The manufacture of munitions spread over the whole of Canada, with the exception of Prince Edward Island—which is exclusively agricultural—and even invaded the island of Newfoundland. From the first factory in the east to the last factory on the Pacific coast was a journey of 4,500 miles.
"Steel," it was recorded, "was purchased wherever it could be obtained. It was shipped 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 miles to have it forged. From the forging plant it was shipped back again 500 or 600 miles or forwarded 2,000 miles to machining plants. Other component parts were purchased from manufacturers as far south as Florida. They were sent to remote points in order that every Canadian manufacturer engaged in munitions contract might sustain delivery of finished shells."
The policy pursued in all the complex operations thus briefly outlined aimed at the elimination of the middleman and dealing direct with those who performed the work. Raw materials of every description were purchased and passed on from one contractor to another, saving the contractor large investments of capital otherwise necessary to produce complete shells, and enabling a proper distribution of the materials available to insure maximum production. Subsequently the war munitions business was placed on a competitive basis.
All the work accomplished was due to the initiative of the Imperial Munitions Board, which was presided over by Sir Joseph Flavelle. There was, of course, a governing stimulus in all it did, namely, the needs of the war, which evolved the board's creation on broad lines when, in November, 1915, the British Government placed munition contracts in Canada amounting to $300,000,000. Manufacturers adapted their plants to munition making; thousands of men and women toiled at the lathe and in places of great responsibility and danger; patriotic Canadians freely gave their services when called upon with no other reward than the satisfaction of serving the state. The board's administrative staff numbered close to a thousand men and women, and of them Sir Joseph Flavelle declared that no body of men charged with serious duty ever received more loyal and efficient support. The same tribute was bestowed on the great home army of eager participants in munition making of all ranks, though, like the good workers they all were, they found duty its own reward.
An important factor in the manufacture of munitions was the work of the Canadian War Trade Board. Its functions braced the supervision and control of the Dominion's industries, and the direction of all essential trades, occupations, and materials to the conduct of the war. It was especially valuable in reaching outside of Canada for needed materials for munitions, particularly from the United States.
The War Trade Board was born of a crisis. Until the United States entered the war Canada had been able to obtain raw materials and half-finished products necessary in the munitions industry without difficulty from her southern neighbor. The situation changed when the United States began to conserve every raw material and product which could be used in the war. To present her case effectively Canada had to organize on national lines. The two countries were not independent, American industries needing nickel matter, asbestos, pulp, and power from Canada, and Canadians requiring pig iron, iron ore, steel sheets, coal, cotton, etc., from the United States. By both countries appointing a War Trade Board composed of outstanding business men in both countries, and by means of a Canadian War Mission established in Washington, the two countries were able to present a solid industrial front to the enemy and still preserve their respective national interests intact.
Drastic elimination of nonessentials was the first essential so that the railroads of the continent and the shipping of the world could devote their energies to carrying necessaries for sustaining the Allied war effort. The Canadian Board saw that no company imported any material when stocks in Canada could be utilized for its needs. This was not only to fulfill its obligations to the United States War Trade Board, but to keep down imports to the lowest possible figure so that Canada's trade balance with the United States should be as little adverse as possible. For the same reason a number of imports were placed on the restricted list.
Every day from all over Canada came anxious men and constant streams of letters and telegrams informing the board as to stocks of raw materials on hand, and explaining the needs. The War Trade Board undertook to see that the materials were forthcoming, if possible, and to secure them from within Canada or from the United States or elsewhere. It purchased and distributed tin plate in Canada, negotiated for the reopening of dormant blast furnaces and the construction of new undertakings for the production of pig iron, and obtained huge supplies required from the United States. It controlled the sale, purchase, and use of platinum. It financed the purchase and allotment through the Wool Commission of 46,208 bales of Australian wool weighing 15,573,542 pounds and valued at ten and a half million dollars, as well as five and a half million dollars' worth of tops and noils from the United Kingdom. It had power to pay bounties on the production of linen yarns in Canada. It also controlled the production and distribution of iron and steel and their products in Canada, and was empowered to take over and carry on the management of chrome ore-producing properties for a period of five years.
The Board also served as a clearing house for industrial information to manufacturers, keeping in constant touch with the various industries, either individually or through such bodies as the Imperial Munitions Board, the Canadian Wool Commission, the War Purchasing Commission, the Canadian Tanners' Council, the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, and the Canadian Wool Growers' Association.
Had it not been for the existence of such a body, there were many raw materials and products which Canadians could not have secured at all, as the British, United States, and Australian Governments would not have permitted their shipment but for assurances as to the use to which they would be put or of a substantial cash advance. The shortage of shipping made it necessary in some cases to secure a vessel to go to South America or some other country to get materials urgently needed in Canada, and only a government body could have induced the admiralty to permit it.