dred foundries and equipment shops were drawn upon to
construct the ship.

In addition to the steel and wood vessels the Emergency Fleet
Corporation also constructed a number of concrete ships. The first step
in this direction was taken on April 3d, when the construction of four
7,500-ton concrete ships at a Pacific coast shipyard was authorized.
This action was taken as a result of a report on the trials made with
the concrete ship, Faith, which was built in San Francisco by private
capital. The test of this ship had been satisfactory and Mr. R. J. Wig,
an agent of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, who had made a careful
inspection of the Faith and watched the tests, reported his confidence
in the new cargo carrier. The successful trial trip of the Faith led, on
the 17th of May, to the government order that fifty-eight mere such
ships be constructed. Sites for yards were leased and contracts awarded.
The concrete ship turned out to be a great success.

The extraordinary success of the American ship-building program during
the World War was due to the enthusiasm of the workmen employed at the
government plants, and that same enthusiasm was found in connection with
their work in every industry on which the Government made demands.
American labor was thoroughly loyal. It recognized that in the war for
democracy against autocracy it had a vital concern. The attitude of the
great American labor unions must however be sharply distinguished from
that of the extreme socialists who refused to take any part in helping
to win the war.

From the very beginning, the American Federation of Labor took a
patriotic stand. Its leader was Mr. Samuel Gompers, and it was fortunate
for America that the leadership of this great organization was in such
patriotic hands. Mr. Gompers had been for many years president of this
great labor organization, and was so often called in consultation by the
President of the United States in connection with labor affairs that he
might almost be called an unofficial member of the President's cabinet.
Mr. Gompers was by birth an Englishman, but he had left his home when
still a boy and was thoroughly filled with true American patriotism.
From the beginning he devoted himself with the greatest enthusiasm not
only to the protection of the interests of which he was in charge, but
to the prosecution of a successful war. He had to contend, as labor
leaders in other countries had been compelled to contend, with