girls working in munition plants have earned from twenty-five to forty del-: { lars ® week. However, much we may | {admire the spirit which has made| | girls of good family, who have never | before done any work. willing to give | up their pleasure and to labor in| munition plants, none the less we | | cannot fail to see the economic harm | which is done to the country by the| | payment of such wages. | Much* more serious, however, than | | the immediate cost of such wages has | been the harm done to other indus-| tries by stripping them bare of work- ers who have sought - the 'higher | wages obtainable in munitions, The | practical break-down of the railway | system a year ago was in a great | measure attributed to the fact that ! the skilled mechanics necessary to keep the locomotives in proper run- ning condition were not obtainable, as they had In great part gone into munition work where the return for | their labor was two or three times as {great as it would have been in thé railway round-houses.: This is only an instance of the way in which the high wages paid to munition 'workers has affected the other industries of the country. Almost the same criticisms which have been made in reference to the production of munitions may also with justice be made in regard to other industries which have sprung up since 1914 to take care of other war requirements of the country. SAVED LITTLE GIRL'S LIFE A DROWNING ACCIDENT ALMOST OCCURRED AT LANSDOWNE "> Burial of the Late Mids Margaret Slack-=Wedding Ceremonies--Dr Campbell Leases a Residence. Lansdowne, i~8==Mrs. GQGor- don Landofi's little niece, "Rertie had a very narrow. escape from drowning on Tuesday, while bathing. She could not swim and would have lost her life only for the bravery of another little girl who rescued her, The fumeral of Miss Margaret Slack, who lost her life while bath- ing near Verona was held on Thurs- day afternoon to the Union church. The funeral was largely attended. the sernion being very impressive. The marriage took place on Sept. 6th of Thomas Shield, son of Joseph Shields to Miss Leta Grey, daughter * of John Grey of Halshead Bay. The ceremony was performed by Rev. T. N. Beckstedt. ' ; The marriage-also took place on Wednesday of Milton Burns, son of Edward Burns of Warburton, to Miss Annie Webster, daughter of "Nolson Webster of Tilley, The cere- mony 'was performed at Escott, by Rev. Mr. Leech of that place. Mrs. H, E. Nunn and ehildren have returned from visiting friends in Ot lawa and Quebec, Mrs. James Gra- ham was taken to Kingston General Hospital on Wednesday. : The funeral of the Jate Mrs, George Goodall took place last Friday. The remains were interréd in Union ceme- tery. ea i D. G. Copeland has returned home from Kingston General Hoapitalg policy. Three roads led to this goal. School re-opened on Tuesday the same teachers, Mrs. B. R. Brad- ley, who has been fil, is recovering. Rev. Righard Steacy who recent) his brother, Robert Steaoy of "War burton. Mies Long of Shannonville Is 4 week-end guest of Rev, Mr. and WE STAN Advances S8T'D 1873 aud ; e . in t rr. in . Telurned TFom overseas is i 10tang 5 Ine. luapansinie employ Nm a special feature by this Bank. .» _ KINGSTON BRANCH, A se pe Mrs, Winter, Mies Lillie Harmer was taken to Brockville General Hos- pital on Sunday last. | Dr, Campbell has leased the resi- | dence of Mrs; Norman Webster and | intends moving in very soon. Mrs. | Webster will occupy the other resi- { dence north of the bank and Mr. { Morvey and family will take pos- session of the house to be vacated | by Dr, Campbell, {Joseph Steacy of Hamilion is vis- iting relatives. Mrs. J. J. Nunn and her son, J, BE. Nunn of Landis, Sask., are guests of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Nunn, - Miss Bessie Foley, of Tilley is appointed teacher of Gréenfield | school, we | INDIAN WAR LOAN NOW EXCEEDS $150,000,000 The Viceroy of India Makes Many Announcements in Opening Council. Simla, India, Sept. 10 (via Reut- ér's Ottawa Agency)--Lord Clielms.| ford, in opening the Legislative Council, made the longest and mast important speech ever delivered by a Viceroy on a similar occasion. He said that a school for the sons of Indian officers was' contemplated, and stated that the British Govern. ment had accepted in the main the proposals for granting commissions in the army to Indians. The pro- blem, he said, bristled with diffi- culties. fata Regarding constitutional reforms, he sald that the Government of In- dia considered the announcement of the British Government as practi: cally indistinguishable from its' The first was In the dopain of the local self-government of a-village or town by a municipal council; the ment of Indians under the Govern- ment, and the third in the domain of Legislative Councils along which line advance must be made stmul- A St tt lA NG, THE DARD BANK :: FARMERS to farmers are made «| tries which were already in existence and which have merely continued or extended their previous operations. It's ip regard to the new industries that fhe accusations of profiteering | can be most fairly made, and it is as to them that any excess profits tax should be made to bear most heavily. The old industries can in most cases be prevented from making undue profits by a proper regulation of prices, Even should the amount of muni- tions to be produced in Canada be henceforth comparatively small, there is the prospect that the plants which have hitherto been producing them will be kept very busy in other war work. Jt is probable that every well equipped machine-shop will be able to obtain contracts for making parts for marine engines-to the full extent of its capacity, and that the necessity for government control of prices pay- aple both for the finished product and for wages will be as important as ever. [The workman engaged in producing the requirements of war should no more be permitted to re- ceive exorbitant wages than should the contractor who supplies them be allowed to get exorbitant profits. One form of profiteering is in theory as | bad as the other, and in the aggregate there may be little difference between the cost of tahem to the tax payers. If the various labor unions are able to establish union 'rates of wages which they consider just, there is no reason why the government in times like these cannot do the same, and fix a standardized scale of pay. The government can and should, I believe go far to reduce the cost of living to the workman; and the workman has no just cause for complaint if his pay is made proportionate to his ser- vice and to the cost of living on a scale no lower than that to which he has been accustomed, More tally, if under the selec tive draft the skilled workman is re- lieved from the obligation of military service, he should not be permitted to take advantage of this exemption by thé exploitation of his skill at the dost of the country which has given him his special privileges. It would be entirely proper to make his ex- emption conditional upon his willing- ness to work wherever and at the wage the government maw require. taneously with advances on the oth- er two lines. The British Govern. ment had decided that -substantial steps 8hould be taken as soon as possible. . He had steadfastly refus- ed to anticipate the home Govern- ment's decision. The Viceroy said that recruiting for labor corps had been excellent. He also spoke of the continued loyal, consistent and generous services of the rullug princes of India. The In: dian war loan, he said, now exceed. ed £32,000,000. The Home Gov. ernment had, he announced, agreed to the coinage of sovereigns at the. Bombay mint during the war. FULL RIGHTS FOR ALL - WOMEN, IS SLOGAN Government Franchise Bill Is] Condemned by Equal Suf- rage League. : Montreal, Sept. 10.--A deputation of the Equal Sufffage League, waited pon the Executive Council of the 'eople"s Power League to ask their co-operation in a campaign to bring about if possible, the defeat of the Franchise Bill brought in by the Do- minion Government, It was unanim- ously resolved to prosecute a vigorous effort to represent to the House of Commons the serious injustice that 'will be perpetrated if the bill in ques- tien. becomes law, {he resolution submitted by the Equal Suffrage League deprecated the idea of differentiiting between one form of national setvice and which Tnores. wonjers for Re Red Cross, Cross Nurses, Patrio Explanatory Announcement by the Minister of Justice HE MILITARY SERVICE ACT has received the assent of the Governor-General and is is now part of the law of the land. It will be enforced accordingly, and the patriotism and good sense of the people can be relied upon to support it. Resistance to its enforcement, however, by word or act must and will be repressed as resistance to any other law in force * must be. ' , A Reinforcements under the Military Service Act immediately required It is the intention of the Government immediately to exercise the power which 'the Act confers and to call out men for military service in order to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Forces. This is necessary since the military authorities report that the reserves available or in sight for fein. forcement will shortly be exhausted unless this step be taken. First call limited to men between 20 and 34 who were unmarried "or widowers without children on July 6, 1917 > The present call will be limited to men not in the schedule of exemptions who were unmarried * or widowers without children on 6th July, 1917, are at least twenty years of age, and were born on or since 1st January, 1883. Of this Class all those will be entitled to conditional exemption whose services in their present occupations, agricultural, industrial or other, are essential in the national interest, and whose business or domestic responsibilities are such that serious hardship would ensue if their services be required. Conscientious scruples based upon a prohibition of combatant service by the articles of faith of the religious denomination to which men belong will also be respected. The men first required to serve will consequently be those who can be called upon with the least dis- turbance of the economic and social life of the country. Civil Tribunals to deal with exemptions Questions of exemption will be determined, not by the military authorities or by the Government, » but by civil tribunals comiposed of representative men who are familiar with local conditions in the communities in which they serve, who will generally have personal knowledge of the economic and family reasons which those whose cases come before them have had for not volunteering their services and who will be able sympathetically to estimate the weight and importance of such reasons. Proyin- . cial Appellate Tribunals constituted from the existing judiciary of the respective provinces will be : provided to correct mistakes made by Local Tribunals, and a Central Appeal Tribunal for the whole | of Canada, selected from among the present Judges of the Court of Canada, will be con- | titted in Order that identical principles may be applied throughout the country. In this way every 4 than may rest assured of the fair consideration of his circumstances and the national require- ments both civil and military. oclamation will announce the day How to apply for exemption Applications for exemption may be made by written notice on forms which will be available at every post office, and will be transmitted free of postage. They will not, however, be required to be made in this way, but may be presented by the applicants in person to the exemption tribunals. The cases of those who have given written notice in advance will take precedence, and appearance in person will therefore be likely to involve considerably more inconvenience and delay to the men con. cerned; 30 that it is recommended that advantage be generally taken of the facilities for written applis cation. °* Exemption Tribunals in all parts of Canada local exemption tribunals will be constituted with the least delay possible, consistent with the selection, of representative individuals to compose th the instruction of the members in their be roughout Canada, each consisting Parliament, and the other effort will be made by the wide distribution of for their sitting in more than one place, to minimise the be put in obtaining the disposition of their cases, will be appointed in each Province, ho will be named in the proclamation and to be addressed. Each Provincial Registrar will transmit to the appropriate tribunal' t be required t: id pe Dugted Ir ade est Shemin and nts who have 0 ; to do so. applicants should attend perinaily on the tribune TREC a How to report for service Men who do not desire to claim mail or in will be in all post Early report advantageous No man who reports for service will, although he be required to go into camp or join a bat: late to permit of the disposition by the local incurred by prompt report for service on the Facilities for immediate