Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-03-01
FRIDAY. MARCH |, 1918
The Business Of Winning the War.

The Business OF Winning the var
How The war has upset conditions in
our country. how il has interfered with
the ordinary current of existence and
imposed upon the people conditions and
circumstances they would not have
dreamed uf submitting to a short time
ago. n now plain matter of fact. But
how the business Of tho war is 10 be
carried out Is still largely a matter of
conjecture The country is doing a
great work. hut here i much To be done,
and how II j. 10 ~ done with all the
departments Il the government engaged
III he task. each dong its part and each
m>iStcut npon having It's needs attended
to. i going 10 be- one Of the most interest
ing and important problems Of the future.
II i apparent SAYS the Washington
cnrr,~i i,und,nt 81 the New J FORK Evening
Post in the cons, 81 careful considera-
non ~ tins feature II The war problem
the great wori, L. b. done that the
path 10 victory ! ob~tructed by one
thng above .Il Others 4 confusion OF
thought on the question ri essentials and
nun-,>~cntal> That such confusion
exist, y not 10 hc wondered al, Tor Wash
lngfon itself Is divided in view As 10
Whist kind> OF production should be stop
ped and what kinds should hc simulated.
For instance. briefly summarized, here is
how some OF the leading men here view
the question
Director-GeneraI Mctdoo. who l. IN
charge of the railway systems as we'll
~ the Treasury Department, thinks
curtailmcnt nf non-essen'ials Is not sound
economic doctrine, and would tend t.
undermine the financial power OF tht.
-ountry.
Edward \ Hurlcy. chairman ii the
shipping BOARD i represented a. brliev-
i.g that there is already an over-proiuc-
tlon of war materials. and that II would
hc hlrtfu 70 Interfere with The l,ual
processes q BUSH, .A.smurh = ship
ping tacilltce ior ,Urh var material al
lass been produced vcr, limited
Herbert Hootcr Food Administrators. !
thinks the railways 81, clogeed and can
meet the demand, u food ,hipIne,l' for /
the Alhes beca'i~'. l"n many articles not /
essential u thc making of war are tal<ing |
up space IL freight ears, and using up /
locomotive power ~ b,lnc hauled
!Iarr7 4 Garfield. Coal Administrator. I
irrlIevcS that coal which j. - vitally ]
needed to supply steel plants and other
important industries Of war. would be |
conserved IN gr'ater quantities if EN- |
hirgOcs on non-,Ssential freight were de /
clsrcl by the railroad administration |
In fact. DR. Garfield Is represented fre-
qucntly a. having believed that his own
coal order would not have been necessary
h non-c~s'-ntials had been eliminated
Who 81 the administration Is to decide
this question Clearly there is room for
a divergence 81 view Each one Of these
men probably could make an extended /
and convincing argument 10. ms point Of
view. but only rhe President could really
tell Whose ides. should prevail 1t l.,
after an. "a question of fact l. America
over produced Could the labor bow be-
inc used III non-t.>entials be diverted to
essential industries in 70 gradual way
a. not 10 undermine tho fabric of the
nation business itself? Is America i
capacity such that she can carry the
load oi essentials and non-essentials at
the same time
There are many men In the government
who believe that the United States can
DO what England has tried to do and
failed, that is, America can carry on
business a. usual and win the war These
men contend that America 5 productive
capacity has never really been strained,
and that the demands OF the war bring
production up to only so per cent Of
cspacity.
But, whatever the talk may be, the :
country has 70 perform IT, We have !
made the move and entered the war. We
are bound TO see IT through, no matter
what may he the cost 1t Is not for us
how TO turn our faces backward. We
must go forward meeting each emergency
= II arises and employing all our great t
esources 10 the one main purpose v
hat Of ending the war in the only manner Y
hat Will count most for the good of t
hereafter. And that is TO n
nd 1t IN victory-in such victory b
'ver the powerful and arrogant German /.
Dihtary machine that will make it i'm
DDfssible that such an organization shall
Ner again be permitted TO e,1st and 20 b
treaten the interests Of the entire world t
y its war possibilities
The end Of this war must be an ! II
beolute assurance Of the peace of the
rosld for all time 10 come And it will !,
z t0c duty Of our country, especially, f