In the midst of the war, the federal budget soared from $1 billion in fiscal year 1916 to $19 billion in fiscal year 1919. Though McAdoo and others favored extending government control of railroads under the United States Railroad Administration, Wilson signed the Esch–Cummins Act, which restored private control in 1920. Demobilization was chaotic and violent; four million soldiers were sent home with little planning, little money, few benefits, and other vague promises. A wartime bubble in prices of farmland burst, leaving many farmers deeply in debt after they purchased new land.
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