Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-07-12
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
Especial correspondence of The
ATgus).


Especial correspondence Of The
ATgus).
Washington, ID. c., July TO-
Now that the war has formally
ended by the signing of the peace
treaty, the national capital, which
has been under a severe strain for
the past two and a half years, is
beginning to get back to normal
again. While Washington will
never be the same lethargic city
it was before the war, it is grad
ually resuming a peace-time basis.
Though the dismantIing 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 war engine is now on il earn
est. A half dozen government bu-
reas 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 activities the
otKer day when -.4nounced that
10 new labor disputes would be
Heard but that present contro-
versies will be assigned 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 chairmen. During
the past year, the board received
1,245 cases, made 462 awards, dis
missed 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. prob
ably the greatest of the civilian
agencies, are gone, while Messrs.
Hoover and Garfield of the food and
fuel administrations respectively,
agencies which affected the daily
life Of all the people, are no long
. er telling the American people how
much food and fuel should be con-
sGmed every "a hours. Numerous
other war bureaus have been re-
duced to mere skeletons, retaining
a minimum force to wind up the
business.
With the army reduced to about
one million 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 depart
ments, it is Understood, are t, be
substantially decreased within the
next few months. Up to the pres
ent time it is estimated that about
ten thousand war workers have lost
their positions and returned to their
4. -
sidered that certain departments
are constantly increasing their ac-
tivities, necessitating the hiring of
additional clerks, thare has not
been great appreciate lessening of
the war time population of the cap
ltal.
Men like Schwab, Baruch, Stet-
tinius, john ID. Ryan and julius
Rosenwald have severed their con-
nections with the war establish
ment and are back in civil life
conducting their private businesses
and making plans for the prosper
Gus era of reconstruction that is
certain to follow the war. Scores
of other millionaires who were on
the government payroll at dollar
a year have left Washington, and,
it is taken, made more profitable
coEnections. Some of them have
,5eTt the capital only temporarily as
they became so impressed with life
in Washington while here doing
war work that they have either
erected or purchased homes here.
The war practically made Wash
ington q new city. 1t brought thou
sands of the nations leading men
and women here who under no 9TH
er circumstances would have been
attracted to the city. These new
corners, at least large percentage
of them, brought great wealth, to
Washington. They paid extortion-
ate prices for everything. One in
cident is told of dollar-a-year mill
lionaire paying $4,000 for a six
months lease on an unpretentious
home in this city. After occupy
ing the residence for a month, he
had to leave the capital on bust
ness, and he released the house
for the remaining five months for
$4,000. Before the war, that
would ha teen fair sale price
for the Ayuse.
Mother case OF this sort of af-
h1ence is told of a millionaire war
worker who wanted to have some
dentistry work done. He loathed