Our Schools in War Time—and After

by Arthur D. Dean

3. The minimum wage of the boys is fixed thus: first week, no wages, but allowance of $2 for expenses etc.; thereafter (a) boy living on farm, not less than $4 a week and board, (b) boy living at home, not less than $6 a week. Six days constitute a week.

4. The enlistment card and the issuance of honorable discharge are controlled by the general head supervisor (Committee on Public Safety).

5. The enrollment for the period of May 1 to October 1 is made by the boy, with the parents' consent and the school physician's endorsement. When the boy is enlisted, a numbered badge is lent to him, for which he signs a receipt; it is to be returned in case of unsatisfactory conduct or service. He receives full credit for the year's school work.

6. Inspection of the physical and moral conditions of the place of employment, the choosing of the boys from enrollment lists, and seeing that both boys and farmers are satisfied, are part of the work of the appointed supervisors.

7. Camps for the boys, when local conditions require, are established under the direction of the medical expert for the State Board of Labor and Industries. An expert on camps has supervision of the work of the executive committee in standardizing and inspecting camps and obtaining the equipment, layout, and food supplies.

With the coöperation of farm bureaus thousands of circulars and labor-contract forms were sent to Massachusetts farmers. By June 16, 1917, there were camps established at 18 points, and arrangements completed to employ 500 to 600 boys from these camps. In addition there were at least 500 other boys released from school to work on home farms, or living in farmers' homes.

An interesting feature of the Massachusetts scheme was the working out of camp plans by the drafting students in the Newton Technical High School, with detailed equipment of dining tent with wooden-horse tables; sleeping tent with double-deck bunk; latrine; cook shack; etc.

In its system for handling the supply of boy labor, the state requires the farmer to sign a definite application blank for the amount of boy labor which he requires. It is understood that while the boys are enlisted for the entire period up to October 1, the farmer may take those boys for long or short periods of not less than a week in duration, to begin or end at any time, as the farmer's necessity requires. This application made by the farmer is also an agreement to pay the wages stipulated by the Committee on Public Safety and also to employ the boy on rainy as well as fair days, using his services on rainy days under cover if possible. Further agreement is made, in case the boy is unsatisfactory, to give him one week's notice or one week's pay, providing him with a statement in writing of the reason for his discharge. Whenever, in the opinion of the local supervisor, the conditions of living or of labor are not satisfactory, the boy may be withdrawn without prejudice to him. These arrangements insure that there shall be a coöperative responsibility of farmer and state in caring for the boy.

In establishing the camps in Massachusetts the money to start the work was chiefly supplied by individuals. In the case of the New Bedford contingent in Coonamesett camp, on an estate of 11,000 acres, the boys were housed in militia tents, lent by the state,—two boys to a tent. For their tent furnishings the boys supplied whatever they needed. A mess house—a rough board building 75 feet long by 17 feet wide, providing eating quarters for the boys and at one end a cook room—was in part erected by the New Bedford Industrial School boys, working under the direction of an experienced carpenter. The laying of the 2500 feet of pipe to carry water to the camp was also the work of the same school. The catering for the boys was under the direction of an experienced woman and two Japanese cooks. In the morning the boys started for the various farms, those at a distance being called for by an auto truck. In this camp, for an eight-hour day and a six-day week each boy received a maximum wage of $4 a week and board, the weekly payment in charge of the supervisor. The camp was fortunate in having as its directors the city superintendent of schools and a physical instructor, the latter living in the camp.

In New York the placing of boys on farms has been the joint work of the Food Supply Commission, the State Education Department, and the State Military Training Commission. While younger boys have been released for agricultural work by other agencies, the state placement by the commission is concerned only with the boys of military training age—16 to 19. One of the first actions of the latter commission was to divide the state into 6 military-training zones: New York City (including Manhattan, Bronx, and Richmond); Long Island, including Brooklyn; Hudson Valley, with center at Albany; East Central, at Syracuse; West Central, at Rochester; and Western, at Buffalo. Next, a description was obtained of the character of the work in each zone. For example, the Hudson Valley Zone as far as Albany requires labor in harvesting small fruits and general farm work, while the West Central Zone work is that of muck farming, large-fruit farming, and general farming. Each zone center has its individual office through which placements are made. Meetings were held the latter part of April by zone supervisors and farm-bureau managers, and attended by farmers' and fruit growers' associations who stated what they needed and what they would contribute in wages and housing for boy workers.