Mr. Brookings was later placed in charge of price fixing and Judge Parker in charge of priorities. The War Industries Board undoubtedly accomplished a much better centralization of effort than was possible in the hurried organization of the early days, when the imperative need was to increase the sources of supply and get production going until the executive departments of the Government could get into their full stride. Mr. Scott was succeeded as Chairman of the War Industries by Daniel Willard, who in turn was succeeded by B. M. Baruch, who, in his leadership of this vital and powerful agency, duplicated the success that Mr. Willard had made as Chairman of the pioneer Advisory Commission.
CANTONMENT CONSTRUCTION
In indicating even an outline statement of the American industrial and economic effort in the war, the writer feels helpless to paint the picture within the space of a few thousand words. It simply cannot be done. But to visualize what the measure of the task was, let one thing be cited:
Copyright Underwood & Underwood
John D. Ryan
President of the Anaconda Copper Company. He was made chairman of the Aircraft Production Board after we entered the war.
At our entrance into the war there were one colonel and four men to build the cantonments. The job involved the expenditure of $150,000,000 in about three months. The largest year's work on the Panama Canal amounted to but some $50,000,000. The situation was heart-breaking. On hearing of it Frank Scott, then Chairman of the General Munitions Board, called up the Secretary of War and said that something had to be done, with which the Secretary instantly agreed. The result was that the Colonel, afterwards Brigadier-General Littell, had a civilian organization built around him by the Council of National Defense, notably by W. A. Starrett, later himself a colonel in the Army, which functioned until the Army was in shape to carry on the job alone. The building of the cantonments was the greatest job of the ages. Incidentally it should be stated that the average profit to the contractors was less than three per cent.
MEN LITTLE KNOWN
The writer likewise feels great reluctance in mentioning, as he has mentioned, only a few of the men who waged the industrial side of the war. Many business men little known to the country gave up their businesses and came to Washington and did superhuman things—did them in an impersonal, selfless way that was nothing less than stirring. Many of them remain unknown to this day, and their chief reward must lie in the satisfaction that they drew to their own souls by what they did, which is, of course, the greatest satisfaction of all in such situations as war-time Washington exemplified.