War Industries Board

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a body the object of which was to concentrate control over the industries of the United States so as to meet the requirements of the war in an efficient manner. The board was dissolved at the end of 1918, it being held that its duties had ceased with the conclusion of the war, and that restrictions that had been laid on the industries of the country should be lifted as soon as possible. Before the ending of its activities by the order of the President many of the divisions of the board had already been disbanded, but provision was made for the continuance of certain of the board's activities by other departments of the Government. The War Trade Board took over the duties of the Division of Planning and Statistics. The Bureau of Markets of the Department of Agriculture took over the powers and duties of the Wool Division of the Board. The Price Fixing Committee was still held as being capable of doing valuable work. It was commissioned to continue performing its functions until all the prices fixed by the committee and not expiring by Jan. 1, 1919, had expired. Such other divisions of the War Industries Board as could not be dispensed with were reorganized and placed under the War Trade Board, the expenditure on behalf of which, it was arranged, would be paid out of the appropriations of the War Industries Board. The Board had justified its existence from the beginning. It served in creating order ist served in creating followed the earlier part of the war. It was a development of the advisory commission of the Council of National Defense whose duty it was to settle questions of priority, the distribution of supplies, and the elimination of wasteful competitive bidding for labor and materials. This Advisory Commission had, in March 1917, organized committees of transportation and communication; munitions and manufacturing; supplies; raw materials, minerals and metals; engineering and education; labor; and medicine and surgery. The reorganization of the commission as the dustries Board greatly strengthened the work. The board constituted for American industry an element similar to that of the general general staff in an army. It standardized the products, made labor more efficient, and had a reorganizing influence in almost every division of the industries of the country. When it was dissolved it had introduced methods that became permanent , and as a result of it services were established that have proved useful in the period of reconstruction.