U.S. At War: Kaiser’s Alcoholics

California’s Los Angeles County, which has 75,000 arrests a year for drunkenness, this month began a noble experiment in easing: 1) the pressure on its jails; and 2) the manpower shortage. Municipal Judge Edwin L. Jefferson got together with the U.S. Employment Service and the Salvation Army, arranged to give some of his charges a new start in a new environment. Thus far 200 habitual drunks have been bundled off to war jobs, with “very favorable” results.

Chief beneficiary: a Missourian who searched all over Los Angeles for three days without finding work, began drinking in desperation, landed in jail and a boilermaker’s job.

Chief doubting Thomas: Police Chief L. E. Jones of Richmond, where about 70 Los Angeles drunks were shipped last week for jobs in Henry J. Kaiser’s shipyards. Said Chief Jones: “I don’t like it. We have enough drunks of our own. I can’t see why Los Angeles takes it upon itself to increase our problem.”