Arizona state miner., 1926-04-17

to bring order out of chaos, the great
undertaking had to go on. Men, ships,
munitions, food, material, had to be
provided. Old organizations, bureaus
and traditions had to be met and
changed, but not destroyed until the
new was set up. The wonder of it all
is, not that there were so many mis-
takes, but that so much was accom-
plished.
At the time we entered the war
prices were at their peak, and tending
higher because of the wars Unsuitable
demands. The problem was not alone
to secure the materials and labor and
to stop the confusion. but to do It in
such way that the morale of the peo-
pie would be maintained The prices
of some things, like steel and copper.
were fixed far below prevailing rates.
and the wages OF labor in those indus
tries were standardized The more
highly organized an industry, the
easier 1t was to arrange Order did
not commence to appear until the
Army funneled its needs through one
man sitting with section OF the War
Industries Board and until the Navy,
Shipping Board, Allies and Railroad
Administration did likewise Each de-
partment satisfied it's requirements
through central authoritative body
This was called the War Industries
Board, controlling and directing all
materials and co-ordinating through
its chairman the whole system Of gov
nrn to1 Syyi1i do
mand. 1t was created by executive
order in March of the year 1918
Briefly, this board endeavored to
mobilize the industries of America so
that the fighting forces of the Allied
and associated nations could draw
from the United States-the last res
ervoir of men, materials and money
the things needed for the winning of
the war at the time the things were
needed and with the least dislocation
of industry and the least disturbance
Of the civilian population.
The War Industries Board was or
ganized like any other supervisory
committee, with a chairman, vice
8
rious activities, bureau chiefs and sub
ordinate workers 1t surveyed and
sought to arrange the whole Industrial
war field under the plenary powers
conferred by the President and the
Congress. How we'll it did this is
story for others to tell What it did
| is the basis of the plan l am here
drawing
1t was comparatively easy to fix
I prices and to distribute materials, and
indeed to stabilize the wages of labor
in those industries in which prices
were fixed. The labor situation, how
ever, became increasingly difficult,
particularly when General Crowder
found it necessary to withdraw men
for the proposed campaign of 1919
after 100000 soldiers had already
been taken.
Much has been said about the prof
teering Of labor, 1t is an unjust accu
sation. 1t is only fair to say that this
condition was primarily brought about
through the inexperience of the organ
ization within our own governmental
departments and by the furious bid
ding of munitions makers and ship
builders for services. That situation,
| together with the increased prices Of
the things that labor had to buy with
the results of it's work, made it inevi-
! table that labor must get higher
wages.
So it became evident that the price
fixing program had to go even fur
| ho In
when the Armistice came, was pro-
| ceeding with a campaign to fix the
! prices of all the basic things that la,
Dor had to buy. Some had previously
! been fixed. l speak Of labor in a much
| broader sense than manual labor, for
| the unorganized so-called white col
| lar" part of our community-clerk5,
| teachers, government employees, pro.
| fesSiOnal men-Were less able to meet
| the situation than labor in the mar.
rover sense. For the protection and
relief of such groups certain plans
we're devised To illustrate
During the final phase of the World
War no man or corporation or institu-
tion could raise money without the
"PPION" al VI LH0 Cdp4Cdl ioou0S OOulIhll'
tee Of the Treasury Department, which
committee in turn would not permit
the borrowing of money unless the
War Industries Board approved the
use to which it was to be put. Thus
the City of New York was not permit
ted to spend $8,000000 for the build
ing of schools The City of Philadel-
Hhia was prevented from making i'm
prcvements that in peace time would
have been necessary, but in war time
were not Various states, counties
and cities, and vast number Of pri