Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-07-18
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

vYTASHING ION, D. c., July 9.--Now that
wv the war has formally ended by the
W signing of the peace treaty, the ma
.ionaI capital, which been under severe
strain for the past two and one-half years, is
beginning. to get back to normal again While
Washington will nevsr be the same lethargic
city it was before the war, it is gradually re-
Stunning a peace-time basis.
Though the dismantli & of the mighty war
machine built here to fight the Hun started
Immediately after the armistice took effect
the real heavy work of tearing down the
va engine is now on in earnest A half
dozen government bureaus to which the war
gave birth either have gone out Of existence
| already or will do so within the next few
weeks.
The National War labor Board ended it's
activities the other lay when it announced
that no new labor disputes would be heard,
out that present controversies will be assign
ed to the joint chairmen of a section of the
board for final adjudication The board was
organized under presidential PROCLAMATION
with former President Taft and Frank P
Walsh, of Kansas City, as joint chairman
During the past year, the board received
1,245 cases, made 462 wards. dismissed 391
cases for various causes, referred 315 cases
TO specified agencies and suspended one case
The Council of National Defense and the
War Industries Board, probably the greatest
OF the civilian agencies are gone, while
Messrs. Hoover and Garfeld of the food and
fuel administrations respectively, agencies
which affected the daily life of all the peonle
are no longer telling the American people
how much food and fuel should be consumed
every tWenty-four hours. Numerous other
war bureaus have been reduced to mere
| skeletons, retaining minimum force to wind
| up the business.
With the army reduced to about one mil
lion and steadily declining to less than half
| that size and, the emergency personnel of the
navy cut from five hundred thousand to half
| that number, the clerical forces of these two
| large departments, it is understood are to
| be substantially decreased within the next
| few months. Up to- ;ne present time it is es-
! t1mated that about ten thousand war work
ers have lost their positions and returned to
their homes. However, when it is consider
| ed that certain departments are constantly
increasing their activities, necessitating the
hiring OF additional clerks, there has not been
great appreciable lessening of the war time
population of the capital
Men like SchWab, Baruch Steetinius John
d. Ryan and Julius dosenwald have severed
their connections with the war establishment
and are back in civil life conducting their
private businesses, a2d making plans for the
prosperous era of reconstruction that is GER
Tain TO follow the war. Scores of other mill
lonalres~ who were on the government nav
roll at dollar year have left washington
and, 1t is taken, made more profitable con-
nect1ons. Some of them have left the canita1
ed with life in Washington while here doing
var work that they have either erected or
purchased homes here
The war practically made Washington a
new city. 1t brought thousands of the ma
TONS leading men and women here who I'M
der no other circumstances would have been
attracted to the city. These newcomers, at
least large percentage of them brought
great wealth to Washington. They paid ex-
tortionate prices for everything. One incl
dent is told of dollar-a-year Millionaire pay
ing fifteen thousand dollars for six months
| lease on an unpretentious home in this city.
After occupying the residence for month,
he had to leave the capital on business. and
| he released the house for the remaining five
months for twenty-five thousand dollars Be-
| lore the war, that would have been a fair
| sale price for the house.
Another case Of this sort of affluence is told
| OF d millionaire war worker who wanted to
have some dentistry work done. He loathc d