I Cornell University Library 
 
 ISJ HD8039.M92W23 
 
 Munition workers in England and France; a 
 
 3 1924 002 357 832 
 
 IN ENGLAND 
 
 ,CE 
 
 A SUMMARY OF REPORTS ISSUED BY THE 
 BRITISH MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS 
 
 By HENRIETTE R. WALTER 
 
 HD 
 
 W53 
 
 Published by 
 
 ^Division of Industrial Studies 
 
 Russell Sage Foundation 
 
 130 East 22d Street 
 
 New York City 
 
 April. 1917 
 
 Pric« 20 C«nt« 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL 
 
 OF 
 
 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR 
 
 RELATIONS 
 
 AT 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
MUNITION WORKERS IN ENGLAND 
 AND FRANCE 
 
 A SUMMARY OF REPORTS ISSUED BY THE 
 BRITISH MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS 
 
 By HENRIETTE R. WALTER 
 
 Published by 
 Division of Industrial Studies 
 Russell Sage Foundation 
 130 East 22d Street 
 New York City 
 
 April, 1917 Price 20 Cents 
 
 y- 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 Munition Workers in England 3 
 
 Appointment of Health of Munition Workers Com- 
 mittee 7 
 
 Hours of Labor 8 
 
 Health and Hygiene 16 
 
 General Welfare Provision 24 
 
 Employment of Women 26 
 
 Juvenile Employment 29 
 
 Summary of Recommendations 31 
 
 Subsequent Conditions 33 
 
 Munition Workers in France 39 
 
 Organization of Munitions Industry 40 
 
 Military Labor in Factories 41 
 
 Hours of Work 4j 
 
 Wages 43 
 
 The Women Workers aa 
 
 Technical Instruction of Workers 45 
 
 Cause of Increased Production 45 
 
 Bibliography 47 
 
Munition Workers in England 
 
 Out of the exigencies of the great war there 
 have developed in England exceptional industrial 
 difficulties. , After nearly a year of wasteful pro- 
 duction that exhausted men and machinery, gov- 
 ernment officials realized that for the workers, in- 
 stead of "sprinting as if for a short race, the 
 course would be a long one"; and that for the 
 nation its labor power should be as zealously safe- 
 guarded as its military strength. The recklessness 
 of helter-skelter haste was dramatically brought 
 home to all England by the famous shell shortage 
 in the spring of 191 5, for which Kitchener was 
 blamed. It was a case of the situation's running 
 away with those who should have controlled it. 
 The sudden call for large amounts of clothing, 
 munitions, food, and other necessities of war time, 
 had taken the manufacturers completely by sur- 
 prise, and the rush to fill orders demoralized in- 
 dustrial conditions. Overtime became the rule, 
 night work and Sunday work were common. 
 Trade unions saw the gains of years swept away. 
 Nearly a, year was gone before the government 
 assumed responsibility for organizing the huge 
 business of making war supplies, and almost an- 
 other year to complete an organization which was 
 efficient. 
 
 The crux of the situation was of course in the 
 munitions industry. August, 19 14 found the na- 
 tion without enough guns, shells and other war 
 equipment to carry on its great military operations 
 and with no way to get them quickly or in large 
 volume. In response to the unprecedented demand 
 
for these materials had come an immediate expan- 
 sion of the industry, which soon exhausted the sup- 
 ply of skilled men and forced employers to recruit 
 their workers from the ranks of the unskilled, 
 both men and women. Stimulated by the exhorta- 
 tions of the press and of cabinet officers and by 
 the public sentiment generally, the expansion pro- 
 ceeded, but without effective organization or con- 
 trol until the spring of 191 5. 
 
 In the meantime the problem in England had 
 changed during the last six months of 1914 from 
 a serious unemployment situation in July and Au- 
 gust to a definite shortage of labor in December. 
 Early in 191 5 a campaign was planned to recruit 
 workers, and conferences were urged to settle the 
 grievances of those already at work. In Febru- 
 ary a committee was appointed to deal with the 
 disputes constantly arising. In March the Board 
 of Trade planned a mobilization of women to do 
 the work of men who had been called to the front, 
 which brought immediate response. In that same 
 month Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, effected a truce with the trade unions 
 which should last through the war, and secured the 
 passage of a bill which gave the government the 
 right to commandeer any factory and turn it over 
 to the production of war munitions. Finally, in 
 April, after eight and a half months of war, it was 
 announced that Lloyd George would head a board 
 "to organize the national output of munitions of 
 war," and about a month later, at the time of the 
 formation of the Coalition Cabinet in May, 19 15, 
 a Ministry of Munitions was created, with Lloyd 
 George as its chief. 
 
 This step gained, a program of action was de- 
 cided upon. A munitions bureau was organized; 
 all factories making war material were placed 
 under the control of the government ; skilled work- 
 
men at the front were recalled to work in muni- 
 tion plants ; men in the colonies and in the United 
 States, experienced in the making of munitions, 
 were offered free transportation to England; a 
 suspension of union rules was urged, and finally, 
 in June, 19 15, the passage of the Munitions of 
 War Act effected. This bill prohibited strikes and 
 lockouts in war industries, substituted compulsory 
 arbitration, and suspended all trade union rules 
 "calculated to hamper production." On the other 
 hand, as a concession to labor in recognition of 
 the sacrifices they were making, the profits of em- 
 ployers were limited, and amounts in excess re- 
 verted to the national treasury. Provision was 
 also made under the act for the recruiting by the 
 trade unions of a "voluntary army of workmen" 
 from among their members who would sign agree- 
 ments to go to work wherever their labor was 
 needed. The existing local munitions committees 
 were transformed into labor courts, with power 
 to fine individual workmen for "slacking," for in- 
 fraction of agreements signed by them as mem- 
 bers of the "voluntary army of workmen," and 
 for any offenses tending to "hamper production," 
 and with the further power to make decisions in 
 regard to changes in existing wage rates. 
 
 By this time workers on munitions saw them- 
 selves stripped of all rights and safeguards that 
 had been theirs in time of peace. Confusion 
 reigned in the industry. In the first burst of pa- 
 triotic fervor, everything had been sacrificed to 
 speed. Labor laws had broken down; excessive 
 hours of work prevailed. Thousands of women, 
 many of them totally unaccustomed to factory 
 work, had taken up the tasks of the men who were 
 fighting. Employers, taking advantage of the fine 
 spirit in which the women offered their labor to 
 the nation, were in many cases paying very low 
 
wages. Labor unions were dissatisfied with the 
 setting aside of their rules, and especially with the 
 so-called "dilution" of labor. The country fairly 
 seethed with threatened and active labor disturb- 
 ances. 
 
 The Munitions Act seemed to aggravate rather 
 than to appease this dissatisfaction. The muni- 
 tions courts, especially, appeared to antagonize the 
 trade unionist, because of biased administration 
 of the provisions of the Act. On account of the 
 power of employers to refuse discharge certificates 
 to their employes, workers could be kept wageless 
 and idle for weeks at a time, or be forced to ac- 
 cept wages far below the standard rates, or be 
 compelled to work excessive overtime, at night or 
 on Sunday, and without extra remuneration. These 
 and other arbitrary powers the munitions manu- 
 facturers were permitted to exercise without re- 
 straint by tribunals made up, as the New States- 
 man put it, of "persons who seem to regard It as 
 a patriotic duty to refuse to listen to the work- 
 man's 'excuses,' and to Inflict summary and ex- 
 emplary punishment in every case brought before 
 them."* The London Times admitted that the 
 Act had occasioned some serious friction in Im- 
 portant munition areas because of certain details 
 of administration. The composition of the trib- 
 unals, the lack of uniformity in wages of women 
 and unskilled men in government factories and In 
 "controlled" establishments, and the administra- 
 tion of the leaving certificate system were the "de- 
 tails" which had aroused the resentment of the 
 workers. The government, however, and the 
 middle and upper classes failed to understand the 
 nature of Labor's grievance and considered it only 
 a petty disloyalty which made workers rebel at 
 
 ' The New Statesman, November 6, 1915, p. 99, 
 6 
 
personal Injustice in a time of national crisis. 
 The Munitions Act thus failed to accomplish 
 its main purpose, namely, the recruiting and hold- 
 ing of workers in sufficient numbers to insure an 
 adequate supply of munitions. Moreover, dis- 
 satisfaction does not tend to increase output. The 
 shortsightedness of a policy which permitted work- 
 ers to be worn out by exhausting conditions, espe- 
 cially at a time when they could not be readily 
 replaced, was brought home anew to government 
 officials. They realized then, too, a thing which 
 was not evident at the beginning of the present 
 conflict — that the war would not be over in a 
 month or a year, and that the health of the work- 
 ers must be conserved if production was to be 
 maintained over a long period. 
 
 Appointment of Health of Munition Workers 
 Committee 
 
 The realization of these facts on the part of 
 those entrusted with the task of supplying arms 
 and ammunition for the British forces led to the 
 appointment, in September, 191 5, of a committee 
 under the Ministry of Munitions, called the 
 "Health of Munition Workers Committee," "to 
 consider and advise on questions of industrial fa- 
 tigue, hours of labor, and other matters affecting 
 the physical health and physical efficiency of work- 
 ers in munition factories and workshops." This 
 Committee proceeded, under the chairmanship of 
 Sir George Newman, Chief Medical Inspector for 
 the Board of Education, and with a membership* 
 well qualified for its duties, to inquire into the 
 
 * Sir George Newman, M. D. (Chairman), Sir Thomas Bar- 
 low, Bart., K. C. V. O., F. R. S., G. Bellhouse, Factory De- 
 partment, Home Office, Professor A. E. Boycott, M. D., F. R. S., 
 J. R. Clynes, M. P., E. L. CoUis, M. B., Factory Department, 
 Home Office, W. M. Fletcher, M. D., F. R. S., Secretary of 
 Medical Research Committee, Leonard E. Hill, M. B., F. R. S., 
 Samuel Osborn, J. P., Miss R. E. Squire, Factory Department, 
 Home Office, Mrs. H. J. Tennant, E. H. Pelham (Secretary). 
 
 7 
 
actual conditions then prevailing, with a view to 
 making recommendations which would result not 
 only in greater comfort for workers, but also m 
 increased production by a more physically fit and 
 better satisfied labor force. The findings of the 
 Committee have been embodied in a series 
 of memoranda, submitted in November and De- 
 cember, 19 1 5, and in January, July, August, and 
 October, 19 16. The subjects of these memoranda 
 may be grouped, for consideration here, under five 
 main heads: (i) hours of labor; (2) health and 
 hygiene; (3) general welfare provision; (4) em- 
 ployment of women; and (5) juvenile employ- 
 ment. 
 
 Hours of Labor 
 Under pressure of the need to increase produc- 
 tion beyond any conception of past experience, the 
 first established principle of working conditions 
 to give way was, naturally enough, the restriction 
 of hours. This was the problem, also, which first 
 attracted the attention of the Health of Munition 
 Workers Committee.* The work of the Com- 
 mittee in this field covered the questions of Sun- 
 day labor, overtime, night work, rest periods, and 
 holidays, as well as special study of the relation 
 of output to hours of work. The standards set 
 forth In their recommendations do not represent 
 the ideals of the Committee, but are especially 
 adapted to the exceptional emergency, and are 
 based on the expectation that the war will be of 
 long duration. 
 
 SUNDAY labor: A memorandum on Sunday 
 labor was presented soon after the appointment 
 
 * Three memoranda are devoted to a discussion of this sub- 
 ject: No. 1, Sunday Labour, November, 1915; No. 5, Hours of 
 Work, January, 1916; No. 12, Statistical Information Concern- 
 ing Output in Relation to Hours of Work, July, 1916. 
 
 8 
 
of the Committee, as an interim report, the matter 
 being deemed of such urgent importance that it 
 was thought desirable not to delay its discussion 
 until they were in a position "to deal with other 
 questions falling within their terms of reference." 
 The Committee found, strangely enough, the 
 great majority of employers opposed to Sunday 
 work. They were beginning to realize that from 
 the administrative end it imposed too severe a 
 strain on the foremen, who were difficult to re- 
 place ; and, from the economic standpoint it meant 
 higher wages with but slight increase in output 
 and irregular attendance on other days of the 
 week. They felt, also, that in its religious and so- 
 cial aspects "the seventh day as a period of rest" 
 was "good for mind and body." In spite of this 
 attitude on the part of employers, however, Sun- 
 day labor had been widely adopted, partly on ac- 
 count of the heavy demands on output and the 
 necessity of taking every means of Increasing pro- 
 duction, and partly on account of the desire of 
 workers to make the double, or at least increased, 
 pay which was given. In many cases the hours of 
 labor on Sunday were considerably shorter than 
 on other days, but there were still a number of 
 factories where they were as long as on other 
 days, if not longer, as in cases where the change 
 from a twelve-hour day shift to a twelve-hour 
 night shift was made by working for a continuous 
 period of eighteen hours. Permits for Sunday 
 work even for "protected persons" (i. e., women 
 and young persons under eighteen years of age) 
 had been issued for fifty plants to cover women, 
 boys and girls, and for thirty more to cover boys 
 only. These "permits" had often been conditioned 
 on the workers being employed for short hours 
 on Sunday, or on having time off on Saturday. 
 According to the Chief Factory Inspector's report 
 
for the early period of the war, many employers 
 assumed that the labor laws were not binding m 
 the emergency, and disregarded their restrictions 
 without applying for permits. For men, more- 
 over, such permits were not required, and their 
 employment on Sunday was consequently more 
 widespread than that of "protected persons." 
 
 Statistics on the output from Sunday labor were 
 not available at the time of the publication of the 
 Committee's first report. One important firm, 
 however, found that by instituting a working week 
 of six rather than seven days, the average weekly 
 4 hours^ instead of being diminished, actually in- 
 creased from 59>4 to 60, indicating an improve- 
 ment in attendance on the six work days. More- 
 over, the hourly output had increased. Many 
 other employers conceded that seven days' labor 
 produced only six days' output, and that reduc- 
 tions in Sunday work had not resulted in any ap- 
 preciable decrease in product. Even less observ- 
 ant managers had begun to detect the effect of 
 strain on the workers. Employers were realizing 
 the necessity of conserving the workers' strength 
 in order to maintain the maximum output over a 
 longer period than had been at first estimated. 
 The workers too, commenced to feel the need of 
 more rest. The strain was beginning to tell, espe- 
 cially on those who in ordinary times would have 
 absented themselves from work on account of ill 
 health but who now stuck to their jobs. The 
 higher rate of pay for Sunday work had at first 
 made it popular, but the great majority of workers 
 were now disposed to forego the extra money for 
 the sake of the needed rest. 
 
 The conclusion reached by the Committee in 
 regard to seven-day work may be summed up as 
 follows : 
 
 "The evidence before the Committee has led 
 10 
 
them strongly to hold that if the maximum out- 
 put is to be secured and maintained for any length 
 of time, a weekly period of rest must be allowed. 
 Except for quite short periods, continuous work 
 . . . is a profound mistake and does not pay . . . 
 output is not increased. On economic and social 
 grounds alike this weekly period of rest is best 
 provided on Sunday." After remarking that the 
 need for this relief was greater for "protected" 
 persons than for adult males, and for men on 
 overtime than for those on double shift, the Com- 
 mittee nevertheless recommended "that the dis- 
 continuance of Sunday labor should be of univer- 
 sal application and should extend to all classes of 
 workers." Pending a general discontinuance of 
 Sunday work, if immediate change was found dif- 
 ficult, they suggested ways of improvement, such 
 as reducing Sunday hours, giving all workers alter- 
 nate Sundays off, omitting one or two shifts on 
 Sunday in cases of the triple shift system, or at 
 least discontinuing the eighteen-hour work period 
 in changing from day to night shifts. It was fur- 
 ther noted that "foremen and the higher manage- 
 ment even more certainly [than the workers] re- 
 quire definite periods of rest," on account both of 
 their heavy burden of responsibility and the diffi- 
 culty of replacing them. The Committee finally 
 stated that in order to secure any large measure 
 of reform, definite orders to restrict Sunday work 
 might be necessary. 
 
 OVERTIME: Overtime, by which is meant a 
 lengthening of the normal hours of work, was the 
 most commonly used and most abused expedient 
 for increasing production, especially in case of 
 skilled men who were difficult to recruit in large 
 numbers. During a large part of 191 5 even a 
 week of ninety hours was not uncommon. A ten- 
 dency to reduce hours of work was apparent, how- 
 
 11 
 
ever, as early as January, 191 6, when the recom- 
 mendations of the Committee were submitted. 
 Still, excessive overtime had by no means disap- 
 peared, since seventy and eighty-hour weeks were 
 frequently encountered. While no serious break- 
 down among the workers was then apparent, the 
 Committee remarked that "it is self-evident that 
 men cannot work continually fifteen hours a day 
 with good effect," and "general statements indica- 
 tive of fatigue have been received," especially in 
 regard to women and older men. Moreover, the 
 question was not whether the workers had been 
 able to withstand the strain up to that time, but 
 whether they could continue to do so over a long 
 period. The Committee recognized that overtime 
 could not be altogether abolished during the crisis, 
 but felt it was possible to compromise on a course 
 midway_ between the standards of peace and the 
 extremes to which a shortsighted policy had driven 
 employers and workers. In general they sug- 
 gested that double or triple shifts be substituted 
 wherever possible for overtime. 
 
 For adult males the Committee recommended a 
 maximum working week of sixty-five hours, includ- 
 ing all overtime; a concentration of overtime on 
 three or four days of the week which should pre- 
 ferably be not consecutive, and a discontinuance 
 of working from Friday morning all through Fri- 
 day night and until Saturday noon. For women 
 and girls they recommended that continuous work 
 in excess of sixty hours be discontinued as soon as 
 practicable, since the strain of excessive hours is 
 without doubt even more serious for them than for 
 men.* The need for overtime among women, more- 
 
 •The Committee have instituted a series of intensive studies 
 to ascertain more accurately the effect of long hours on health 
 of women. These inquiries are being conducted by women 
 physicians in co-operation with women factory inspectors and 
 the National Insurance Commission, 
 
 12 
 
over, is not so pressing, because of a large reserve 
 of female labor. In regard to boys who are used 
 so widely to assist men, the Committee recom- 
 mended, "though with great hesitation," that they 
 be permitted the same maximum hours as men, 
 but that substantial relief be provided at week- 
 ends and that those under sixteen should not be 
 made to work more than sixty hours. 
 
 INCREASED PRODUCTION WITH SHORTER HOURS : 
 
 A special study,* published nearly eight months 
 after the first recommendations on hours, supple- 
 mented those more general observations, and pro- 
 vided a statistical basis for the conclusions of the 
 Committee regarding the relation of workinghours 
 to volume of production. In several large munition 
 plants the output of different groups of workers 
 had been followed over a period of from eighteen 
 to twenty-seven weeks. In the case of loo women 
 engaged in turning fuse bodies, which is moder- 
 ately heavy work, a reduction in the average hours 
 worked per week from 68.2 to 59.7 was followed 
 by a 23 per cent increase in hourly output and a 
 rise in weekly output of 8 per cent. This change 
 effected also a decrease of two hours in the amount 
 of "broken" time per week. While this reduction 
 of working hours to sixty a week proved so suc- 
 cessful in increasing output, a further decrease 
 showed that an equally large output could be main- 
 tained in fifty-six hours or even less. That this re- 
 markable rise in production rate was effected with- 
 out any change in machinery, tools, raw materials 
 or nature of the operation strengthens the validity 
 of the findings. A possible increase in skill among 
 
 * This study was undertaken for the Committee by Dr. H. M. 
 Vernon. The results were published in July, 1916, as Memor- 
 andum No. 12, Statistical Information Concerning Output in 
 Relation to Hours of Work. 
 
 13 
 
the operatives during the period studied was an- 
 other element carefully tested and eliminated by 
 the investigators. 
 
 MAXIMUM HOURS FOR WAR TIME: Similar 
 studies were made of other groups of both men 
 and women employed at different kinds of labor. 
 A group of 27 men sizing fuses, a par- 
 ticularly fatiguing process, increased their hourly 
 rate 22 per cent, and their total weekly output 10 
 per cent when the average hours worked were de- 
 creased from 61.5 to 55.4. The general con- 
 clusions drawn were that in time of stress, 
 for men engaged in very heavy work the maximum 
 hours from the point of view of high production 
 should be no more than fifty-six hours a week; for 
 men on moderately heavy work, sixty; for men 
 and boys on light work, seventy; for women on 
 moderately heavy work, fifty-six, and for women 
 on light work about sixty hours. It is pointed out, 
 however, that these were maximum hours, that 
 they imposed a great strain on operatives — in 
 many instances pne too great to be borne — and 
 that, in fact, they applied only to the "fittest who 
 were strong enough to survive in the struggle, not 
 to the general mass of workers of all classes who 
 tried their hand at munition work." The "best 
 hours for peace times" were considerably shorter 
 in each case, the report stated, but whether it be a 
 case of peace or war, the principle of varying the 
 hours according to the character of the work, and 
 the sex and age of the workers should be ob- 
 served. The investigators also advocated speed- 
 ing up the rate of production in order to reduce 
 the number of hours actually worked and the in- 
 stitution of regular rest pauses to break the long 
 five-hour spells. 
 
 SHIFTS AND NIGHT WORK: In order to run the 
 munition plants to maximum capacity, multiple 
 
 14 
 
shift systems had been widely adopted. Two kinds 
 of these were found: the double shift of twelve 
 hours each and the three eight-hour shifts. Men 
 workers were almost universally on the double 
 shift, and the Committee saw no reason for 
 change, since there was apparently no very ill 
 effect and the supply of men was too scant to 
 make the three-shift plan feasible. Women were 
 employed sometimes on the twelve-hour shift, 
 sometimes on the eight-hour shift. The recom- 
 mendation was made that the twelve-hour shift for 
 women be abandoned wherever the difficulties of 
 housing and transit for additional workers could 
 be overcome, that no girls under eighteen should 
 work at night, and that in no case should night 
 hours run over sixty a week. In the case 
 of boys again it did not seem practicable 
 to regulate their hours further, but it was urged 
 that night work be restricted to those over sixteen, 
 and that its effect on individual boys be carefully 
 watched. The Committee, to clear up any mis- 
 apprehensions as to their attitude on night work 
 go on record as not considering it a good thing 
 in itself, but only as being preferable to excessive 
 overtime. The objections which they set forth 
 are : ( i ) it is uneconomical, because of the highef 
 wages and lower output; (2) supervision is often 
 unsatisfactory; (3) adequate lighting is difficult; 
 (4) workers cannot secure the necessary amount 
 of sleep during the day; and (5) digestion is de- 
 ranged by the unwonted meal hours. 
 
 REST AND MEAL PERIODS : The common practice 
 in regard to rest and meal periods on the twelve- 
 hour shift was to allow half an hour for breakfast 
 and an hour for dinner if the shift began at 6 
 a. m., or only an hour for dinner if it began at 7 
 or 8, the worker being supposed in this instance 
 to have breakfasted before coming to work. In 
 
 IS 
 
the latter case the Committee recommended a 
 break in the morning for tea, especially as many 
 workers must travel such long distances to reach 
 their places of employment that breakfast is taken 
 very early and the wait until dinner is too exhaust- 
 ing. At night in many instances only two half- 
 hour periods were allowed. The Committee rec- 
 ommended one hour and one-half hour break, or 
 two periods of three-quarters of an hour, especially 
 for women. On the eight-hour shift it was cus- 
 tomary to allow half an hour for meal time, and 
 this they thought was adequate. In their opinion, 
 also, the ordinary factory holidays should not be 
 interfered with, as these allowed needed recupera- 
 tion from fatigue. 
 
 Health and Hygiene 
 
 The study of hours of labor led the Newman 
 Committee, as the Health of Munition Workers 
 Committee is often called, inevitably to the con- 
 sideration of particular problems of health, such 
 a^ fatigue and industrial disease, as well as the 
 allied topics of work accidents, factory sanitation, 
 and the like.* 
 
 INDUSTRIAL FATIGUE : The Committee, in their 
 study of industrial fatigue, went carefully into its 
 causation and its signs and symptoms, the rhythms 
 of action and rest and their relation to the work- 
 er's efficiency. Running through the entire con- 
 sideration of this subject is a recognition of the 
 relation between scientific management and indus- 
 trial fatigue. The achievements of Germany and 
 
 * Memoranda on these subjects are: No. 7, Industrial Fatigue 
 and Its Causes, January, 1916; No. 8, Special Industrial Dis- 
 eases, February, 1916; No. 9, Ventilation and Lighting of Muni- 
 tion Factories and Workshops, January, 1916; No. 10, Sickness 
 and Injury, January, 1916; No. 14, Washing Facilities and 
 Baths, August, 1916; and No. IS, The Effect of Industrial Con- 
 ditions Upon Eyesight, October, 1916. 
 
 16 
 
America in this direction are pointed to, and the 
 Committee, looking into the future, ventured to 
 hope "that the study of industrial fatigue and the 
 science of management based upon it, which Is now 
 being forced into notice by immediate need, may 
 leave lasting results to benefit the industries of the 
 country during the succeeding years of peace."* 
 Fatigue is defined as "the sum of the results of ac- 
 tivity which show themselves in a diminished ca- 
 pacity for doing work," not to be determined in 
 its early stages, at least, by subjective sensations, 
 but by such objective signs as decreased output, 
 spoiled work, accidents, sickness, lost time, or 
 "staleness." Of these tests the most direct is 
 diminished production, and measurements of the 
 output of the shop and the individual worker are 
 suggested as indices. "Slacking," which has been 
 charged against the British workers during the 
 war the Committee believed to have been discon- 
 tinued to a great extent through patriotic incen- 
 tive. Moreover, they held that some deliberate 
 "slacking" might actually give an improved output 
 by sparing wasteful fatigue, and go even farther 
 in saying that "it cannot in such circumstances be 
 said that a workman so restraining himself, con- 
 sciously or unconsciously, is doing more to damage 
 the output on the whole than the employer who 
 has arranged overlong hours on the baseless as- 
 sumption that long hours mean high output." Evi- 
 dence is presented from statements of employers 
 indicating that there was slacking, "often quite un- 
 conscious," in the twelve-hour shift, which was not 
 found under the three-shift system, and that with- 
 out this restraint the output for the twelve hours 
 would be even lower. On the whole, the Commit- 
 
 * It should be noted that scientific management as alluded to 
 in this report is concerned primarily with motion study. No 
 mention is made of time study combined with motion study. 
 
 17 
 
tee were of the opinion that, although in isolated 
 instances intelligent precautions against fatigue 
 had been taken, munition workers in general had 
 been allowed to reach a state of reduced efficiency 
 and lowered health which might have been 
 avoided had proper attention been given to daily 
 and weekly rests. 
 
 An exceedingly valuable scientific study of in- 
 dustrial fatigue which should be mentioned in con- 
 nection with the work of the Health of Munition 
 Workers Committee was made, not by this Com- 
 mittee, but for the British Home Office, by Dr. A. 
 F. Stanley Kent, and published in two reports.* 
 
 The first of these reports described the methods 
 used in working out physiological tests for the pres- 
 ence of fatigue, Its degree and the worker's power 
 of recovery. The second presents a comprehen- 
 sive application of these tests to workers in seven 
 different factories, over periods ranging as long as 
 three and a half months, together with the findings 
 based on the results of these experiments. The 
 most extensive studies made were in a surgical 
 dressings factory and an engineering plant, both 
 subject to extreme war pressure. Dr. Kent's find- 
 ings all support the recommendations of the 
 Health of Munition Workers Committee regard- 
 ing the abolition of Sunday labor, reduction of 
 overtime, rest intervals, and the like. The most 
 Important evidence for a country at war was that 
 showing the effect of fatigue and overtime on pro- 
 duction. It Is shown that total daily output may 
 be actually diminished by the Introduction of over- 
 time because increased fatigue affects the produc- 
 tion not alone of the actual overtime period, but 
 
 * Interim Report on an Investigation of Industrial Fatigue by 
 Physiological Methods (Cd. 8056), August, 1915, and Second 
 Interim Report on an Investigation of Industrial Fatigue by 
 Physiological Methods (Cd. 833S), August, 1916. 
 
 18 
 
of the regular working hours as well. One group 
 of workers made an absolute increase in output 
 of over 5 per cent, as a result of shortening their 
 working day from twelve to ten hours. Unsatis- 
 factory output during the early morning period 
 (6 to 8 a. m.) was attributed largely to lack of 
 rest, food, andto general discomfort in home con- 
 ditions, due, though indirectly, to excessive hours 
 of labor. 
 
 SICKNESS AMONG WORKERS : The two factors of 
 sickness and injury often indicate the presence of 
 industrial fatigue. In relation to both of these 
 problems the Newman Committee formulated 
 programs for prevention and treatment. After 
 pointing to therelation between bad industrial con- 
 ditions and ill health, the Committee urged that 
 employers give special attention to guarding 
 against cramped posture at work, prolonged or ex- 
 cessive muscular strain, poor ventilation, heating 
 and lighting, exposure to poisons, gases and dusts, 
 and, of course, against excessively long hours, 
 especially at night. Personal hygiene on the part 
 of the employe was also emphasized as of impor- 
 tance, both to him and to his fellow workers. A 
 system of record-keeping was recommended for 
 absences, sicknesses, and deaths, as a valuable in- 
 dex of the health of the workers. In one munitions 
 plant with a force of 36,000, where such records 
 were kept, it was found, in a study of two depart- 
 ments, that the sickness rate among men working 
 overtime was S-5 per cent as against 3.7 per cent 
 among those on double shift. In one of these 
 departments, among 1,000 men on overtime the 
 rate was as high as 8 per cent. The monthly sick- 
 ness rate for the entire plant rose from 2.9 per 
 cent in July, 19 14, to over 4 per cent in the first 
 quarter of 19 15, and in another large plant the 
 rate had risen to 7 per cent. These increases were 
 
 19 
 
attributed to overtime, night work, and the large 
 number of new employes. 
 
 As part of a program of prevention, a prelim- 
 inary medical examination was recommended for 
 all workers, and in special departments and dan- 
 ger zones a periodic examination as well. In some 
 plants this was the practice, and had been found 
 to be of great advantage. Such a program by 
 which unfavorable working conditions should be 
 reduced to a minimum represent the preventive 
 side of the the Committee's recommendations. 
 For cases of actual sickness they advised medical 
 and nursing resources for each plant. 
 
 ACCIDENTS : On the side of accident prevention 
 the Committee recommended, of course, the guard- 
 ing of machinery, the adoption of safety appli- 
 ances, the regulation of dangerous processes, ade- 
 quate lighting of the shops, and careful cleaning 
 of machinery. To further the co-operation of 
 employes in avoiding accidents they advocated the 
 forming of committees of workers to investigate 
 all accidents occurring in the departments in which 
 they are at work. Employes should also be in- 
 structed in regard to accidents by a vigilant fore- 
 man and through the distribution of leaflets and 
 the posting of placards; and a certain number in 
 each department should receive training in first 
 aid. 
 
 Since injuries in munition factories occur almost 
 inevitably because of the dangerous nature of the 
 work, provision should be made for their prompt 
 and effective treatment. More careful attention 
 should be given to minor injuries which now often 
 go untreated and frequently develop serious com- 
 plications. For these, local dressing stations were 
 suggested, and for the more serious accidents a 
 central room with more elaborate equipment. Full 
 records should be kept of accidents and of their 
 treatment. 
 
 20 
 
The urgent necessity for such provisions in mu- 
 nition plants was emphasized by figures supplied 
 by certain representative shops, showing the fre- 
 quency of accidents under the present abnormal 
 conditions. In eleven plants employing a total of 
 about 38,000 workers, 35,000 surgical dressings 
 had been performed during the first ten months of 
 191 5. In still another munition factory, during 
 the fall of 1 9 14, when working hours were from 
 8 a. m. to 5:45 p. m., an average of 100 first-aid 
 dressings were performed each month per 1,000 
 employed, while in 191 5, for the same period, on 
 the day shift from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m., the average 
 rose to 292 per 1,000 and on the night shift from 
 8 p. m. to 8 a. m., to 508. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL DISEASES : Industrial diseases consti- 
 tute a special phase of the health problem in the 
 manufacture of munitions and have been a cause 
 of serious concern to the Health of Munition 
 Workers Committee.* The most important poi- 
 sons to which workers in this industry are exposed 
 are lead, tetrachloride of ethane, nitrous fumes, 
 tetryl, fulminate of mercury, and tri-nitro-toluol. 
 Lead is used in making bullets, and in various sub- 
 sidiary processes; tetrachloride of ethane, an in- 
 gredient in the varnish applied to the wings aiid 
 bodies of aeroplanes, has been discovered only 
 since the beginning of the war as an industrial 
 poison ; nitrous fumes are involved in the manufac- 
 ture of almost all explosives; tetryl, fulminate of 
 mercury, and the highly explosive T.N.T. (tri- 
 nitro-toluol), of whose double dangers munition 
 workers have learned so much, are all three used 
 in making powders, but they may cause poisoning 
 even in handling the powder in loading shells or 
 primers. The first three of these poisons are the 
 
 * Health of Munition Workers Committee, Memorandum No. 
 8, Special Industrial Diseases. London, February, 1916. 
 
 21 
 
more dangerous because they cause serious, or even 
 fatal illness. The last three cause skin affections, 
 active dermatitis or eczema, and often more seri- 
 ous disorders. Certain fluids used in lubricating 
 and cooling metal may also cause eczema. In the 
 case of fulminate of mercury, regarding which 
 complaints have been made by workers in such 
 an important American munitions center as 
 Bridgeport, Conn., eczema is the usual affection, 
 but mercurial poisoning, which is even more seri- 
 ous, may occur. 
 
 For each of the poisons mentioned a descrip- 
 tion of the resulting disease has been given by the 
 Committee as well as measures for prevention and 
 treatment. Provision of proper washing facili- 
 ties and of protective overalls, periodic medical 
 examination, transference to other work of those 
 readily affected and the reduction of the period of 
 exposure through the absence of overtime are rec- 
 ommended as general steps to avoid industrial 
 poisoning. Exhaust ventilation was advocated 
 for drawing off fumes and dust; the wearing of 
 respirators as a protection against dust that can- 
 not be carried off by exhausts or allayed by wet- 
 ting; emergency helmets provided with a supply 
 of fresh air from without for those exposed to 
 escaping fumes; head coverings for women and 
 gauze veils to protect the faces of workers against 
 poisonous dust. As further general preventive 
 measures, it was urged that only healthy and tem- 
 perate persons be employed, and that none ex- 
 posed to poisons be permitted to begin work with- 
 out having taken food. 
 
 WASHING FACILITIES : The importance of wash- 
 ing accommodations has been strongly emphasized 
 by the Committee not only for workers engaged 
 in processes involving poisons or excessive heat, 
 dust or dirt, but for the good health, efficiency and 
 
 22 
 
self-respect of the entire force. One of their 
 memoranda* offers practical suggestions as to the 
 most suitable arrangements, both for washing fa- 
 cilities and for baths. 
 
 VENTILATION, HEATING AND LIGHTING : At a 
 
 time when so large a number of new plants 
 were being erected and old ones enlarged, it was 
 also fitting that the importance of ventilation, heat- 
 ing and lighting should be emphasized. This has 
 been done by the Health of Munition Workers 
 Committee in pointing out the close connection be- 
 tween proper provision for these three elements 
 in factory construction and the maintenance of 
 maximum output by the worker. Suggestions re- 
 garding modern standards and methods were 
 made by them in considerable detail. f 
 
 EYE-STRAIN: Closely connected with the prob- 
 lem of lighting factories was the prevalence of 
 eye-strain and the danger of eye accidents among 
 munition workers. J Eyesight may be impaired 
 through exposure to intense heat, to industrial poi- 
 sons, or through "uncorrected errors of refrac- 
 tion." Special inquiry has revealed a large in- 
 crease not only of eyestrain, but also of eye in- 
 juries among munition workers since the beginning 
 of the war, many of which were preventable. For 
 example, the wearing of proper guards or goggles 
 protects the eyes from flying particles and colored 
 glass lessens irritation where there is exposure to 
 brilliant light, as in acetylene welding. 
 
 The eyesight of operatives who are to be en- 
 gaged on fine work should be carefully tested and, 
 in case of slight accident, first-aid treatment be 
 
 * Health of Munition Workers Committee. Washing Facili- 
 ties and Baths. Memorandum No. 14. London, August, 1916. 
 
 t Ibid. Ventilation and Lighting of Munition Factories and 
 Workshops. Memorandum No. 9. London, January, 1916. 
 
 Jlbid. The Effect of Industrial Conditions Upon Eyesight. 
 Memorandum No. IS. London, October, 1916. 
 
 23 
 
provided to prevent serious after-effects. Since 
 eye-strain is often concomitant with general fa- 
 tigue, it is bound to accompany overlong hours, 
 night work and undernourishment. Hence we 
 have again a plea — and a reason — for the im- 
 provement of working conditions in general. 
 
 General Welfare Provision* 
 
 In addition to the factory environment and the 
 length of the work period, other factors which 
 do not come ordinarily within the jurisdiction of 
 the management, distinctly affect the efficiency of 
 workers. Housing, transportation, canteens, and 
 the welfare of individual workers are the most im- 
 portant among them. The Newman Committee 
 very strongly recommend that through the ap- 
 pointment of welfare supervisors employers should 
 endeavor to control any detrimental effect on the 
 workers of poor housing, undernourishment, and 
 unfavorable living conditions. 
 
 HOUSING or WORKERS : The sudden influx into 
 districts surrounding munition plants has greatly 
 overtaxed the housing accommodations. In many 
 instances, dwellings intended for one family are 
 occupied by several, and beds are used in day and 
 night shifts. Before any comprehensive plan for 
 the increase of housing accommodations is under- 
 taken, inquiry is recommended into the extent of 
 the need, but pending action, the welfare super- 
 visor can help matters by keeping a register of 
 available houses and lodgings, by aiding workers 
 in need of rooms, and by notifying the manage- 
 ment when the supply is insufficient. 
 
 TRANSIT: Because of the housing shortage, 
 many workers are forced to live at considerable 
 
 * Health of Munition Workers Committee. Welfare Super- 
 vision. Memorandum No. 2. London, December, 191S. 
 
 24 
 
distance from their places of employment. Trav- 
 eling to and fro in overcrowded cars and trains, 
 losing time by waiting, making long and tiresome 
 journeys, which further extend an overlong day or 
 night of work, decrease both efficiency and resist- 
 ance to disease. Workers were found who left 
 their homes daily before 5 a. m. and returned at 10 
 p. m. or later, leaving little more than six hours 
 for sleep — and family life. The Committee sug- 
 gested that the welfare supervisor ascertain the 
 means of transit used and the length of time spent 
 in traveling, indicate the need for increased trans- 
 portation to the right authorities and suggest 
 modification of factory hours to suit existing 
 transit conditions. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL CANTEENS: "The munition worker, 
 like the soldier, requires good rations to enable 
 him to do good work." This fact the Committee 
 recognized in their recommendations regarding 
 canteens in the large war supply factories.* In 
 one of their earliest reports, they pointed out the 
 difficulty encountered by employes in securing good 
 food, when the employer has made no provision, 
 and urged the establishment of industrial canteens 
 in all plants, but especially when workers are em- 
 ployed in large numbers at night and are unable 
 to go home for a hot meal. They made sugges- 
 tions regarding dietary, cost of food, the best type 
 of canteen to adopt, as well as its management. It 
 was conceded that it might be desirable in certain 
 districts and under restrictions to sell alcoholic 
 liquors. 
 
 Attention was also given to the actual physical 
 construction, location and equipment of industrial 
 
 * Industrial Canteens No. 3, November, 1915; Canteen Con- 
 struction and Equipment, No. 6, January, 1916; and Investiga- 
 tion of Workers' Food and Suggestions as to Dietary, No. 11. 
 July, 1916, London. 
 
 25 
 
canteens. A study of typical meals furnished to 
 munition workers in industrial canteens, served in 
 restaurants or brought by them from home was 
 undertaken for the Newman Committee by one 
 of its members, Mr. Leonard E. Hill, in the 
 laboratories of the Medical Research Committee. 
 In his report Mr. Hill stressed the relation of 
 both physical and nervous fatigue to the workers' 
 daily diet, and with his analysis of the meals ex- 
 amined as a basis, made suggestions for a "well- 
 balanced minimum" dietary for canteens. 
 
 INDIVIDUAL WELFARE : Aside from the help the 
 supervisor can render in solving problems of hous- 
 ing, transit, and food, even greater service can be 
 given in matters concerning the individual welfare 
 of the worker which will be reflected in the effi- 
 ciency of the labor force. Such functions include 
 attention to cases of sickness or irregular attend- 
 ance at work in co-operation with the medical staff, 
 observation of individual reactions to night or Sun- 
 day work or overtime, planning for recreation and 
 education, and the maintenance of proper disci- 
 pline and conduct. Moreover the Committee 
 were emphatic in their indorsement of welfare 
 work and recommended especially the appointment 
 of women supervisors where women and girls are 
 employed. 
 
 Employment of Women 
 
 Although the problems discussed in all the 
 memoranda of the Health of Munition Workers 
 Committee affect women as well as men, the em- 
 ployment of women since the outbreak of the war 
 has grown to such dimensions that a special report 
 has been devoted to recommendations in this 
 field.* The response of English women of all 
 
 * Health of Munition Workers Committee. Memorandum 
 No. 4, Employment of Women. London, January, 1916. 
 
 26 
 
classes to their country's call has been one of the 
 finest things of the war. Women of wage-earning 
 experience and those of none — university and art 
 students, teachers, secretaries, domestic servants, 
 clerks, laundresses, textile workers — old women 
 and young, married women and single, in a splen- 
 did spirit of patriotism, have all volunteered in 
 the army of labor, and because of their enthu- 
 siasm achieved remarkable success. In Septem- 
 ber, 191 6, the War Office published a report on 
 Women's War Work "for the use of recruiting 
 officers, military representatives and tribunals." 
 It lists some twenty-five pages of processes in 
 which women have been successfully employed in 
 "temporary" replacement of men, and in a large 
 number of photographs shows them engaged in 
 such heavy jobs as coal-heaving, stoking, boiler- 
 making, cleaning locomotives and other work 
 which they have never before been called on to 
 do. Not alone have women taken up men's tasks 
 willingly but they have accepted without com- 
 plaint conditions which were immediately detri- 
 mental to efficiency and which would. If continued, 
 be disastrous to health, and this at a time above 
 all times when the health of the present and fu- 
 ture mothers of the nation should be safeguarded. 
 Night work for women, especially In the muni- 
 tions Industry, has been revived after almost a 
 century of disuse, and employment of married 
 women and of young girls has, of course, in- 
 creased. Hence it Is of great Importance to safe- 
 guard their period of employment. The Commit- 
 tee realized that in the emergency night work was 
 Inevitable, but urged that Its evils be mitigated by 
 careful supervision, by the provision of sufficient 
 pauses for rest and meals, and where desirable, by 
 periodic change to the day shift. During the meal 
 hour on the twelve-hour night shift women were 
 
 27 
 
found asleep beside their work, too exhausted even 
 to go to an attractive mess room to get the food 
 to sustain them during the remaining hours of the 
 night. The recommendations for hours, shifts, 
 overtime, and rest pauses, for women workers are 
 substantially the same as those already given in 
 the section on hours of work.* Employment of 
 mothers with infants was deprecated by the Com- 
 mittee, and the need of consideration in arranging 
 hours of work for married women was urged. 
 
 The questions of housing and transit were also 
 given further attention in relation to women's em- 
 ployment. Many women were forced to spend 
 two and three hours traveling each way to and 
 from work. This often meant "a day begun at 4 
 or even 3 :30 a.m., for work at 6 a.m., followed 
 by fourteen hours in the factory, and another two 
 or two and one-half hours on the journey back," 
 ending finally "at 10 or 10:30 p.m., in a home or 
 lodging where the prevailing degree of over- 
 crowding precludes all possibility of comfortable 
 rest. Beds are never empty and rooms never 
 aired, for in a badly crowded district, the beds, 
 like the occupants are organized in day and night 
 shifts. "f Moreover cars were so crowded that 
 the women's clothes were often torn in the strug- 
 gle to get even standing room. There was, there- 
 fore, crying need for increased transportation 
 which would also relieve the housing situation. 
 But even with improved transit long journeys 
 cruelly extended the day. Hence it was all the 
 more necessary to guard against excessive working 
 hours. 
 
 Good sanitary conditions in the factories are 
 especially important for women wage-earners. 
 
 * See pages 12-16. 
 
 t Health of Munition Workers Committee. Memorandum 
 No. 4, Employment of Women, p. S. 
 
 28 
 
Workrooms should be clean, bright and airy, well 
 warmed in winter and well lighted at night ; cloak 
 rooms, washing facilities and sanitary conveni- 
 ences should be provided. For the protection es- 
 pecially of those unaccustomed to factory work, 
 the lifting or carrying of heavy weights and the 
 strain of prolonged standing should be avoided. 
 It is recommended also that a woman physician 
 examine all applicants for employment. Careful 
 oversight by forewomen, nurses, and women wel- 
 fare supervisors in the fields of work, health and 
 general well-being Was a point much emphasized. 
 In conclusion the Committee stated that in their 
 opinion if the present conditions surrounding the 
 employment of women continued, "it would be 
 impracticable to secure or maintain for an ex- 
 tended period the high maximum output of which 
 women are undoubtedly capable." 
 
 Juvenile Employment 
 
 Special attention has been given also to the 
 problems of child labor in war time.* The Com- 
 mittee declare that: "At the present time, when 
 the war is destroying so much of its best manhood, 
 the nation Is under special obligation to secure that 
 the rising generation grows up strong and hardy 
 both in body and character. It is necessary to 
 guard not only against immediate breakdown, but 
 also against the imposition of strains which may 
 stunt future growth and development." Such 
 strains were found In the long hours of work, by 
 day and by night, sometimes through seven days 
 in the week, in the poor housing and transit facili- 
 ties and in the often unsatisfactory home condi- 
 tions. Factory inspectors bore witness to the more 
 
 * Health of Munition Workers Committee, Memorandum No. 
 13, Juvenile Employment. London, August, 1916. 
 
 29 
 
marked fatigue produced by overtime and night 
 work on the adolescent than on the adult worker, 
 a menace not only to present health but to growth 
 and physical development. Moreover these chil- 
 dren had no leisure, no recreation, no opportunity 
 for continuing their education. Exemptions from 
 the legal age limit of fourteen had been permit- 
 ted,* and a case cited in which boys of thirteen 
 were allowed to work full time in a large munition 
 center, provided they attended evening school. 
 The Committee pointed out that it was worse than 
 useless to require such attendance for boys who 
 worked from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m. or longer. 
 
 The problem of boy labor seemed more press- 
 ing to the Committee than the employment of 
 young girls, since boys, who to a great extent were 
 employed to assist men, worked the same hours as 
 men. Moreover boys under sixteen are said to be 
 even more delicate than girls of the same age. 
 
 The recommendations regarding hours are sim- 
 ilar to those already given. Boys should be per- 
 mitted, if the work requires it, and conditions of 
 employment are favorable, to work more than 
 twelve hours a day up to a weekly total of 65, but 
 the overtime should be concentrated on three non- 
 consecutive evenings of the week. One day's rest 
 in seven should be assured. Night work should be 
 permitted for boys under sixteen and girls under 
 eighteen only when no other labor can be obtained. 
 Because of the greater adaptability of youth, it 
 was thought, when found absolutely necessary to 
 employ them at night, that they would suffer less 
 
 * In March, 1916 it was reported in Parliament that 8,026 
 children under fourteen had been released from school by the 
 Board of Education since the beginning of the war in order to 
 go to work. Only 92 of these were girls. More than half of the 
 entire number were under thirteen. It was claimed that the 
 majority of these children were employed in agriculture. 
 
 30 
 
from weekly alternation of day and night shifts 
 than adult workers. Furthermore as young per- 
 sons cannot profitably work for a continuous spell 
 of five hours (the maximum legal period), short 
 rests should be allowed, and time for refreshment 
 when breakfast has necessarily been taken early. 
 Not only should the ordinary holidays be granted, 
 but when possible, vacations of a week or more. 
 
 The situation is further complicated for young 
 workers by overcrowding and bad home condi- 
 tions. One large munitions center revealed nu- 
 merous cases in which three people slept together 
 in one bed. A case said to be typical was de- 
 scribed, in which a boy of fourteen slept in a bed 
 with two young men, while in the same room two 
 young girls slept in another bed. Because of the 
 absence of fathers at the front parental control 
 was often weakened. After a long day of work 
 many children were tempted to stay out late at 
 the movies or to dance, and their high earnings 
 induced thriftlessness. Moreover an increase in 
 juvenile crime had become so marked, according 
 to comments in the press, that the Home Secre- 
 tary had called a special conference of social 
 workers to deal with it. The Newman Commit- 
 tee recommended special welfare workers for boys 
 and outlined in detail the duties of the "Boy Visi- 
 tor." He should watch carefully the physical 
 condition of the boys, visit them when sick, inves- 
 tigate other causes of irregular attendance, receive 
 and dispose of complaints made either by em- 
 ployers or boys, advise before any case of dismis- 
 sal, look into conditions of housing, transit and 
 dietary, plan recreation and promote plans for 
 saving. 
 
 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 The reports of the Health and Munition Work- 
 31 
 
ers Committee give evidence of an enlightened 
 and common-sense attitude toward the industrial 
 problems which the war has created. A headlong, 
 unthinking policy of blind haste had at first led 
 to the needless waste of precious human strength. 
 This panic has now given place to a realization of 
 the fact that increased output is to be gained 
 through the saving of the workers' health and 
 strength, and an increase in the labor force, not 
 through the taxing of endurance to the breaking 
 point. But there is still need to hold up standards. 
 These standards, as outlined by the Committee, 
 may be summarized as follows: 
 
 I. Hours of Work : 
 
 a. SEVEN-DAY LABOR should be abolished 
 for men, women and children. 
 
 b. Excessive OVERTIME should be done 
 away with by the introduction of shifts. 
 
 c. HOURS OF LABOR should be adapted to 
 the age and sex of the worker and the 
 nature of the process to be performed- 
 
 d. NIGHT w^ORK, where possible, should 
 be organized in eight-hour, rather than 
 twelve-hour shifts, and in no case should 
 women work at night more than 60 
 hours a week. Its evils should be 
 further mitigated by sufficient rest pe- 
 riods and by periodic change to the day 
 shift. 
 
 e. MEAL PERIODS should be at least an 
 hour in length on twelve-hour shifts, 
 and half an hour on eight-hour shifts. 
 Further breaks should be allowed in 
 long five-hour spells. 
 
 II. Health and Hygiene: 
 
 a. INDUSTRIAL FATIGUE should be de- 
 creased by a careful study of processes 
 32 
 
of work and of the most economical 
 method of accomplishing them. 
 
 b. Provision for both prevention and 
 treatment of work accidents, indus- 
 trial DISEASE, and other illness, 
 should be made in all munition plants. 
 
 c. Matters of factory sanitation such as 
 ventilation, heating, lighting, and wash- 
 ing facilities should receive especial at- 
 tention. 
 
 III. General Welfare : 
 
 a. Improvement of housing and transit 
 facilities should enlist the co-operation 
 of employers. 
 
 b. In the interests of health and efficiency, 
 all munition works should have can- 
 teens where employes can secure hot 
 food. 
 
 c. The appointment of welfare super- 
 visors is recommended in all factories. 
 
 d. Problems involved in the increased em- 
 ployment of women and children should 
 receive the careful attention of both 
 managers and the government. Spe- 
 cial welfare workers should be assigned 
 to their oversight. 
 
 Subsequent Conditions 
 
 Unhappily the Newman Committee on the 
 Health of Munition Workers have not seen all 
 their recommendations adopted. The news- 
 papers did not give publicity to their findings until 
 some time after the reports were actually submit- 
 ted, and they were then subordinated to matters 
 of greater popular interest. Furthermore, while 
 the government could make changes in the facto- 
 ries it owned, control over private establishments, 
 which are in the majority, was hot so complete. 
 
 33 
 
Some definite progress has been made, how- 
 ever, in relieving the conditions which were the 
 special point of attack in the memoranda of the 
 Committee. Sunday labor has been decreased 
 through a recommendation issued by the Minister 
 of Munitions in January, 19 16, which was prac- 
 tically tantamount to a command, that Sunday 
 labor in "controlled" establishments be abolished. 
 As a result it was reported in Parliament on 
 March 30, 19 16, that in 2,400 works inspected, 60 
 per cent had no Sunday work, and of the other 40 
 per cent, many were engaged only in repair work 
 and others were manned by voluntary week-end 
 workers. The attempt to relieve the strain on 
 regular employes of Sunday work has led to the 
 recruiting of a special force of week-end workers, 
 made up largely of women of the leisure class, who 
 volunteer their services for Sunday in order that 
 the factories may be kept running and the regular 
 workers released for rest. Dukes' daughters and 
 generals' ladies, artists and authors, students and 
 teachers, ministers' and lawyers' wives, make up 
 the membership of the picturesque W.R.M.W. 
 (Week-end Relief Munition Workers). They 
 are paid at the current rates, and are "voluntary" 
 only in the sense that they offer to work of their 
 own free will. 
 
 No definite ruling regarding daily hours of work 
 seems thus far to have been issued by the Ministry 
 of Munitions, but in association with the Home 
 Office it has formed a committee to regulate hours 
 as well as to secure a weekly day of rest for the 
 workers. The effect of this step and the vigor of 
 its prosecution has been difficult to ascertain, but 
 the tendency has probably been to reduce the 
 amount of overtime. As late as October 22, 19 16, 
 an article which passed the censor and appeared 
 in the New York Times, stated that in the Wool- 
 
 34 
 
wich arsenal, which employs 50,000 men and 17,- 
 000 women, the latter "work day and night in two 
 shifts of twelve hours each, with a break of an 
 hour for dinner and of half an hour for tea." 
 If the long shifts still obtained in one of the largest 
 government plants, the probability was not strong 
 that the privately owned plants even with govern- 
 ment control, had gone much farther in intro- 
 ducing shorter hours. In August, 19 16, 
 in response to a question put in Parliament Dr. 
 Addison of the Munitions Ministry stated 
 that the special joint committee on hours was tak- 
 ing steps to bring the hours for women and girls 
 in controlled establishments within the sixty-hour 
 limit allowed under the oi-dinary provisions of 
 the Factory ActS; In April, 19 17, it was 
 reported by a former investigator for the New- 
 man Committee that in government-owned muni- 
 tion plants women were working universally on 
 eight-hour shifts. 
 
 The recommendation of the Newman Commit- 
 tee that the ordinary "bank" holidays should not 
 be interfered with was given a trial at Easter in 
 1916, but Lloyd George, then Minister of Muni- 
 tions, claimed that in the fortnight which included 
 Easter Monday the output had been decreased one- 
 half. As a consequence, and also because of the 
 extra need of munitions for the great offensive 
 on the Somme, the customary holidays at Whit- 
 suntide and in August, were not granted, though 
 pains were taken to make it clear that this was a 
 postponement and not an abandonment of these 
 holidays. 
 
 Definite efforts have been made on the part of 
 the government to carry into effect the recommen- 
 dations of the Committee in regard to industrial 
 canteens. A Canteen Committee was appointed by 
 the Central Control Board (for liquor traffic), 
 
 35 
 
in conjunction with the Munitions Ministry, to 
 assist firms in the construction and financing of 
 canteens. In June, 191 6 it was reported that can- 
 teens had been established in practically all the 75 
 government-owned factories, and that in the 3,500 
 "controlled" works the government had encour- 
 aged their introduction by subsidizing them, either 
 through permitting employers to pay the expenses 
 out of profits that would otherwise have reverted 
 to the national treasury, or by contributing half 
 the costs incurred by voluntary agencies such as 
 the Young Women's Christian Association, in es- 
 tablishing an industrial canteen. The Canteen 
 Committee also published in October, 19 16, a 
 pamphlet on Feeding the Munition Worker, as a 
 "comprehensive and practical guide" to canteen 
 construction and management. 
 
 Another important step affecting the general 
 well-being of the workers was the establishment of 
 a special Welfare Department under the Ministry 
 of Munitions, to stimulate the development of wel- 
 fare supervision in the war factories. This de- 
 partment, under the superintendence of Mr. B. S. 
 Rowntree, also undertakes inquiries into working 
 conditions, including hours of work and wages, 
 endeavors to correct evils where they are found, 
 encourages the provision of rest rooms and can- 
 teens, and through a special private fund furnishes 
 the means of "healthful and invigorating" recrea- 
 tion. The appointment of at least one woman wel- 
 fare worker in each national plant is now required, 
 and many controlled factories are following suit. 
 Excellent results are said to have followed from 
 the activities of these supervisors. 
 
 Some attempts have also been made to relieve 
 the housing situation in a few large munition cen- 
 ters, such as Sheffield and Woolwich, where the 
 government has either finance'd or subsidized the 
 
 36 
 
building of houses and of temporary "huts" and 
 hostels. Dr. Addison, of the Munitions Ministry 
 stated in August, 191 6, that accommodations for 
 60,000 persons had been provided in the year pre- 
 vious and in some cases whole villages had been 
 built. 
 
 In a general way, also, the work of the Health 
 of Munition Workers Committee has improved 
 industrial conditions. Public interest has been di- 
 rected toward abuses, and a more intelligent atti- 
 tude created in regard to sources of labor difficul- 
 ties. The dissatisfaction of labor, however, has 
 been by no means eliminated, despite the fact that 
 the Munitions of War Amending Act, passed in 
 January, 1916, remedied the worst evils of the 
 leaving-certificate system and of the administration 
 of the munitions tribunals. The "dilution" of labor 
 has progressed so far, and the attitude of both 
 employers and the government has been such as 
 to make the trade unions fear that after the war 
 it will be well nigh impossible for them to restore 
 their ante-bellum status. Plans to mobilize the . 
 whole population for national service, civil as well 
 as military, on a scale more comprehensive than 
 ever before, are now being pushed forward with 
 vigor by the new Lloyd-George ministry, and to 
 make this mobilization effective the club of indus- 
 trial conscription is being held over the heads of 
 the British people. In the face of the apparent 
 weakening of their powers, however, the unions 
 are claiming large gains in numbers and in 
 strength, not alone among women, but also among 
 men, despite the heavy inroads which the call to 
 the colors has made in their membership. 
 
 The most immediate problem facing British 
 labor at present, however, is the question of 
 wages. The cost of living is soaring and wages 
 in many cases have not kept pace, notably among 
 
women. The Munitions of War Amending Act 
 of January, 19 16, authorized the Minister of Mu- 
 nitions to enforce minimum wages for munition 
 workers, but no action was taken which affected 
 the large body of women until July, 191 6, when 
 a wage order* was issued which was designed to 
 do away with the sweating of women. This order 
 has aroused considerable antagonism in labor cir- 
 cles because its minimum rate becomes in effect 
 the maximum. The rate is fixed at 4j4d. an hour 
 for women of eighteen years or more employed at 
 work customarily done by women. Women who 
 have replaced skilled men (about i per cent of 
 those employed on munition work) are paid at 
 the same piece work prices as men, although, ac- 
 cording to a prominent trade union man, because 
 they cannot turn out as much work, their earnings 
 are only about 75 per cent of what men make. 
 The wage for ' women who have replaced semi- 
 skilled or unskilled men is fixed according to an 
 earlier order issued In May, 191 6, at a time rate 
 of one pound a week. A pound now has no more 
 purchasing power than 12 shillings had before the 
 war ; and that sum had been commonly recognized 
 as a sweated rate for women in industry. 
 
 Difficulties are being somewhat overcome, how- 
 ever, partly through concerted effort and partly 
 through a natural readjustment to what, it is now 
 apparent, will be a prolonged struggle. Credit 
 should be given to the English government for its 
 great achievement in industrial organization dur- 
 ing the past year and a half, and for its recogni- 
 tion of the importance of the human element in 
 efficiency of production; but there is still need to 
 remember that in a long race it is endurance, not 
 sprinting that wins. 
 
 * This is Statutory Order No. 447. 
 38 
 
MUNITION WORKERS IN FRANCE 
 
 As Described by a British Commission 
 
 France had been far more successful than Eng- 
 land in increasing her output of munitions during 
 the first year of the war. In spite of the fact that 
 one-eighth of the country and five-eighths of the 
 former "metallurgical productivity" were in the 
 hands of the enemy, her manufactures had been 
 enormous. The response to her call for workers 
 had been both more enthusiastic and more imme- 
 diate than England's. 
 
 It was, therefore, natural that the British gov- 
 ernment should turn to her ally for guidance, and 
 in November, 191 5 the Director-General of Re- 
 cruiting for Munitions Work in England ap- 
 pointed a commission of four members* to visit 
 the industrial districts in France and report upon 
 the causes which had contributed to the enormous 
 increase in the production of munitions in that 
 country. The commission visited 23 factories in 
 different centers of the industry. A month later, 
 in December, 1915, it made its reportf giving a 
 concise account of the conditions prevailing in 
 these factories. 
 
 * J. T. Brownlie, Chairman of Amalgamated Society of Engi- 
 neers and member of National Advisory Committee and the 
 Central Munitions Labour Supply Committee; Alexander Duck- 
 ham, Ministry of Munitions; D. J. Shackleton, Labour Adviser, 
 Ministry of Munitions; Allan M- Smith, Secretary Engineering 
 Employers' Federation and member Central Munitions Labour 
 Supply Committee. Two engineers experienced in munition 
 manufacture in Great Britain were attached to the Commission. 
 
 t Ministry of Munitions. Report by Mission Appointed by the 
 Director-General of Recruiting for Munitions Work. Output 
 of Munitions in France. London, 1916. 
 
 39 
 
Organization of Munitions Industry 
 
 One of the features of French organization 
 they found to be the prevalence of the small pro- 
 ducer. There were i,8oo of these in the Paris 
 district alone. The work done in these small shops 
 was let out on sub-contract by the large producer. 
 The small French shops are often manned by the 
 members of a single family who divide the work 
 on their inadequate machinery into day and night 
 shifts. Despite the many handicaps their pro- 
 duction was surprisingly satisfactory, but from 
 stories told it was apparent that serious over- 
 work, due to a spirit of self-sacrifice, occurred fre- 
 quently in these small establishments. One 
 woman, whose husband was at the front, liter- 
 ally worked herself to death in superintending his 
 shop, and he was then recalled from the army to 
 take her place. 
 
 Another feature of factory organization was 
 the high degree of specialization in product in 
 each plant, which resulted in an increase of repe- 
 titive work involving less need for skill, greater 
 speed, and decrease in the amount of tool room 
 and inspection work required. 
 
 Apparently the English system of government 
 and "controlled" factories had not been adopted. 
 New factories had been erected, old ones extended, 
 and others adapted to the manufacture of muni- 
 tions, but in spite of the remarkable increase in 
 number of plants none had received either a sub- 
 sidy or a loan from the government. 
 
 The Commission gave high praise to the well- 
 planned lay-out of the new and remodelled shops 
 in avoiding congestion and in providing extra fa- 
 cilities for the transport of material, as well as to 
 the initiative and energy displayed by French man- 
 
 40 
 
ufacturers In Importing large quantities of new 
 machinery. 
 
 Military Labor in Factories .^-^ 
 
 In the munition factories a large proportion of 
 the male labor Is military, many of the rpeh being 
 those who are not physically fit for active service, 
 but who are still mobilized and under military law. 
 Any attempt In England to employ soldiers in 
 munitions plants under military law has met active 
 opposition by the trade unions, who considered it 
 nothing less than Industrial compulsion. But 
 France had had no counterpart of England's dif- 
 ficulties with trade unionism. There have been 
 no strikes, no demands for general wage increases, 
 or for the limitation of employers' profits, no op- 
 position to the "dilution" of labor or to the suspen- 
 sion of union rules of hours and wages. This lack 
 of friction may in part be due to the fact that: a 
 large number of the workers are subject to mili- 
 tary discipline. The Commission were Inclined to 
 Impute It, however, to the intense patriotism of the 
 French. 
 
 Hours of Work 
 
 The same general schedule" of hours for muni- 
 tion plants prevailed In France as In England — 
 that is, the more common double shift of twelve 
 hours as well as the three eight-hour shifts. How- 
 ever, because of an absence of overtime beyond 
 the regular schedule and because of a long break 
 at noontime, customary in the working day in 
 France, which averages an hour and a half and 
 is sometimes two hours, there was no evidence of 
 fatigue. The intensity of production and the 
 almost entire absence of lost time were the two 
 tests by which this conclusion In regard to fatigue 
 was reached. In addition to the fact that over- 
 time was not worked, the change from day to night 
 
 41 
 
shift, or vice versa, which is made every two 
 weeks, gave the workers twenty-four hours off. 
 
 The customary starting hour for the day shift 
 was 6 or 7 a.m. Ten to twelve hours are worked 
 on this shift, and nine and a half to eleven on the 
 night shift.* The night shift began at 6, 7 or 8 
 p.m., and ran through to 5, 6, or 7 a.m., according 
 to the time of starting. The rest period at night 
 was often shorter than in the day time, being 
 usually one hour, and sometimes, though rarely, as 
 short as half an hour, in which case the time was 
 paid for and the machines were not stopped. It 
 was claimed that night production equalled and 
 sometimes excelled that on the day shifts. Where 
 the three-shift plan has been adopted, there is no 
 break whatsoever for meals, but "in some cases 
 light refreshment is taken while the work pro- 
 ceeds." 
 
 Two schedules for the triple shift were found 
 in use. According to the first schedule the first 
 shift ran from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., the second from 
 2 to 10 p.m. and the third from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 
 On the other schedule the shifts ran from 4 a.m. to 
 12 noon, from i p.m. to 9 p.m and from 8:45 
 p.m. to 4:15 a.m. Saturday hours on double and 
 triple shift systems were the same as those on 
 other days, but in some cases work stopped at 
 noon on Sunday. 
 
 SUNDAY work: No Statement was made as to 
 the prevalence of Sunday labor, but by implica- 
 tion the impression was conveyed that at least 
 part of Sunday is commonly a working day. The 
 change from day to night shift, however, gives a 
 twenty-four hour rest period every other week. 
 
 LOST time: Lost time is dealt with severely 
 when it is due to avoidable causes, and this may 
 
 •The mean hours on day shift are 10 hours, 45 minutes, and 
 on night shift 10 hours, 10 minutes. 
 
 42 
 
account for the strikingly small amount which oc- 
 curs. A first offense on the part of a civilian 
 brings a reprimand, a second sometimes a fine, but 
 more often dismissal. Military workers are dealt 
 with under military law. 
 
 Wages 
 
 The question of wages which did not come with- 
 in the jurisdiction of the Newman Committee were 
 dealt with in the report of the Commission to 
 France. Piece rates were paid for almost every . 
 type of work, and women received the same rate \ 
 as men. During their period of training, however, 
 workers were paid a time rate, usually the guaran- 
 teed minimum. The premium bonus system was 
 not in use anywhere. Some average daily earn- 
 ings are given in Appendix C of the report. For 
 men, the averages* ranged from 6.01 francs per 
 day for laborers to 10.42 francs for machine men 
 and 12.23 francs for skilled workers. For women, 
 the minimum was 3.53 francs and the mean 5.95. 
 These earnings, while low compared with Ameri- 
 can wages seem to be somewhat in excess of wages 
 paid in France before the warf for work of a sim- 
 ilar nature, although the Commission itself makes 
 no comparison. But food prices and the cost of 
 living generally have advanced so much that the 
 slight increase in wages does not in any way com- 
 pensate for the added drain on expenditures. 
 
 * These averages are averages of the mean earnings per 
 shop and are not vyeighted according to the number of employes 
 per shop. 
 
 tin 1911, in a report published by the French Minister of 
 Labor on wages and cost of living, the mean daily earnings 
 for day laborers was 5 francs in Paris, and 3.26 francs in other 
 cities ; for metal workers 8.25 francs in Paris and 5.39 in other 
 cities; for iron founders 10 francs in Paris and 5.12 in other 
 cities. In women's occupations, such as millinery, the mean 
 daily earnings were 5 francs in Paris and 2.48 in other cities; 
 for dressmakers 3.50 francs in Paris and 2.28 in other cities.— 
 Ministere du travail et de la prevoyance sociale. Salaires et 
 cout de I'existence a diverses epoques. Paris, 1911. pp. 22-23. 
 
 43 
 
Moreover the minimum earnings for women are 
 somewhat below the weekly minimum urged for 
 English women in munition factories and finally 
 secured for one group of them, at least — namely, 
 20 shillings.* 
 The Women Workers 
 
 The employment of women, of course, receives 
 special consideration in any- discussion of war 
 work. As in England, French women have been 
 drawn into the munitions industry from all em- 
 ployments and from non-industrial life. An in- 
 teresting table is presented in Appendix B of the 
 report, showing the former occupations of women 
 employed in one large plant and the processes of 
 work on which they are at present engaged. 
 Housewives, domestic servants, artists, hair- 
 dressers, clerks, florists, dressmakers, typists, 
 weavers, milliners, school teachers, lace makers, 
 those "of no profession," and many others are 
 listed. Housewives formed over 20 per cent of 
 the women employed, and in several departments 
 actually constituted the predominant group. 
 
 The work done by women covered practically 
 all processes. At the time of the visit of the Com- 
 mission, they were beginning to be employed even 
 at some parts of setting up and tool making, in- 
 cluding the grinding of tool edges. It was thought 
 by some of the members of the Commission, how- 
 ever, that some of the work done would be con- 
 sidered In England to involve too severe a strain. 
 Women's output on "small work" equalled and 
 in some cases even exceeded that of men, while 
 on the heavy work, for the most part, their pro- 
 ductive power was of practically equal value. Their 
 hours of work were substantially the same, except 
 
 * The minimum for French women in the English money 
 equivalent for a six-day week is ISs. 6d. and for a seven-day 
 week 18s. 1 d. 
 
 44 
 
that there was a tendency to employ but few 
 women at night, which had under the double shift 
 plan resulted practically in a day shift for women 
 and a night shift for men. Under the three-shift 
 system, however, women were employed at night, 
 and the tendency was toward their more frequent 
 employment at night on the double shift as well. 
 An effort to overcome the fatigue from congested 
 transit was shown by the custom of permitting 
 women who were obliged to ride to and from work 
 to begin fifteen minutes later than men, and leave 
 fifteen minutes earlier. 
 
 For the most part, good sanitary conditions 
 were found in the French shops, as well as ade- 
 quate washing and locker facilities. Several fac- 
 tories supplied caps and overalls for women. No 
 other provision, however, against exposure to in- 
 dustrial poisons or accident, nor for medical ser- 
 vice within the factories was mentioned. Some 
 firms had woman superintendents of discipline, in 
 addition to forewomen, but employers were di- 
 vided in opinion as to the desirability of such a 
 plan. 
 
 Technical Instruction of Workers 
 
 No provision had been made by the French 
 government for the technical instruction of un- 
 skilled men and women, and the necessary training 
 was given therefore In each factory. The aver- 
 age period of training for women on machines 
 was a week, though it ranged from less than one 
 day to a fortnight. A man often taught a woman 
 who then took his place, taught another woman, 
 and then was replaced as a teacher by her pupil. 
 
 Cause of Increased Production 
 
 The Commission gave the highest praise to both 
 employers and workers. They believed that the 
 patriotic spirit of both sides was responsible for 
 
 45 
 
the good timekeeping of workers, for freedom 
 from trade union restrictions, and for increased 
 intensity of production. Employers too had 
 stopped at nothing to get the most adequate equip- 
 ment. While as has been stated, no official limit 
 had been put on profits, as in England, neither had 
 there been any demand for it made by workers. 
 This freedom from restraint and the greater in- 
 centive for gain may have reacted favorably on the 
 output of munitions.* Though several incidental 
 factors were mentioned as in part responsible for 
 the enormous manufacture of war materials, the 
 success was attributed almost wholly to the splen- 
 did spirit of devotion to the French cause shown 
 by workers and employers. The final conclusion 
 of the report, despite the presence of a trade union 
 member on the commission, makes by implication a 
 thrust at English labor. It states that "the people 
 of France realize that they are at war, that their 
 one idea . . . is to bring the war to a suc- 
 cessful issue," and that, furthermore, the increase 
 of production is due to one cause, and one only, 
 and that is — patriotic enthusiasm. 
 
 * A recent newspaper item, however, states that a committee 
 of the French Senate have brought charges against French mu- 
 nition manufacturers of excessive profits made on government 
 contracts. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 Books and Reports 
 
 Cole, G. D, H. Labour in War Time. London, 
 
 1915- 
 Great Britain. Central Control Board. . (Liquor 
 
 Traffic) . Canteen Committee. Feeding the 
 
 Munition Worker. London, October, 
 
 1916. 
 
 Home Ofl&ce. First and Second In- 
 
 terim Reports on an Investigation of In- 
 dustrial Fatigue by Physiological Methods, 
 by A. F. Stanley Kent, M.A., D.Sc, Lon- 
 don, August, 19 15 and 191 6. 
 
 Home OflSce. Annual Reports of 
 
 the Chief Inspector of Factories and 
 Workshops for the Years 19 14 and 19 15. 
 London. 
 
 Ministry of Munitions. Notes on 
 
 the Employment of Women on Munitions 
 of War, with an Appendix on Training 
 of Munition Workers. London, February, 
 1916. 
 
 Ministry of Munitions. Health of 
 
 Munition Workers Committee. Memoran- 
 da 1-15. London, 1915-1916. 
 
 I. Sunday Labour. 2. Welfare Super- 
 vision. 3. Industrial Canteens. 4. Em- 
 ployment of Women. 5. Hours of Work. 
 6. Canteen Construction and Equipnient 
 (Appendix to No. 3). 7. Industrial Fa- 
 tigue and Its Causes. 8. Special Industrial 
 Diseases. 9. Ventilation and Lighting of 
 47 
 
Munition Factories and Workshops. lo. 
 Sickness and Injury. 1 1 . Investigation of 
 Workers' Food and Suggestions as to Die- 
 tary, by Leonard E. Hill, M.B., F.R.S. 12. 
 Statistical Information Concerning Output 
 in Relation to Hours of Work, by H. M. 
 Vernon, M.D. 13. Juvenile Employment. 
 14. Washing Facilities and Baths. 15. 
 The Effect of Industrial Conditions Upon 
 Eyesight. 
 
 Ministry of Munitions. Mission 
 
 Appointed by the Director General of Re- 
 cruiting for Munitions Work. Report on 
 Output of Munitions in France. London, 
 1916. 
 
 War Office. Women's War Work. 
 
 London, September, 19 16. 
 
 Proud, E. Dorothea. Welfare Work, with fore- 
 word by the Right Honorable David Lloyd 
 George. London, July, 191 6. 
 
 Magazines and Newspapers 
 
 Labour Woman. (London) 
 
 Times (London) 
 
 Nation (London) 
 
 New Statesman (London) 
 
 New York Times 
 
 Spectator (London) 
 
 48 
 
Women's Work and the War 
 
 The war will undoubtedly affect the 
 work of women in the United States. 
 These.new problems can be better under- 
 stood if conditions in normal times are 
 known. Facts about women's work in 
 various trades are given in the following 
 studies. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL FLOWER MAKERS. By Mary 
 VanKleeck. . . . . . .Price $1.50. 
 
 WOMEN IN THE BOOKBINDING TRADE. 
 : By Mary Van Kleeck. . . . Price$1.50. 
 
 SALESWOMEN IN MERCANTILE STORES. 
 By Elizabeth B. Butler. Price $1.00; post- 
 paid, . . . . - . . . . . . $1.08. 
 
 A SEASONAL INDUSTRY : The Millinery 
 
 ':- 'hrade in New York. By Mary Van Kleeck. 
 
 . . . . . . . . . . . . Price $L50. 
 
 WOMEN AND THE TRADES. By Elizabeth 
 B. Butler. . Price $1.50; Postpaid, $1.72. 
 
 WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS. 
 By Mary Van Kleeck. . . . Price $L50. 
 
 WOMEN AS MUNITION MAKERS. By Amy 
 Hevres (in Press) . ... Price 75 cents 
 
 Order from 
 RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION 
 
 130" East 22nd street. New York City 
 

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