The Washington herald., 1917-05-13
War Has Made Washington
Center of Big Business
Political Activity Here Submerged by Influx o.
Nations Foremost Business and Professional
Men Who Have Offered Patriotic Services

rnittaes organized by the commission are
the names of virtually all the leading
business men Of the country, and none
OF these committee appointments IL hon
orary. When. for Instance. the question
Of transportation is up. men like Presi-
dent Fairfax Harrison, OF the Southern
Railway; President Samuel Rea. Of the
Pennsylvania; Hale Holden, Of the Chi
cago Burlington and Quincy, and How
ard Elliott, Of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford, meet In washington to
confer and decide.
"a question about lumber brings to
washington the lumber princes Of the
country. A problem in munitions making
brings men like John L. Otterson. of the
winchester Arms Company; Frank Pratt,
of the General Electric Company; Sam
uel Vauclain. of the Baldwin Locomotive
Works and Westinghouse Company and
others familiar with the munitions bust
ness from II inception. A question of
sanitation led TO the appointment Of
general medical board, which brings into
the service OF the committee a man like
DR.. William H. Welch, OF Baltimore, who
already is giving hours of his time daily
to the Naval Advisory Board, but is will
ing TO take on the additional labor. He
Is now one OF the busiest men in WASH
ington, but seems never to tire Of his
efforts to help the government DR.. Win
ford Smith, superintendent Of the Johns
Hopkins Hospital. is another Baltimorean
who Is giving much time to the work of
the General Medical Board.
No Reward.
ITO enumerate all the other subcom-
mittees and their members would be
merely to print a large section of who
Who" The important point is that once
appointed these men are put to work
and go to it gladly. There is no re-
ward for them other than the conscious
ness that they are helping their country
In its time OF need.
Then there is the Naval Advisory
Board, which comprises list of inventors
headed by Thomas Edison and a group
Of marine architects and engineers. Indi-
cative of the way the government has
nouncement OF the Shipping Board that
It needs 81 900, 900, 900 to build ships to meet
the U-boat challenge.
Real Spirit.
Gen. George w. Goethals was the
man selected to manage the shipbuilding
program, and he was selected because
his success in Panama pointed to him
as the man who could put big business
into the Shipping Board. They are tell
ing the story in Washington that after
he had arrived and got his orders to go
ahead with the shipbuilding program he
went down for the first time on Sunday
morning to the Shipping Boards offices.
He had no desk. so he sat down where
he could and wrote Off his first batch Of
kilograms of injury to shipbuilders. There
was no messenger to take out his tele-
grams. so he put on his hat and took
them himself. 1t was his job to build
ships and he did not propose to waste
any time in getting started.
THE great problems of interna tional
finance involved in the United States be-
coming banker for the allies and the
problems OF internal finance involved In
noating the loans for 1900, 900 900 have
brought to the Treasury Department not
only the leading bankers OF this country,
but the financial leaders OF Europe. Big
business centered around the Treasury
for days"