Evening star., 1918-07-29
FEDERAL CONTROL
NEARLY ABSOLUTE
Government Tightening Grasp
on Country's Private Busi-
ness and Industries.
RESULT OF WAR SPIRIT
BY N. o. MESSENGER,


Several omcia1 announcements from
governmental sources serve to fur
ther emphasize the overwhelming
grasp of the state upon the individual
and the control of his destinies and
direction of his business by central
lied authority.
The War Industries Board stated its
intention to distribute the output of
steel and iron among the users of the
metal. the government taking priority
for its own needs and deciding what
essential private industries may Sc
cure supplies.
The federal employment service
gave notice that private concerns will
not be permitted to recruit labor.
The government will allot labor to
factories and other employers.
From London Food Administrator
Hoover cabled a message lifting the
ban on the using Of wheat flour by
hotels and restaurants. and the War
Trade Board limited expectation Of
1ewelry and importation. of bananas.
Items in Far-Reaching System. )
These instances of governmental
control but add to an already far
reaching system, and doubtless is
not the capstone Of the structure. at
that. although one might pardonably
wonder what there Is yet left out
side Of government domination
Under existing law and without the
enactment OF another statute If AZ
possible for the executive authority
OF q now thoroughly centralized gov
ernment to take practically unlimited
steps to direct every detail Of the
business and Industrial life Of fhe
nation. ene
The principle was established when
tho overwhelming sentiment of the
country adopted the selective draft
system, by which the state took the
physical bodies of its citizens within
certain age limits for military nse
In behalf Of the welfare of all the
people. The wisdom of that course
questioned by only a few at the time
mas since been so clearly demonstrat-
ed that 1t Is question whether most
of the men in Congress who voted
against 1t do not now wish their
votes were recorded among the yeas
Next Step in Policy.
The state then took control of food
and fuel. regulating their distribution
and use; fixed the price Of wheat:
assumed overseership of the money
Of the country seeking investment
and regulating expansion Of credit. :.
authorized the executive to license
exports and limit imports, as well as
IN var lat H
parture from the country OF indi-
yiduals: took over the railroads. ex-
press companies and wires and de-
clared a list Of non-essential indus
tries.
Now labor ana material. the basic
foundation Of general industry. are
to come under strict governmental
supervision. The manufacturer must
obtain a. series of federal vises to
his plan to do business.
First, his must be pronounced an
essential industry, necessary to prose-
back OF the firing line. Then, he must
get federal permission to expand his
capital, to employ his labor to import
such raw materials as come from
the government is supplied, and,
finally, ask for an order to move his
output over the rails
Political sidelight Develops.
A political sideight upon this situ-
alton IL the fact that the coneress
which enacted the laws under which
all these things are done is controlled
through its committee membership by
men whose political creed from birth
and by party Inheritance has been
the supremacy Of states rfshta~ and
directly opposed to ceitralized gov
ernment. Since their party was ere
ated they have talked States rights.
and inveighed against every Invasion
of the inherent sanctity of the SOW
ereign state" and the rights Of indi-
viduals.
Their theories have been demol-
ished by the necessities OF the oc-
casion. and have drifted down the
winds like the gossamer hlaments Of
the spider on a summers breeze, In
Congress- the most ardent advocates
of the Overman act, which Invested
the President with administrat live
rower1 practically without Limitation.
were men from states that had AZ
ways been most tnsistent upon these
Consrsn.nsn In stsosssinx thsss
tCpntinued On Seventh Page.l