Welfare for Efficiency

Keeping workers on the job did not ensure the utmost in production. It was also necessary to remove or abate those common failings and impediments which, whether in peace or in war, constantly operate to diminish efficiency. Measures to curb drink, disease, overstrain—measures to improve the physical and moral status of the worker—were in order. Perhaps under the influence of its military members, the Government attempted to introduce “discipline” in the factories and on the merchant ships by fiat. ¹ The first Munitions of War Act provided for the enforcement of good time-keeping, including a “reasonable amount of overtime,” and attempted other reforms. Workers were forbidden to bring liquor to a plant or to be “the worse” for it; nor were they to use “abusive language.” ² To aid the workers in attaining the desired ends, the liquor trade was restricted in many communities. In the Carlisle District, where huge munition works had been built, the Government took over the entire liquor trade, including control of the brewing of beer and the blending of spirits. ³ The “city of dreadful Saturday nights” became a city of righteousness and production, especially after housing conditions improved and industrial canteens were provided. ⁴