Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1926-04-01

aa<slte sistilGr arrangements at ten4sNG
Gesm0ay. It1lY, and Jdpea. Agreeing
y tr Dateir knOaoledge Gssd 6Ase1sstens
. to ham for tAe foS1VotnH pepcy. TIE
riais. transportation. housing, and &c
forth. On top of that there prevailed
the demand OF the Shipping Board
with the slogan that ships woaad win
the wax, and of the Food Admin 1vt1A-
ton. with tho slogan thsd food vould
! win the war Further, there wsss The
J RaiIroad Administra ration with he Beeti
| for material and lRh01, and finally
thaYe vas the feverish quest for labor
and supplies on the part Of the msni-
ton makers- all competing for labr.
money, materials. transportation, fuel,
! mower. and each insisting on the
| greater importance OF It's activity. All
! this while the labor supply was being
Iessened by the flow Of men into the
Army.
While an endeavOr was being made
70 bring order out of chaos, the great
undertaking had to 90 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.
ti11tn hn
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 a way that The morale of the PEG
pile would be maintained The prices
Of some things, like steel and copper,
were fixed tar below prevailing ratee,
and the wages of labor in those indus.
tries were standardized. The more
highly organized an industry, the
easier IL was to arrange. Order did
not commence to appear until the
Army fnnneled it's needs through one
man sitting with a section Of the War
industries Board and until the Navy,
Shipping hoard, Allies and Railroad
ADMINISTRATION did likewise. Each de-
partrent satisfied its requirements
through a centrtl authoritative body.
This was called the War Industries
Beard, controlling and directing all
materials and ca-ordipating through
Its chairman the whole system of gov
erninental and civilian supply and de.
mand. 1t was created by executive
order in March of the year 1918.
II Briefly. this board endeagored to
mabi;iSe the indnstries Of America so
that the fighting forces OF, the Allied
aAA associated nations could draw
from the United States-the hast res
ervOdY OF men, materials and money
the things needed for the winning Of
the Wat at the time the things were
Heeded and with the, least dislocatiOn
Of industry and the least disturbance
ef the civilian population.
,..h.vs.4. q. v,a..lIta. &. 90 y 4
Tue War Industries Board was Or
nRssne2 Ike amy otheEss supervisory
SsanMittae. with . chairman. vice
chairman, members in charge of va.
.Rssa1H soc iyi&ies, .bngea ehiefesapdtauh;
asssslsa4S workers. 1t surveyed and
eah8ht,te Arrange the whole industrial
Nars aeld ilassSaTs the pless&ry pow
MgAserEsd ,hysAhes PresMsntD end the
EeNaresg- aHaw we'll II did this Ia a
stGyy fsr 0tbers TO tell. what 1t afd
@ the masks Of the plan am here
dgaNislR. eN w .N eYs. '"N@
ys4shk#ass .,cssninarssi~sly | easy, to nix
aRises and t0SAiAtribats, materials. aad
ip6sad rssstMhilise this xakes0f labor
inssthose IN dRstriesr IN which prices
we're tired The labor situation, how.
ever, became increasingly difacuIt,
particularly when General Cypwder
desnslAit necessary toS withdraw R,en
for the proposed campaign OF 1873
after 4.600D00 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 inexperence of the organ.
iEStion 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. vf,
So ii became evident that the price
fixing program had to go even tur-
Cher, md the War Indnstriese BeaH;a;
ybsn the 'Atmistice came. was pro-
ceeding with a campaign to fix the
prices OF all the basic things that Ia.
hor had to buy Some had previously
been fixed ! speak of labor in much
broader sense than manual labor. for
the unorganized so-called white col.
lar part of our community elerka,
teschers, geverhment employees, pro
fessionaI 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
were devised. To illustrate