The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-07-07
SECRET GOVERNMENT
OF THE UNITED STATES
WORKING BEFORE VAR
Chairman Graham of Special House In
vestigating Committee Also Charges
That Wilson Delegated Policies
for Country and Befriended
"Big Business"


ment of the United States,p which for
mulated war legislation, delegated pol.
ieies the country was to pursue, and be
friended "big business were made to-
day by Chairman Graham of the special
House committee Investigating war de.
partment expenditures.
Minutes Of the council were read to the
committee by Mr.. Graham, together with
a report in which he asserted the council
assumed such broad powers that Major
General Goethals, former chief Of the
| purchase, storage and traffic division of
the war department, defed; cabinet
members protested against its activities
and Judge Gary, president of the United
States Steel corporation, accused it Of
operating in fragrant violation Of the
| law"
Mr.. Graham declared the president ere
ated the Secret government" by ignoring
and reversing the intent of Congress in
authorizing the establishment of coun-
ell of national defense in August, 1916
As authorized by Congress, he said, the
council was to be composed of six mem
bers of the cabinet, who were to be the
real executives and seven civilians to
be selected by the president, who were
to act in purely advisory capacity. In
stead of doing this, Mr.. Graham assert
ed, the president made the advisory com.
mission the real executives. clothing
them with unprecedented and almost IL
limitable powers"
Behind closed doors, weeks and even
months before war was declared" he
said, "these seven men designed practi.
cally every war measure which Congress
subsequently enacted. They devised the
entire system Of purchasing war sup.
plies, planned press censorship, de-
signed system Of food control, and sc,
lected Herbert Hoover as its director, and
even determined on the daylight saving
| scheme.
Conceivable within the law. but
brought into existence in absolute vic.
lation Of the law, it is not surprising I'd
find that this secret government Of The
United States itself persistently ignored
and even violated the law that allowed
interested parties to fix the prices OF war
supplies; that it put the people Of the
country 10 ineaculable unnecessary OK
pense and carried things with high
hand"
Mr.. Graham declared that when Major
General Goethals was called AT the lth
hour to rescue the war department from
the public obloquy which was fast set.
! Ting upon it as result of the meth.
DDS and incapacity Of the commission, he
repudiated and practically detied it."
Our soldiers werf actually dying Of
pneumonia in the camps because of lack
of proper clothing and blankets" Mr.
Graham said. "and General Goethals as
sumed the duties Of quartermaster gen
eral only on condition he shoald have
free scope in the performance Of his du
ties. unhampered by the council of ma
tional defense.
Immediately he took from the mem
bers of that council their power TO order
purchases and fix prices and soon dis
pensed with the services of those mem
bers Of the advisory commission. wht
had 50 deplorably bungled the control Of
the supplies for the army
Judge Gary advised the advisory com
mission, Mr., Graham said, that il wa.
operating in disregard of the Sherman
law, the Clayton law, and "all other
statutes that are supposed to regulat,
, business, particularly big business
When the attorney general was called
upon by the commission to answer Judge
Gary, Mr.. Graham said, he answered that
the matters referred TO as violations oi
law were matters Of national policy
rather than a legal question
afterwards" Mr. Graham declared
, when there was evidently a discussion
in Congress a. to the illegality of mem
: bers Of the committees on the counci
buying from themselves, the council dis
cussed this general policy and it was sug
gested that this embarrassment might
be removed by the plan Of the commit
tee reorganization now under consider
J ation.'
"fhe minutes show that on account ot
| this so-called embarrassment the wal
industries board was created, and com
mittees were appointed by the nationa
Chamber OF Commerce. SO the letter o.
the law might be complied with, but By
which scheme no part of the method d
J buying was changed in the slightest de
! gree so far as | can conceive"
Citing cases in which he said the coun
! ell formulated legislation before war was
! declared, which legislation later was con
I sidered by Congress, Mr.. Graham de
: ciared that on Feb, l5 1917, the counci
discussed the draft system and consid
; erred report from Commissioners Sam
uel Gompers and Howard Coffin, relativ,
to the exclusion of labor from military
service, on the same day recommended
that Herbert Hoover be employed b,
the government in connection with foot
control and on March endorsed thi
daylight saving scheme and recommended
federal censorship of the press
About the first thing the commission
did was to take up the matter of ar
: ranging an easy method of communica
: tion between the manufacturers and TIN
. government" Mr.. Graham continued. IA
several meetings, long before war wa
/ declared, the commission met with th
representatives of the manufacturing in
dustries and formed an organization o
them for selling supplies to the govern
ment.
"This method consisted of having TIN
representatives of various business, pro
ducing goods which the government
would have to buy, form themselves int
committees so they might be able to sci
to the government direct; when war wa
declared, this machinery began TO move
: although this scheme was suppose
to enable the Industries to deal with tn,
, government as one man, the government
I was at no time able to deal with th
industries through one man and en- TIN
contrary throughout the war numerou
! federal bureaus were bidding agains
. a,.L c+hn, Cor thn ms s1tprliac uyitl