Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, Volume XII

by Unknown

Interior of one of the Bethlehem Steel Company's mills—among the largest plants in the world for the production of munitions during the War.

[Click for a larger image.]

THE PRIORITY SYSTEM

The actual working of the priority system is shown in the following general classification of industry for the purpose of priority treatment:

• Ships—Including destroyers and submarine chasers.
• Aircraft.
• Munitions, Military and Naval Supplies and Operations—Including building construction for government needs and equipment for same.
• Fuel—For domestic consumption, and for manufacturing necessities named herein.
• Food and Collateral Industries—
  • Foodstuffs for human consumption, and plants handling same.
  • Feeding stuffs for domestic fowls and animals, and plants handling same.
  • All tools, utensils, implements, machinery, and equipment required for production, harvesting and distribution, milling, preparing, canning and refining foods and feeds such as seeds of foods, and feeds, binder twine, etc.
  • Products of collateral industries, such as fertilizer, fertilizer ingredients, insecticides and fungicides, containers for foods and feeds, collateral products.
  • Materials and equipment for preservation of foods, and feeds, such as ammonia and other refrigeration supplies, including ice.
• Clothing—For civilian population.
• Railroad—Or other necessary transportation equipment, including water transportation.
• Public Utilities—Serving war industries, Army, Navy, and civilian population."

But the perplexity of applying this system to such a question as fuel administration is shown in the following list taken from one of the trade publications of the Administration for April, 1918:

"The Fuel Administration has therefore arranged the following list of preferred industries:

• Aircraft—Plants engaged exclusivevly exclusively in manufacturing aircraft or supplies and equipment therefor.
• Ammunition—Plants engaged in the manufacture of ammunition for the United States Government and the Allies.
• Arms (small)—Plants engaged in manufacturing small arms for the United States Government and the Allies.
• Army and Navy cantonments and camps.
• Chemicals—Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing chemicals.
• Coke plants.
• Domestic consumers.
• Electrical equipment—Plants manufacturing same.
• Electrodes—Plants producing electrodes.
• Explosives—Plants manufacturing explosives.
• Farm implements—Manufacturers exclusively of agricultural implements and farm-operating Equipment.
• Feed—Plants producing feed.
• Ferro-alloys—Plants producing same.
• Fertilizers—Manufacturers of fertilizers.
• Fire brick—Plants producing same exclusively.
• Food—Plants manufacturing, milling, preparing, refining, preserving, and wholesaling food for human consumption.
• Food containers—Manufacturers of tin and glass containers and manufacturers exclusively of other food containers.
• Gas—Gas-producing plants.
• Guns (large)—Plants manufacturing same.
• Hemp, jute, and cotton bags—Plants manufacturing exclusively hemp, jute, and cotton bags.
• Insecticides—Manufacturers exclusively of insecticides and fungicides.
• Iron and steel—Blast furnaces and foundries.
• Laundries.
• Machine tools—Plants manufacturing machine tools.
• Mines.
• Mines—Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing mining tools and equipment.
• Newspapers and periodicals—Plants printing and publishing exclusively newspapers and periodicals.
• Oil—Refineries of both mineral and vegetable oils.
• Oil production—Plants manufacturing exclusively oil-well equipment.
• Public institutions and buildings.
• Public utilities.
• Railways—Plants manufacturing locomotives, freight cars and rails, and other plants engaged exclusively in manufacture of railway supplies.
• Refrigeration—Refrigeration for food and exclusive ice-producing plants.
• Seeds—Producers or wholesalers of seeds (except flower seeds).
• Ships (bunker coal)—Not including pleasure craft.
• Ships—Plants engaged exclusively in building ships (not including pleasure craft) or in manufacturing exclusively supplies and equipment therefor.
• Soap—Manufacturers of soap.
• Steel—Steel plants and rolling mills.
• Tanners—Tanning plants, save for patent leather.
• Tanning extracts—Plants manufacturing tanning extracts.
• Tin plate—Manufacturers of tin plate.
• Twine (binder) and rope—Plants producing exclusively binder twine and rope.

CIVIL WAR CONDITIONS