PREFACE A feature distinguishing the Great War from all other wars in which the United States has been engaged is that it necessitated the mobilization of practically the entire resources of the country for its successful prosecution. By "mobilization" is meant that the National Government was compelled, not merely to draft into its service all the manhood of the nation suitable for military operations, but to call upon, take over, direct, or control almost every element of the life of the people, industrial, commercial, scientific, and educational, to the end that all these activities might be brought to bear directly upon the prosecution of the war. To effect this mobilization the Congress had to pass a great body of special legislation extending the powers of the Government over these subjects and creating or making provision for the creation of a large number of special services through which these powers might be exercised. The present volume has for its purpose to attempt a methodical statement and description of these special war agencies and their operations. It has been necessary to restrict our attention to those agencies which represent distinct services specially created for the handling of matters connected with the prosecution of the war or the meeting of conditions engendered by the war. Only in an incidental way has an effort been made to consider the work done by the regular Departments and services of the Government. No account is thus given of the activities of the two most important war services of all, the War and Navy Departments. To have attempted such an account would have required another volume longer than the present one. Even with these limitations the task of presenting a connected account of the manner in which the National 405532 Government met the tremendously complicated problem of working out an effective organization for the administration of the new duties thrown upon it has been no slight one. Each service or group of services considered has presented features which alone would require a volume equal to the present one for their adequate treatment. What value the present work may have is thus that of furnishing a general survey or picture of the whole problem of organization for the prosecution of the war and the manner in which this problem was met by the Government. That this account might have the greatest value the attempt has been made to resolve the problem into its constituent elements, to state the nature of each and specifically the manner in, and organs through, which it was handled. The general procedure followed has been that of giving, in respect to each, first, an analysis of the nature of the problem and the conditions to be met; second, an account of the steps taken by the Government in meeting these conditions; and, finally, a statement of the conditions at the close of the war and the alternative lines of action open in respect to them. In describing the action of the Government the policy has been pursued of quoting largely from laws, executive orders, reports, and other official documents, to the end that the reader may get this authoritative statement of the character and purposes of the action taken. Although the treatment has been largely descriptive, failures and mistakes, as well as accomplishments, have been indicated. Although these errors of omission and commission were many, and constant changes in organization had to be made to correct them, it cannot be stated too emphatically that on the whole the Government met a situation of unexampled difficulty with a success that can fairly challenge comparison with the manner in which the same situation was met by any other country. W. F. WILLOUGHBY. CONTENTS Analysis of the problem-Its importance and immediate urgency- - Elements in the mobilization of facilities and resources - Need for an organ of general adminis- - The President as administrator-in-chief — His administrative powers derived from Congress- The Overman Act-Council of National Defense pose as originally conceived-Its composition and func- tions as prescribed by the Act of March 26, 1916 - Its Advisory Commission Organization of the Council and Advisory Commission — Its defects — In the formula- tion of programme - In the correlation of activities In administrative personnel-In the interpretation of functions - In committee organization — The real ser- Science as a factor in the prosecution of the war - The Na- tional Academy of Sciences - Its offer of service in the interests of national preparedness- Creation of the National Research Council Its functions as defined by executive order of the President- Its organization and activities The Research Information Committee and its foreign contacts - Stimulation of industrial and scientific research - Its permanent organization — The Naval Consulting Board-Its function the examination Voluntary and self-imposed censorship of Publicity activities and organization of the Committee News- Civic and educational coöperation - Syndicate features Foreign-language newspapers Official Bulletin of the United States - Women's war work - Four-minute men- - Public speaking — Pictures - Films - Other services Censorship a war-time necessity Special conditions demanding it in the United States Control of radio communication as- sumed by the Navy - Military censorship of telegraph, telephone, and submarine-cable communication with for- eign countries Additional powers granted by Congress Control of communications by the Censorship Board Financial preparedness of the United States - Importance of the income-tax amendment and the Federal Reserve Act Revenue legislation and the issue of securities — Dual problem of the mobilization of capital - Neces- sary limitations on security issues. Capital Issues Committee created by the Federal Reserve Board- functions and operations - Capital Issues Committee created by the War Finance Corporation Act — Its duties Its powers determined by voluntary coöpera- tion Scope of its operations Necessary financing of essential war enterprises War Finance Corporation created Its composition and powers - Its resources Analysis of the problem The two elements of marshalling industrial resources and establishing arbitrary control Industrial inventories of the Naval Consulting Board and the War Department — Organization of the Council of National Defense Munitions Standards Board- General Munitions Board - The War Industries Board Its duties, powers, and defects- Reconstitution of |