The Washington herald., 1917-11-28
COUNCIL OF WAR
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that the various departments which
are represented upon It are not work.
ing at cross purposes in the objects
which they are striving to accomplish.
The head OF each enterprise II prone
to exaggerate the relative importance
Of the work In which he IL engaged,
and this body will strike to furnish
the perspective which 10 necessary TO
unification. &
At present there u Q tendency for
one department to compete for the
labor employed by another, regardless
Of the cost or the loss Of efficiency to
government preparation considered In
its entirety. Much Of this, of course.
has been eliminated since attention
has been called to the existence OF the
evil, but much has continued because
of lack Of central authority empow-
cred to assign labor and materials in
the places and in the qautities In
which they are most needed and to
control methods Of production.
Practical War Council
The new body will DO much to
eliminate this further. 1t will be more
of a practical war council than any
thing which has existed in this coun-
try up to the present time. It goes
further than the Council of National
Defense could ever have gone, since
It represents every department Of the
war-making enterprises, whereas the
council confined itself to only a few.
The Council. OF National Defense
was formed before the declaration Of
war, and as q result there were
omitted from its memberships repre-
sentatives Of important war factors
which have sprung up since and
others which were not considered at
the time as Of such vital Importance
Finance, shipping. food. fuel and war
the formation of the defense council
we're not believed entitled to represen-
tation.
In the new council they are DEEM
ed essential The new body might
we'll be considered one Of offense,
whereas the former was strictly one
for defense, one In which the Inn
portant element Of finance had been
overlooked,
Backed BY President.
It Is obvious that the new commit
tee has the sanction OF the Chief
executive. 1t II the strongest indi-
cation that has been made public
of his desire to centralize the vast
powers which the nation has at its
disposal and which 1t has been uti-
LIKING In Q more or less disJointeo
| way.
1t is probable that as the first step
| in the evolution which is taking place
the larger body will be chiefly ad-
visory, but one whose advice will
] in almost every instance be carried
, out in practice, since the powers rep
resented on 1t will be indirectly ca
pable Of enforcing their will. EacG
week its members will meet to dis
cuss the war situation and the pro-
gress which has been made in man
ufacturing and shipping materials and
sending men to France. Needs will
be discussed and the best manner in
which to meet them will be deter
mined. The policies decided upon will
be carried out by the various branches
represented by their heads who will
| take part in the settlement
Later, and the sooner this condi-
ton is reached the better for the ef-
ficiency of the United States, the
powers OF this organization viii be
increased and made moro definite by
from an advisory body, possessing
great influence In obtaining the en-
forcement OF its advice. into a body
Of direction. with the authority to
command that the steps which 1t
deems essential to the successful pros
ecution OF the war be carried out.