Evening star., 1917-12-09
Conference BOARD
ASSISTING IN WAR
Weekly Meeting Of Heads Of
Departments Promises Ef-
fectiye CO. Operation.

The war confluence board. q name in
formally adopted for tho. weekly meeting
Of heads Of government departments
has dsvslnped Into an agency which gives
evidence Of effective correlation Of wal
activities.
For the present the council. or board,
win cootanus its weekly sessions in the
od3os Of thu Secretary OF War. and NO
statsmsnts Will be made about the ques-
tions considered, because the discussions
are Informal and the action taken is per-
formed through the departments, bureaus
or commissions interested.
Members Of the board express great
qualification at the way the tentative
plan has worked out SO far. and before
lonS the board may develop Into more
dennitely organized and officially rec
oenised body for the consideration Of
broad questions Of the conduct Of the
war.
Comprise Defense Council.
At the meetings have been the six
cabinet members who compose the Council
Of National Defense. heads of the food
and fuel administrations and the shipping
board and Daniel Willard, chairman Oh
the war Industries board
II was pointed out that such a board
might in the future be the tribunal
through which a settlement &C, could .,,,cs ce
developed among Judge Lovett, priorities
committee chairman, Food Administrator
Hoover and Fuel Administrator Garfield
10 Theso three agencies recently found
their stated aims In direct opposition. and
there was no higher authority. represent
Ing IN he Issues involved, to which they
h Il Believed the war board. as now
constituted represents all the principal
govsrnment agencies engaged' IN carry
Ing on the war and. through discussions
out which would best meet the needs OF
such situations as they may arise In the
future
Another development of the past week
which makes for the unification Of in
dustrfal mobilization for the war has
boen tho vigorous and aggressive meas
ures taken by Daniel Willard In his new
capacity as head Of the war Industries
board.
Industries Organized Separately.
For q long time there was no chair
man to this body. Each industry was
being organized more or less inde-
pendentiy. Then Frank Scott was made
head OF the war industries DOdrQ, ana
shortly thereafter he became i'll. and.
Anally,s had to resign. Judge Loyett
was named to act as chairman, and he
was threatened with pneumonia and
was away from his desk for some days
All this delay led the United States
Chamber of Commerce to appeal to the
President for more closely knit or
ganixation of industry regulation; but
this report to the President now lies
dormant. and IL IL understood that the
Industrial leaders of the country real
ixe that most OF their recommendations
are being carried out through the ef-
forts OF Mr.. willard
Thus the government now has, in ef-
feet. two bodies. which, in effect, act as
Q general war council. and arother as
an Industrial clearing house, which are
two measures recommended Dy the
press and by business men all over the
country.
rhs hexibility Of the organization of
both bodies enables the departmental
heads involved to watch their working
and to modify their operation so far as
exigencies demand.