The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1917-08-16

| OfCA III GuSlduu PuOAlC ICNOSuAllOA
was given the business man by Bonar
Law, member of the war council, in
| the house of commons. 'The ministry
of munitions" he said, "is a body of
| business men more competent, 1 be-
lieve, than that to be found in any in
dustrial undertaking in the country"
The clothing department of the
British war Office has more than
| hundred men attached to it alone
men who were leaders in their par
ticular field before the outbreak of
hostilities three years ago. Bonar
Law at the time of his address in
parliament stated that they could not
be bought by any salary the house
of commons could possibly give them.
| These men who have volunteered
their services to the British govern
men and who are virtually working
their heads off for 1t are the very men
who are directly responsible for Brit
aims commercial supremacy.
Engineers In Service.
They are the ones who bridged and
bored and tunneled the earth from
| China to Peru; who created great
railway systems, who control great
combines, and who have amazed men
accustomed to government routine by
the way in which they have ousted
the old, slow, easy-going methods.
None of these men was especially
DESTROYS Of being known; they did not
care to emblazon their names before
the public. Perhaps but few of the
British, aside from those in shipping
circles, know Andrew Weir, who is
now surveyOr-general Of supply at
/ the British war Office. Yet he was
one of the foremost shipbuilders on
the Clyde before the war and is now
saving the British nation $5,O00,O00 a
week by efficient methods.
The new financial secretary to the
! chancellor Of the exchequer Is Sir
Samuel Hardman Lever. He was never
member of the house of parliament
| and for this reason there were many
| grOans when he was named for this
position. He, too, has saved the gov
eminent millions of dollars. Shipping
| is controlled by Sir Joseph Maclay, a
formidable business man on the Clyde,
who was called into service and who
has since made remarkable Roadway
with difficult proposition.
Sir Eric Geddes made possible the
transporting of troops from one sec
tor of the western front to another,
yet politics has always been distaste-
full to him and he hitherto confined
himself strictly to the big job of run
ming the Northeastern railway.
cowdray In War.
A mighty job faces Lord Cowdray,
head of the Air board, and has faced
him since he took Office. He is bet
ter known under the name of Pearson,
being the head of the oil firm of that
name that successfully battled with
the Standard Oil company. Lord
Cowdray himself personally directed
many of the marvellous engineering
feats the firm has carried through in
Mexico and Canada. One of his part
ners, Sir Ernest William Moir is in
charge of the inventions department
Of the ministry of munitions. Sir
Ernest was resident engineer of the
tunnels under the Hudson river in
New York, but this is simply one of
long list Of achievements.
Lord Rhondda, new food controller,
is commercial man of front rank in
England. He was once in politics,
but later quit, and when he was
called to his present post he was head
Of a great colliery alliance employing
10000 men, and he also found time to
be a director in not less than 40 COM
panies.
Lord Rothermere, who has charge
of the army clothing department, is
president and founder Of the Anglo
Newfoundland Development company,
which developed the resources of that
colony to a marvellous extent. Sir
Alfred Mond, who commanders
hotels, tills public parks and erects
buildings needed by the government
overnight, made millions as manu-
facturer of chemicals.
This list is necessarily incomplete !;
1t does not narrate in detail the ex-
ploits of the men mentioned 1t gives,
however, some idea Of the caliber Of
men who have enlisted to aid the Brit
ish government. Their aid has been
invaluable; their success to be meas
ured more than by savings of tens of
millions. Their savings, it might be
said, are real and not imaginative.
Following England.
What these men have done in Eng
land-and their results will best be
told after the war is over and men
carefully analyze just what they have
done-is being done in America to
remarkably similar degree.
Never before were men with such
earning capacities and with such
keen ability to organize and direct
all gathered for the same purpose.
When it is considered that such men
as Howard Coffin, one Of the great
est engineers In the country; julius
Rosenwald, a mercantile power of
particular acumen; Thomas Edison,
the electrical wizard; Daniel Will
lard, a transportation expert, and 9th
ers, are all working toward a single
goal-the success of the United States
in the War-it is truly remarkable.