"The first was to take men out of the army and send them to industrial work. This was done with great caution during the winter of 1914--15. The proportion of the men thus taken increased more and more during the year 1915 and reached its fullest extent in 1916. The specialists in steel work were the first to be taken out of the trenches; these were far from being sufficient, and common workmen were added to them. Then chemists and workmen trained in the manufacture of explosives were recalled; electric engineers were sent back to the hydro-electric plants; miners above thirty-five years of age who belonged to the territorial regiments were sent to the mines; paper-makers and cardboard-makers who could be employed in the preparation of explosives were put to work; cabinet-makers were put to manufacturing rifle stocks; wood-cutters were brought back from the front in order to see that there was no waste in providing the enormous amount of wood needed in the army. All this recalling of mobilized men was effected at first according to the need, and without method. By degrees it became clear that the output would be greater if these soldier-workmen were assigned to the plants or factories where they were working before the war. As it would have been unwise to take too large a number of men out of the fighting units, hundreds of thousands were taken from the auxiliary troops of the interior, men who through lack of physical ability to fight were employed in sedentary tasks. Thus in 1915 and 1916 auxiliaries were swept away to become workmen, foremen, secretaries, bookkeepers, accountants, etc. Finally the administration decided to draw from the oldest classes of men still under the military law. These were called in 1915 and sent to the factories--men born in 1868, either bachelors or married men without children. "Another draft was made on the civil population. To make up for the absence of male help, women were called upon for a great number of occupations. Along with the women the refugees were to do their part. After a rather long period of unsettled life these refugees took again to regular occupations, some working in the fields as agricultural hands, others in factories. Today it is difficult to find unemployed people among them.