On February 15th, about two months before the declaration of war, Commissioners Coffin and Gompers made a report as to the exclusion of labor from military service, and the draft was discussed; the draft was also discussed on other occasions before anyone in this country, except this advisory commission and those who were closely affiliated with the administration, knew that a declaration of war was to be made later. At a meeting, on February 15th, this same commission of seven men (none of whom had any official authority except as advisors), recommended that Herbert Hoover be employed by the Government in connection with food control. It was generally understood, as appears from the minutes, that Mr. Hoover was to be in control of this matter, although war was two months in the future.
The advisory commission first met on December 6, 1916. Almost the first thing the commission did was to take up the matter of arranging an easy method of communication between the manufacturers and the Government. On February 12th, for example, Secretary Lane offered a resolution to the advisory commission suggesting to them to call a series of conferences of the leading men in various industries, so the industries might organize and be able to do business with the council through one man. In several meetings, long before the war was declared, this advisory commission of seven men met with the representatives of the manufacturing industries and formed an organization of them for selling supplies to the Government, which organization was well perfected before the war was declared. This method consisted of having the representatives of the various businesses, producing goods which the Government would have to buy, form themselves into committees so that they might be able to sell to the Government the goods direct, which their industries produced. In almost every meeting that this advisory commission had before the declaration of war, they discussed and recommended to the council (which consisted of six Cabinet members) these plans for fixing prices and selling to the Government. When war was declared on April 6th, this machinery began to move, headed by the advisory commission of these minutes, the active Government of the seven men, who were, in effect, as shown by United States, so far as the purchase of supplies was concerned. So far as I can observe, there was not an act of the so-called war legislation afterward enacted that had not before the actual declaration of war been discussed and settled upon by this advisory commission.
It should be said, of course, that no member of this Council organization ever sold commodities to himself. But that is another story.
MEN OF EXPERIENCE
I could not complete even a skeleton outline of the period in question without certain other references.
Further to emphasize the quality of the business men being called to Washington by the Council and Advisory Commission, I quote part of a letter to Chairman Willard of the Commission from Commissioner Baruch of March 23, 1917:
Mr. Daniel Willard,
Chairman, Advisory Commission, Council of
National Defense, Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir:
In pursuance of the authority given me and in order to be prepared to meet the requests made of the advisory commission, I have appointed the following committees. As the necessity arises and the advisability becomes apparent, I shall add from time to time other members to these committees, always bearing in mind keeping them down to such a size that they will be workable. It has been my endeavor to appoint on these committees men of proved ability and undoubted integrity.
Leather.—Walter C. Garritt, U. S. Leather Co., Boston, Mass.; George F. Johnson, Endicott, N. Y.; Theodore P. Haight, American Hide & Leather Co., New York City.
Rubber.—A. Marks, Diamond Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio; Fred Hood, Hood Rubber Co., Watertown, Mass.; Stuart Hotchkiss, General Rubber Co., New York City.