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In Spirit, in Purpose
And in Action
THE STORY
OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTEE
ON PUBLIC SAFETY
February 10. 1 9 1 7 — November 21, 1918
By
GEORGE HINCKLEY LYMAN
ADVERSIS MAJOR PAR SECUNDIS
^%^'
COPYRIGHTED BY GEORGE HINCKLEY LYMAN
FOR
MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
NOV I3i9)9
BOSTON
WRIGHT 8l POTTER PRINTING CO.. STATE PRINTERS
32 DERNE STREET
igig
)CI.A536554
PREFACE
The accompanying synopsis of the part taken in the
Great War by the Massachusetts Committee on Public
Safety, written at the request of His Excellency Governor
McCall and members of the Executive Committee, aims
merely to present a general chronicle of its activities and the
relation of its undertaking to the State and to the people.
With the very large number of subjects involved, to
attempt a full and elaborated account of its work would not
only fill volumes, but be quite sure to exhaust the patience
of the reader. Nor could any single person, however well
equipped with a general knowledge of what the Committee
brought about, adequately portray the ideals and accom-
plishments of those sub-committees of which he was not
himself a directing influence, and give proper credit to their
individual members. Accordingly, it has been attempted to
present a resume of the conditions obtaining at the time the
Committee came into being, and which made the demand
for its formation, together with a general outline of the work
done. It has also been found necessary, especially in treat-
ing of the larger functions of the Committee, to append
certain tabulations rather than to include them in the body
of the text. The chairmen of the sub-committees undertook
to be responsible for results, and both chairmen and per-
sonnel are entitled to full praise for the successful outcome
of. their Committee's work; yet the amount of credit due to
any one committee has in most cases to be gathered from
its own records as the chief dependable statement of its
contributions to the general result. The privilege has, there-
fore, been assumed, without acknowledgment to the original
sources, of borrowing the ideas and even the wording as
contained in reports submitted by chairmen of sub-com-
mittees. The same is true as regards the press and other
outside agencies, thus making this story to a certain degree
composite in its relation.
To present a mere stilted record of the activities of the
Committee on Public Safety would strangle all imagination.
Likewise any effort accurately to portray so vital a part of
the Commonwealth's history during those wonderful, stir-
ring times would be adjudged unseasonable. Nor is a
literary effort asked for or warranted. It is, therefore,
assumed that a simple, unvarnished tale as gathered from
reports and the personal observation of those intimately
associated with the work will best meet every requirement.
GEORGE HINCKLEY LYMAN.
July, 1919.
CONTENTS
Part I page
Chapter I. — General Conditions, 1
Chapter II. — Organization of Provisional and Executive Commit-
tees, 6
Chapter III. — Anticipating War, 11
State Organization and Preparatory Committees:
Committee on Finance, 14
Committee on Co-ordination of Aid Societies, .... 16
Committee on Industrial Survey, 18
Committee on Transportation, 19
Committee on Federal and State Legislation, . . . .21
Committee on Mobilization and Concentration Camps, . 24
Committee on Horses, 25
Committee on Trucks and Motor Cars, 25
Committee on Publicity, 26
Chapter IV. — Local Defense, 28
Committee on Land Forces, 28
Committee on State Protection, 29
State Guard, 33
Committee on Naval Forces, 36
Chapter V. — Local Defense (continued), 40
Committee on Military Equipment and Supplies, ... 43
Relations with Washington on Equipment, 47
Committee on Emergency Help and Equipment, ... 49
Committee on Recruiting, 52
Chapter VI. — Committee on Prevention of Social Evils surround-
ing Military Camps, 62
Chapter VII. — Intelligence Work; German Propaganda in Re-
ligious Organizations, 80
Chapter VIII. — Special Committee Work, 83
Military Organization Schools, 83
Liberty Bonds, 83
Volunteer Dental Committee, 84
Chiropodist Preparedness Committee, 85
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Unit, 87
Chapter VIII — Concluded.
Radio School,
Speakers' Bureau,
Four-minute Men,
Chapter IX. — Organization and Employees,
Office Rooms,
90
91
92
95
Part II
Labor Controversies and Arbitrations, 97
Specific Arbitrations and Settlements :
I. Gloucester Fishermen, 101
II. Market-garden Teamsters, 102
III. Dock Freight Handlers connected with Locals 809
and 822 of the International Longshoremen's Asso-
ciation, 104
IV. Boston & Maine Machinists, 107
V. Fore River Machinists, Reamers and Bolters, .110
VI. Lynn Shoe Controversy, 113
VII. Boston Elevated Carmen, 121
VIII. Street Railways operated in Worcester, Springfield,
Attleboro and Surrounding Towns, . . . .125
IX. Telephone Operators outside Metropolitan Boston, . 128
X. Coal Teamsters of Boston and Vicinity, . . 131
XL Lowell Textile Mills, 132
XII. American Woolen Company Mills, 134
Part III
Miscellaneous Activities, 140
Chapter I. — Committee on the Solicitation of Funds for Patriotic
Purposes, 143
Chapter II. — Committee on New England Sawmill Units, . .156
Chapter HI. — Committee on Mobilization of School Boys for
Farm Service, 1G6
Chapter IV. — Committee on War Efficiency, 183
Chapter V. — Massachusetts Halifax Relief Committee, . . .189
Chapter VI.
Committee on Commonwealth MUitary Emergency Hospital, . 213
Committee on Training and Instruction of Disabled Soldiers
and Sailors, 216
Committee on Higliways Transport — Council of National
Defense, 218
Chapter VII.
Committee on Americanization, 220
Committee on Landlord and Tenant — War Profiteering, . . 222
Chapter VII — Concluded. page
Committee on Commercial Economy, . . . . . . 228
Committee on Non-War Construction, 231
Chapter VIII. — Influenza Epidemic of the Autumn of 1918. Emer-
gency Health Committee, 234
Part IV
Women's Activities, 256
Chapter I. — Massachusetts Division, Woman's Council of Na-
tional Defense, 258
Chapter II. — Committee on Child Welfare, Woman's Council of
National Defense, 262
Chapter III. — Committee on Women in Agriculture, . . 274
Chapter IV. — Committee on Health and Recreation, . . . 278
Chapter V. — Committee for the Maintenance of Existing Social
Agencies, 280
Chapter VI. — The Army and Navy Yarn Shop Committee, . . 287
Chapter VII. — Committee on Education, 290
Chapter VIII. — Committee on Women in Industry, . . 294
Chapter IX. — Committee on Publicity, 301
Part V
Massachusetts Food Administration, 306
Chapter I. — Personnel and Introduction, 306, 307
Chapter II. — Finances and Organization, 316
(a) Finances, 316
(b) County Food Administration Division, 317
(c) Zone No. 1 Organization, 321
Chapter III. — Production, 324
(a) Committee on Food Production, 324
(6) Direct Buying and Community Markets, .... 355
Chapter IV. — Conservation and Publicity, 362
(a) Home Economics, 362
(b) Canning without Sugar, 370
(c) The Food Administration Home Card, 1917-18, . . .371
(d) No White Bread Week, 376
(e) Garbage Committee, 377
(/) State Merchant Representative, 380
(g) Food Administration Bulletin, 383
(h) Literature Division, 384
(i) Fair Exhibits, 1918, 384
Chapter V. — Regulation of Food Trades 386
(a) License Division, 386
(fe) Division of Enforcement, 397
Chapter V — Concluded. page
(c) Cold Storage and Flour Stock, 402
(d) Price Division, 403
Chapter \T!. — Public Eating Places and Bakers, .... 405
(a) Hotels and Restaurants, 405
(6) Baking Div^ision, 411
Chapter VII. — Food Commodities, 415
(a) Cereal Division, 415
(b) Grain and Feed Division, 428
(c) Potato Committee, 433
(d) Federal Milk Commission for New England, . . . 434
(e) Campaign for Wider Use of Dairy Products, . . .441
(/) Committee on Fish, 441
(g) Poultry and Eggs, 449
(h) Sugar Division, 452
(i) Committee on Ice, 457
(j) The Banana Episode, 462
Chapter VIII. — Transportation and Adjustment Division, . 464
Chapter IX. — Fuel Supply for Food Industries, .... 467
Part VI
Fuel Administration, 468
New England Coal Committee, 468
Causes of Coal Shortage in New England, 469
Organization of New England Coal Committee, .... 472
Organization of the New England Fuel Administration, . . 478
Bituminous Shortage during Winter of 1917-18, .... 482
Distribution of Soft Coal by New England Fuel Administration, 491
Improvement in Bituminous Situation 495
The Anthracite Shortage, 498
Part VII
Treasurer's Report, 507
Dissolution of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safetv, . 529
APPENDICES
PAGE
Executive Committee of Massachusetts Committee on Public
Safety and Sub-Committees, 537
Chairmen of Public Safety Committees in Cities and Towns in
Massachusetts, 542
New England Sawmill Units, 550
Recreational Equipment and Library Privilege, 55^
Massachusetts Halifax Health Commission — Act creating. . . 554
Chairmen of Woman's Committees, Council of National Defense,
in Cities and Towns in Massachusetts, 557
Prices fixed by the Federal MUk Commission for New England, 567
Food Committees, 568
Town and City Food Administrators, . . • 572
Calendar, Home Economics Committee, March, 1917, to November,
1918, 580
Circular issued by the New England Coal Committee, .... 582
Organization of Federal Fuel Administration for New England, . 587
Chairmen of Fuel Committees in Cities and Towns in Massachusetts, 592
I LLUSTRATIONS
Frontispiece,
Interior of Radio School,
Some of the Lumbermen, .
Sawing Lumber, .
Bunk House,
At Scituate, ....
At Feeding Hills, Springfield;
At Marblehead, .
At Hudson, ....
Certificate of Honorable Discharge, for School Boa's on
Farms, ....
Boys' Camp, Stockbridge, .
Halifax, N. S. — Governor McCall Apartments. Largest
Apartment Houses in the World, sheltering 320
Families, completed in SW Working Hours, .
Halifax, N. S. — Ruins of the Sugar Refinery, a Ten-
story Building,
Halifax, N. S. — Shore immediately adjacent to the
Scene of the Disaster. Steamboat thrown up on
Top of the AMiarf at Extreme Right,
Food Administration Demonstration Car,
Quincy, Mass., Community Garden,
Food Administration Cottage on Boston Common,
Food Conservation Cottages on Boston Common,
Facing
Facing
Facing
Facing
Facing
Facing
Facing
Facing
page 88
page 158
page 161
page 161
page 174
page 174
page 177
page 177
Facing page 178
Facing page 178
Facing page 196
Facing page 200
Facing page 204
Facing page 304
Facing page 356
Facing page 367
Facing page 369
XI
THE STORY
OF
THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC SAFETY
February 10, 1917 November 20, 1918
Part I
CHAPTER I
GENERAL CONDITIONS
When on August 3, 1914, the Old World began the greatest
conflict in the history of mankind, finally embracing nearly
every nation and dependency from East to West, the average
citizen of Massachusetts, many thousand miles distant from
the seat of war, failed to connect the devastation raging so
far away with any immediate or ultimate harm coming to
his country, his State or himself.
It was not so much optimism as a lack of appreciation
that prompted this almost universal sense of security. Yet
a very few, with a clearer and more prophetic understanding
of the conditions that brought about the war, were con-
stantly insistent that the United States would sooner or
later inevitably be involved, and that it was incumbent on
her people to make every preparation, take the initiative,
and join the cause of the Allies. To them the danger was
imminent, and the cause of freedom and humanity directly
imperiled. They realized that the world was facing a mighty
power, now fully arrived at an acme of leadership, organi-
zation and armament, all servile to an irresponsible, ruthless
oligarchy bent at any cost on the domination of the world;
that"Kultur," so called, was a mockery, its very name mis-
leading; while the most vicious and insidious propaganda
was being ruthlessly directed against the integrity of our
national life.
The philosophy of this inertia on the part of a liberty-
loving people — who for three years had witnessed humanity
degraded, the rights of freedom trodden under foot, its
country's flag insulted, and its citizens murdered on the
high seas without a blow being struck in return — is more
properly material for the psychologist.
It was the conditions as they obtained, and not their
cause, with which we had to reckon when our Republic
finally declared war against Germany and joined the Allies,
then sorely pressed, and who, though far from beaten, stood
with their backs to the wall.
A mighty problem confronted us. Our energies had been
absorbed in the attainment of national prosperity. For
years we had been negligent of every warning, and despite
our opportunities and immeasurable resources had finally
entered the greatest conflict in history totally deficient in
armament, equipment or material; with an army small and
scattered; a transportation service inexcusably faulty; and
our suddenly awakened people dazed by the realization of
its desperate unpreparedness. Across the seas a relentless
foe met our challenge with open ridicule and contempt,
boasting that the war would be over and the Teuton victo-
rious long before the United States could marshal its armies
on the field of battle.
But they forgot our birthright, so nobly conceived in the
love of liberty. They did not recall our infancy and its
baptism of patriotic self-sacrifice. They failed to appreciate
that the divine heritage bequeathed to us was not dead, Init
remained a vital and controlling element in our character,
and that we were still loyal to the ideals of our forefathers
and the force of their great example. They did not know
that beneath the surface lay the quickening, unconquerable
soul of the American people.
It was the recognition of this spirit, and the anticipation
of the United States' immediate entry into the war, which
prompted His Excellency Governor McCall, as spokesman
for the people of Massachusetts, and at the immediate sug-
gestion of Mr. James J. Storrow, and Mr. Charles F. Weed,
President of the Chamber of Commerce, to name on Febru-
ary 9, 1917, the following one hundred citizens, chosen from
every section of the Commonwealth, as a Massachusetts
Committee on Public Safetv : —
James J. Storrow, Chairman.
Henry Abrahams.
Charles H. Allen.
Hon. Butler Ames.
Charles S. Baxter.
Frank P. Bennett.
Col. Everett C. Benton.
Charles S. Bird.
Spencer Borden, Jr.
Charles W. Bosworth.
Roland W. Boyden.
Dr. L. Vernon Briggs.
George E. Brock.
Dr. William A. Brooks.
William M. Butler.
Charles F. Choate, Jr.
A. H. Christie.
Charles H. Cole.
Hon. Calvin Coolidge.
Hon. Louis A. Coolidge.
Hon. Channing H. Cox.
Hon. W. Murray Crane.
Henry H. Crapo.
Alvah T. Crocker.
John W. Cummings.
Hon. James M. Curley.
Hon. Edwin U. Curtis.
Hon. Grafton D. Cushing.
Harvey Cushing.
Henry S. Dennison.
George A. Draper.
Albert Greene Duncan.
Arthur W. Eaton.
John W. Farley.
Walter C. Fish.
Hon. John F. Fitzgerald.
Archie N. Frost.
Louis A. Frothingham.
Harry W. Garfield.
William A. Gaston.
Edward W. Glines.
Levi H. Greenwood.
Edwin Farnham Greene.
Walton A. Greene.
Edwin A. Grozier.
John W. Haigis.
Matthew Hale.
Charles H. Hayden.
Robert F. Herrick.
Henry L. Higginson.
Richard C. Hooker.
James H. Hustis.
George N. Jeppson.
J. Lovell Johnson.
Benjamin Joy.
Eben S. S. Keith.
Louis E. Kirstein.
George E. Kunhardt.
Louis K. Liggett.
Edmund W. Longley.
A. Lawrence Lowell.
Frank J. Ludwig.
Hon. George H. Lyman.
Richard C. Maclaurin.
Frederick W. Mansfield.
Robert E. Harden.
Frederic C. McDuffie.
J. Franklin McElwain.
Grenville S. McFarland.
Alexander Meiklejohn.
Guy Murchie.
Robert L. O'Brien.
Joseph H. O'Neil.
Eugene W. Ong.
James J. Phelan.
William B. Plunkett.
J. W. Powell.
Oliver Prescott.
Frederick H. Prince.
A. C. Ratshesky.
Russell Robb.
Bernard J. Rothwell.
John L. Saltonstall.
Edward F. Searles.
Joseph A. Skinner.
Frederic S. Snyder.
Philip L. Spalding.
Godfrey de la Tannancour.
Charles H. Taylor.
Thomas W. Thatcher.
Hon. David I. Walsh.
Charles G. Washburn.
Charles F. Weed.
Henry G. Wells.
George R. White.
E. Marston Wliitin.
Sherman L. WHiipple.
James T. Williams, Jr.
Butler R. Wilson.
Daniel G. Wing.
Robert Winsor.
Subsequently the Governor added the following names :
W. A. L. Bazeley.
Edmund Billings.
H. F. Brock.
Charles C. Doten.
Mark Temple Dowling.
Henry B. Endicott.
William F. Fitzgerald.
Alvan T. Fuller.
John L. Hall.
Ira N. HoUis.
Stillman F. Kelley.
Arthur A. Kidder.
Walter L. McMenimen.
George von L. Meyer.
Charles A. Pastene.
Gardner W. Pearson {ex officio).
Robert L. Raymond.
Milton F. Reed.
Simon Vorenberg.
Frank W. Whitcher.
Roger Wolcott.
Massachusetts had ever been a practical State. Her
industries and institutions were her life. At the same time,
she never abandoned her ideals, which at once quickened
with threatened danger. She now recognized what was
expected of her, and that it was a people's war, at home as
well as in the field, and in the cause of Liberty. Of the
Committee so appointed more than one-half became person-
ally active in its labors, with very few holidays to break the
strain during the twenty-one months their services were
called for.
The Governor's selection was made without regard to
creed, political affiliation, social or racial distinction. With
a single aim, Republican and Democrat, Gentile and Jew,
Catholic and Protestant toiled shoulder to shoulder, —
their strength in unity. Their example was closely followed
by many hundreds eventually enrolled in different branches
of the work. Distinguished scholars, college presidents,
clergymen, philanthropists, professors, doctors, lawyers,
business men and labor leaders met in daily conclave.
Women and men, the elder and the younger, all volunteers
in a great cause, toiled patriotically, cheerfully, and in per-
fect harmony during the long summer heat and the cold
winters that they might do their share in going over the
home top.
CHAPTER II
ORGANIZATION OF PROVISIONAL AND EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEES
A Provisional Executive Committee of seven, appointed
by His Excellency to act until such time as the whole Com-
mittee could be brought together, met the next day, Feb-
ruary 10, 1917, at the Governor's office to discuss and lay
plans for the complete co-ordination of the resources of the
State. The Governor advised in substance that the purpose
of the Committee was to consider the problems growing out
of our international relations, in order that the Common-
wealth might have the benefit of its advice and action; that
he believed our citizens ready to respond in the emergency
that presented itself; and that his choice of names had been
solely influenced by his determination to have all the dif-
ferent elements of our citizenship represented, and thus the
opinion of the Commonwealth as a whole obtained.
Meetings of the Provisional Committee were held regu-
larly every day for five days thereafter, the sessions extend-
ing sometimes well into the night. During this period the
contemplated scope of the Committee's work was outlined
as far as at that time possible; the formation of sub-com-
mittees was suggested and approved, and reports of condi-
tions here and abroad were gathered from a vast number
of agencies, all with a view to the complete co-ordination
of the resources of the Commonwealth and the fullest co-
operation with sister States and the national government.
On February 14, 1917, the first meeting of the Committee
of One Hundred was called together by the Governor in the
East Wing Connuittee Room at the State House, where His
Excellency, on bringing the meeting to order, addressed
them in part as follows: —
My difficulty in selecting this Committee was rather one of exclusion
than of selection, because in considering the make-up of sucli a citizens
committee in the Commonwealth one finds a splendid wealth of material.
^Vllat I tried to do was to get one hundred of the best men in the State,
with a special idea of their fitness for the work, and representative as a
body of the different interests, the different lines of industry, and the
different elements of our citizenship, so that it would stand as repre-
sentative of the whole Commonwealth.
I had an idea that it was well to have a committee of this character
consider those problems that grow out of our present delicate interna-
tional relations, and give to the Commonwealth, and through it to the
country, the benefit of its advice, and, if necessary, of its action. I did
not appoint the Committee with the idea that war was probable. I am
expressing no opinion upon that point. But I think we will all agree
that war is at least possible; and as it is possible it behooves us to do
what we can to get the Commonwealth of Massachusetts where it may,
as it alwa^'s has in time of national crises, respond very quickly to any
call from the Nation. But whatever our faults of preparation may be,
the American people has such a comprehensive genius, such a facility of
invention, that there is no nation in the world that can take liberties
with it or that can provoke it, at any rate, without considering the con-
sequences. We have not been permitted to grow up a big and great
nation simply because of the toleration of other powers; but we have
the elements in ourselves, in our government, that will make us a for-
midable foe to anj^ other nation in the world before we finally get through
a war, and I believe the other nations all recognize it.
Gentlemen, we are not trying to get in advance of the men who are
controlling the administration of our national government. I believe
those men are actuated only by patriotic motives. I believe they
thoroughly understand the situation, and I believe when the test shall
come it will be found that they have made preparations and have taken
thought of things of which most of us did not happen to have any
knowledge. It is my idea that we should support the administration.
At the conclusion of the Governor's address the Com-
mittee proceeded to form its permanent organization, the
officers elected within the immediately succeeding days,
together with the Executive Committee, being —
James J. Storrow, Chairman.
C. F. Weed, V ice-Chairman.
Guy Murchie, Secretary.
Edmund W. Longley, Treasurer.
Henry B. Endicott.
Walton A. Green.
Benjamin Joy.
James J. Phelan.
A. C. Ratshesky.
Adj. -Gen. Pearson {e.v officio).
Substantial powers were at the same time given to the
Executive Committee to appoint sub-committees, officers
and agents, to fill vacancies and to add to their o^ti number
as might from time to time seem to them desirable.
On February 15, 1917, Mr. Henry B. Endicott was elected
executive manager, an event the value of which, not only to
the Committee itself but likewise to the broader and more
comprehensive interests of the State and Nation, will be
appreciated more and more as this story progresses. Only
those who served under him, and particularly the fortunate
few who for twenty-one months lived daih'^ in the atmosphere
and partnership of the inner office, can justly estimate his
ability, force and character, or realize the strength of his
unselfish patriotism.
Pursuant to the authority given, on March 15 Mr, John F.
Stevens and Mr. Frank H. McCarthy, and on March 29 Mr.
George H. Lyman and INIr, J. Frank O'Hare, the latter in
place of Mr. McCarthy resigned, were elected members of the
Executive Committee, and after a lapse of four months,
from time to time, still further additions were made, as will
appear later.
It was —
Resolved, That the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety pledges
its loyal support to the State and national government in all measures for
the defence of our country and the preservation of the right of its people
on land and sea.
From this time on the Executive Committee directed and
controlled the entire work of the organization in all its
branches, the only meetings thereafter of the Committee of
One Hundred taking place on March 17, 1917, December 6,
1917, and finally on November 20, 1918, at which time the
organization was dissolved.
The Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety was thus
formally instituted, being the first organization of its kind
established in the United States. Moreover, the model of
its organization and the plan for its development were in a
large measure followed in many parts of the country as well
as by the Council of National Defense. Its primal and
declared object — for we were not yet at war — was to
secure protection from foreign aggression and insure against
treachery and violence within the State. As a corollary
thereof it was pledged to co-operate with the administra-
tion at Washington in all matters relating to the public weal,
so far as affected by the war cloud then enveloping Europe
and threatening to burst upon our land at any moment.
Nevertheless, Massachusetts was totally unprepared for
any such emergency. She had no foundation on which
to build except her own resources, courage and persistent
energy. The same condition existed in every State of the
Union.
The last Congress, possibly lulled by a false sense of
security, had declined by a considerable majority to make
proper appropriations for national equipment or defence,
thereby forgetting that "when a strong man armed keepeth
his palace his goods are in peace." Many, though falsely,
challenged its patriotism. The root of the difficulty was
that the dormant soul of the American people required
awakening. There were many striking exceptions, however,
to this inertia on the part of men in public life, foremost
among which was the example given by a Representative
from Massachusetts, Maj. Augustus P. Gardner, who later
resigned from Congress and forfeited his life in behalf of the
principles for which he had contended.
We were, therefore, left at a critical time in our history
to cope as best we might with a gigantic military machine
bred through two generations to a vicious lust for conquest,
false to its word, brutal in its methods, and composed of
veterans of more than two years' standing. It would be
unfair to charge the truly critical position in which we found
ourselves to any one political party. The trouble lay with
the people as a whole, — with our antecedents covering a
period of many years. Circumstances and longitude had
made us a peaceful, commercial, yet in many respects an
inconsequent people. What we most desired in our relations
to other nations was to be let alone, — a vital background
of the Monroe Doctrine. We were willing to let other
nations settle their own particular difficulties. We were not
out for glory, nor did we want anybody else's territory,
while distance made us feel secure in our own possessions.
In short, we did not realize how the world had changed.
One might recall the poet's version of the time when,
many years ago, French privateers appeared in the offing,
threatening "to ravish with fire and steel our helpless Boston
town," and how the parson stood with his congregation in
the Old South Church —
Saying humbly: Let us pray:
Oh Lord, we would not advise,
But if in Thy providence
A tempest should arise,
To drive the French fleet hence,
And scatter it far and wide,
Or sink it in the sea.
We should be satisfied.
And Thine the glory be.
Such were the trying and uncertain conditions pervading
State and Nation when the advent of spring, 1917, brought
with it a declaration of war and the demand for a vast
host of combatants, to be gathered from every State in
the Union, who should defend our cause on land and sea;
and for a still greater army to recruit the man power and
preserve its efficiency in equii)ment, nuiterial and supplies.
Our Nation, aroused from its apathy, began to systematize
its vast resources of men, material and food with a patriotism
which challenged all rivalry, and an ability which more and
more won the admiration and astonishment of the world.
It was at this juncture that the citizens of Massachusetts
created the Committee on Public Safety, the keystone of
an arch which was eventually to form a new memorial of
Yankee pluck, patriotism and devotion to duty.
10
CHAPTER III
ANTICIPATING WAR
In the interim, covering about seven weeks, during which
our participation in the war hung in the balance, the Com-
mittee Laid the foundations of its work, and, despite every
discouragement, entered upon a task unique in character
exhaustless in opportunity, and testing everv patriotic im-
pulse; yet splendid in the fruition and the final accomplish-
ment of a great endeavor.
The most pressing necessity demanding the attention of
the Executive Committee was to perfect our local defence
This was embraced under the following heads: the militia
National Guard and State Guard and their equipment';
the medical preparation necessary to meet any emergency;'
existing transportation facilities and the improvement
thereof; the State Police; Home Guard; and the protection
of munition plants, bridges, waterways and other danger
points. On motion of Mr. Phelan the initial vote of the
Provisional Committee, recorded on February 10, declared —
That the Committee considers it its first duty to see that the existing
official mihtary organizations of the State are fully equipped to the last
detail for a possible call for service; to find out how they are now
equipped on a peace basis, and how they should be equipped in the event
of war.
There was little doubt in any one's mind that we were
really on the brink of war, and also that the Committee,
although a voluntary association, virtually represented the
State, was for the time being its right arm, and must act
independently as well as in co-operation with the national
government.
At once, on passage of the foregoing resolution, personal
representation was sent to Washington, and detailed informa-
tion covering the general question of local defence was dili-
11
gently collected from every available source. Pending the
result of these inquiries, the following Preparatory Com-
mittees were appointed : —
Finance.
Co-ordination of Aid Societies.
Industrial Survey.
Transportation .
Hygiene, Medicine and Sanitation.
Federal and State Legislation.
Food Production and Conservation.
Publicity.
Land Forces.
State Protection.
Naval Forces.
Military Equipment and Supplies.
Emergency Help and Equipment.
Further, and to co-operate with the Committee on Land
Forces, and in some respects with the Committee on Naval
Forces, the following additional committees were ap-
pointed: —
Mobilization and Concentration
Camps.
Horses.
Trucks and Motor Cars.
Recruiting.
Home Guards.
The personnel of these Preparatory Committees was not
confined to membership in the Committee of One Hundred,
but included names added from time to time as the work
progressed. (See Appendix, page 537 et seq.)
It might be well to emphasize at this point how each of
these Preparatory Committees was created, primarily to
meet exigencies arising during the interval between peace
and anticipated war. Although one or two of them were
later discontinued, as overlapping or unnecessary to the
general plan, the demands on others after the United States
became an active belligerent often changed materially in
character from their original purpose, or were absorbed in
the broader activities and functions of the State or Nation.
Nevertheless, as the result of their early painstaking and
efficient labors a potent organization was gradually per-
fected, its tentacles radiating from a common center into
nearly every corner of the Commonwealth, and with each
auxiliary ready and anxious at all times to help the Execu-
tive Committee in working out the vexatious problems
12
rapidly accumulating. They also greatly assisted in con-
cluding satisfactory and co-operating relations with the rest
of New England and with sister States, and eventually with
the Council of National Defense at Washington. Each
unit, though formed on the same pattern, was independent
in itself, working in conformity with the requirements of its
local conditions, yet always within the scope of the general
scheme. Together they constituted a powerful aggregate,
striving in patriotic accord to do their full share towards the
attainment of a single generic purpose.
State Organization and Preparatory Committees
It was evident that the assistance and co-operation of
every city and town within the Commonwealth was impera-
tively needed, and on March 21 the specific task of forming
local committees on Public Safety was assigned to Mr.
Ratshesky and Mr. Lyman.
Out of a total number of 295 towns in the State, 251
towns formed sub -committees under the general plan and in
full co-operation with the aims of the Executive Committee.
From 38 cities in the State, every city — with the sole
exception of Springfield — answered to the call of the Mas-
sachusetts Committee on Public Safety, or acted in full
accord, sympathy and co-operation with its purposes and
requests.
Thus, before our entry into the war became a fact, a
widespread and perfected working body of interested patri-
otic citizens were banded together with the sole object of
doing their utmost towards the winning of the war.
The few towns that did not register as requested were so
small in population that by mutual consent it was deemed
inadvisable for them to form separate organizations; yet in
many instances a scantily populated town combined its
efforts with a neighboring town so as to be represented on
the membership of the latter's Committee. On the basis of
population, 95.8 per cent of the entire citizenship of the
13
State became formally represented as part of the ]\Iassa-
chiisetts Committee on Public Safety, or working in full
co-operation with its purposes.
It will now be attempted to give the more specific reasons
for which these Preparatory Committees were formed, with
a somewhat detailed account of the activities in which each
was engaged. An exception, however, will be made in the
case of the Committee on Food Production and Conserva-
tion, whose activities, July, 1917, were transferred to the
Board of Food Administration authorized by both Federal
and State authority, and whose work continued until the
end of the war. This Preparatory Committee will there-
fore, for the sake of continuity, be discussed later in Part
V, together with the other projects of the Food Administra-
tion.
Committee on Finance
A first and vital consideration involving the entire scope
of the proposed work was the question of finance. No
better proof of the temper, supreme confidence and patri-
otism of our wealthier citizenship could have been offered
tlian the successful results obtained by the Committee on
Finance, who, within a few days, received subscriptions
aggregating over $101,022.85, the expenditure of which was
authorized to be used . as a special fund solely within the
discretion of the Executive Committee, and independent of
any outside approval. This amount constituted a revolv-
ing fund, and was more than sufficient to meet every present
demand. Many of the drafts originally made thereon were
later charged to an appropriation of $1,000,000 allowed
by the Legislature to defray war expenditures, and which
was recognized as the main source from which the general
expenses of the Committee on Public Safety were to be
paid. These rebates, with the balance over, left the special
fund sufficiently ample to provide for all such future pay-
ments as might not properly come within the terms of the
14
State's gift. Thus all anxiety in regard to financing the
Committee on Public Safety was at once removed.
On March 19, 1917, in less than two hours after receiving a
message from Governor McCall, the Legislature by special
act, chapter 202, made the appropriation of $1,000,000
above referred to, to be paid out of the treasury of the Com-
monwealth from the general revenue; and to be expended
under the direction of the Governor as Commander-in-
Chief, subject to the approval of the Council, "in defraying
the military, naval and other expenses w^hich the emer-
gency arising out of existing conditions, and the exigencies
of possible war, might in his judgment render requisite and
proper." The act was construed to include the general
requii-ements of the Committee on Public Safety, and from
this appropriation the allowed expenditures of the Com-
mittee were paid and charged to the general revenue.
Again, on May 25, 1917, under the provisions of chapter
324, the United States having in the meantime declared
war with Germany, a further appropriation of $1,000,000
was made to cover any emergency which might arise during
the recess of the General Court by reason of the then exist-
ing state of war. This was to be bonded for a term not
exceeding ten years, and to be used only in case the million
dollars taken from the general revenue became exhausted.
No bonds were issued, however, under this act, although a
note was given for $97,000, the money to be used for require-
ments of the State Guard. This was later repaid out of the
general funds of the Commonwealth.
In 1918 the money thus appropriated for use during the
year 1917, under chapter 202, was recognized by the Audi-
tor's office as being still available for the Committee on
Public Safety, notwithstanding the absence of any special
provision in the act for extension of time. What really
happened was that the expenditures made in 1917 were
chiefly for the needs of our military and naval forces in the
way of equipment, the major part of which outlay — as
will be seen in the discussion of Equipment and Supplies,
15
Chapter VI — was later paid by the United States govern-
ment, leaving the bulk of the one million dollar appropria-
tion of March 19, 1917, still available for use in 1918.
Committee on Co-ordination of Aid Societies
The purpose of this Committee was to amalgamate all
societies of similar character throughout the State, to the
end that the sum total of their combined efforts should
constitute one well-balanced and productive whole, without
either duplication or overlapping.
The origin of the Committee on Public Safety was the
visible sign of a patriotic desire on the part of the men of
Massachusetts to meet the necessities of a situation fraught
with perils and with opportunity. The same incentive ob-
tained equally among the women of the State, who from the
first wished to do their full share, and whose organizations
commenced work, or strengthened that in which they were
already engaged, to meet war needs. It became at once
evident that to secure effective results this work should be
interrelated, co-operative and thoroughly organized, and to
attain that end the above Committee was appointed.
The heads of the various women's organizations were
therefore immediately called in conference, where two facts
became apparent. Every woman was more than anxious to
work for a common result, and to have her organization
take such part as would best help to bring about this pur-
pose. At the same time, it was apparent that the problem
of organization involved was an unusual one. The national
government had not yet acted in any comprehensive way,
nor was it at all certain what form its activities would take.
Several organizations of a nation-wide scope desired to
extend their spheres of influence into Massachusetts; new
organizations were being formed inside the State, with
branches in many towns and cities; and those already in
the State, at first local, were continuously forming new
branches, some of which were made up exclusively of women,
while others included both men and women. In this some-
16
what mixed situation the more pertinent questions resolved
themselves as follows: —
How should activities entering the State from without be
related to those within?
Should the State organization proceed on the theory that
the best interests of the larger agencies, such as the Red
Cross, the Special Aid Society, the Civic Federation, Fed-
erated Women's Clubs and others, demanded a central
bureau for each, with its organization lines running to all
the cities and towns, and acting independently in those
cities and towns; or should there be a centralized bureau
containing representatives of the major activities, which
should endeavor to group each city and town, and thus
secure harmonious action? Also w^as it best that the work
of the women and that of the men should go on together, or
ought a sharp and separating line be drawn between them?
A number of conferences were held and many views were
expressed, the conclusions finally reached being that the
work of the men and the women was of like importance,
though different in kind, and that a full and equal partner-
ship basis would give the best results.
It was further determined that the only authority which
could be recognized as superior to that of the State was
the United States government; that in every way the
women's organizations should co-operate with the govern-
ment to the extent of their ability; and in case of any
civilian activities coming from outside the State, these must
abide by the general policy of the United Aid Societies of
Massachusetts.
It was also decided that there should be a central con-
ference, consisting of representatives from all the women's
organizations, which should make every effort to group in
each city and town the local chapters of these organiza-
tions, and to secure harmony if any friction existed.
These simple principles of organization, animated through-
out by a spirit of the finest patriotism, soon brought har-
jnony and effective results.
17
Another and special effort made from the very first was
to form an organization which sliould be ready and able to
fit as far as possible into that eventually decided on by the
national government.
The Red Cross took a very prominent and useful part in
the whole scheme of organizing aid societies, as did the
Special Aid Society. Though many more might be men-
tioned, especial reference is made to these two because the
first had a nation-wide, and the second a valuable though
local, existence. It is equally to the credit of both these
organizations that the Red Cross, having the wider scope,
was allowed to act as a clearing house for information in
greater Boston, a plan which was carried through without
any friction whatever. Notwithstanding that there were
many problems in the general scheme requiring adjustment,
no serious difficulties developed.
The Committee on Co-ordination of Aid Societies had a
work to do which, though entirely preparatory, was essen-
tial; but it nevei* became burdensome because of the splen-
did patriotism evidenced by Massachusetts women. The
principle of working with the women as equal partners was
fully maintained in every activity of the Committee on
Public Safety and that of the Food Administration, and
endured until the war ended. Certainly the results proved
its wisdom.
Mr. B. Preston Clark, chairman of this Committee, con-
tinued from the first to be its directing influence, giving
unstintedly of his time and effort in guiding the co-ordinate
and partnership work of the women's and men's activities
in their relations to the Committee on Public Safety and to
the Food Administration.
Committee on Industrial Survey
It was at first intended to have this Committee make a
survey of the manufacturing facilities of the State, and its
work began on that line. Thereafter it became apparent
that any demand likely to be made on these utilities would
18
naturally come from the Federal authorities, and not from
the State. For this reason, and because by that time the
Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense
— a Federal function, established shortly after the organ-
ization of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety —
had for some months been making an industrial survey of
the whole country, it was deemed advisable to abandon the
original scheme and work with the National Connnission
when so requested, and under its general direction. The
Committee found that about 2,400 Massachusetts manu-
facturing concerns were already listed by the Washington
Commission; that the majority of them had filed complete
returns; and that the others had been turned over to Mr.
C. L. Edgar, who was taking care of the industrial survey
work in Massachusetts in behalf of the Naval Consulting
Board and the Council of National Defense. Meetings
were held with the Washington Commission looking to a
survey of Massachusetts plants capable of filling experi-
mental orders for ammunition. But when it transpired
that the Ordnance Department did not possess adequate
specifications and drawings, and also that if any such orders
should be placed it was more than likely they would be
given to plants in inland States, the subject w^as dropped,
except that recommendations based on investigations al-
ready made by the Committee on Industrial Survey were
forwarded to the Commission in Washington. Conferences
were likewise held with local Ordnance Department officials,
to the end that they might be fully acquainted with the
facilities existing in Massachusetts. The Committee, there-
fore, having outlived the purpose for which it was created,
discontinued further work.
Committee on Transportation
The Transportation Committee's particular function was
to arrange for the rapid, unimpeded transportation of
troops when summoned in case of riot or other emergency;
to protect critical points throughout the State, such as
19
power houses, sources of power, bridges, munitions, water-
supply plants, conduits, etc. ; or to meet any danger threat-
ening the public safety and demanding the presence of
armed forces.
A card index list was made by the Committee and sub-
mitted to the chairman of the Committee on State Protec-
tion, together with the best information obtainable as to
the particular street railway officials to be notified in case
of a given emergency. The Committee also prepared a
topographical drawing giving the electric lines in the State
with their relation to armories, manufacturing industries,
connections between steam and electric railways, docks,
power sources, spur tracks, etc. This map also showed all
emergency connections between steam and electric railways,
and between these and such manufacturing and industrial
plants as would best facilitate the movement of troops and
material. A significant fact shown by this drawing was
that a physical connection could be made between the
Springfield Street Railway and the Berkshire Street Rail-
way at Huntington, Mass., thereby furnishing a through
electric route from western to eastern Massachusetts. An
inventory was prepared giving accurately the location of all
materials, such as rails, copper, ties, spikes, etc., that they
might be quickly requisitioned; and still another compiled
of all passenger, freight and material cars. A pocket map
showing the different street railway lines was made ready
for the use of government officials in charge of routing ma-
terial. It was in accordance with the recommendations of
this Committee that manufacturing concerns readjusted
their opening and closing hours so as best to spread the
traffic handled by the street railways, and that steps were
taken, in the event of a military draft, to have employees
of important transportation and manufactiu'ing industries
exempted from military service. Legislation was also
urged, the eflFect of which would be to w^aive some of the
hide-bound restrictions binding the street railways in time
of peace, and pennit them to place their services, material
20
and men more effectually at the disposal of the govern-
ment.
When the men of the 2d, 6th and 9th Regmients were
doing guard duty, the Transportation Committee arranged
for their free transportation to and from the armories.
Early in April the American Railway Association, repre-
senting all the railroads in the United States, formed a
special Committee on National Defense, its efforts to be
divided among the committees located in the four divisions
of the country as laid out by the War Department; and
in May Mr. James H. Hustis, chairman of the Transporta-
tion Committee, was selected as chairman of the North-
eastern Division. The Committee kept in touch with the
Secretary of War and the President of the War College;
also with the assistant quartermaster-general and assistant
surgeon-general, through whom all information involving
transportation and protection of railways and railroads was
regularly furnished to the War Department. In general,
the scope of the Committee's work included the furnishing
of data similar to that furnished by the Committee on Trans-
portation to the Executive Committee on Public Safety.
Committee on Federal and State Legislation
This Committee was made up of a number of prominent
lawyers. Its functions were to draft emergency legislation;
to advise as to existing laws. State and national; to supply
precedents for war legislation from the statutes of Great
Britain on any subject regarding which the Executive Com-
mittee desired such information, and to suggest whatever
further legislation might appear to be necessary. In short,
the Committee was to act as the legal adviser of the Execu-
tive Committee. It also drafted bills relating to the fol-
lowing functions, and obtained their favorable considera-
tion by the Legislature: —
Home Guard.
Dependent aid.
State pay for soldiers.
21
$1,000,000 special appropriation.
Empowering the Governor to appoint 300 temporary
members of the State Police.
That the Executive Committee and officers of sub-com-
mittees might have prompt assistance on all matters requir-
ing legal advice, it was sought to have some one member of
the Legislation Committee always available at the State
House. Legal advice was given gratis in answer to innu-
merable queries, among which the following subjects may-
be classed as the more important: —
War risks in insurance policies.
Aviation field.
Transportation of explosives on street railways.
Insults to the flag.
Mobilization of schoolboys by municipalities for farm work.
Free preparation of private and park lands by municipal teams and men.
Plans for carrying out the Federal Draft Law in Massachusetts.
But by far the most important State law enacted, as
affecting the interests of the Committee on Public Safety,
was the Commonwealth Defence Act. The birth of the
Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety was the result
of a universal feeling among our citizens that the times
demanded an entirely new order of defense, and the growth
of the Committee's work was supported by patriotic enthusi-
asm. At the beginning, however, its scope was strictly
limited to such action as our anti-war laws permitted. It
therefore became at once of the utmost importance to pro-
cure legislation as free as possible from red tape, and
broader in conception than the laws under which we had
been living through a long era of peace; otherwise the
results the Committee afterwards obtained, and for which
it was created, could never have been gained in strict accord-
ance with either our statute or common law. To meet this
necessity which the war had brought about, and to strengthen
the hands of the Committee, the Commonwealth Defence
Act was passed on May 2G, 1917. This act contained the
22
express provision that it was to remain in force only for the
duration of the war. It will readily be appreciated how
impossible it was at this time to forecast the future. Our
country had suddenly become plunged into a chaos of
strange conditions which destroyed the conventional rut of
thought and aspiration in which we had lived so long, and
molded the souls of all men into a grim determination to
win the war. It was, therefore, with an assured confidence
that the people were asked to surrender their democratic
power and establish a condition fundamentally foreign to
their ideas of democracy, in order that a wider range might
be permitted to every project involving the safety of the
State. Probably so drastic, so daring, and, as afterwards
proved, so vitally important a law for the protection and
safety of the Commonwealth was never before entertained
by a Massachusetts Legislature. Its character was not
only without precedent in Massachusetts, but it was the
first law of its kind enacted by any State in the Union. Yet
it met with such country-wide recommendation that the
Judge Advocate of the United States endorsed it, form and
substance, as an excellent example of legislation for other
States to follow and put on their own statute books, — a
recommendation which was very generally followed.
Details of the bill covered many pages. Among the prin-
cipal subjects treated were the registration of aliens over
eighteen years of age and the imposition of additional restric-
tions upon this class of citizens, with a punitiv^e clause
added for any violation of the provisions of the act. The
Governor was empowered to take property, real and per-
sonal, and to give compensation for the same; to appoint
special officers, and to co-operate with the Council of
National Defense. In addition, he was authorized to dele-
gate to others some of the powers given to him by the bill,
the later exercise of which right proved the base and bul-
wark of a greater part of the activities of the Committee
on Public Safety. It contained provisions, also, for the
transfer of real estate located within the Commonwealth to
23
persons outside of the State, and to a certain degree relaxed
the rigor of the law in cases of absentee defendants who
were in the military or naval service. It established the
right of courts to refuse bail to defendants when their liberty
in\'olved a menace to the public safety. The construction
of explosives, bomb or shell, was made subject to fine and
imj^risonn^ent. The act also gave the Governor the right
to survey the amount of food in the Commonwealth, as well
as the land and labor available for its production; to collecrt
all such other data as would help strengthen the food situa-
tion, with forcible attendance of witnesses and the co-ojjera-
tion of State departments in gathering such information;
and the power to regulate the use of fireworks and fire-
crackers. It provided, further, for the appointment of a
committee for regulating and licensing the hours of labor
during the period of the war. Autocratic as these provi-
sions were, contrary and opposed as they appear to our
Declaration of Rights and our established theories of per-
sonal liberty and protection, they were both accepted and
endorsed by a sane, patriotic people as a strictly temporary
measure to meet a crying need in a time of great emergency.
Committee on Mobilization and Concentration
Camps
A careful study was made by this Committee of available
camp sites and their condition as to roads, kitchens, mess
shelters, latrines, bath houses and storehouses; and in re-
gard to the installation of water and sewer systems. Con-
ferences were held with Adjutant-General Sweetser and the
Senior Inspector Instructor of the United States Army, that
the Committee might become better acquainted with the
needs of the National Guard and the United States Army
in case of troop mobilization. Framingham was the only
available mobilization camp in Massachusetts at this time,
— a location which had practically outlived its usefulness.
Numerous offers of land to the government to be used for
24
camp purposes were received by the Committee, some of
which were accepted.
At the request of the Navy Department the Committee
assisted in the selection of sites for temporary camps for
members of the Naval Reserve.
Committee on Horses
The Committee on Horses made a survey of horses for
military use, getting in touch with New England and western
export dealers in order to list all horses available for pur-
chase. Specific assistance was given by the Committee to
the 9th Regiment early in April, 1917, in an examination of
horses and mules shipped from the southwest.
Committee on Trucks and Motor Cars
The Committee on Trucks and Motor Cars endeavored to
secure enrollments of motor cars and trucks wherever the
owners would agree to hold them subject to the disposal of
the State in case of military emergency. Local committees
were organized throughout the State, and approximately
50,000 enrollment cards were distributed. In all, about
5,000 enrollments were secured, of which approximately
two-thirds were motor cars and the balance trucks. It was
estimated that the cars had a carrying capacity, including
drivers, of 16,670 persons, and the trucks of 4,164 tons.
Each car owner was given a circular form of decalcomania
seal, about two and one-half inches in diameter, containing
the words, "Enrolled for Service — Committee on Public
Safety," and was allowed the privilege of attaching this seal
to his car immediately upon acceptance of his enrollment.
The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
formulated a plan of notification by telephone to those en-
rolled, which they agreed to put in operation whenever
called upon by the Committee. Fortunately, no military
emergency arose to properly test the results obtained by
this Committee, but the mere fact that so many Massa-
25
chiisetts people gratuitously offered their cars was evidence
of their desire to help win the war, and a source of encour-
agement to all others working for that general end.
Committee on Publicity
The name of this Committee at once brings a vivid sense
of the obligation owed to the Massachusetts press, one not
likely to be forgotten by any one connected with the work
of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety.
One of the first acts of Mr. Storrow was to summon for
considtation with the Executive Committee representatives
from leading newspapers in the city. The general scope of
the work contemplated was laid before them, and their
advice and assistance, locally and throughout the State,
earnestly requested. This they immediately offered, and
without any hesitation. From the birth of the Committee
on Public Safety, when its functions were relatively limited,
continuously through the twenty-one months of its diverse
and greatly widening activities and up to the last day of its
existence, the press of Massachusetts gave to the Committee
its honest support, its time and its columns, and, above all,
its good will, with loyal fealty to its original promise.
The Publicity Committee did a very general, valuable
and helpful work. It was, in fact, an authorized bureau
for public information; a medium between the Committee
and the press, relieving them both from unnecessary inter-
views and duplication. It kept in touch with the activities
of the Executive Committee, and daily assisted in super-
vising advertisements and press notices, at the same time
arranging for their distribution and insertion in the news-
papers. Specifically, it reported the meetings of the Exec-
utive Committee when the same were of public interest, and
gave particular attention to the work of any sub-committee
needing its help. At the request of the Committee on Re-
cruiting, it prepared at short notice 500,000 four-page leaf-
lets with information as to how to enlist. In this connec-
26
tion 25,000 posters were also distributed, and a two-column
advertisement was inserted in every daily newspaper in the
State. When the Harvard Medical Unit was suddenly sum-
moned for service abroad, and needed cooks and other assist-
ants, an advertisement was put on the front page of every
Boston newspaper, whereby the urgency demanded was
spread broadcast. As a result, in one day the unit obtained
its full complement of assistants. In addition to the space
courteously offered by the press in behalf of the Committee
on Food Production, two columns of matter, in plate form,
were sent regularly for three weeks to 170 daily and weekly
newspapers. Another lot of 25,000 posters was prepared,
which were used chiefly on the dashers of trolley cars. Pic-
ture slides encouraging home gardens were sent to 400
picture theatres, where they were displayed without charge.
The Committee was fortunately able to secure for a portion
of the time during the first few months the services of
Mr. Thomas J. Feeney, publicity director for the New Eng-
land Telephone and Telegraph Company. Later Mr. John
F. O'Connell, Publicity Director for the United Shoe Ma-
chinery Company, was delegated to represent the Com-
mittee in all matters. When the Food Administration was
organized early in July, 1917, very extensive publicity was
given by Mr. O'Connell to its multitudinous activities; and
in the long list of labor troubles which were settled by Mr.
Endicott his services again proved of great value. He
always exercised that tactful discretion necessary to estab-
lish a happy medium between talking too little and acquir-
ing the unenviable reputation of giving the press more than
they were ready to print.
27
CHAPTER IV
LOCAL DEFENSE
The fundamental principle controlling the purpose of the
Connnittee on Public Safety during the first period of its
work aimed at perfecting the local defense. As already
stated, and with this purpose in view, the Committee by its
initial vote declared it of paramount importance that the
existing military organizations in the State be fully equipped
to the minutest detail; and that their present peace basis
of equipment, as well as what might be demanded in case
the United States entered the war, should be rigorously
inciuired into. The first step towards this end was the
forming of the Preparatory Committees, some of which have
already been described; others, whose functions were more
distinctly military or naval in their character, follow.
Committee on Land Forces
The duties of the Committee on Land Forces embraced
all matters involving the local defense, including the addi-
tional requirements of existing military bodies in the State,
and what might be necessary for any units thereafter
formed, especial attention being given to all matters relating
to equipment and supplies. The Committee was short-
lived, practically going out of existence at about the time
our troops embarked for the front. In the interim, how-
ever, besides acting in an advisory capacity, for whicli its
personnel was peculiarly adapted, it made a very thorough
investigation of equipment conditions, both as to what was
needed and what could be procured at home, and also
what would be furnished by the authorities at Washington.
The residts obtained may best be gathered from the account
of the Committee on Mobilization and Concentration of
Camps, Home Guards, Horses, Recruiting, Trucks and
28
Motor Cars, and, particularly, of the Committee on Equip-
ment and Supplies. It would be well, however, to bear in
mind that the Committee on Public Safety's work in its
relation to the land forces of the Commonwealth was in no
sense confined to the Committee on Land Forces, though
greatly indebted for its valuable assistance and advice, but
that this subject was included to a greater or less degree in
the activities of all the Preparatory Committees.
Committee on State Protection
The Committee on State Protection, after an exhaustive
study of existing conditions and points of danger, presented
their final recommendations to the Executive Committee,
together with a list of certain centers where the needs were
most pressing, including vital points along the lines of our
principal railroads, viaducts, ferries, etc., and with special
emphasis on the need of guarding the railroad bridges.
They reported, moreover, that the necessity of protecting
power, ammunition and similar privately owned plants was
not so immediate. At first there were but two sources of
supply from which legally authorized man power could be
obtained to guard these localities, — viz., the local police
and the District Police, and the State National Guard,
formerly the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Thereupon,
the chairman, with the support of a very able committee,
made an exhaustive study and compilation of all existing
State laws dealing with crime, police forces and their organ-
ization, and the registration of aliens. As a result, tenta-
tive laws were presented to the Executive Committee rec-
ommending certain legislation.
On March 2, 1917, the Legislature, under General Acts,
chapter 43, in partial accordance with the recommendation
of the Committee, authorized the Governor within his dis-
cretion to appoint special District Police oflBcers, the number
not to exceed 300. All officers so appointed were to have
the same power as that held by the District Police, —
including the authority to bear arms, — their organization,
29
discipline, eqiiii)inent, etc., to be subject to rules and regu-
lations issued by the Chief of the District Police.
On March 12, pursuant to this bill, 96 special police
officers were appointed by His Excellency for the more
definite purpose of covering the eight or ten bridges over
the Cape Cod Canal and the two tunnels at North Adams,
as advised by the Committee on State Protection.
In the meantime representatives of the Committee visited
the various cities of the State, interviewing their mayors
and outlining and explaining the general work of the Com-
mittee on Public Safety. Likewise they urged the officials
of each city to prepare plans for the protection of life and
projjerty within their boundaries, in anticipation of war
being declared.
The State Protection Committee also analyzed carefully
all laws relating to explosives, — the detective and fire
inspection department of the District Police having the
power to regulate the keeping, storage, use, manufacture,
sale, handling, transportation and general disposition of all
combustible explosives, — in order to ensure that the old
and newly formed bodies of police should be fully instructed
in their duties, and that they might be able to tell at a
moment's notice where a given amount of dangerous or
destructive material was stored.
It ciuickly became evident that, in the appointment of an
additional number to the existing force of the District
Police, enough men could not be secured who through experi-
ence and natural qualifications combined were efficient to
perform a policeman's job. The whole scheme was then
submitted by the Executive Committee to the Adjutant-
General's office, representing the military forces of the State.
This department, as then constituted, took the position that
any plan to utilize the military forces of the Common-
wealth for })olice purposes in time of peace was miscon-
ceived. It was argued as unfair to force such service upon
a body who had not enlisted with that understanding, and
that a soldier's business was neither to discover crime nor
30
to make arrests. Moreover, an enlisted man, acting as
jioliceman, received but half the ])ay he was entitled to as a
soldier. In short, the whole problem of guarding was
peculiarly a police job and not a soldier's job. It was also
further pointed out that the expenses of wage and equip-
ment, where private enterprises were involved, ought prop-
erly to be borne by those receiving the direct benefit of
such protection. An exception was offered to this last posi-
tion, however, in the case of railroads, whose safeguarding,
as public utilities, might fairly be judged to come within
the obligation of the State, though in many cases this in
turn might properly be considered as matter for the atten-
tion of the Federal government.
All special guarding during the early days of March, 1917,
was attempted by local volunteers. On March 25 and 30
details from the 2d and 9th Regiments of Infantry, and on
the 30th details from the 6th Regiment Infantry, were
ordered on guard duty, as was likewise Company B of the
101st Engineers, 1st Corps Cadets, later sent to Camp
Devens.
The organizations, therefore, approaching a military
character, established by law and authorized at this time
to contribute to our local defense in the way of land forces,
were, as we have seen, a part of the State National Guard
and an enlarged police force. The Massachusetts Volun-
teer Militia had been merged into the State National Guard
on October 12, 1907, and on July 28, 1917, three and one-
half months after w^e entered the war, its members, then
National Guardsmen, were enrolled into the Federal service.
This would have left the Commonwealth without organized
military defense but for the fact that the Legislature, at the
instance of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety,
by act passed April 5, 1917, chapter 148 of the General Acts,
authorized the Governor as a war measure to establish a
Home Guard. This body is now very generally spoken of
as the "State Guard," but is not to be confounded with
the disbanded Volunteer Militia or with the State National
Guard.
31
The intleterminate use of the word "Guard" has often
led to misunderstanding. The organization at first known
as "Home Guard" was purely a makeshift creation of the
Committee on Public Safety, and was composed of volun-
teers from the different cities and towns. Its scattered
units had no State recognition, were, responsible only to
local authority, were self-supporting and without any uni-
fication whatever. The purpose for which they were
brought together was solely to have something to fall back
on until such time as a better and legally constituted military
contingent. State or Federal, could be perfected. This, as
already pointed out, took place at the time of the organiza-
tion of the State Guard luider chapter 148, the act being
known as the "Home Guard bill." This, with certain limita-
tions as to age and physical condition, authorized a volun-
tary enlistment of men who, when called for service were
bound to perform, under the direction of the Governor as
Commander-in-Chief, all the powers of constables, police
officers and watchmen, except in civil process. The intent
of the bill was to create a body which should defend the
homes in place of the National Guard thereafter enrolled
by, and subject to the orders of, the Federal government.
To summarize, we had in Massachusetts on April 6, 1917,
legally authorized to bear anns, but two land forces: —
First. — The Massachusetts National Guard, remaining
under State control until July 28, 1917, when it became
part of the National Army and was ordered to rendezvous,
the mustering-in being completed by August 1.
Second. — A newly organized State Guard to consist of
inhabitants of the Commonwealth, over thirty-five years of
age, "or married men under that age with dependents, or
physically disqualified from service in the National Guard."
This unit v/as only, in embryo at the time we became partici-
pants in the war, and it had practically no membership,
unless a few of the so-called local and home guards from
the small towns, which were used as a nucleus, might be so
considered. The State Guard, though in no respect a crea-
32
tion of the Committee on Public Safety, received at the
time of its formation every assistance possible from that
body, and was entirely dependent upon it for its equipment.
State Guard
The Massachusetts State Guard was authorized April 5,
1917, under General Acts, chapter 148. To carry out its
provisions the Governor in an official order dated April 11,
1917, appointed a State Guard Board, consisting of Hon.
Butler Ames, Brigadier-General, commanding; Samuel D.
Parker, Brigadier-General; John J. Sullivan, Brigadier-
General; Elmore D. Locke, Lieutenant-Colonel; Stephen
W. Sleeper, Lieutenant-Colonel; and Philip S. Sears, Major,
as military secretary. This Board, in compliance with the
order, at once began to organize the new force, and a sum of
$'-200,000 was appropriated under General Acts, chapter 331,
for the Guard's maintenance. Most of this money was ex-
pended for rifles and equipment, although several of the
companies supplied their own equipment without cost to the
State. General Ames and his staff spent several weeks per-
fecting the organization, using to a very great extent the
local Committees on Public Safety for that purpose. A
report made by the Board under date of July 27, 1917,
certified the State Guard's enrolhnent to be 9,000 men. By
January 1, 1918, the organization reached a total strength
of about 725 officers and 10,900 enlisted men, composed of
three brigades with eleven regiments of infantry, or approxi-
mately 145 companies. To four of these regiments machine-
gun companies were attached. Li addition, were the 1st
Motor Corps, — an independent battalion of four compa-
nies with one hundred cars, — the 1st Troop of Cavalry and
a medical department. Enlistments were for two years,
unless sooner discharged on declaration of peace. Before
being mustered into service all applicants were compelled
to undergo a thorough physical examination, conducted by
the Guard's medical staff, and 11,000 examinations of en-
listed officers and men were thus made. These services
33
were gratuitously given by the physicians, often to the
detriment of their private practice. The personnel of the
officers was of high order, each candidate being obliged to
secure, before appointment, a recommendation from the
local Committee on Public Safety in his district, as well as
one from the mayor or board of selectmen of his city or
tow^l. In the old militia the 9th Regiment was the highest
recorded regimental number, and to avoid confusion the
new formation began with the number 10. The Guard's
uniform was similar to that worn by United States Regu-
lars, although the insignia and brassards were distinctive
and plainly indicated the arm of service.
On December 6, 1917, the Governor was importuned by
the Fnited States Marshal for the Massachusetts District to
supply troops to guard the barred zones created by a procla-
mation issued by President Wilson. In compliance there-
with, and to meet the emergency, Governor McCall ordered
the State Guard to perform this duty, but at the same time
made the stipulation to the Marshal, in writing, that, this
being an expense properly chargeable to the Federal govern-
ment, such services would be terminated after January 1,
1918. Two companies of the Guard, each man having
passed a physical examination by the medical advisor,
reported for duty Friday, December 4, 1917. These com-
panies were relieved by other detachments on December 14,
and again on December 21. On this latter date notifica-
tion was received from the Federal government that the
last detachment would be supplanted by troops now doing
duty at the fortifications in the harbor.
The State supplied a medical officer, always on call; and
quarters, food, clothing and equipment were kept thoroughly
inspected. This emergency duty performed by the State
Guard, often under specially trying conditions of weather,
was met with a zeal reflecting great credit on both officers
and men.
The Guard drilled steadily and faithfully, with particular
attention to close order drill, guard duty, and the use of the
34
rifle in target practice. Each company was ordered to drill
once a week, though many of them doubled this require-
ment. Commissioned and non-commissioned officers held
informal meetings looking to the attainment of the highest
military efficiency for the unit. During September and
October, 1917, four regimental drills were held in different
parts of the State, to which transportation to and fro was
provided by the Commonwealth. These drills were volun-
tary, but the men showed great enthusiasm, and attended
in large numbers. The officers also offered instruction in
military tactics to drafted men several weeks prior to their
being sent to concentration camps, and several hundreds of
those conscripted, before their actual induction into the
service, availed themselves of the opportunity. To this
cause is attributed the rapid promotions many of them later
received to commissions in the National Army.
When the second Liberty Loan was being floated Mr.
Endicott suggested to General Ames that valuable help
could be given by his command; and through the great
energy which the State Guard developed in getting sub-
scriptions listed, many thousand dollars' worth of bonds
were subscribed for by his men.
How the Committee on Public Safety was instrumental
in equipping the State Guard through its Committee on
Equipment and Supplies, and the relations the organization
bore to the work of the Committee on Public Safety at the
time of the Halifax disaster and of the Emergency Hospital
venture, will be described later when those subjects are
more particularly considered.
Hon. Butler Ames, a graduate of West Point, who had
seen service with the 6th Massachusetts Regiment in the
Spanish War with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, was ap-
pointed by the Governor brigadier-general in command of
the State Guard, and was later promoted to the rank
of major-general. His staff consisted of the following
officers : —
35
Maj. Paul R. Hawkins.
Maj. Clifford S. Anderson,
Maj. Joseph A. Legare.
Maj. M. J. Splaine.
Maj. M. J. Smart.
Maj. Samuel H. Wolcott.
Maj. Steplien V. R. Crosby,
Maj. John S. Lawrence.
Capt. Charles H. Parker.
Lieut. -Col. William A. Brooks, Acting Surgeon-General of
the Commonwealth, headed the medical staff. Other
officers were as follows : —
10th Regiment, Col. Thomas F. Sullivan.
11th Regiment, Brig.-Gen. Charles Pfaff, retired Colonel.
1^2th Regiment, Col. H. F. Ballard.
13th Regiment, Col. Louis A. Frothingliam.
14th Regiment, Col. Henry L. Kincaide.
15th Regiment, Col. E. H. Eldridge.
16th Regiment, Col. Louis S. Cox.
17th Regiment, Col. William H. Beatty.
18th Regiment, Col. John F. Hurley.
19th Regiment, Col. Harry C. Young.
20th Regiment, Col. W. S. Warriner.
1st Motor Corps, Lieut. -Col. John W. Decrow.
1st Troop Cavalry, Capt. Charles E. Reed.
Committee on Naval Forces
Naval Militia. — On January 1, 1917, the State naval
militia consisted of 64 officers and 778 enlisted men, under
the orders of the Governor as Commander-in-Chief, but
subject to the call of the President of the United States.
The Committee on Naval Forces was appointed to
strengthen the work of the naval militia, and at the same
time to arrange for the more effective protection of our
coast defenses. The scope of its activities included all
branches of the United States naval service in the First
Naval District, extending from Chatham, Mass., to East-
port, Me., and embraced: —
(a) Enrollment of the Coast Defense Reserve.
(b) Enrollment of vessels suitable for a patrol fleet.
(c) Arrangements for bases, arms and ammunition; also for supply
vessels and repair yards in connection therewith.
36
(d) Means of communication; arrangements for transportation, and
special necessary equipment.
(e) Co-operation with the naval militia, and assistance in commis-
sioning the existing Naval Flying Corps Unit (a part of the naval militia),
and in the enrollment of additional flying units.
(/) Co-operation with all special aid societies, the Red Cross, and all
activities having for their stated object the welfare of the navy and
naval forces.
(g) Directing all naval activities pertaining to the above in that part
of Massachusetts not in the First Naval District into proper channels
of the Second Naval District.
Enrollment. — One of the first things done by the Com-
mittee was to go over the subject of the naval miUtia with
its commodore, James P. Parker, in order to assist him in
recruiting the organization up to its full complement. The
sum of $200 was appropriated for this work by the Commit-
tee on Public Safety.
Among the many results obtained by the Committee, the
following appear to have been the more important: —
Arrangements were made to have the enrolling officers
for all classes of reserves located in one and the same place.
Every opportunity was taken by the Committee to stimu-
late enlistment in the regular navy and the naval militia,
and particular emphasis was placed upon the need of men
for the naval coast defense patrol. In this work great
assistance was given by the Naval Training Association,
which published information by pamphlets, for circulation
not only in Massachusetts, but likewise in Maine, Vermont
and New York. Enrolling parties were sent to Province-
town, Duxbury, Scituate, Cohasset, Plymouth, Hingham,
Brockton, Salem, Gloucester and to various points along
the Maine coast, to canvass the district as far as possible
and stimulate interest in enrollment.
Patrol Boats. — Enrolling blanks were issued covering all
boats in the First Naval District suitable for a patrol fleet.
The data so collected showed over one hundred steam
yachts and motor boats ready for service in case of war, and
arrangements were made by the Committee to put the best
37
of these immediately into commission if the demand arose.
Moreover, in order that the Committee might keep in full
touch with the needs of the Commandant at the Navy
Yard, three of its members were enrolled on his staff as
civilian aids.
School for Ensigns. — Through the efforts of the Com-
mittee, the Navy Department was materially aided in the
establishment at the Corinthian Yacht Club, Marblehead,
of a School for Ensigns; and also in housing 5,000 regular
seamen about to be quartered in the Marblehead District.
Early in x\pril a considerable number of machine guns
were obtained from the Navy Department to be placed on
board the various patrol boats that were taken by the
government.
Squantum. — About five hundred candidates for the
Massachusetts School for Naval Air Service were inter-
viewed by the Committee, and on its recommendation were
afterwards examined at the Navy Yard. As a result of a
visit to the Navy Department at Washington, two aero-
planes were secured for the district, with the promise of
two additional ones. The Committee erected and equipped,
at an expense of $32,998, the necessary buildings and han-
gars for the Massachusetts School for Naval Air Service at
Squantum, in which classes of thirty men at a time, between
the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, were given the pre-
liminary training in flying requisite for a commission in the
Naval Reserve Flying Corps. The sum of $1,500 was
secured from the city of Quincy, of which Squantum is a
part, to meet the expense of equipping the field with water.
The city of Quincy also arranged for placing guards around,
the grounds, the guarding on the water side being done by
the navy. The organization was formally taken over by
the Department of the Navy May 11, 1917.
According to a ruling of the Navy Department, the
moment a unit of the naval militia reported at the armory
it came de facto under the control of the United States.
This at once severed its relations with the State, and all
38
further activities in its behalf on the part of the Committee
on PubHc Safety became unnecessary. On the other hand,
if any of the National Guard mobilized, the War Depart-
ment did not necessarily take them over immediately, and
the Committee's services were still required during the in-
terim awaiting action by the government, as will be shown
later.
39
CHAPTER \
LOCAL DEFENSE — Continued
To return to the land forces. Between April G and July
28, at which time the government formally took over the
National Guard, the labor of seeing to its proper efj[uipment
and recruiting it to war strength became the special care of
the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety.
This task was beset with many difficulties and constant
discouragement. To begin w^ith, there was a great scarcity
of man power. Many of the Guard came back from the
Texan Border discouraged and disillusioned, realizing that
playing at war at home and the real business of war were
entirely different propositions. Others felt that as National
Guards they had been discriminated against, and this they
strongly resented. The result was that drills were not at-
tended, men and officers wanted to resign, and the force
was threatened with demoralization. Our total United
States National Guard numbered but 150,000 men available
for field service at short notice. Still further, the United
States Army was said to be unable to put more than 50,000
men into the field, so many of the Regular Troops were
with the coast defenses, and in the Philippines, Alaska and
Hawaii. The Secretary of War had given his estimate for
equipping the National Guard, but there appeared to be
no money obtainable for that purpose, nor was it known
how soon the government could or would furnish the neces-
sary means. It appeared, therefore, to the Executive Com-
mittee advisable to find out at once from manufacturers,
and others capable of furnishing overcoats, shoes, gloves,
underwear, etc., what standard equipment was available in
the country, and what could be supplied at short notice, so
as to collect the necessary furnishings either through State
agencies or private sources. The status of enlistment also
40
was at that time far below the required standard. The
preceding January there were but 54 enhstments in Massa-
chusetts, when 200 a month were thought to be necessary to
maintain our peace strength; while to make up the com-
plement of men necessary to full war strength would require
6,000 or 7,000 more men than we had.
If, under orders from Washington, our National Guard
units should be called upon to protect the State, they would
thereby become de facto Federal troops. If the Governor,
however, took the initiative, they would remain State troops
and receive State pay. In the former case they received
50 cents a day. As militia men they received $1.50 with
subsistence.
When our troops were on the Mexican Border the govern-
ment added $10 a month to the soldier's pay, and under
certain restrictions helped the dependents at home. Here,
again, although the government had appropriated $2,000,000
for the relief of dependents of these soldiers, the plan did
not work very well. The chief difficulty was that a majority
of dependents did not, or would not, accept any help except
in cases where direct need existed. It seemed impossible
for them, with their American notions of independence, to
construe such relief as not making them objects of charity.
This honorable sensitiveness seemed inborn in our com-
munities. The preceding year the same objection had at
first seriously interfered with the efforts of the Massachu-
setts Volunteer Aid Association, an organization appointed
by the Governor for the express purpose of relieving the
families of the soldiers at the Border, and supported by
popular subscription. In both cases it proved most diffi-
cult to convince many dependents, no matter in what form
the assistance might be offered, that they were not being
pauperized. In this general connection, also, a Federal
soldier's pay could not possibly support his family unless
he was willing to be helped, and he was thus prevented from
enlisting unless he had other means of subsistence; nor did
the recommendation of the Secretary of War that the pay
41
be raised to $30 a month remove tlie difficulty, as that
amount would not make a soldier's total receipts sufficient
to maintain an average family. Such bodies of troops as
had been in Texas were, under the new call, authorized to
maintain war strength; but others, called out at the same
time, were refused that right, and had been unable to get
the order rescinded. It appeared, also, in the opinion of
the Judge Advocate-General of the army, that the State
could not itself maintain an organized militia outside of the
National Guard and before the latter was taken into the
National Army. The final outcome of this complicated sit-
uation resulted in the morale of the National Guard being
seriously threatened.
It was fifty-two years since we had been engaged in a
formidable war, and the early spring of 1917 found the
United States totally unprepared by land, and with a sea
strength less than two-thirds that of Germany. We were
also 25,000 men short of the complement necessary to man
such fleet as we had. Our Regular Army was not up to the
authorized standard of its strength by many thousands.
What ordnance we possessed was limited in quantity, poor
in quality and out of date. We had a few badly constructed
and useless types of machine guns, besides a negligible
number of English make and design. There was not at
this time within the whole breadth of the United States a
single heavy field gun, one fighting airship, any aviators or
schools for their instruction. Thus Massachusetts, on April
6, 1917, with war declared, had no defense, naval or mili-
tary. State or national, on which she could properly rely.
Naked of eciuipment and man power, she was helpless to
oppose the Hun, who might land am^where on our coast,
from Chatham, Mass., to Eastport, Me., and eventually
march up and down State Street to his heart's content.
The foregoing conditions brought forcibly to the attention
of the Committee «n Public Safety the pressing need of
strengthening our military efficiency so far as possible with
the limited material on hand.
42
Committee on Military Equipment and Supplies
The Executive Committee bad already formally affirmed
that the obvious function and obligation of the Committee
on Military Equipment and Supplies was to keep in touch
with the Adjutant-General's office, and to ascertain what
material was readily obtainable through official channels;
and that whenever the Federal government should take over
the National Guard of Massachusetts in its entirety, then
the duties and activities of the Committee should cease, or
be turned into some other useful channel.
Accordingly, the Committee began its work by taking an
inventory of existing supplies throughout the Common-
wealth, and this listing was kept fully up to date. But
on July 28, 1917, the Massachusetts National Guard was
merged into the National Army, and henceforth the duties
of the Equipment and Supplies Committee were directed
solely towards equipping and supplying the newly formed
State Guard, the Committee ceasing to have further official
connection with any other military unit.
As illustrations of the Committee's general promptitude
and efficiency, a few interesting examples might be given of
assistance rendered the National Guard before the State
Guard was established.
For instance, on April 9, three days after our declaration
of war, an application was made to the Massachusetts Com-
mittee on Public Safety by Gen. E. Leroj^ Sweetser, then
Adjutant-General, for 1,350 pairs of rubbers for the 2d, 6th
and 9th Regiments. These units were performing arduous
guard duty throughout the State, which exposed them to
trying and severe vicissitudes of weather, and more par-
ticularly at this special time to dangers arising from a late
heavy fall of snow. The necessity was imperative, and per-
mitted no opportunity for bids. The Committee managed
to procure the required goods and deliver them to the regi-
ments on the afternoon of the same day.
Again, on April 13, at the request of the authorities at
Washington, 1,000 pairs of woolen gloves were supplied to
43
the Cth Regiment. Tliis requisition was received at 12.30
P.M., but the gloves were ready for delivery on the same
afternoon.
On April 5 and 16 aid was requested in furnishing medical
su])plies for the 9th Regiment, including pi-actically every-
thing required to fill the medicine chest of that unit, and
covering a long line of articles. It is interesting in this
connection to note that, although the 9th Regiment's store
of medical supplies had become exhausted during its serv-
ice on the Mexican Border, yet, notwithstanding repeated
reciuisitions had subsequently been made on Washington to
replenish the same, no i-esults had been obtained after a
lapse of many months. The Committee, however, on de-
mand, supplied the requirements within thirty-six hours.
Also, at the request of the Committee on Naval Affairs,
the Committee made a contract for 10,000 pea-jackets. The
chairman of the Naval Committee reported to the Equip-
ment Committee on Friday afternoon, April 13, that the
Navy Department asserted they were unable to furnish pea-
jackets to protect the men who were being enrolled, the
market being entirely out of regulation 30-ounce cloth. At
the same time, however, the Navy Department agreed to
make up these garments at a cost not exceeding $4.50
apiece, — the actual expense to the government, — provided
it could be furnished with the cloth. Mr. Preston's Com-
mittee quickly ])ut itself in touch with woolen manufac-
turers handling this grade of cloth, and after scouring the
country ascertained that the New York representative of
the American Woolen Company having special charge of the
Uniform Department was expected in Boston the following
day, Saturday, to attend a wedding. The wedding festivi-
ties were broken in upon to the extent of an interview with
this representative, who after his return to New York tele-
phoned the Committee at 11 o'clock on Monday morning
that he had unearthed 30,000 yards of the required cloth of
a quality which would pass government inspection. The
result was, that after a further conference of the two Com-
mittees and the Boston representative of the manufacturer,
within an hour, at 12 o'clock, a contract was closed for the
entire amount of goods on the basis of $13.50 per garment.
The regular cost to the government of these pea-jackets
had heretofore been between $14.26 and $14.75 per gar-
ment.
Ouifiiting State Guard. — In the equipment of the State
Guard, because of the delays incident to the organization of
that body, ample opportunity was given to provide every
necessity, and on a strictly competitive basis. The prices
then paid were at least as low as it was possible to obtain
goods of similar quality at the time the purchases were
made. It should be remembered that the movement of
prices during this period was very rapid, and the difficulties
of obtaining material of good quality multiplied. Inasmuch,
also, as it was not practical to forecast the entire needs of
the State Guard in relation to their various kinds of equip-
ment, some of the later purchases of the Committee were
necessarily made at a higher figure.
In illustration of this increase in price, the Committee
had an option on a bid for 7,479 Springfield rifles (45.70) at
$5.75 apiece; but when, after a long wait, requisitions were
finally received, it was found impossible to purchase them
for less than $7.75 per weapon. This delay was partly due
to an unsuccessful effort in the meantime to obtain "Krag"
rifles from the government free of charge. In respect to all
the difficulties and disappointments incurred in obtaining
equipment for the State Guard, the authorities in charge
were obliged to feel their way cautiously in the organiza-
tion of that body, and could hardly be expected to anticipate
its full rec{uirements very far ahead.
The expenditure of the Committee in the matter of equip-
ping the State Guard, numbering 8,500 men, was $38.50
per man, and embraced the following articles : —
45
Coats, ....
9,500
Slings,
5,844
Hats, ....
9,500
Bayonets, . . . .
5,844
Breeches,
9,500
Bayonet scabbards.
6,000
Leggins.
9,500
Cartridge belts, .
7,750
Shirts, ....
8,750
Infantry figures, .
24,083
Overcoats,
10,468
Collar and shirt brassards.
28,929
Hat cords.
11,38^2
Chevrons,
10,693
Rifles, ....
5,844
Arm brassards,
23,846
In addition to tlie above, 915 ponchos, 300 army rifles
for target practice at armories, oflficers' chevrons and medical
supplies were purchased. The expense incurred for the en-
tire outfitting amounted to the sum of $357,565.58.
The 1st Motor Corps and the 1st Troop of Cavalry were
equi])ped by i)rivate subscription with everything except
overcoats and brassards.
Commonwealth Pier. — Many complaints had been com-
ing in regarding the unhealthy conditions of the Connnon-
wealth Pier and its use for Naval Reserves. This situation
finally became serious. Inquiry revealed that the trouble
was due to the dust-laden atmosphere of the buildings,
brought about l)y the constant tramping of the sailors over
the rough concrete floors. The Committee obviatied this
difficulty by having the floors coated with a cement filler
paint. The expense of this work, however, was assumed by
the Navy Department.
Aviation Field. — The Aviation Field at Squantum, a
creation as we have seen of the Committee on Public Safety,
and established in INIarch, was also entirely eqiiip])ed by the
Committee, with the sole exception of the airships them-
selves. This required 36 tents accommodating 57 cots,
together with all the furnishings for the comfort of the men,
and in addition a full line of medical supplies. This was
done at the request of the Committee on Naval Affairs.
The Aviation Field was later. May 11, 1917, taken over by
the government.
Emergency Hospital. — A detailed account of the work of
the Commonwealth Militar^^ Emergency Hospital and of
46
the Emergency Health Committee will be given later, but it
would perhaps be well at this stage to relate their obliga-
tions to the Committee on Equipment and Supplies.
In equipping the Emergency Hospital the Committee
eventually expended the sum of $18,674.71 for hospital
needs alone. This included iron bedsteads, mattresses, pil-
lows, bed linens and medical supplies, etc. The Prison
Commission endeavored, under chapter 414, General Acts
of 1910, to have the Committee purchase from them, wher-
ever possible, supplies that were manufactured at the State
Prison, including mattresses, pillows, blankets, tables, etc.
The Committee, however, taking into consideration prices
and quality, did not consider themselves bound so to do,
reasoning that the law had not contemplated any restraint
on their freedom of action in case of an emergency such as
then presented itself. The Prison Commission was conse-
quently placed on exactly the same footing as any other
competitor.
Influenza Epidemic. — During the influenza epidemic, the
Committee, at the request of the Emergency Health Com-
mittee, purchased supplies for the latter, with a total ex-
penditiu'c of $5,734.74. This covered everything, including
cots, mattresses and bed linens; and in addition a long line
of paper goods, such as napkins, plates, drinking cups, and
containers of various kinds, besides other equipment neces-
sary for hospital uses.
Relations with Washington on Equipment
In the summer of 191 G, when the Massachusetts con-
tingent of the National Guard was at the Border, all equip-
ment and supplies were furnished from Washington. This
practice was supposed to continue after the troops came
back, yet it did not always run as smoothly as might have
been expected. The Executive Committee, therefore, found
that it was necessary to assist, if not to prompt, the authori-
ties at Washington, in order to hasten fitting out the
Massachusetts troops preparatory to their being called into
47
the Federal service. An investigation disclosed that our
contingent in the National Guard was short some $600,000
worth of equipment necessary to meet the authorized peace
strength, and substantially nuich more than that amovmt for
authorized war strength, and, accordingly, Mr. W. B.
Donhani and Mr. Benjamin Joy were sent to Washington
as representatives of the Committee on Public Safety to
discuss the whole subject of equipment. A partial success
followed their efforts, in so far as they succeeded in acquir-
ing some of the furnishing through the Militia Bureau of
the War Department. But the available funds under the
existing government appropriations were small, and the
authorities distinctly took the position that, wherever it
was legally possible, they desired to give to the Regular
Army the preference in supplying both funds and equip-
ment. The difficulty at the War Department seemed to be
that they were not executing contracts at that time, but
were waiting for congressional action, with the result
that the shortage of equipment of the National Guard
appeared likely to be a serious factor, affecting its future
usefulness.
After many unsuccessful efforts to persuade the govern-
ment to order equipment directly for the Massachusetts
National Giuird, arrangements were finally concluded under
which contracts were to be placed with the War Depart-
ment to the account of the Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts, but only provided the Commonwealth would make
itself responsible for the expenditures.
Accordingly, at the recommendation of the Executive
Committee, the Governor and Council, on March 28, 1917,
permitted the necessary equipment for the Massachusetts
National Guard troops to be acquired out of the $1,000,000
appropriation for emergency purposes authorized by the
Legislature, with the express stipulation that the total
amounts so exi)ended should not exceed the sum of $750,000.
Acting under this authority, contracts were placed in
W^ashington by the War Department to the account of the
48
Commonwealth for a large amount of equipment, which
was later delivered to the Massachusetts National Guard.
The results, as far as obtained, were in a great measure
due to the valuable assistance of the officers of the Militia
Bureau in Washington, who, together with the Committee's
representatives, worked out the plan. Subsequently, through
Mr. Donham's efforts, the Committee was enabled to
arrange so that the actual payment of the bills for the
equipment as above ordered was made directly by the War
Department, and the State was consequently never called
upon to pay any part of the $750,000 authorized by the
Governor and Council.
I^argely as a result of this action by the Committee, the
Massachusetts National Guard entered the Federal service
quite as fully equipped as, and probably far better in most
respects than, any other National Guard unit. The scheme
was well conceived, ably carried out, and bore splendid
fruit. To it must be attributed the prompt readiness for
service of the ^Gth Division, into which our Massachusetts
troops were subsequently merged; and also the fact that
this Division w^as the first National Guard Division in the
field, the first to go across seas, and the first over the top.
Committee on Emergency Help and Equipment
Yet in the judgment of the Executive Committee, an
efficient local defense called not only for properly equipped
Guards to prevent or repel attack, but that the resultant
evil incident to any such misadventure might be quickly
remedied. With this in view, and in order to have men,
material and equipment ready for reconstruction work, a
Committee on Emergency Help and Equipment was
formed. Beginning February 24 this Committee organized
the construction and material men of the State, so that all
building agencies throughout the Commonwealth might be
available for immediate service. A sub-committee was
appointed, with Mr. Gow as chainnan, and an executive
board, who divided the State into five geographical sections,
49
each under its own district chairman. Mr. E. S. Larned, a
well-known civil engineer, was employed, at the personal
expense of members of the sub-committee, to act as secre-
tary and organizer, and he gave his entire thne for several
months to the duties involved. Through his efforts and
those of the district chairmen, every contractor and supi)lier
of building material in the Commonwealth signed a pledge
to furnish labor, materials and equipment, without profit, at
the call of his district chairman. Local chairmen were
designated for each city and larger town, in order that a
responsible officer might l)e quickly available in localities
where trouble arose. In addition, instructions were given
to the local authorities, railroad companies and heads of
commissions as to the course of procedure when action on
their part became necessary. An exani])le of the effective-
ness of this plan of organization took place on Saturday,
A])ril '21, 1917, when the discovery was made at the Spring-
field Armor}' that emery had been introduced through one
of the grease cups on the main bearing of its chief power
unit, with the evident purpose of ruining its mechanism.
The officials in charge called upon the chairman of the
Si)ringfield District for help, who within an hour had a
force of men on hand, with blocking and hydraulic jacks,
ready to jack U}) the flywheel and shaft and make all neces-
sary repairs, with the result that the engine began running
as usual on Monday morning and no time was lost.
Fortunately, no serious emergency arose to test the full
capacity of this organization, but the mere fact that a body
of this character existed with an ability to quickly mobilize,
was in itself a distinct element strengthening our defense,
and undoubtedly acted as a check to those very evils taking
place which the Committee was fully equipi)ed to prevent
or repair. The Committee, however, did nmch positive and
helpful work. It supplied tent floors and walls, with other
emergency housing, for a detachment of the 9th Regiment
stationed at the Watertown Arsenal; and working through
the Aberthaw Construction Company — who for the pur-
50
pose took away a crew from one of its other jobs — com-
pleted the undertaking in two days. The actual cost only
was charged for this service, while the Watertown Lumber
Company supplied the required lumber at a price $4 per M
below the market price. The John Cavanaugh Building
Moving Company hauled four city of Boston voting booths,
at the actual expense of men and teams, from the yards of
the Boston election board — - which loaned the property to
the State — to Watertown, where they were used to protect
tlie detachment stationed there against unreasonably cold
and stormy weather.
When it was decided to erect buildings at Squantum for
an aviation school, the Committee arranged with the J. W.
Bishop Company of Boston to construct the plant without
profit or overhead charges. The firm of J. R. Worcester
& Co. supplied the required engineering, also free of charge.
Altogether, about $30,000 was expended in the construction
of this school; and w^hen a little later the government took
over the site for the erection of the Victory Destroyer
Plant, the sub-committee succeeded in obtaining a salvage
payment of $20,000. In the summer of 1917 the 9th Regi-
ment was encamped at South Framingham, and being with-
out proper sanitary arrangements or shelter in inclement
weather, it was determined by the State authorities to sup-
ply these deficiencies. Accordingly, an appropriation of
$20,000 was given the Emergency Helj) and Equipment
Committee with which to install the requisite accommoda-
tions. Complete sewerage and water systems were put in,
with latrines, showers, cook houses and mess hall, the fin-
ished work costing approximately $16,000. The John F.
Griffin Company erected the buildings. P. W. Donoghue
installed the plumbing, charging only the expense involved,
and Mr. James E. McLaughlin supplied all the plans and
supervised the work without charge to the State. Among a
few minor matters also handled by the Emergency Com-
mittee was the salvage of a State-owned floating hangar,
which had gone adrift in Boston Harbor during a storm,
and had partially sunk.
51
Committee on Recruiting
In the organization of this Committee the exercise of sound
judgment with the utmost possible care was required. In
all matters of recruiting it was essential that neither the
birth, character nor antecedents of the would-be soldier
should be open to the slightest suspicion. Pacifists, anar-
chists, slackers and hyphenated Americans were not only
ever present as bogies in the imagination of timid citizens,
but hard-headed, practical and intelligent men were un-
happily only too well assured of the insidious propaganda,
disloyalty and treachery that had already been unearthed;
while the history of Von Papen's activities, the affair of the
Welland Canal, that of McAdam Junction, and the bomb
exploded in the Court House, Boston, together with many
other deviltries prompted by the "kultur" of the ubiquitous
Hun, were still fresh in every one's mind.
As a first step, about two hundred public-spirited men
were chosen from all sections of the State, and from this
number a chairman, three vice-chairmen, a secretary and
an executive board were selected. Sub-committees, by
counties, were appointed, each having its separate chairman,
as follows : —
Barii.stal)le, Dukes, Nantucket
Bcrksliire,
Bristol,
Essex, .
Franklin,
Hampden,
Hampshire,
Middlesex,
Norfolk,
Plymouth,
Suffolk,
Worcester,
Capt. C. Lawrence Barry.
John Nicholson.
R. C. Davis.
James P. Plielan.
Joseph Monette.
John W. Haigis.
Col. Jenness K. Dexter.
W. H. Feiker.
Robert O. Dal ton.
Perry D. Thompson.
George E. Adams.
Charles Williamson.
Judge Michael J. Murray.
Herbert E. Jcnnison.
Harry W. Smith.
52
This office carried with it membership on the executive
board. The duty of the county chairmen was to strengthen
the recruiting campaign, and produce results in each county
by forming sub-committees in its cities and towns. Such
appointees, however, before final installation in office, were
required to submit their names to the Executive Committee
on Recruiting, and by it in turn to the Executive Committee
of the Committee on Public Safety.
The personnel of the Executive Committee as finally
established contained one hundred and seventy-five names.
Mr. P. A. O'Connell, the chairman, and Mr. E. J. Sampson,
the secretary, gave practically their entire time from 9 a.m.
to 5.30 P.M. every day, attending to the details of the work,
answering correspondence, and meeting the numberless visi-
tors applying for information.
On March 17, 1917, a meeting of the full committee
was held at the State House, at which Gen. Leonard Wood
addressed the members. Colonel McCoy, who was in
charge of recruiting for the Regular Army, was also present
and gave his views. Judge Murray and Brigadier-General
Cole likewise spoke. The original scheme of organization
was outlined and accepted as the most effective means of
getting recruits. County chairmen especially, and, in fact,
all members of the Recruiting Committee, were urged to
acquaint themselves with the various branches of service
desired by the government, so as to be prepared in a general
way to answer questions or offer suggestions.
Meetings. — Meetings of the executive board were held
three times every week, the county chairmen coming from
the various counties of the Commonwealth for the purpose
of discussing the mixed problems constantly arising in each
section, and to determine the most effective methods of
obtaining recruits. Three meetings becoming unnecessary,
only one a week was held; and after the organization be-
came fully efficient, regular meetings were suspended, and
bi-weekly reports from each county chairman were furnished
to the state chairman. A maximum effort was made to
53
encourage favorable publicity, and to this end proprietors
of the various newspapers were approached, who at once
responded to the requests of the Committee.
Hotels and Theatres. — It would seem that many hotels,
restaurants and other places of public resort had a prejudice
against admitting soldiers and sailors. This gave rise to
much adverse criticism and occasional disorder. Thereupon
proprietors of hotels and theatrical managers were inter-
viewed, and impressed with the necessity of placing the
soldier and sailor in a more favorable light before the public,
and many of them gave their immediate and loyal co-opera-
tion towards a better understanding. Mr. Edward Smith,
manager of several theatres in Boston, agreed .to give pref-
erence in choice of seats to men in uniform, and a certain
number of exceptionally well-located seats were held by him
on reserve, at every performance, for men in the uniform of
the anny or navy.
Advertising. — Many of the different schemes employed
for advertising throughout the Commonwealth proved very
successful, while public speaking at patriotic meetings and
flag raisings, where young men were urged to join the colors,
was directed through a Speakers' Bureau. Recruiting tents
were erected at chosen localities, where addresses were
made daily and regimental bands furnished concerts to
attract an audience. Many parades were held during the
day and torchlight processions by night, accompanied by
martial music. Moving-picture theatres presented on their
screens "America is Ready," "Boston Tea Party," "Massa-
chusetts" and various other sketches to stimulate enlist-
ment. A group of uniformed National Guardsmen were
secured to travel through the Commonwealth, doing a
sketch called "A Day in Camp." This last attracted a
great deal of attention, as it was sometimes held in public
parks or squares, and resulted in a very large number of
recruits. In cities and towns, during a recruiting rally, a
roll of honor board was set up giving the names of those
volunteering. After the meeting a permanent board with
54
the recruits listed was at once located in some prominent
part of the city. These methods were found to be most
productive in inducing young men to volunteer.
Posters reading "Men wanted for the National Guard
between the ages of 18 and 30, with no dependents," were
placed upon the dashers of all the street railway cars in the
Commonwealth, and likewise liberally placarded in every
section of the State, without any attendant cost. Over a
million four-page circulars explaining the heading, "Men
wanted to join the colors," were printed and distributed by
merchants and county chairmen. The New England Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company, also, sent out about one-
quarter of a million of these circulars with their monthly
bills. Thirty-five hundred dollars was expended for an ad-
vertisement on the front page of nearly all the daily papers,
entitled, "Red-blooded men wanted to serve their country."
In some cities whole pages were inserted in the home papers
and paid for by local committees. Church organizations,
from one end of the Commonwealth to the other, willingly
gave the use of their pulpits to accommodate speakers dis-
cussing the general features of recruiting. In the smaller
towns addresses were made from automobiles equipped for
the purpose, and the young men of the locality urged to
join the National Guard. Often men anxious to enlist were
rejected as physically unfit for service, and they had nothing
to show in evidence of their willingness and patriotism. In
consequence, for these men, and for them only, the Com-
mittee designed a "Willing and ready" button, both pur-
chasing and distributing thousands thereof, their use being
sanctioned by legislative enactment. The standing of the
National Guard companies in the Commonwealth was daily
forwarded by telegram to the Adjutant-General's office at
the State House, and whenever a unit showed weakness, the
Committee concentrated its forces to strengthen recruiting
in that particular locality. Moreover, the Committee,
meeting a general demand, deemed it wise to advocate
universal compulsory training and service, and a vote was
55
passed calling ii])on every Chamber of Commerce or Board
of Trade in the Coniinonwealth to urge their Rei)resentative
in Congress to forward such legislation.
Term of Service. — In the early part of the recruiting cam-
paign a very serious difficulty was encountered. ]\Ien en-
listing in the National Guard were obliged to sign for a six-
Aear term, — three years in active service and three years
in the reserve. This requirement frightened away valuable
material to such an extent that the Committee made it its
business, in conjunction with the Governor and the Execu-
tive Conimittee, to do what it could in effecting a change,
and to Hmit the time of enlistments to the j)eriod of war
emergency. The result sought, though somewhat delayed,
was finally obtained.
Transportation. — When in the latter part of March, 1917,
the State National Guard was called out for guard duty at
the railroad bridges, canals, etc., the soldiers were entitled to
40 cents a day per man for food; but inasmuch as warm
food was to be had at the armories, the Recruiting Commit-
tee, co-operating with the Transportation Committee, ar-
ranged for more or less free transportation for the soldiers to
and from their armories. It should be mentioned here that
the Boston Elevated Railway Company and the New York,
New Haven & Hartford Railroad showed great willingness
and an exceptionally fine spirit in hel])ing this project
through.
Within XI short time enlistments exceeded in number the
supjjly of imifonns ready at hand; yet, and mainly through
the efforts of the Committee, this difficulty was quickly
removed.
Recruiting for Regular Army. — It was not long before the
recruiting officers for the Regular Army asked the Commit-
tee's assistance. An investigation of the methods in vogue by
I lie Regular Army disclosed the fact that its recruiting sta-
tions were in somewhat isolated places, and often difficult
to find. In response to the Committee's request some of
these were transferred to more convenient and prominent
56
localities, the first and distinctly most important change
being that made to the recruiting tent on Boston Common.
Notwithstanding much assistance was at this time given
to the National Guard, very little was being done by
Massachusetts for the Regidar Army. It must be borne in
mind that there were two different classes of recruiting
stations in the Commonwealth, — one for the Regulars,
and another for the State National Guard. Complaints
began to come in from the War Department that recruit-
ing for the Federal Army was not showing the activity
that it ought to. It was found that this condition was
due to the fact that the National Guard of Massachusetts
w^as very generally considered one of the finest in the
Union, and that many young men had a decided predi-
lection to join its ranks as against enlistment in the
Regular Army. So strong was this feeling that when the
former attained its full peace strength and enlistments
w^ere stopped, many anxious to join the colors hung back,
in order to take their chance of enlisting as Massachusetts
National Guardsmen whenever the government permitted
that body to be recruited to full war strength, rather than
to enlist without further delay in the Regular Army. After
the recruiting of the National Guard to peace strength had
been carried through, the executive board issued general
instructions to the members of the Committee to hold them-
selves in readiness for whatever service their Stiite or the
Nation might call upon them to perform.
During this period of waiting the Committee used its
organization to assist recruiting in the Regular Army. A
meeting was held by the members of the various Committees
on Recruiting and Regular Army Recruiting Officers, where
a plan of action was inaugurated and an extensive campaign
started. Every method found successful in the drive for
the National Guard volunteers was put into operation over
again, and from the Cape to the Berkshires the slogan was,
"Join the Regular Army." Arrangements were made with
Adjutant-General McCain at Washington to establish a
57
reHa))le record as to how the campaign was progressing, and
he advised the Committee daily by telegraph of the number
of men actually volunteering and accepted.
President Wilson issued a proclamation naming the week
of June 23 to 30, 1917, "recruiting week," and called upon
all men between the ages of eighteen and forty, unmarried,
without dependents, and not engaged in work necessary to
the successful prosecution of the war, to join the colors.
Civilian Help. — The Quartermaster's Reserve Corps of
the Ignited States Anny sought to obtain at short notice
high-grade civilian help, such as chauffeurs, mechanics,
clerks, stenographers, overseers, cooks, teamsters, etc., and
permission was asked of the Committee on Public Safety
to grant the Department the privilege of working through
its Recruiting Committee. This was given, and in two
weeks' time sufficient numbers of men were obtained to fill
all units asked for.
First Liberty Loan. — Just before the First Liberty Loan
drive the Committee felt that it could be of service to the
Treasury Department in helping the drive. Accordingly, a
meeting was called at the State House, attended by three
or four hundred members of the Committee, and to whom
an address was delivered by Mr. A. L. Aiken, Governor of
the Federal Reserve Bank. Plans were made to assist in float-
ing the loan, and every member of the Committee through-
out the Commonwealth strove to make it a success. A
very high grade of work in this connection was done by the
county chairmen, and always with a willing spirit.
Recruiting National Guard to Peace Streufffh. — The most
exacting effort required of the Committee was to build up
the National Guard. On March 1, 1916, the total number
of men in the State available for military service was
()07,466. By this is meant those men in the Common-
wealth between the ages of eighteen and forty -five; and
of this number 7,271 were mustered into the Volunteer
Militia in response to the call of the President, June 18,
19 10, for service on the Mexican Border. Massachusetts
58
was at that time asked to furnish an organization, the
strength of which was to be 9,647 men. Of this number
only 8,457 were secured. Among them were 1,444 who had
dependents and who shoidd never have been accepted.
Such was the situation prior to the formation of the Com-
mittee on Pubhc Safety's Recruiting Committee, the
National Guard remaining at the Border from the latter
part of June to the early part of November, 1916.
The first big recruiting drive started March 24, 1917,
when the National Guard show^ed a strength of 9,171. At
that time various National Guard units were called into the
Federal service to guard public utilities, such as bridges,
railways, terminals and industrial plants. The strength of
all organizations was authorized to be increased from the
original peace strength of the National Guard organization
to the war strength prescribed by the National Defense Act,
enlarging infantry companies from 65 to 100, and other
branches correspondingly.
In the first six days of the drive 1,191 men were enlisted
and hundreds were placed on waiting lists. On June 30,
1917, the enlisted strength of the Massachusetts National
Guard was 15,749 men, so that from March 24 to June 30,
6,578 men had volunteered and been examined and accepted
for service.
Recruiting National Guard to War Strength. — The Massa-
chusetts National Guard lacked 500 men to bring it up to
peace strength, and 6,000 to war strength. At the time we
entered the war the War Department at Washington de-
clared its intention to recruit the National Guard in every
State to war strength, so that in case of emergency 500,000
men would be available for duty. How quickly the Com-
monwealth responded to the call is a matter of just pride
on her part. Under the Committee's very efficient chair-
man, Mr. P. A. O'Connell, the Massachusetts National
Guard, in less than three days, was brought up to peace
strength. The task then remained of recruiting to the com-
plement necessary for war strength.
59
To accomplish this, sub-committees were rapidly organ-
ized in practically every city and town. Their specific duty
was to hold rallies, to arouse interest in recruiting, to adver-
tise and to canvass the State. So well was this obligation
performed that in one day over 900 men for the Massa-
chusetts National Guard were enlisted and sworn in. At
the time the Massachusetts National Guard became feder-
alized, July 28, 1917, practically the entire cjuota necessary
to bring it up to war strength had been obtained, 50*2 officers
and 15,908 enlisted men being available for induction into
the Federal service as against 305 officers and 10,36'2 men
on March 30, 1917. This was due almost entirely to the
splendid efforts which were put forth by the Recruiting
Committee and its various sub-committees, and was the
more creditable on account of the position taken by the
authorities at Washington. On March 30, 1917, a telegram
was sent to the chief of the Militia Bureau, requesting
authority to recruit all units of the Massachusetts National
Guard to war strength. The reply coming from the Secre-
tary of War advised the suspension of all recruiting until
Congress had perfected certain changes in the law, and giv-
ing in excuse a shortage of equipment. This news was so
discouraging that not a few men already enlisted applied
for their discharge in order to recruit in the Regular Army
or the Navy, causing many first-rate soldiers to be lost to
the National Guard.
Notwithstanding every drawback and vicissitude, and
greatly to the credit of the Commonwealth, a wonderful
result followed. The following figures were furnished, cor-
rected to August 1, 1917, or to just before the first call under
the Selective Draft Act : —
Regular Army Volunteers in Neiv England
Maine, 801
New Hampsliire, 474
Vermont, 109
Rhode Island, 761
Total, 2,145
60
Massachusetts obtained during the same period 8,335
vohmteers for the Regular Army, or about four times as
man}' as all the other New England States combined.
Other Comparisons.
State .
Population.
Recruits
obtained.
Ohio,
Texas,
Missouri,
Massachusetts,
5,150,.356
4,429,566
3,410,692
3,719,1.56
8,022
5,882
7,194
8,3.35
Massachusetts was one of seventeen of the forty-eight
States in the Union to enlist its Regular Army quota before
August 31, 1917, or, in other words, before the Selective
Draft went into effect. Of the thirty-one States that did
not so obtain their quota, fourteen were south of Mason
and Dixon's Line. No southern State east of the Mississippi
obtained its quota by August 1. There were but four other
States in the Union that secured a greater number of Regu-
lar Army volunteer recruits than Massachusetts. These
States were New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana.
Indiana received but 500 more than Massachusetts, and it
must be borne in mind, in comparing Indiana with Massa-
chusetts, that the National Guard of Indiana was less than
one-quarter of the size of the National Guard of Massa-
chusetts. Therefore, if we were to add the National Guard
recruits to the Regular Army recruits, Massachusetts would
have a very much larger number of recruits than Indiana,
thereby placing Massachusetts fourth, — in fact, very close
to Illinois with a population nearly double.
61
CHAPTER VI
COMMITTEE ON PREVENTION OF SOCIAL EVILS
SURROUNDING MILITARY CAMPS
In addition to the Preparatory Committees, other com-
mittees were subsequently formed directly or indirectly
affecting military preparation and efficiency, which in the
aggregate did much towards raising the standard of the Mas-
sachusetts troops and making them the first to be ready for
active service. Among these was the Committee on Pre-
vention of Social Evils Surrounding Military Camps : —
P. A. O'Connell, Chairman.
George H. Lyman, Vice-Chairman.
W. A. L. Bazeley, Secretary.
Walter C. Baylies.
Allison G. Catheron.
J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr.
Dr. W. R. Ellis.
George T. Keyes.
E. W. Longley.
Levi H. Greenwood.
Judge M. J. Murray.
James J. Phelan.
A. C. Ratshesky.
Philip Stockton.
Ferdinand Strauss.
Harry K. \^^nte.
Edward J. Sampson.
Philip W. Wrenn.
It was some months before the members of the Executive
Committee were ready to admit how dangerous and threat-
ening to the public safety was the social evil, not only as a
chief demoralizing agency, but as directly undermining the
efficiency of the soldier. A general opinion seemed to pre-
vail that consideration of such matters was solely within
the province of the moralist, and should be regulated either
by recognized State bodies or by private associations organ-
ized for the purpose.
On the journal of the nineteenth century, the credit page
of the American people is overwritten with a truly wonder-
ful record of national development. Our growth and great-
ness as a Nation of power, of wealth, of accomplishment
beyond dispute, no man may deny. Although our revered
ancestors who founded the Republic strove to stamp upon
our national character the force of their moral and religious
conviction, they never forgot that the public weal and the
practical side of life were closely allied.
The professed ethics of the Pilgrim Fathers, of the Puri-
tans, Scotch Presbyterians, French refugees and others — -
God-fearing men, who, in part altruists, and in part shrewd,
keen observers of human nature, gave the incentive to the
ideal American spirit — championed to the utmost every
moral principle. Yet these forefathers likewise recognized
how immorality had sapped the life-blood of dynasties and
been the scourge of enduring success. They knew full well
that in the battle of morality against vice the supporting
influence of practical laws was vital, and that a law not
enforced was worse than futile; but also that it was far
better to forestall the commission of crime than to await the
necessity of punishing it.
The manifest duty, therefore, of the preventive Committee
was to remove, as far as lay within its power, this pervading
evil — with its ofttimes precursor, drink — ■ so supremely
dangerous to our military efficiency and to the public wel-
fare; and to maintain and advance the soldiers' physical
vigor and effectiveness wherever possible. The restraining
influences to be attained by moral and religious instruc-
tion and propaganda, absolutely essential as supporting
agencies, were held to be more particularly the province of
organizations formed for the purpose, and not directly
functions for which the Committee on Prevention of Social
Evils Surrounding Military Camps was primarily formed
September 19, 1917.
During the first eighteen months of the war one of the
armies engaged had more soldiers in its hospitals incapaci-
tated by venereal disease than from all battlefield injuries.
Besides the loss in man power from such disability there is
always the specter of the dreadful harm that such soldiers
63
are capable of inflicting on their return to civil life. Every
home for feeble-minded children, every insane asylum,
every hospital and almshouse, bears testimony to the awful
toll of mental and bodily health that is exacted by venereal
disease. From this cause sj.ring one-third to one-half of
the cases of insanity; all cases of paresis, and probabh^
nearly all of locomotor ataxia; many apoplexies, paralytic
strokes, and a large proportion of all diseases of the heart,
blood vessels and other vital organs.
Army authorities estimated that of young men ap]:)lying
for enlistment prior to the war one-fifth were syphilitic. A
foreign commission, which spent a year studying the ques-
tion, gave as its opinion that at least one-tenth of its
country's population was infected. In the United States,
official estimates taken of the normal percentage of the
whole i)opulation suffering from disease due directly or indi-
rectly to this specific cause ranged from 8 to IG per cent.
The experience of our troops on the Mexican Border
brought to the attention of hygienists and physicians with
added emphasis the gravity of the problem and the dangers
involved. The Committee therefore realized that a far-
reaching obligation rested upon the State to return the
soldiers to civil life uncontaminated with any disease that
would make them for years afterwards unfit members of the
community. They also felt it to be of equal importance
that the womanhood of the State should be protected in
this respect.
The first step taken by the Committee was to establish
its own police force for active duty at Ayer, and in the
towns and cities in the vicinity of Camp Devens. This
was decided upon after it was proved that sufficient police
j)rotection could not otherwise be secured. Therefore
eleven men, in the service and pay of the Committee, with
a chief in charge, were organized as a vice squad to safe-
guard the morals and health not only of the contingent at
Camp Devens, but also of the civilian population with
whom the soldiers were in more or less daily contact.
64
It being found that there were no adequate quarters to
be hired in Aver, the town authorities allowed the Com-
mittee to make use of a section of the ground floor in the
Town Hall as a detention room for women, and this cour-
tesy was extended until the end of the war. Here the Com-
mittee immediately proceeded to build necessary partitions,
to install cots, and to furnish the required bed clothing,
toilet articles, etc., for the abandoned women visiting
Camp Devens and the surrounding towns, who, when taken
into custody by the Committee's officers, were placed in
charge of the matron, Mrs. Sugrue, pending trial or such
other disposition of the charges against them as was deemed
most advisable.
Before any of the draft army arrived at Camp Devens
the Committee had its headquarters well established at the
Vicarage, and from that time on its agents were unremit-
tingly at work either arresting or warning abandoned women
out of the town, besides seeing to it that no disorderly
houses were maintained in any locality adjacent to the
encampment. But as the camp grew in numbers, so the
problems of the Committee became more complex, and
other quarters became necessary. Thereupon the Com-
mittee obtained from the War Camp Community permis-
sion to build on a piece of land where the Soldiers' Club was
already located, and erected a portable building consisting
of an enclosed porch 6 by I'S feet, an office 1*2 by 12, bath-
room, passageway, and a 12 by 12 bedroom. This was
done at a cost of $1,567.78.
For the first several months the Committee's agents were
appointed as constables in the various cities and towns
surrounding the camp. This was found not to work satis-
factorily, as it was necessary they should have much wider
powers, so an effort was made to have them commissioned
as State Police. This matter was taken up with Gover-
nor McCall, and after a conference between him, Chief
Plunkett of the State Police, and members of the Commit-
tee, the Committee's agents were appointed as State Police
65
and vested with practically State-wide authority. In order
to create still more efficient means of handling the situation,
on June 10, 1918, Inspector Edward P. O'Halloran of the
Newton Police Department, by which body he was loaned
and -s'ery highly recommended, was placed by the Commit-
tee in charge of its agents at Ayer, his service terminating
with the war. Under his supervision a very much greater
efficiency in handling the situation was quickly brought
about.
On October 3, 1917, at the request of the Committee, the
Governor's Council made an appropriation of $10,000 for
the purpose of keeping the environment of Camp Devens
free from immoral women and houses. This was charged
to the emergency appropriation of $1,000,000.
Yet there existed no well-established body in the United
States experienced in such matters, and to whom the Com-
mittee could apply either for information or advice. Con-
sequently, on September 18, Messrs. O'Connell and Bazeley,
in behalf of the Committee, visited four of the Canadian
cantonments, where they obtained most valuable informa-
tion regarding the best methods to be adopted in military
camps.
Arriving in Ottawa they met Lieutenant-General, the
Hon. Sir Sam Hughes, who became greatly interested in the
purpose of their visit, as the subject was one which con-
fronted him during his term of office as Minister of War.
He stated as his firm conviction, and this seemed to be the
prevailing opinion among military men in Canada, that
venereal disease was probably the greatest remaining cause
of military ineifectiveness due to sickness, and should be
rigidly controlled both in the interests of the troops and
the public; that the question was very largely one of disci-
pline, not only on the part of the officers commanding, but
of the civil authorities, and that vigorous police measures
were absolutely necessary if the soldiers were to be kept
effective for the work they were called upon to perform;
also that no amount of argument or preaching could or
66
would take the place of strict police supervision. He like-
wise submitted the substance of a report which gave the
very grave conditions in this respect existing overseas, omit-
tinq', however, the names of cities, towns, units and officers.
The first of the camps visited was a small location called
Rockville, just outside of Ottawa. This camp, impossible
to enter without a permit, had about 600 men training for
the Signal Corps, and the entire neighborhood was patrolled
by guards. The number of men infected were compara-
tively few.
The next place called at was Camp Pettawawa, about
one hundred and twenty-five miles from Ottawa. This
location was about one hundred square miles in area, with
its only approach over a bridge on which a guard was posted
who let no one pass w^ithout a permit. Here the number of
infected men was something less than 50 out of a grand
total of 3,000. Substantially all of these infections were
the result of leaves of absence spent in Montreal, Ottawa,
Toronto and other large cities. The nearest town, Pem-
broke, about thirteen and one-half miles away and not
easily reached, was reasonably clear of prostitutes and
houses of ill fame.
The conditions at Camp Borden, Ontario, located about
seventy miles from Toronto, were next examined. This
camp, like Camp Pettawawa, was isolated, the nearest town
being about eight miles distant and having a population of
somewhat less than 5,000. At this cantonment the Com-
mittee's representatives met General Logge who was in
command, the various officers of his staff, and also the
assistant director of the medical staff. Here, again, a per-
mit was necessary for admission, and, moreover, there was
no local problem to deal with.
In no Canadian camp were men allowed to leave at night
without showing a pass, and this was seldom given; but a
very serious danger developed in all these camps through
the leaves of absence granted to about 10 per cent of the
soldiers at a time, generally beginning at the week end and
67
covering a period of two or three days. When these men
visited Toronto or the other large cities very many of them
returned infected. It was said that, at the INIilitary Base
Hospital stationed in Toronto, the average number of
soldiers under treatment as a result of venereal disease was
about 150.
The Committee next went to Camp Valcartier, situated
about seventeen miles from Quebec. This was isolated
somewhat in the same way as the other camps, with no
means of reaching it except by a single sentry-guarded high-
way. This cantonment covered about thirty-five square
miles and was reasonably free from outside influences. Out
of a contingent of about 3,000 men there were but 48 in the
hospital who were infected. The problem here was exactly
like that of the other camps visited, the infection being
almost universally brought back by men who had visited
cities on leave of absence.
General Logge stated that nothing but strong police
measures would ever be effective in preventing the evil in
question, and that a provost guard, co-operating with the
civil authorities, who would not pennit any one to enter a
given zone as established by the military and civil authori-
ties, was absolutely essential if camp visitors were to be
kept away. This, of course, could be done very easily at
the more segregated Canadian camps, — as was also the
case at Westfield, Mass., — but the problem at Ayer was
much more difficult, owing to the fact that the public high-
way passed directly along side of the camp, and it was
doubtful if it coidd be legally closed to travel.
The problem of Canada was so different from what con-
fronted Massachusetts that it was not easy to apply a com-
parison. What our interests demanded was, first, more
stringent laws, and then the co-operation of the civil author-
ities with the officers in command at the camps in enforcing
them. When, as at Camp Devens, soldiers were permitted
to leave the cantonment every night, and visitors to enter
during the daytime, Sundays included, and up to 10 p.m.,
68
it would always remain extremely difficult to handle the
situation. The Committee also judged it absolutely neces-
sary that a provost guard of sufficient strength be estab-
lished outside of all camps, which should work in conjunc-
tion with local and District Police; and in the case of Ayer
as many as 100 men, preferably non-commissioned officers,
would be necessary. The experience of the military au-
thorities in Canada proved that the non-com. was more
effective in handling the situation than the commissioned
officer. He was less apt to make allowances or to accept
excuses, and therefore held the soldier right up to the letter
of the law. He took nothing whatsoever for granted.
When Secretary of War Baker visited Boston, October 4,
1917, the Connnittee had a conference with him respecting
its work and its needs, and at the Secretary's suggestion,
Mr. O'Connell, on October 18, went to Washington and
conferred with Mr. Fosdick, chairman of the Committee on
Training Camp Activities, and with the Surgeon-General's
office, rehearsing suggestions he had made to the Secretary.
Several of these were adopted and put into effect, including
especially : —
1. Provision for a provost guard around Camp Devens.
2. Compulsory prophylactic treatment, with established and well-
equipped stations therefor in Ayer.
3. Examinations of privates for venereal diseases every two weeks.
4. Limiting passes from the camp.
5. Forbidding women to enter the camp after sundown.
This last was most important, as women in large numbers
were being permitted to enter the camp at practically all
hours of the night, some remaining all night.
6. A social case sheet, in the interest of the mihtary and local authori-
ties and the Committee.
This sheet, or questionnaire, registered the patient's
name, rank, regimental number, unit, date of exposure,
source of infection, woman's name and address where
69
possible, and whether the use of liquor entered into the
matter in any way. It proved a decided help to both the
military and local authorities as well as to the Committee.
After these steps had been taken, the next was to locate
the contaminating woman who had caused the mischief,
and see what could be done to remove her to some place
where she might receive treatment. This had to be
brought about entirely by moral suasion, as there was
no law to warrant an arrest in such cases. It was soon
found, however, that the women, mostly young girls, were
generally amenable to reason, and perfectly willing to sub-
mit to medical treatment. The Committee had many cases
of this character, where the woman was induced to take the
prescribed treatment and to that end visit a doctor every
week. In the very few instances where she failed so to do
the Committee was advised of the fact by the physician in
attendance, and she was immediately sought for.
The first duty of the Committee, and the real purpose of
its formation, was held to be the prevention of crime. Pun-
ishment was only an incident thereto. In order to sys-
tematically police the district, special and constant atten-
tion was necessary in the vicinity of the railroad stations,
together with a patrol of the squares and other places of
gathering; in short, a maximum effort was expended in
establishing methods which made plain to undesirables that
their presence in the locality of a camp would not be toler-
ated. The hotels, also, within a large radius, were regu-
larly visited, and the guest records inspected to ascertain
whether or no people not married had registered as man and
wife. By this means many couples, soldiers with women,
were arrested at the various hotels, and from thence taken
to court and tried, a large number of the women being
sent away and their companions summoned before military
tribunals.
At the time the 76th Division was awaiting orders to
move, relatives and friends of the soldiers Crowded to the
camp to bid them good-by. Hotels were taxed to their
70
capacity, and accommodations for transients became a
serious problem. Landlords reaped an enormous harvest,
and, as the demand for rooms increased, they raised their
prices in some instances to four times the normal figure.
This made it more difficult to control the situation in and
about Ayer, and the outlook became for a while very seri-
ous. August and September brought a still further increase
of camp visitors, thereby necessitating additional men on
the Committee's force. Moreover, the authorities in neigh-
boring districts, began to apply to the Committee for help
in enforcing the law in their respective localities. It there-
fore became more than ever necessary to institute prosecu-
tions that order might be preserved, and in no instance did
the lawbreaker escape punishment when brought before the
courts.
Train inspection was another arduous and exacting func-
tion of the Committee, but resulted in the apprehension of
many undesirable men and women in addition to runaway
boys and girls. In cases affecting these last, the parents
were in every instance notified and the children returned to
their homes, in some instances hundreds of miles distant.
In November, 1917, a stereomotorgraph machine was
purchased for use at Camp Devens, which the Commit-
tee loaned from time to time to the different Y. M. C. A.
huts. A lecturer in charge explained and supplemented
the pictures, which illustrated more particidarly the evils
resulting from drink and immoral women. Officials, both
military and civilian, constantly witnessed these exhibitions
and were invariably enthusiastic in their praise.
Because of reports of women soliciting on the streets in
cities near to military posts, investigations were made to
learn the true status of affairs. By this means strong co-
operating evidence was secured. The attention of the local
authorities was then called to the existing conditions and
remedial measures proposed to suppress the nuisance, all of
which were carried out very successfully.
Motion-picture performances within easy access to the
71
camp were censored, and a thorough inspection made of
amusement parks. It sometimes became necessary to en-
tirely suppress certain of these shows and theatrical per-
formances.
Appreciation of the fact that the spread of venereal
disease was not only impairing the efficiency of the soldier
but was of real assistance to the enemy made the men in the
service of the Committee very vigilant. Nor was the hab-
itat of the women involved in any wise confined to Massa-
chusetts, New England or the East. Women from twenty-
six States of the Union, and from almost every Province of
Canada, were included in the list of the many unfortunate
ones who flocked to the camp zone and were investigated
by the agents. Each case was carefully examined, and the
various reasons noted that the ofl^ender offered in excuse.
The predominating influences which led to the fall of these
wom.en were found to be either lack of education, poor
home surroundings, the lure of the uniform, the effects of
divorce, or a combination of one or more of these causes.
None of the women dealt with proved to be feeble-minded;
two stated that they were victims of white slavers, though
investigation showed their claim to be groundless. Many
himdreds of cases were investigated and the delinquents
cared for without any publicity being given.
Innumerable illustrations of specific cases, many of them
inexplicable, repulsive and often heartrending, might be
given were it considered advisable to do so. Although, as
a general rule, the women investigated comprehended
every grade, they belonged mostly to an amateur or clan-
destine rather than to a professional class of prostitutes,
and on that account were the more difficult to apprehend
or deal with. Most of them were mere girls; some under
fifteen years of age, many of them under twenty, and few
reaching thirty. Camp Devens suffered a temporary visita-
tion of moral obliquity similar in character to what has
always been noticeable in periods of continued public ex-
citement, and especially in time of war.
72
A large percentage of the women arrested were sent to
Sherborn Prison; others were given from three to six
months in the county jail. Still others, when proved to be
infected with venereal disease, were ordered to some insti-
tution for a fixed period of time, or until they were cured.
Many cases were disposed of without prosecution, some of
the younger girls being sent to the House of the Good
Shepherd, an institution always willing to take charge of
wayward girls. Some were returned to their parents, and
others ordered out of town and told that if they returned
they would be arrested and put away. An army officer of
high rank, who had officially inspected all the major canton-
ments in the United States and Canada, after a thorough
observation of the conditions surrounding Camp Devens,
stated that it was positively the cleanest camp on the
continent.
The experience of all nations, at all times, has proved
that venereal disease inevitably follows in the wake of im-
morality, and that drink is more often than not the initial
cause of both. The Committee's squad of oflScers, co-
operating with the provost guard. State Police, Federal
authorities, mayors and selectmen of cities and towns, and
sub-committees on Public Safety in localities surrounding
Camp Devens, did yeoman service in suppressing the sale
of liquor to soldiers.
On January 31, 1918, the Committee began a vigorous
campaign in Ayer against issuing licenses, and a letter was
written to the pastors of all the churches asking them to
read the same from their pulpits. In this letter it was
pointed out how a successful termination of the war was
vastly important to every American citizen; that there was
no man or woman in the United States — whether father,
mother, brother, sister, wife or sweetheart — who was not
vitally interested in the well-being of the young American
then training at Camp Devens; and that it was unthink-
able for any citizen to carelessly allow temptation to be
strewn in their paths. It was explained how Camp Devens
73
had the distinction of being the cleanest cantonment, mor-
ally, in the country, and that it behooved every patriotic
citizen to see to it that the observance of law and order
was strictly maintained there at its present high standard;
also that assistance be given to the police in the prevention
of those evils which invariably gather about concentration
and mobilization camps when liquor is sold in the vicinity.
It was further pointed out that seldom did an environ-
ment have so serious a responsibility put upon its shoulders,
and that it was a matter most vitally related to military
efficiency, and ultimately to the cause of Democracy, to
have all communities in the neighborhood of the canton-
ment made safe for the soldier.
It was also shown how, in Europe, the authorities had
delayed so long before making any real attempt to solve
this problem in its relation to their soldiers that by the end
of the first year and a half of the war they found the strength
and efficiency of their armies undermined and in danger of
wasting away as a result of intemperance and its inevitable
drift to social evil. The result was that Ayer went no
license, as did also Pepperell, which previously had issued
licenses to sell liquor, and where a similar campaign had
been started by the Committee.
In October, 1917, prompted by reports continually com-
ing in that soldiers returning to camp were under the influ-
ence of liquor purchased by them in Lowell, the Committee
visited that city for the first time, and after investigation
called the attention of its police to certain men who were
engaged in the business of either directly or indirectly pro-
curing liquor for soldiers. Three of these men were ar-
rested and turned over to the city police. A few days
later Mayor O'Donnell appointed the Committee's agents
as special police officers in Lowell, who visited the city
regularly every week thereafter and secured the arrest and
conviction of a large number of men engaged in the illegal
sale of liquor. Tliey also unearthed a certain pernicious
resort where drugged liquor was sold to soldiers, who when
74
under its influence were robbed of their possessions. The
proprietor was tried, found guilty and sentenced.
The Lowell police were also given the names of a large
number of women who were in the habit of frequenting
Camp Devens. Some of these were arrested and con-
victed; some were driven out of town; others were warned
to keep off the streets.
All offenders arrested for aiding and abetting the sale of
liquor to soldiers were brought to trial before the Federal
court, Boston, where most of them were convicted and sen-
tenced to six months' hard labor; others were given sus-
pended sentences.
Inasmuch as the Committee had no official status within
the boundaries of the cantonment, the attention of the
military authorities was directed to places where the camp
was left unguarded, and where it was possible for unscru-
pulous men and women to enter and ply their respective
trades. All such suggestions were courteously received and
almost invariably acted upon by the provost guard, who
materially assisted in taking liquor away from the soldiers.
For example, one Saturday night over forty pints were
confiscated at the camp gate. Pint flasks were frequently
found slipped down the back of a man's neck hung by a
cord, and all manner of ingenious devices were employed
to conceal the liquor and smuggle it into camp. Again, a
portion of the cantonment not far from Shirley was left
unprotected, where soldiers under the influence of drink
were in the habit of getting back to camp. It was found
that they procured liquor in Clinton. Accompanied by
four men of the provost guard, the Committee's agents
went to Clinton and arrested seven soldiers and three
civilians. The latter were each of them fined. The soldiers
were brought back to camp, and there tried by court mar-
tial. A large quantity of liquor secured in this town was
turned over to the Ordnance Department. The chief of
police and the citizens of Clinton showed a deep apprecia-
tion for this and other assistance given them in cleaning
up the town. They even went so far as to arrange quarters
in the annory, in order that the Committee's agents might
have an assured place where they could remain over night
if they so desired.
In the zone surrounding Camp Devens the use of alcohol
was by itself, and independent of the social question, a
most dangerous evil. The Committee, however, with the
assistance of the provost guard, maintained such an effective
watch for signs of illegal liquor traffic that "boot-leggers"
and "pocket peddlers" were unable to ply even their nor-
mal trade in the vicinity.
On November 11 the notorious Parmenter resort, at
Lunenberg, was raided. Here the proprietor had been ille-
gally selling liquor for over sixteen years, and during all
that time had been arrested and fined but once. He carried
on an extensive trade, selling intoxicants to both soldiers
and civilians. The agents raided his place, arrested him,
and brought him into the Fitchburg court, where he was
sentenced to the house of correction and fined $100. The
Committee had his wife and three children also brought
into Court and placed under the care of the State Board of
Charity. Complaints covering Townsend, Shirley, Leomin-
ster, Fitchburg, Harvard, Littleton and Westborough were
likewise investigated by the Committee.
To give one instance of the variety of functions the Com-
mittee was called upon to perform, the military authorities
at Camp Devens asked an investigation to be made regard-
ing the loss of thirteen hundred pounds of sugar and five
tubs of butter which had mysteriously disappeared from the
quartermaster's stores. The butter and sugar were traced
to a baker in Ayer, to whom they had been sold. After
working on the case for more than a week, the agents dis-
covered that the thief was connected with the Quarter-
master's Department, and was identified by the purchaser
of the goods as the man who sold them. On the evidence
obtained the military authorities placed him under arrest.
One of the more difficult problems to contend against was
76
the sale of drugs to the soldiers. The use of drugs was not
only in itself detrimental to safety and efficiency, but was
often the forerunner and inciting cause of immorality. In-
formation came that some of the soldiers at Camp Devens
were addicted to this habit, and it was found that much of
the dope was being sent from Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont. An investigation disclosed that a Maine doctor
was selling such drugs in very large quantities, and after
careful investigation evidence positively incriminating was
found against him. This doctor had sold, in Haverhill, to
one man alone, 3,390 grains of morphine. His case, how-
ever, comprehended so many ramifications beyond the
scope of the Committee's powers, extending even to China
and India, that the whole subject was finally submitted to
the Federal authorities. Others plying a dope trade at
Devens were arrested, convicted and sentenced. A drug
addict from Camp Devens told the agents that his mother
kept a house of prostitution, giving them the street and
number in Albany, N. Y., where she also sold and adminis-
tered dope to men and women. This case was also turned
over to the Federal authorities, who eventually had the
house closed up.
One of the dope addicts conferred with at Camp Devens,
who admitted having used drugs for about four years,
stated that after the Harrison law went into effect he and a
number of his friends went to the State hospital for treat-
ment, but after staying, there some time left the institution
without being cured. They were then informed that a cer-
tain physician in New Haven was avithorized as a Federal
official to give prescriptions for a certain amount of dope,
and that the patient by using thereafter a regularly dimin-
ishing quantity would eventually be cured of the habit.
Accordingly, they put themselves under his care, receiving
at first 8 to 10 grains a day. This was gradually dimin-
ished until the dose was supposed to be reduced to about 2
grains. When this point was reached the amount was gen-
erally increased up to 10 grains. By this method the doctor
77
slyly cultivated the appetites of nearly a hundred men and
from thirty to forty girls, — a vicious, if unfortunate, gang,
who were known to their neighborhood as the "coke fiends."
This fakir was su]:)posed to have had at one time fifty such
patients under his charge. The disposal of his case was
also put into the hands of the Federal authorities.
In the early stages of the Committee's activities at Ayer
a great deal of anxiety arose when it was discovered that
rural perverts were having access to the camp. These were
tracked, ordered out of town, and told they would be ar-
rested if they ever put in an appearance again. That was
the last heard of them.
Keepers of lodging houses in Ayer were notified regarding
the character of some of their lodgers, and the street cars
and all jitneys were carefully watched to see if any un-
desirables were coming into town by these methods of con-
veyance.
The Anderson Show Company came to Ayer with its
outfit. In the opinion of the Committee the performance
given was very undesirable, and constituted a menace to
the morals not only of the soldiers but of the community.
Two of the young women who were connected with the
concern were arrested and brought to the detention room.
One of them was a girl sixteen years of age, a runaway
from her home in Lowell. The Lowell police were tele-
phoned to, who found there was no court record against
her, and the next day she was returned to her parents. The
other woman was married, was from New York, and had
two children. She was given pennission to return to her
home, which she did.
When tlie proprietor of the show company was informed
that such a ])erformance as he offered would not be tolerated
in the neighborhood of the camp, he packed up and quietly
stole away, although given permission by the board of
selectmen to remain for a period of two weeks.
During the Committee's activities it felt itself especially
indebted to the clergymen of every denomination with
78
whom its agents came in contact and to whom they ap-
pealed, whether civic or miHtary; to the commanding
officers of divisions and regiments; and to the United
States and Massachusetts health authorities. One and all
proved their interest by a ready and hearty co-operation in
the work.
Between June 8 and October 25, 1918, the Committee
brought a total of fifty cases before the courts, including
the folio w^ing charges: neglect of children, drunkenness,
adultery, idle and disorderly, fornication, lewdness, furnish-
ing liquor to soldiers, and polygamy. In addition, a total
of seventy-five cases against delinquent women were dis-
posed of, without prosecution, covering similar charges to
the above, and others relating to lost persons, runaways,
wanderers, destitutes and illegitimate children.
79
CHAPTER VII
INTELLIGENCE WORK AND GERMAN PROPAGANDA
IN RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
In March, 1917, Mr. Storrow appointed Mr. Lyman, of the
Executive Committee, to act as its representative in dealing
with all communications coming within the general scope
of secret service work. Some eighty odd cases were looked
into, investigations being in the main conducted through
ofRcers of the Federal and civil government legally ap-
pointed for such purposes, the Committee's representative
acting chiefly as a medium through which complaints were
transferred to the proper authorities. The inadvisability of
relieving the monotony of this chronicle, despite the tempta-
tion to do so, by relating the outcome of these investigations
and the many adventurous details connected therewith, how-
ever regrettable, will be readily appreciated. It must be
borne in mind that many of the cases which were taken up
may not be closed for a long time to come; that most of
them dealt with treacherous doings subversive to the public
weal; that practically all of them were traceable directly
or indirectly to Gennan sources; and that the threads of
one case were often closely interwoven with those of another.
To publish the details of an investigation already completed
might be distinctly undesirable, as well likely to imperil the
secrecy necessary to be observed in cases as yet unfinished.
The inquiries made were supported by special a])i7ropria-
tions to different organizations, and, in part, also by ])rivate
subscription. In this connection it might be stated that
the general tenn "secret service," in its relation to investi-
gations of espionage, treason, slackers, bombers, etc., was
not a single organization under one controlling influence,
nor was it confined to any State, city or other given lo-
cality. It comprehended army, navy. United States Treas-
80
iiry, Department of Justice, and other Federal as well as
various State bureaus. In fact, there were said to be nine
national besides innumerable city and town organizations,
without including volunteers and self-appointed sleuths act-
ing independently, — each agency more mysterious than the
other, and all engaged in a field of work where distrust was
necessary to competence, and rivalry a prevailing stimu-
lant.
In the spring of 1918 the Treasury Department at Wash-
ington urged the Committee on Public Safety to organize
a special branch of the American Protective League in
Massachusetts. This the Executive Committee, on motion
of Mr. Endicott, authorized under the title of the Massa-
chusetts Auxiliary of the Department of Justice, and the
following Committee was appointed, with power to add
additional names: —
C. F. Choate, Jr.
S. H. Wolcott.
W. R. Peabody.
Hugh Bancroft.
George H. Lyman.
C. G. Bancroft.
John F. Perkins.
J. H. Bea], Jr.
This organization, extending throughout the whole State
and with an enrollment of nearly six hundred members,
commenced its work about May 1, 1918, closing February
1, 1919. In the neighborhood of 5,000 cases were investi-
gated, besides 4,000 relating especially to slackers, — a
total of 9,000. In addition, 600 draft evaders were in-
ducted into the anny between July 1, 1918, and the signing
of the armistice. There were also twenty-five convictions
obtained for filing false answers to ciuestionnaires, and
seventy -five under the Webb-Kenyon Act.
The activities of the Committee involved an expenditure
of $11,000. Of this amount $10,000 was appropriated by
the Committee on Public Safety, and the balance raised by
private subscription.
In the sunnner of 1918 it became evident that German
propaganda was moving in a new direction. The end of the
81
war was nearer than any one anticipated. It was apparent
that Germany could not possibly win, and that she was
beginning to make approaches for a negotiated peace.
Word was received from secret service sources that German
money was being used determinedly among religious organ-
izations and women's clubs. The object in view was very
evident; it was to w^ork on people's sentiment, and to
suggest the uselessness of continued fighting. The sym-
pathies were appealed to, and the whole effort appeared to
be gathering considerable headway.
To offset this pernicious propaganda the Rev. Paul
Revere Frothingham was requested by ]Mr. Endicott to get
in touch, so far as possible, with various organizations
throughout the State and warn them of what was going on;
to put them in possession of the facts, and to urge them to
secure speakers who would take the opposite point of view.
This was done with marked success. Mr. Frothingham
wrote to hundreds of organizations which were accustomed
to hold regular meetings in the course of their season's
work, and also to the secretaries of lodges and fraternal
organizations. The forums in various centers were also
a})p roach ed, and the promise given of cordial co-operation.
A great meeting was organized on Boston Common, where
Ex-President Taft spoke most forcibly to about 10,000
people on the need of "fighting to a finish." This work
covered a great deal of ground and was carried through
successfully by Mr. Frothingham alone.
82
CHAPTER VIII
SPECIAL COMMITTEE WORK
Military Organization Schools
The Committee also materially assisted in organizing a
school for trench warfare at Framingham. This was the
first institution of its kind installed in the United States,
and was conducted by specially selected officers who had
seen service in the British Army. The course of instruction
included lessons in trench warfare, real trenches being dug
and genuine hand grenades used. Courses also were given
in the theory and practice of gas, attacking defense, the
use of the machine gun, bayonet attack and the defense of
trench, and every officer was ordered to report at the school
for one week's continuous service night and day. When
our government refused to ask the Canadian authorities to
furnish instruction for our training camps, Adjutant-General
Sweetser went to Canada and secured the services of several
experienced teachers, who later, the Canadian government
following our example, were summoned back to conduct
similar schools at home. Again, another school was estab-
lished at the Wakefield Rifle Range, to give to departmental,
infantry, cavalry and staff corps officers instruction in tar-
get practice.
Liberty Bonds
In the first Liberty Loan Campaign Adjutant-General
Sweetser, at the instigation of the Committee on Public
Safety, organized a drive among the Massachusetts National
Guard for subscriptions, with the slogan, "A gun and a
bond." On June 11 circulars were sent to all Massachu-
setts National Guard organizations, and posters were
adopted and distributed to every company armory. The
response to this appeal was prompt and most encouraging.
On July 3 the report rendered by the Old Colony Trust
83
Company — who immediately on request had undertaken
to underwrite all subscriptions made to the loan by the
National Guard — gave the total number of bonds sub-
scribed for as 8,779, their face value amounting to $438,950.
This sum was accredited to the different Massachusetts
National Guard organizations, as follows: —
Bonds
Amount
Massachusetts Coast Artillery,
1,100
S55,000
2d Regiment Infantry,
347
17,350
5th Regiment Infantry,
999
49,950
6th Regiment Infantry,
1,297
64,850
8th Regiment Infantry,
1,232
61,600
9th Regiment Infantry,
710
35,500
1st Corps Cadets,
834
41,700
1st Regiment Field Artillery, .
867
43,350
2d Regiment Field Artillery,
591
29,550
1st Separate Squadron Cavalry,
163
8,150
1st Battalion Signal Troops,
251
12,550
1st Field Hospital Company,
116
5,800
2d Field Hospital Company,
74
3,700
1st Ambulance Company, .
93
4,650
2d Ambulance Company, .
105
5,250
8,779
$438,950
It would seem very significant that on the second issue
of Liberty Bonds the United States government, following
closely the lead of Massachusetts, sought to interest the
soldier here and abroad in their purchase.
Volunteer Dental Committee
The Committee on Public Safety was in receipt of data
from England, showing that dental troubles were the fore-
runners of a great deal of sickness among the Allied troops,
and that much time was lost to the service through illness
directly traceable to impaired teeth. A dental examina-
tion made at Framingham, prior to the Massachusetts
84
troops being sent to the Mexican Border, established the
fact that, collectively, the soldiers' teeth were in poor shape.
It was apparent, therefore, that if a like condition still pre-
vailed and was not attended to, the general health of the
men, and in consequence their military eflSciency, would be
seriously affected. Therefore the Executive Committee
promptly organized a volunteer Dental Committee, headed
by Dr. George H. Payne, secretary of the State Board of
Dental Examiners, which eventually mobilized a force of
volunteer dentists throughout the State.
In the meantime, April 1, 1917, the Governor and Coun-
cil authorized the purchase of $9,000 worth of dental ap-
paratus. By this means a dental chair, instruments and
medicines were supplied to every armory in the Common-
wealth, the end sought being to put the teeth of all Massa-
chusetts National Guardsmen in such good repair that none
of them would require further dentistry for a period of two
years.
How wide was the scope of this plan is shown by the
fact that in Boston alone — where the work was done at
the Harvard and Tufts Dental schools, the Forsyth Dental
Infirmary, and a number of private offices — a total of
3,000 operations were performed on the teeth of members
of the Massachusetts National Guard, It was estimated
that the cost of these services, if paid for by the soldiers
themselves, would have reached approximately $100,000,
and yet the Committee calculated that only about one-
tenth of the work necessary to be done on the teeth of the
Massachusetts National Guard had been attended to.
Subsequently, and before that body became federalized,
practically 60 per cent of the dentistry required was ac-
complished through the efforts of the Committee.
Chiropodist Preparedness Committee
At a meeting of the Massachusetts Chiropodist Associa-
tion held February 13, 1917, a resolution was passed offer-
ing "the services of its members for the gratuitous treat-
85
ment of such foot troubles as come within the scope of
chiropody" to the National Guard of Massachusetts in the
event of its mobilization. Copies of this resolution were
sent to the Governor and to the Adjutant-General, and
upon April 2, 1917, the organization of the Chiropodist
Preparedness Committee was effected. Within a few days
its services were offered to the Committee on Public Safety
and accepted.
Plans already formulated were promptly carried out, and
the various National Guard units were visited by repre-
sentatives of the Committee. The feet of all the guards-
men were examined, and each man given a card stating the
name and address of a chiropodist who would treat the
holder upon a date stated. From that time on until the
end of the war all enlisted men in uniform received on appli-
cation free treatment at the offices of members of the Com-
mittee. Upon completion of each treatment a record card
was filled out stating diagnosis, the service rendered, etc.,
and forwarded to the secretary of the Committee. Of these
cards 1,468 were returned to the secretary, and at least
that number of men were taken care of, many receiving
several treatments. Owing to -the fact that some chiropo-
dists neglected to return their cards, the full list of men
treated must have been considerably in excess of the above
figures. Moreover, whenever it was difficult for the guards-
men to report at the offices of the chiropodists the latter
visited the camps, where the necessary service was rendered
and no record kept.
The Middlesex College of Chiropody in East Cambridge
co-operated with the Committee by offering its staff of
clinicians with full equipment to give free treatment, espe-
cially for men in the different branches of the navy. A
large number from the Naval Radio School at Harvard
were thus taken care of.
Members of the Committee visited Camp Devens on
several occasions immediately following the arrival of the
first draftees, and treated over 1,600 men. This service
86
was discontinued only when camp routine made it imprac-
ticable to arrange for the work at mutually convenient
times.
At the request of Brigadier-General Dickson, members of
the Committee visited the Watertown Arsenal four separate
times, where they examined the feet of the men belonging
to the Ordnance Department and to the two companies of
artillery there stationed as guards, giving their services
gratuitously to over 200 men.
General expenses incident to the organization and opera-
tion of the Committee were met by contributions from its
members. Expenses of the actual work, including material,
traveling charges, etc., were borne in every case by the
individual chiropodist performing the service.
The experience of the Committee emphasized strongly
the absolute need of a chiropodist in all military organiza-
tions, a necessity which is recognized in the armies of other
nations and provided for, but which has yet to be met by
the United States authorities. The Marine Corps, how-
ever, showed its foresightedness in providing its contingents
with chiropodists having the highest non-commissioned
rating.
The work of this Committee was of very great importance,
as the condition of the soldiers' feet proved a vital element
in their efficiency for service.
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Unit
Early in May the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, having
been urged to send a hospital unit to France, asked the
Committee on Public Safety for its assistance in getting the
unit ready. This call was wholly unexpected, and required
the most prompt action in order to assemble the men and
the required outfit in time. By vote of the Committee
$5,000 was placed at the disposal of the unit, to be expended
on its equipment and to meet other incidental expenses
connected with its departure from Boston. In addition to
this financial help the Committee furnished motor cars to
87
assist the contingent while preparing to sail, and for several
days fed and lodged the thirty-seven men forming its per-
sonnel. This made it possible for all arrangements to be
completed within a week's tune, and in consequence the
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Unit was the first body of
medical men from Massachusetts to go overseas after our
entrance into the war.
Radio School
When the United States became a combatant, Mr.
Arthur Batcheller, United States Radio Inspector in charge
of the New England District, with the approval of the
Secretary of Commerce, undertook the instruction of a
class of forty men — the full capacity of his quarters at
the Boston Custom House — for a course in code and
theory in radio-telegraphy, from June 21 to December 31,
1917. Early in 1918 it became evident that thousands of
radio operators would be required for the military and naval
service, and schools were established throughout the coun-
try to meet the urgent demand for men sufficiently qualified
in radio code to answer the immediate purpose, even if
they lacked full technical training. It was therefore sug-
gested that the school at the Custom House be conducted
elsewhere and on a larger basis, provided suitable quarters
could be secured. By this means it was hoped hundreds
could be trained at one time..
There being no appropriation by the Department of
Commerce for the purpose, Hon. Edmund Billings, col-
lector of the port of Boston, recommended the project to
the Committee on Public Safety. Through the co-opera-
tion of Mr. Ratshesky and Mr. Lyman, a self-constituted
committee, the use of the headquarters of the INIassachu-
setts Naval Militia Armory, in the Mechanics Building, 96
Huntington Avenue, Boston, — unoccupied by reason of
absence of members in service, — was tendered by Adju-
tant-General Stevens, free of any charge for rent or heating.
These quarters accommodated 275 pupils, and were ideal
88
for the purpose sought. Requisition was then made on
the Department of Commerce for the apparatus and equip-
ment necessary for instruction. The Committee on PubUc
Safety furnished the himber needed for tables and seats,
and guaranteed the payment of a janitor's services, — as well
as the expense of lighting for a period of six months, with
the understanding that these allowances be renewed at the
end of the prescribed time should a state of war and the
necessity for such instruction still exist.
The school opened on January 21, 1918, with an enroll-
ment of 262 men. Sessions were held regularly thereafter
on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week until
after the signing of the armistice, November 11, 1918. The
instruction was under the direct supervision of Mr. Batch-
eller, who brought to his assistance other qualified code
instructors. The entire service given was voluntary. Pref-
erence in enrollment was extended in the following order: —
1. Men subject to Selective Service Law, Class lA.
2. Men enlisted in army or navy awaiting call to active service.
3. Young men eighteen years or over desiring to make advance prepara-
tion for registration or voluntary enlistment.
The results of the work may roughly be summarized as
follows : —
Total number of applications filed from January 21 to November
25, 1918, when the school closed, 1,214
Disqualified by lack of citizenship, physical or educational
requirements, 133
Discontinued for irregular attendance or voluntary with-
drawal, 297
430
Students remaining in good standing, receiving instruction for
varying periods, 784
Entered military and naval service well qualified, . . . 530
Sufficiently equipped for practice in service, .... 254
784
Total unit attendance for entire period of school, .... 12,985
Hours of instruction represented, 25,970
89
Cost to Department of Commerce for equipment used, re-
turned and still serviceable, $600 00
Cost to Committee on Public Safety for expenses of mainte-
nance, 1,041 31
Total cost for the period January 21 to November -2S,
inclusive, $1,641 31
The radio code forms one of the most vital channels of
communication, and the training given at this school con-
tributed to the safety of life and vessel in military and naval
operations, an element of value not to be considered com-
mercially and which cannot be overestimated.
The Committee on Public Safety assisted and made
possible this help in the successful prosecution of the war,
but the conception and its accomplishment must be cred-
ited to Mr. Batcheller and his associates.
Speakers' Bureau
The Speakers' Bureau, in charge of Mr. A. A. Kidder, was
one of the first departments organized by the Committee
on Public Safety. During April and May, 1917, speakers
were supplied for meetings all over the State at the rate
of eight or ten a day, in the endeavor to acquaint the
people with the aims of the Committee and to impress
upon them the urgency demanded by the situation. Speak-
ers were furnished for nearly 1,000 meetings, ranging in
attendance from 25 to 5,000.
When, later, the Food Administration was organized, the
Bureau was enlarged, and thereafter the chief effort of the
Committee was centered in stimulating interest in food
production and conservation.
The Bureau also was at all times in close co-operation with
the managers of the Liberty Loan, Red Cross and other
patriotic drives, and at the time of the first Liberty Loan
devoted its entire list of speakers to assist in that cam-
paign. To this end speakers were placed in high schools,
at Chambers of Commerce and many other organization
meetings, while from time to time distinguished French and
90
English officers, as well as American soldiers back from the
front, were added to the force.
Another important branch of the work was to arrange for
and conduct meetings at various munition plants; and from
reports received there is every reason to believe that a de-
cided stimulus was thus given to war production.
Unlike many speakers' bureaus throughout the country,
the Massachusetts organization was made up entirely of
volunteers, including several hundred of the ablest and most
popular speakers in the State, men and women, who re-
sponded to the Committee's call whenever time and cir-
cumstances permitted them to do so.
Four-minute Men
Connected with the Speakers' Bureau were the Four-
minute Men, suggested by the Council of National Defense
in Washington. In June, 1918, Mr. Atherton D. Converse
was appointed by the Executive Committee to act as chair-
man of an organization to conduct four-minute speeches
throughout the State, the object of which was to place
quickly before the people authentic facts about our military
and financial preparations towards carrying on the war.
This organization, as later perfected, consisted of seventy-
one chairmen and four hundred and fifty speakers. In
addition, one hundred and fifty theatres, scattered through
every section of the Commonwealth, agreed to allow the
use of their platforms for just four minutes at a time in
vaudeville and moving-picture performances.
Massachusetts was the first State in the Union to inaugu-
rate such a plan, and did it so quickly and efficiently that
the Washington authorities requested the Committee on
Public Safety to assist in forming similar bodies in other
New England States. In response to this demand the
chairman assisted in organizing Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont and Rhode Island.
On September 13, 1918, other duties required Mr. Con-
verse to drop the work, and Mr. Arthur J. Crockett was
appointed in his place.
91
CHAPTER IX
ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
A very interesting and instructive phase of this story
should be the hearty and never-faihng encouragement given
at all times to the Executive Committee by every one
connected with the organization, and their ever ready desire
from first to last to meet its needs.
The immediate problem confronting the Committee in the
early stages of its existence was to build up a thoroughly
efficient working organization; and later, to preserve, as well
as to improve upon, the standard attained, while adapting
it to the widening scope of the Committee's activities.
No stronger evidence could be offered of the far-reaching
extent of the Committee's activities, multiplying more and
more as the work progressed, than the increasing number
of listed workers. The volunteer personnel included two
different types: the first embraced many who had been
successful in business affairs, and who, from long habit,
at first wanted to have their own way in everything and
proposed to get it; the second was made up of those who
had no business experience, but were tempted to act as free
lances, endeavoring to follow out their own methods and
ideas. Naturally all this soon happily regulated itself.
Still another class embraced the paid working force, who
entered the service as they would any other business em-
ployment. This made a combination of personnel requir-
ing a distinct settling-down process before it could develop
into a smoothly working machine. Yet, impelled by the
patriotic impulses of the hour, it was remarkable how
quickly such a result was accomplished. It is also a note-
worthy fact to how great an extent many of the employees,
to whom the amount of salary was a very vital matter,
loyally stayed with the organization, often working over-
92
time, rather than reap the advantage offered by the con-
tinually rising wages paid by the Federal government. For
the first six weeks the pay roll at headquarters averaged no
more than $50 a week. But after April 6, 1917, the organ-
ization being well established and on definite lines, with a
foundation that assured success, and with the United States
actually at war, the functions of the Committee became
vastly extended, requiring a corresponding increase in the
force. By November, 1918, the Committee employed at
the State House alone 188 "paid and 55 volunteer workers.
These, with the Executive Committee, the Food and Fuel
Administrations, and the various sub-committees daily in
session, totaled a present working force of about 300, calling
for a payroll of $4,722.58 a week.
Eventually the workers for all activities were taken solely
on the basis of individual qualification, either through pre-
vious training and experience, or from special adaptability
to the particular function for which they were wanted, due
consideration being also given to the time at their disposal,
and to the distance from residence or place of business to
the State House.
One thing remains an undoubted fact, that however great
the merits of civil service under peace conditions, its regula-
tions would have been a serious encumbrance in such an
emergency as confronted the Committee; and it was truly
fortunate that the Council of National Defense, with whom
all Committees on Public Safety were suppositiously more
or less affiliated, was exempt from this handicap.
It must be remembered that the Massachusetts Commit-
tee on Public Safety was an emergency organization quickly
gotten together for an immediate and extraordinary pur-
pose, where time was an element of vital importance and
delay fatal. It was therefore natural that the Committee
should be confronted with innumerable obstacles in getting
down to business; but its work proved so in harmony with
the spirit of the time that it was not long before a plan of
organization was carried through and the work in full opera-
tion.
93
The administration of the business end of the Committee
presented an exceedingly exacting and difficult job, due
principally to the make-up of the personnel and the ever
shifting recpiirenients. But all this was ably and satisfac-
torily handled by the assistant executive managers: Mr.
Levi H. Greenwood, February 16, 1917, to February 15,
1918, when he was made chief of the Federal Ordnance
Office, Boston District; Mr. W. A. L. Bazeley, February 15,
1918, to October 17, 1918, at which date he entered the
army as an officer in the Sanitary Corps; Mr. Arthur A.
Kidder, October 17, 1918, to November 20, 1918, when the
Committee was dissolved.
The stand taken by Governor McCall, Lieutenant-
Governor Coolidge and the Council in always unhesitat-
ingly supporting the best interests of the Committee was a
fine example of the general spirit of determination that
everywhere obtained. Lieutenant-Governor Coolidge at one
time renuirked that, if necessary, he would give up his private
office and "sit on the steps of the State House rather than
see the Committee want for necessary room."
The same backing was shown by State officials and com-
missions with offices at the State House, to which they had
a legal right, unselfishly submitting to much discomfort and
annoyance from the constant shifting of their well-ordered
establishments to less desirable and more crowded qiuirters,
in order to make way for the Committee on Public Safety.
Yet this generous regard for the Committee and its work,
however well im])lanted, would never have materialized as
it did but for the kindly consideration of Sergeant-at-Arms
Thomas F. Pedrick, for twenty-three years managing cus-
todian of the State House and its i)ro])erties. From first to
last, he strove to comfortably house the Committee, and in
many other ways to advance its interests whenever and
wherever such voluntary service did not conflict with his
official duties. He accepted the welfare of the Committee
as in all respects his especial charge, and so interested was
he in the success of this grasping encroachment on his well-
94
ordered domain that he made it part of his daily routine to
visit the Committee rooms, dressed as usual in the full
regalia of his office. His long black coat, silk cockade hat
and genial smile will always remain a grateful memory.
Office Rooms
It may be interesting to interpolate here a word in regard
to the office organization of the Committee, as it developed.
Co-extensive with the rapid and unforeseen expansion of its
undertaking came an increasing demand for office space.
From a two-room activity early in March, 1917, the tax
upon the Committee's resources as soon as war was
declared grew to such proportions that by April practi-
cally the whole first floor of the west wing of the State
House, comprising twenty-five rooms, were required for its
use. In July, owing to the further crowding entailed by
the food and coal problems, even this extra space proved
totally inadequate, and about a dozen other rooms scat-
tered through the building were made available for com-
mittee meetings at stated times of the day. In addition, a
number of outside offices were rented in different localities
of the city. Mrs. Thayer generously gave, rent free, the
entire building at 20 Ashburton Place, to be used by the
Women's Conservation Division and similar functions con-
nected therewith. The floor space occupied at the State
House measured 17,020 sc^uare feet; yet during the greater
part of each day the Committee was severely taxed for room,
desks being crowded together with only narrow passage-
ways left open to serve the constant stream of people com-
ing and going. Some reference might here be made to the
private office of the executive manager. Mr. Endicott,
whose leadership carried with it so large a share of the
burden and responsibilities of the Committee, occupied a
small room of approximately four hundred and eighty
square feet. This was chosen for him as a private office,
but he insisted on four of his assistants, Messrs. Ratshesky,
Phelan, Clark and Lyman, sharing these quarters, with the
95
result that his "private" office contained not only these
"partners," as he termed them, but also his secretary, Mr.
Thomas J. Moore, four clerks and half a dozen telephones,
with telephone booth and switchboard. Yet with all the
busy life going on about him he daily managed both to
receive and to consult with anywhere from twenty-five to
fifty people, exclusive of the numerous labor delegations
and Committee meetings requiring his presence in other
parts of the building.
The purpose of the Committee involved problems new
in character and means of fulfillment, and difterent from
anything our citizens had ever had occasion to deal with.
Vexatious questions at home, or a change of base at Wash-
ington, continually taxed to the utmost the patience and
resources of the inner office, which was the main center of
inspiration and advice to the sub-committees working at the
State House or throughout the Commonwealth. Finally,
committee meetings, correspondence and the constant
strain of callers crowding the office so hampered his time
that Mr. Endicott found it impossible to confer in private
with his assistants, and hence, following in the footsteps of
a distinguished national character, an "amen corner" was
arranged for as a place for rest and recreation at luncheon
time, where who should be host was determined strictly by
mathematical process.
96
Part II
LABOR CONTROVERSIES AND ARBITRATIONS
The story of the Massachusetts Committee on PubHc
Safety during the two final years of the Great War is an
integral part of the history of the Commonwealth in a time
of crisis. If her quota of splendid service proved foremost
at the front, the triumph of her home armies is likewise a
matter of record.
A member of this rear guard, and on whose shoulders was
placed a great and most serious responsibility, was the
executive manager of the Committee on Public Safety.
What his popular administration accomplished in behalf of
the country's interests and in service to the State may, in
part at least, be gathered from this story. Mr. Endicott's
leadership may well recall to his associates the words of a
great philosopher of more than three centuries ago : —
A Great Place.
Preserve the right of thy place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction;
and rather assume thy right in silence, and de facto, than voice it witli
claims and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior places;
and think it more honor to direct in chief than to be busy at all.
Embrace and invite helps and advices touching the execution of thy
place; and do not drive away such as bring thee information, as meddlers,
but accept of them in good part.
The general method of procedure on Mr. Endicott's part,
when a labor difficulty was brought to him by either the
employer or employee, was to take the position that he
would not arbitrate unless at the request of both parties.
He next tried to have both sides agree to a settlement
without arbitration. Another initial condition was, in case
arbitration was agreed to and the men had already gone
out, that they should return to work immediately while
97
awaiting the result of the arbitrator's findings, further
pledging themselves to abide by whatever deeision was
eventually rendered. It might be added, also, that there
were never but two attempts to override his findings.
Both of these failed, and the men in each case went back to
work. In many of the differences he was called upon to
settle he acted not only at the request of all parties in
interest, but also in response to an urgent and personal
appeal from the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the
Navy, or both. About one hundred and fifty strikes,
involving large numbers of employees and very vital inter-
ests, and an equal number of smaller ones, were adjusted;
some never reaching the point of formal arbitration, but
being settled by bringing the parties together and giving
advice, which was accepted in good i)art and eventually
followed.
The evidence of the deep-seated respect entertained for
his decrees was shown by the continually multi])lying
demands for his services. Most of the cases adjudicated
appear to have been brought primarily at the instance of
the employer, while both the records of the Committee and
Mr. Endicott's private correspondence contain many letters
of appreciation from parties in interest whose claims he had
disallowed in favor of their opponents.
Although Mr. Endicott personally conducted the arbitra-
tions, studying the evidence and rendering the final decision
of adjustment, he had habitually with him as advisors one
or more members of the Executive Committee, being
es]:)ecially dependent in this regard on the assistance of Mr.
John F. Stevens, Mr. B. Preston Clark and Mr. W. R.
Peabody.
The following, listed in the chronological order of their
occurrence, comprehend the more important controversies: —
Gloucester fishermen.
Boston market-garden teamsters.
Dock freiglit handlers connected with Locals No. 809 and No. 88'-2 of the
International Longslioremen's Association.
98
Maintenance-of-way employees of the Boston & Albany Railroad.
Plumbers' controversy at the cantonment at Ayer, Mass.
Threatened strike at General Electric Company Works at Pittsfield,
Mass.
Stationary firemen, Massachusetts Chocolate Company.
Firemen and oilers on Floating Hospital.
Work on government appraisers' stores, Northern Avenue, Boston.
New England Fuel and Transportation Company — firemen and oilers.
S. A. Woods Machine Company — machinists, etc.
Coal teamsters of Boston and vicinity.
Boston & Maine Railroad car cleaners.
Boston market-garden teamsters (second arbitration).
Petticoat workers at shops of Superior Petticoat Company.
Aberthaw Construction Company trouble at Squantum.
Boston Automobile Mechanics.
Boston & Maine machinists and helpers, boiler makers and helpers,
blacksmiths and helpers, railway carmen and helpers, sheet-metal
workers, pipe fitters and helpers, and electrical workers.
Fore River machinists, bolters and reamers, helpers and crane men.
Lynn shoe controversy.
Boston & Maine station employees, freight and office clerks, baggage
men and crossing tenders.
The Western Electric Company, Inc. — miscellaneous employees.
Bakers' strike at plants of Fox and Ferguson companies.
Lamplighters of Boston.
Stationary engineers and firemen at plant of Loose- Wiles Biscuit Com-
pany.
Stove mounters of Boston.
Haverhill coal teamsters, chauffeurs, stable men and helpers.
Coal teamsters, chauffeurs and helpers of Newton, Watertown, Waltham
and vicinity.
Sole cutters at factory of Gutterman, Strauss Company.
Building workers at Watertown Arsenal.
Building workers at appraisers' stores.
Lynn coal teamsters.
Overcoat workers at plant of Leopold Morse Company.
New England Telephone operators.
Boston Elevated carmen.
Telephone operators outside metropolitan Boston.
Munition workej-s at plant of Albert & J. M. Anderson Manufacturing
Company, South Boston.
Fall River mill firemen.
Condit Electrical Manufacturing Company — assemblers and machinists.
Metal polishers at Wireless Specialty Apparatus Company.
99
Carriage, wagon and automobile workers of Boston.
Carlin Construction Company — work on appraisers' stores.
American Rubber AVorks employees.
Boston murk(-t-gar(len teamsters (third arbitration).
Steam shovel and dredgemen at quartermaster's stores, South Boston.
Scrub women at State House.
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company — freight handlers.
City Foundry Company — foundrymen.
Jewish bakers.
Coal teamsters, eliauffeurs and wharf men of Boston (second arbitration).
Weavers and spinners at West Boylston Manufacturing Company.
Operators and linemen at Edison Electric Illuminating Company.
Controversy re dumping of ashes on fishing vessels.
Stationery firemen, boiler and engine men of Taunton.
Fish handlers at Boston Fish Pier.
Clothing workers at plant of L. F. Brundage Company, Chelsea, Mass.
Carmen on railways operated in Worcester, Springfield, Attleboro and
surrounding towns.
North Adams Manufacturing Company — spinners.
Carpet layers, Jordan, Marsh Company.
Arbitration proceedings regarding wage scale between Electrical Union
No. 103, I. B. E. W., and Contractors' Association.
Berkshire Street Railway Company — carmen.
Loomfixers and other operatives at Lowell Textile Mills.
Loomfixers and other operatives at Manchester, N. H., Textile Mills.
Loomfixers and other operatives at Lancaster Mills, Clinton, Mass.
Weavers at American Woolen Company Mills, Lawrence, Mass.
American Steam Gauge and Valve Company — tool and die makers.
Coal hoisting engineers, Local No. 74.
Weavers at the Clover Worsted Mills at Franklin, Mass.
The IMiddlebrook Wool Combing Company — wool scourers and sorters.
Coal trimmers employed by the Maritime Coal Companj^
Upholsterers employed by Metz Company at Waltham, Mass.
Waiters and cooks at Exchange Club, Boston.
Cold-storage workers at plant of Quincy Market Cold Storage Company,.
Boston.
Ship carpenters at several shipbuilding plants at East Boston, Mass.
Gas distributors ot the Boston Consolidated Gas Company.
Gloucester fish cutters.
Edwin A. Benchley Company, Cambridge, Mass. — workers on life rafts.
Uswoco Mills, Lawrence, Mass. — - weavers.
Middlesex & Boston Street Railwav — carmen.
100
A few only of the foregoing, each representative of its
special class, and embodying the general principles involved
in all, will now be discussed.
Specific Arbitrations and Settlements
I. Gloucester Fishermen
Shortly after the Committee on Public Safety came into
being, the attention of the authorities was called to the
labor troubles prevailing in the Commonwealth, many of
which affected matters of vital interest to the government,
and threatened very seriously to impair the efficiency of the
home army.
The first request coming to Mr. Endicott to act as arbi-
trator was on April 19, 1917, in connection with the Gloucester
fishermen's strike. In this controversy there were three
interests involved, — the ship owners, the captains, and the
fishermen or employees. About 3,000 men were engaged in
an effort to change working conditions that had been in
vogue on fishing vessels for many years. In the neighborhood
of 375 vessels, including 10 steam trawlers, or about the
entire fishing fleet at Gloucester, were tied up, shutting off
Massachusetts from at least one-fifth of her food produc-
tion. The State Board of Arbitration and officials from the
United States Department of Labor had for eight weeks
previously endeavored to bring about an adjustment, but
failed. The strike was not altogether a peaceful one, and
at one time it developed into a small riot.
The fishermen wrote a letter to the Governor deploring
the existence of the strike, as well as the necessity, in order
to keep up the food supply of the country, of their agreeing
to arbitration. Moreover, although still setting forth the
justice of their original claims, they agreed to an arbitra-
tion, "because we want to act not less but more patriotically
than any body of citizens in the Commonwealth."
The masters and owners also wrote to His Excellency
explaining their difficulties, and expressing the desire to
101
assume their fair share of the burdens of the war notwith-
standing their belief in the full justice of their claims.
Governor McCall took tlie matter up with Mr. Endicott,
who, accompanied by Mr. J. Frank O'Hare and Mr. John F.
Stevens, labor representatives, and Mr. Charles S. Baxter,
went to Gloucester as His Excellency's representatives. All
sides to the controversy immediately went into continuous
session for two days and two nights, adjourning the meet-
ings one day at 3 a.m., and the final day at 4.30 a.m. The
strike was successfully settled by an agreement on both
sides, to last for the duration of the war.
This agreement was followed to the letter, and not a
strike or lockout occurred in this industry during the entire
period of the war. Many adjustments had to be made
relating to different vessels, use of gears and the payment
for the same, general wages, working conditions, etc.; yet
notwithstanding that three separate interests were involved,
as above stated, the settlement entered into at that time
worked satisfactorily during the life of the agreement.
The arbitrator's decisions on certain minor points which
came up later were also followed without relapse.
The conditions previous to this settlement were more far-
reaching than may appear. An ultimatum had been served
by the Union on the captains and shippers, who were in a
manner of partnership, that unless the demands of the
fishermen were satisfactorily met on April 9, the strike
would be extended to other fishing ports, at Boston as well
as at Gloucester.
II. Market-garden Teamsters
The market-garden teamsters, about 300 in number,
whose business it was to transport fruits, vegetables and
similar products from the receiving stations to the Quincy,
Faneuil Hall and adjacent markets, and from thence to
different ])oints of distribution, threatened to strike. If
this had taken ])lace, a serious curtailment of a class
102
of food essential to the health of the city would have
resulted.
About the 1st of May, 1917, the teamsters, having asked
for an increase in wages of $4 per week with an extra 50
cents an hour for overtime, declared they were going on
strike within forty-eight hours. Later the teamsters ac-
cepted 40 cents an hour for overtime, and the controversy
centered on the $4 extra a week.
At the request of Governor McCall the strike was held
up for twenty-four hours, during which interval His Excel-
lency called the matter to the attention of Mr. Endicott,
who, with others of the Committee on Public Safety, went
into conference with the strikers and the team owners.
Finally a settlement was reached between them and a new
weekly wage scale established, as follows: drivers of heavy
wagons, $16.50; two-horse teams, $18.50; four-horse teams,
$20.50; chauffeurs and lumpers, $18.50. Slight changes
were also made in regard to hours and working conditions,
with an agreement that any future differences between the
parties should be settled by arbitration.
The agreement of the market-garden teamsters made in
May, 1917, was to continue for a year. In October, 1917,
a request was made upon the team owners by the teamsters
for a raise in wages, the latter saying that, although they
had signed for one year, the steadily rising increase in the
cost of living warranted their asking for more money regard-
less of the agreement. They claimed, besides, that teamsters
in other lines of work had recently had their pay increased
voluntarily by the team owners, and were receiving $2 a
week more than the market-garden teamsters. The matter
was brought to Mr. Endicott's attention, who, after hearing
both sides, recommended that the men be given an increase
of $2 a week in their respective classes. This recommenda-
tion met with the approval of the Team Owner's Associa-
tion, and the wages were raised accordingly.
Six months later, on April 4, 1918, the controversy was,
renewed, the teamsters demanding a still further increase
103
in pay. After several conferences had been held, ]Mr.
Endicott, on April 30, sent a communication to Mr. William
Meliegan representing the teamsters, setting forth that it
should be considered l\v them a patriotic duty to do every-
thing in their power to ])revent, during the war emergency,
anything adversely affecting food supply. This letter was
read to the members of the Teamsters' Union. A similar
letter was also sent to the Team Owners' Association.
Apparently the suggestions in these comnnmications were
followetl out, for no further effort was made on the part of
the men to strike.
If these controversies had not been settled, it is more
than probable that all produce coming from Texas and
other points in the South would have gone to New York,
Philadelphia and Baltimore for a market, and that it would
have taken the better part of a year to restore normal con-
ditions for exports and imports of produce at the port of
Boston.
III. Dock Freight Handlers connected with Locals
809 AND 822 OF THE INTERNATIONAL LoNGSHOREMEn's
Association
On Monday night. May 14, 1917, the above dock freight
handlers voted to go on strike the following Tuesday morn-
ing, thereby threatening a serious tie-up on the whole water
front. Through the energetic efforts of Mr. William F.
Dempsey, national organizer of the International Long-
shoremen's Association, the strike was held in abeyance
until he could communicate with the Massachusetts Com-
mittee on Public Safety, before whom he later appeared
and stated his case. The outcome was a conference at the
Committee's rooms between the men, the contractors and
the railroads, with the residt that the strike was called off
until Monday night. May 21. No satisfactory agreement
having been reached by that time, it went into effect on
Tuesday, May 22.
104
On Wednesday, May 23, the Committee called the parties
in interest together, including the representatives of the
men, of the Boston & Maine and Boston & Albany Rail-
roads, and of the contractors. A plan was adopted to sus-
pend the strike for a fortnight, during which time the Com-
m.ittee on Public Safety was to investigate the claims of
both sides. On submitting this plan to the East Boston
Freight Handlers' Union No. 822 it was accepted, although
the men did not return to work immediately. On the other
band, it was flatly rejected by the Charlestown Long-
shoremen's Union No. 809 at a special meeting, and by a
vote of 79 to 59. Following this action the general freight
handlers at Charlestown immediately struck in sympathy,
as did likewise the longshoremen. If this condition had
continued the result would have been a general tieing up of
the whole water front, completely paralyzing all avenues of
commerce at the port of Boston.
Nevertheless, on Saturday, May 26, Union No. 809 at
Charlestown reconsidered their former action and unan-
imously voted to accept the plan of the Committee on
Public Safety, as already agreed to by Union No. 822.
Under this arrangement all the dock freight handlers went
back to work without prejudice and under the same condi-
tions existing before they struck, but with the express stipu-
lation that they should be given an opportunity to present
their case to Mr. Endicott and the following Committee:
James J. Phelan, John F. Stevens, J. Frank O'Hare and
Charles S. Baxter.
At the same time the general freight handlers and long-
shoremen, who were out on a sympathetic strike, likewise
returned to work.
The decision of the Committee above named was rendered
on June 5, 1917, to the effect that the wages of the men
should be increased 20 cents per day from May 28, to
November 28, 1917, and that thereafter, from November
28, 1917, to May 28, 1918, they should receive 5 cents a
day additional, making the increase for the latter six months
105
25 cents a day above their present wages. At first there
was some hesitation on the part of a few of the men about
accepting this award, but the matter was finally adjusted,
and the men went back to work as before.
If this controversy had not been settled it was likely,
through sympathy, that a strike of all dock freight handlers,
loading and unloading freight for other railroads on the
Atlantic seaboard, as well as of general freight handlers
and longshoremen, would also have taken place, thereby
involving nearly 10,000 men.
Four months later, on October 1, 1917, the Charlestown
and East Boston dock freight handlers demanded approxi-
mately $3.50 a day, a nine-hour day, and double pay for
overtime. These demands were not acceded to by the
railroads, and all the men, for the second time, went on
strike.
The Secretary of War, realizing that interruption through
this work meant serious delay in the whole army program,
sent his representative, Mr. Stanley King, on from Washing-
ton. After consulting Mr. Endicott, Mr. King had an
interview with the leader of the strikers and arranged that
the case should be left to arbitration, three men being agreed
upon to act as arbitrators, namely, Mr. King as chairman,
Dean Edwin F. Gay of Harvard University, and Mr. Martin
T. Joyce representing the American Federation of Labor.
The men promised to go back to work pending the arbitra-
tion, which agreement they kept. This commission had
several hearings, and on October 1(5, 1917, rendered a de-
cision allowing the men an increase of 25 cents a day over
their present wage of $2.75. Slight changes were also made
in the hours and working conditions.
Upon the receipt of the award, however, the men refused
to accept its terms, and, contrary to their promise, left work
for the third time.
Once more the Secretary of War was compelled to appeal
to Mr. Endicott, who, on October 17, calling the strikers
together, set forth the seriousness of the emergency, impress-
ing upon the men how directly the safety of our boys
fighting at the front was involved, bringing to their atten-
tion that they had previously agreed to abide by the decision
of the Commission appointed by the Secretary of War, and
ending with an urgent appeal to their patriotism to stand
by their given word. It was also pointed out to them that
by not living up to their agreement they were seriously
damaging their organization. After this conference they
held a meeting, and all voted to accept the award and went
back to work.
IV. Boston & Maine Machinists
In the early part of September, 1917, about 3,500 em-
ployees of the Boston & Maine System Federation of Rail-
road Employees, Department of the American Federation
of Labor, composed of machinists and helpers, boiler makers
and helpers, blacksmiths and helpers, railway carmen, —
all affiliated with the Federation, — together with non-
affiliated sheet-metal workers, pipe fitters and helpers
and electrical workers, were on strike, demanding a flat
increase in wages of 8 cents per hour, thus crippling the
road and threatening to bring transportation to a stand-
still throughout the entire system. The receiver, under
the court's instruction, was authorized to submit the dispute
to an arbitrator to be chosen by the Council of National
Defense.
On September 5 Mr. Endicott received a telegram from
the Secretary of War, requesting him to do everything in
his power to settle the strike. Immediately following this
came a letter from the Department of Labor requesting
him "to use j'our good offices, in conjunction with the efforts
of the Federal authorities, to bring about, if possible, an
immediate settlement of this difficulty," and further stating
that it was deemed of the utmost public importance, in
the interest of all concerned, that "this labor" should be
undertaken.
107
In response to these requests Mr. Endicott called the
parties in interest together, asking both sides to submit
a succinct statement of their case, and to give the gist of
the evidence substantiating their respective contentions.
After a hearing he recommended to Mr. J. H. Hustis, the
receiver, that, pending a final decision, the wages be raised
at once 5 cents per hour, on condition that the men return
immediately to work. This they did, and both sides agreed
to leave their remaining claims to him as arbitrator.
In the final arbitration the agreement for an advance of
5 cents was extended also to the apprentices.
The main question for decision was as to what part, if
any, of the 3 cents per hour additional the men were reason-
ably entitled to, taking into consideration the advanced
cost of living and the maintenance of good living standards,
as well as the figures presented showing the rates of pay
and the recent advances on most of the railroads of the
United States. There was no material disagreement be-
tween the parties as to the evidence, and the case as presented
to Mr. Endicott was on an undisputed statement of facts.
In his decision he refused to entertain the position that
the poor financial condition of the railroad — so distressingly
bad as to call for material relief at the hands of the Federal
authorities — made it reasonable to ask the men to work
for less than fair wages. He then goes on to say: —
It appeared that the present rates of pay of corresponding men on tlie
great majority of all the other railroads in the United States had only
recently been fixed, in most part by agreement with the federations or
(in some cases) by arbitration.
It also appeared that rates of pay were now, and have been for an
indefinite past, fixed and paid on different bases in the East and in the
AVest, and on a number of long lines there are two or three rates of pay
to the same class of men, lowest in the East, and "increasing as you go
West."
It appeared that union scale usages, not only for railroad men but for
various other artisans, were generally and materially lower in the East
than in the West.
There also appeared, even in scliedules recently agreed upon by the
men in dift'erent sections of the United States, numerous apparent dis-
108
parities, as, for example, on one road the boiler maker gets a higher
rate per hour than the machinist or the blacksmith; on another road
the blacksmith gets the highest; while on others all three get the same.
All that (whether meritorious or not, and whatever the historic or
other reasons for the disparities may be) would involve standardizing the
rates through the railroads of the country, and any such matter as that
is clearly beyond the scope of this reference to me.
The men on the Boston & Maine system had a flat 2 cents per hour
advance in April, retroactive to January, 1917. The 5 cent advance of
September 8 made the total advance for 1917, 7 cents per hour, or about
26 per cent advance on the average of the prior wages.
Considering the present and recently agreed rates on nearly all the
roads in the coimtry, and particularly on the roads east of the Mississippi
River, I am absolutely clear that the 5 cents per hour advance made to
the Boston & Maine men on September 8 was a proper advance, fairly
called for, but I am equally clear, on all the evidence, that that advance
put the men on at least as high a wage basis as the average in the entire
eastern half of the country.
I find that the 7-cent Boston & Maine advance, in 1917, corresponds
very closely indeed with the average percentage of all the similar railroad
advances made and accepted by the federations in 1917 throughout the
United States, so far, at least, as disclosed by all the evidence before me.
From the tables furnished me (particularly those of the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics) I feel that the 7-cent wage advance of 1917
(roughly, 26 per cent of the former wage) fairly corresponds, on the
whole, with the simultaneous advance in the cost of living, but whether
this be strictly true or not, I also feel that the recent advance in living
costs is a war result of uncertain duration, and that no man can fairly
claim (and certainly no worker involved in this case would claim) that
he was to be so paid or otherwise taken care of that he would bear no
part of the burden of the war, or that he would want to escape doing his
fair share towards accomplishing its speedy and successful termination.
It is my best judgment, arrived at after long hours of study, that the
recent 5-cent advance made the wages, on the whole, as fair and reason-
able as I could make them, and I, therefore, award nothing more.
The settlement of this strike was most fortunate, inas-
much as the whole Boston & Maine system would have
been paralyzed if there had been a failure to bring together
both sides in the dispute.
Notwithstanding that the arbitrament was directly
contrary to the demands, if not expectations, of the wage
109
earners, Mr. Robert Fechner, who represented the em-
ployees in the many conferences held, wrote a very courteous
letter to Mr. Endicott, thanking him for the interest he
had shown, and giving his assurance that the working men
would abide bv the terms of the arbitration. This they did.
V. Fore River Machinists, Reamers and Bolters
About the 1st of November, 1917, between 8,000 and
9,000 men, workers at the Fore River Shipbuilding Plant,
and comprising machinists, bolters and reamers, helpers,
drillers and crane men, were on strike. On November 4
Mr. Endicott received a telegram from the United States
Shipping Board, Washington, requesting him to consider
the situation as it existed at Fore River, and further stating
that the Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board, operating
under an agreement — a copy of which was forwarded
later — between the government and officials of the American
Federation of Labor, was at that time on the Pacific coast,
and so not available to entertain the proposition at Fore
River; and that those now working in the interest of media-
tion at Quincy were unable to bring the contending parties
together. The telegram likewise expressed the desire that
Mr. Endicott should act as mediator.
On the same day a conference was held between the
officials of the company, Mr. Robert Fechner representing
the men, and Mr. Endicott, the result of which was an
agreement appointing the latter as arbitrator. This agree-
ment provided that the men should at once return to work
at the same scale of wages prevailing at the Charlestown
Navy Yard, wliicli had gone into effect on November 1,
1917, and that the question of classification of the employees
should be left to arbitration. Still further, it was stipulated
that during the continuance of the war, and for such time
as government work was being done at the Fore River
Yard, the government wage under the agreement should
remain in force unless altered bv nuitiud consent.
110
A telegram was also received by Mr. Endicott from the
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, offering the suggestion
that the scale of wages established November 1 at the
Navy Yard, which had proved acceptable to both labor and
the government, as well as all questions involving the details
of putting these wages into force at the Fore River Works in
the same spirit in which they were in operation at the
Charlestown Navy Yard, should be left to the arbitrator's
determination.
At once a series of conferences was held between the
officials of the company and the representatives of the
men, where the whole subject of classification was thoroughly
gone into, and on November 28 Mr. Endicott rendered his
decision, in substance as follows : —
Bolters and Reamers
The bolters and reamers who had previously been rated on a classifi-
cation of 32 per cent first class and 68 per cent second class were, under
the new arrangement, to be rated in the proportion of 51 per cent first
class and 49 per cent second class. By this finding the wages of 50 men
were immediately advanced.
First and Second Class Helpers
In regard to these men, inasmuch as the proportion of first-class
helpers at the Navy Yard was higher than at the Fore River Yard, it was
only reasonable that the Fore River Works, under the existing condi-
tions, should raise the proportion of first-class helpers to 55 per cent,
and second-class helpers to 45 per cent, classification. These propor-
tions had formerly been 5 per cent for first-class helpers, and 95 per
cent for second-class helpers. In consequence, by this finding the rating
of 260 men was immediately raised.
Drillers
In the matter of drillers, it was found that the existing wage classifi-
cation for first and second class drillers at the Fore River Works was
identical with that in force on November 1 at the Charlestown Navy
Yard, making no further change necessary or advisable.
As to third-class drillers, those employed hy the Fore River Company
had been receiving a rating between the first and second class helpers'
ratings, and as no such distinction existed at the Navy Yard, it followed
that there was no argument for changing the existing classification.
Ill
Crane Men
In regard to the crane men, the arbitrator found that those operating
overhead electric cranes, or electrically operated shipbuilding cranes,
should be classified as crane men, with the same rating and with the
same pay as crane men received at the Navy Yard.
All crane men operating locomotive cranes, track cranes and floating
cranes were given a special classification and rating as first-class en-
gineers.
Crane men operating floating cranes of 10 tons or less were classified
and rated as first, second or third class "engineers, according to the ton-
nage of the cranes.
An operator of the floating crane with an electric drive was given a
rating similar to the operator at the Navy Yard in charge of the 150-
ton floating cranes.
Machinists
It was decided that 19 per cent of the machinists employed should be
rated as first class, 58 per cent second class, and 23 per cent third class,
these rates of paj^ment for the respective classes being on the same basis
as those prevailing at the Navy Yard. The proportions previously ex-
isting for machinists at Fore River were 12 per cent first class, 20 per
cent second class and G8 per cent third class.
This last finding resulted in an advance in rating of over 400 machin-
ists, and was based upon information which the machinists themselves
furnished on blanks supplied by Mr. E. R. Thaj'cr, master mechanic at
the Navy Yard. It was also a part of the finding on the rating of machin-
ists that promotions in the three classes should be made in accordance
with the Navy Yard sj^stem, but only after probationary periods. More-
over, it was provided that demotions and discharges shoidd be made in
individual cases where cause warranted it.
Finally, all the classifications and reratings in connection with any of
the above classes were to be retroactive from the date the men returned
to work, namely, November 5.
This decision met, in general, with the approbation of
the contending parties. Protests, however, were made to
the Navy Department by the machinists, alleging that
certain instructions in the award were not definite enough
to absolutely ensure, in their judgment, fair classification.
But the Department refused to interfere, on the ground
that it was committed to the principle of arbitration, and
would not consider in any way reopening the matter.
Assistant Secretary Roosevelt,- apparently judging that con-
112
ditions were still critical at the Fore River Works, and on
the assumption that the men were restless and likely to
stop work at any moment, communicated the substance of
these protests to Mr. Endicott, who, in reply, said in part : —
In every labor trouble where I have had occasion to take part I have
felt it wise to keep in touch as far as possible with conditions after the
men had gone back to work on my recommendation, and the exact con-
ditions at Fore River were as follows: while there was some dissatisfac-
tion amongst the crane men (which has been easily adjusted), and there
was some criticism as to the strictness of the yardstick, and a natural
feeling that each man would like to know just where he was going to come
out, there was no thought on the part of the men to take part again in
an open break.
The resultant effect of this arbitration was that where
9,000 men walked out, and the building of our so badly
needed destroyers was threatened with indefinite delay, all
of the men went back to work awaiting the decision of
the arbitrator, by which they abided when it was given.
Thus a serious setback to our efficiency was avoided.
VI. Lynn Shoe Controversy
Discontent on the question of wages among the shoe
makers operating in twenty-six shoe factories in Lynn cul-
minated on April 18, 1917, when the employees struck and
the doors were closed, every factory completely shutting
down, and the workmen remaining on strike for over five
months. Government mediators from the Department of
Labor at Washington, as well as from the Board of Concilia-
tion and Arbitration, being the same agencies that had
taken a hand previously in the hope of settling the Gloucester
fishermen's strike, endeavored to bring about a settlement
between the parties in interest, but without result.
A resolution was drawn up by the Joint Committee of
the United Shoe Workers of America and the Allied Shoe
Makers' Union, recommending that Mr. Endicott should
act as arbitrator in the dispute. To this, however, the
113
employers refused to assent, contending that if the wages
demanded by the workmen were paid, it would be impossible
for them to make shoes at a profit. This was one of the
two cases — the other being the Middlesex & Boston Street
Railway controversy — in which Mr. Endicott interposed
to settle a strike without first awaiting the request of both
parties. But considering the matter of such vital and
immediate importance, he felt justified in calling a meeting
at the mayor's office, in Lynn, on the morning of September
19; and in notifying both parties added: —
It is my judgment that if either side fails to be at this meeting it will
be a serious mistake on its part.
Both parties met at the time appointed, and in less than
twenty minutes an agreement was reached, the essential
terms of which were as follows: —
1. Employees to resume work September 24, 1917.
2. To receive same wages (and bonus) as paid April 18.
3. No lockout or strike for three years from September 19, 1917.
Differences during the life of the agreement to be considered by a com-
mittee representing the manufacturers and the unions. Failing an
agreement, all matters to be submitted to the State Board, whose decision
should be final.
4. "Pending prices" submitted to Mr. Endicott as arbitrator, his de-
cision to be "final," and "to be retroactive to the date the men return
to work," i.e., September 24, 1917.
This agreement was signed by both parties, as well as
by Mr. Endicott. In accordance with its terms the decision
when made was to be final and retroactive to September
24, 1917, the date on which the men returned to work.
Immediately after this agreement was decided upon the
Lynn Shoe Manufacturers' Association wrote to Mr. Endi-
cott, saying: —
It has been a most remarkable controversy, and it is our belief that
the settlement just reached through you will ensure permanent and pros-
perous peace to the Lynn shoe industry.
114
Again, a large shoe manufacturer, and one of the repre-
sentatives of the manufacturers in the controversy, wrote
to him, in part, as follows : —
You approached the situation in a fair and diplomatic way, and I
believe you have left a feeling of co-operation between the union leaders
and the manufacturers that we have not had here for many years, and
which in my opinion means much to the future of our industry in this
city.
Mr. Endicott also received the following letter from Mayor
George H. Newhall of Lynn : —
I again want to thank you for the most valuable service that you
rendered to the citizens of Lynn in the matter of settling our labor
troubles.
We shall always think of you as a most valuable friend to our city.
You could not have done better. You were "the right man in the right
place." What you accomplished wUl go down in history as one of the
most important events for the industrial peace and prosperity of our
citizens.
The following is an extract from a letter written to him
by the President of the Lynn Chamber of Commerce : —
I am writing to you both as President of the Lynn Chamber of Com-
merce and as a private citizen, — • who has contributed as a volunteer
effort hundreds of hours during the past twenty years for public welfare
and public improvement purposes, — to tender to you the gratitude and
appreciation of the business men of Lynn for the great public service
you rendered to this city in your recent arbitration effort.
Also I desire to express through you to Governor McCall the same
appreciation. The satisfaction of achievement in matters of this kind is
not only the greatest reward for an effort that helps a whole community,
but it is generally sufficient to a man of your ideals for the work that has
been done for this purpose.
On September 22, in his report to the Governor, at whose
request he had taken the matter up, after mentioning the
assistance given him by Mr. Ratshesky, Mr. Endicott
said: —
I cannot claim any great credit in the adjustment of this matter, as I
feel I only carried out j'our original suggestion that both sides be brought
115
together to counsel, with a guide to smooth the rougher edges of contro-
versy, find the essential differences, and by suggesting the wa^' out, to
start immediately the wheels of industry in tlie great common cause of
the Nation and the State. I was enabled to do exactly these things
through the good sense, the mutual toleration and the generous spirit of
concession shown bj^ both sides.
I must say to you that botli workers and manufacturers, as repre-
sented at the conference, deserve from you as Governor, and from the
people of their city and State, hearty congratulations because of the
result obtained.
I had every reason to expect at times evidence of feeling on both
sides, but I am delighted to say that, notwithstanding the fact that, at
your suggestion, I have presided at nimierous conferences between work-
ers and their employers in order that the industrial progress of the
country should not be hindered, never have I seen better feeling than
that which prevailed at the Lynn conference. The Lynn slioe shops
will reopen Monday.
I am only giving to the members of your Committee on Public Safety
the credit I think is due them when I say that since their appointment
by you they have backed me in ever\" one of the big tasks undertaken.
In replying, the Governor said in part as follows : —
I most heartily thank you, and through you the members of the Com-
mittee on Public Safety, for the excellent work you have done in bring-
ing the employers and emploj^ees in the Lynn factories together so that
work is to be resumed. The keeping of our railroads and of our indus-
tries in motion has so important a relation to our efficiency at war that I
have regarded it, as you know, as one of the prime subjects of the jiu-is-
diction of your committee, and I have, therefore, called upon you, when
industrial difficulties arose, to attempt, to compose them. This work
alone, not to mention the other most excellent work that has been done,
vindicates the appointment of the Public Safety Committee.
The arbitration being agreed upon, both sides were
given ample opportunity to present all the facts and to
argue their claims. These were submitted in voluminous
and detailed form on behalf of the employees by Mr. Stephen
M. Walsh, general secretary, United Shoe Workers of
America; Mr. Benjamin Fish of the Lasters' Local Union
No. 1; Mr. George W. Savage of Lasting Machine Opera-
tors' Local Union No. 5; Mr. David G. Nunan of the
116
McKay Sewers' Local Union No. 17; Mr. G. Frank Newhall
of Packing Room Local No. 8; Mr. Charles A. Wilson
of Bottomers' Local No. 21; Mr. Charles C. Whidden of
the Button Hole Operators' Local No. 38; Mr. Henry
Dinan of Mixed Local No. 54; Mr. William O. Atwell of
Stitchers' Union 57; Mr. W. S. Blaisdell of the Lining
and Trimming Cutters' Local No. 62; and by Mr. Joseph
F. Parks of Stockfitters' Local 68. The manufacturers
were represented by Mr. Harry M. Read, president, and
Mr. George W. Gage, secretary, of the Lynn Shoe Manu-
facturers' Association, and by several individual manu-
facturing concerns. When the testimony was all in the
arbitrator took several months to study the evidence, as
well as the conditions existing in other shoe centers, and
on February 6, 1918, rendered his decision.
He called attention to the demoralized and unfortunate
condition into which Lynn had fallen, bad alike for the
employers and the employees, with special emphasis on
the fact that the work of the different factories was neither
graded nor steady, with piece prices hopelessly at variance
in the different plants and without consideration of the
grades of shoes or the sizes made; that the required skill
of experienced workers was not properly recognized in the
wages paid, and that the pay was often disproportionate
to the work done; that no uniformity existed in the pay-
ments for "extras;" and that women's and girls' jobs were
wrongly held by men.
In regard to time, he said : —
The shoe business cannot be successfully run on the plan of working
the factories part time, by paying for that time such high wages as will
make up for long periods of "lay-offs" and no work. The employee
wants a year's earnings, of course, but the manufacturers cannot pay a
full year's wage for eight months' work and continue long in the business.
After stating that he would not take into consideration
rules and shop conditions, — as this phase of the controversy
was not left for him to arbitrate under the terms of a written
agreement which involved only pending prices,* — he takes
117
up the latter question as the precise issue involved for
arbitration : —
The various "locals" have submitted to me, very long, elaborate and
detailed lists of prices now in force, covering hundreds of various opera-
tions and "extras," with requests and arguments for the increase of these
various items, or most of them, by from 10 to (in some cases) 40 to 50
per cent. If by granting such requests I could fill the Lynn shops with
steady work, I would gladly do anything in my power in this direction.
Such would, however, be impossible.
I am fully satisfied, after careful studj', that the great body of the
present wage bases could not, m any fairness whatever, be now raised.
The operators in Lynn are now being paid the list prices plus 10 per
cent, this percentage increase having gone into effect by agreement
between the parties as of January 15, 1917.
The list prices, without the 10 per cent, are many of them higher
than prevail in other shoe manufacturing centers, and even in some in
which higher grade shoes are made than are made in Lynn generally. I
am now asked to raise many prices at which very high weekly earnings
are being made in Lynn shops.
I believe many of the individual prices in Lynn are now higher than
the shoe trade there can possibly stand, in the competitive race, on
standard work, for any length of time. At the present piece prices
(particularly with the present 10 per cent bonus) many of the workers
are getting good, and, in some cases, high earnings. With anything like
steady work and good efforts, I am satisfied that the present prices (plus
bonus) would yield good wages to all.
To raise such prices would simply be making conditions worse for all
concerned.
It must be borne in mind that Lynn is only one of many shoe maiui-
facturing centers in the country. If the manufacture of a particular
shoe costs $5 in Lynn, and only $4.50 or less in other places, Lj^nn will be
"shut down." The other places will get the work.
The case before me shows many instances of employees, in oi)erations
requiring no great training or skill, drawing wages (on the basis of present
list prices) at rates of from $140 to $200 a month. No manufacturer in
the world can keep his factory going "steady" under any such condi-
tions, which are demoralizing to the employee who receives a wage he
does not merit; to the more skilled employee whose real merit is not
correspondingly compensated; and to the emploj^er who has to compete
with other shoe manufacturers.
It is true that there are cases where the earnings, tlirough a period of
months, or for the year, are not really adequate; but these result not
118
from the rates, but from slack work or "lay-offs." Raising the rates
would simply add to the trouble and make the "lay-offs" more frequent,
because it would make it, by just so much, harder, even than now, for
the manufacturer to get the orders.
I think that the female operatives in the packing room are perhaps
receiving a low wage, at least proportionately, and I think the same may
be said of the "table work," so called, in the stitching room. I award
to such female packing room employees and to the female table work
employees another 10 per cent of their respective list prices and weekly
wages.
I award no other advances.
I have taken time in this matter and examined into conditions in
other shoe centers.
I want the Lynn shoe employees generally to realize that they are
now, to-day, on an average, paid at the highest rates of wages of any
shoe employees in the United States. This appears from all the evidence
I have had.
To raise these rates at this time means, in my judgment, a sure ruin
to the Lynn industry as a whole. In fact, with the present wage lists it
is only when the demand throughout the country is largely on the so-
called "millinery" lines that Lynn can hope to get business.
I should not be true to the trust which has been so loyally given to
me by both the employees and the employers if I did not state the fact
as plainly shown by all the evidence.
Therefore, as the "pending prices," and pending prices alone, were
submitted to me, I decide that, with the exceptions above stated, I can-
not change the prices (with the bonus) now in effect. Such is my award.
During the time pending, while the employees were
awaiting the decision of the arbitrator, they continued to
work under the original agreement, and kept this up during
the war; and although two judges were appealed to to
modify the agreement, both of them sustained the original
document.
Indicative of the harmonious relation established, not-
withstanding that this decision was in direct contradiction
to the claims of the employees, is the following statement
issued by Mr. Stephen M. Walsh, general secretary-treasurer
of the United Shoe Workers of America : —
119
The decision of Henry B. Endicott on what has been generally known
as the "pending prices" controversy is disappointing, but Lynn shoe
makers generally will accept the decision with patience and philosophy,
feeling that ultimately some relief may be afforded them through the
agreement that they have entered into with the Lynn Shoe Manufac-
turers' Association.
The statement of Mr. Endicott accompanying the decision is a general
denunciation of the chaotic conditions existing in the industry, and is a
confirmation of the claims of the workers.
We have at all times been ready to co-operate with representatives of
the manufacturers in an attempt to remedy these conditions, and if the
shoe industry is to grow and thrive in Lynn these conditions must be
changed. Shoe workers of Lynn will abide by the decision, but will not
cease any legitimate effort to better the conditions of labor and to increase
the earnings of shoe workers.
Mr. Endicott has been courteous, painstaking and accommodating in
his treatment of our representatives. We regret his findings but bow to
his decision.
At the same time he sent the following letter to Mr.
Endicott: —
February 7, 1918.
Dear Mr. Endicott: — Please find attached to this note, statement
issued by me to the press in re your decision on the "pending prices"
controversy. I have nothing to add . to this statement except that I
wish to extend to you my personal appreciation for the many kindnesses
Aou have extended during the period of controversy. I have at all times
found you willing and anxious to be of service to us in our extremity.
You have my best wishes for your success in anything you undertake.
The importance of this settlement, and the assistance
given thereby to so essential an industry in a period of
great emergency, cannot be overstated.
The loyalty witli Avhich both sides always upheld the
decisions of Mr. Endicott, when chosen arbitrator, was
never more pointedly shown than in the Lynn shoe strike,
when, after careful and insistent hearing of testimony,
lasting for days, he found that the laborers — 15,000 of
whom were awaiting his decision — received higher wages
than paid elsewhere for the same work, and therefore gave
only 10 per cent increase to the women, and to the men
120
nothing. Notwithstanding this defeat of the workmen and
their leaders, they made the statement to him, verbally
and in writing, that they were satisfied with the fairness
of his decision. This showed, on their part, a nice perception
of just treatment which no one could fail to appreciate.
VII. Boston Elevated Carmen
In February, 1917, a certain measure of financial relief
had been granted by a special commission appointed by
the Legislature in 1916 to consider the financial condition
of the Boston Elevated Railway Company. On May 21,
1917, His Excellency the Governor sent a communication
to the Legislature in which he stated : —
It was undoubtedly a grave condition (the condition of tlie Elevated
Road) which led to the appointment of the commission a year ago, and
it was a grave condition which led to the action which the commission
has recommended. The substantial elements in the cost of transporta-
tion upon this system can be quickly determined. There is no necessity
for an inquiry long drawn out to determine the cost to the minute fraction
of a mill, and if the commission is equipped with full authority in the
premises I believe thej^ will take seasonable action, and action which will
receive the public approval. The maintenance of this system is of very
great public importance. It has a body of highly trained employees led
by a man who is recognized throughout the country as one of the fore-
most men in his calling. It gives very good service now; it should be
enabled to give even better service in the future, and I believe that it
will be able to do that under the efficient management which it now has
and the full regulation of the Public Service Commission.
The gravity of the predicament in which the Elevated
Road found itself, and which led to the appointment of the
commission and to the recommendations it gave, together
with the Governor's letter, prompted the Public Service
Commission, June 15, 1917, to make an expert investiga-
tion, whose subsequent report, February, 1918, found the
property to be properly managed.
Also, previously, in 1914, a board of arbitraticm composed
of Messrs. James J. Storrow, James H. Vahey and James
121
L. Richards fixed the wages of the employees until 1916,
when the new agreement was made, and after calling atten-
tion to the great increase in invested capital as compared
with gross earnings, said: —
This policy, if continued, is going to send the company to the poor-
house, and it is also going to render it impossible for the company to
obtain each year the additional capital which it must have in order to
supply the transportation service needed by the people of this com-
munity. ... It will be unutterably foolish and not tend to better traffic
conditions, but lead to almost irretrievable injury, if this process of over-
loading the company is not stopped, so as to give the gross earnings of
the company a chance to catch up with its capitalization. Thereafter,
the additional yearly burden placed upon the company should proceed at
a rate measured in proportion to the possibilities of the situation.
Still fm-ther, on April 15, 1917, the President of the
United States stated : —
To the men who run the railways of the coimtry, whether they be
managers or operative employees, let me say that the railways are the
arteries of the Nation's life, and that upon them rests the immense
responsibility of seeing to it that those arteries suffer no obstruction of
any kind, no inefficiency or slackened power.
On February 24, 1918, about 8,000 carmen employed by
the Boston Elevated Railway Company threatened to strike
at midnight, February 25. If this danger had not been
averted the entire system of the road would have been
tied up and the general business of Massachusetts menaced.
The demand was for a flat increase in wages of 4 cents an
hour. The men were already working under an agreement
made on May 1, 1916, to extend to May 1, 1919, and it
was easily recognized that on its face this contract was not
to be modified or disregarded in any part. The men re-
quested, however, that due to the extraordinary changes in
existing conditions, especially the difficulty of meeting the
high cost of living, they should be allowed a special extra
compensation of 4 cents. After a conference between the
representatives of the men and the president of the com-
122
pany, the latter suggested that he would be willing to put
out the demand to arbitration. This the carmen would not
at first agree to. Finally, the situation became so acute that
a Federal mediator was sent on from Washington to see
what could be done, but this also failed to bring about any
settlement between the parties.
On February 25, 1918, the situation became so serious
that Governor McCall was appealed to, and at his suggestion
the men agreed to postpone the strike for seventy-two
hours.
His Excellency wrote to both employer and employees,
suggesting the advisability of consulting Mr. Endicott in
the premises. As a result, the parties in dispute met in
conference with Mr. Endicott, and the demands of the
workmen and the interests of the road were fully discussed.
It was realized on both sides that in regard to the carmen's
request for an increase in wages, the directors had no inlierent
right to add anything to their present expenses; nor, on
the other hand, under the existing agreement, did the men
have the right to demand additional compensation any
more than the road had to grant it. But both parties,
recognizing the fact that the present conditions neither
existed nor were anticipated in 1916, when the agreement
was made, and that everything ought to be done to ensure
the best possible service to the public, agreed to place their
respective claims in the hands of Mr. Endicott, with a
request that he make a recommendation, which they prom-
ised to carry out if within their power to do so.
With a full appreciation of the financial condition of the
road, Mr. Endicott believed it both just and imperatively
demanded in the interest of the service that some recognition
should be made of the increased cost of living, and recom-
mended that the men be paid a special extra compensation
during the life of the existing agreement, that is, until May
1, 1919, at a rate of 2 cents per hour flat increase over their
present wage. This was much less than their demands.
At the same time he expressed the further opinion that
123
the expenses of the road other than wages having increased
out of all proportion to its income, it was unable to earn a
fair return on its investment, or even to cover its fixed
charges, and therefore it was imperative that the company
should have immediate financial relief in order to render to
the public that character of service to which it was entitled.
In his findings Mr. Endicott said : —
In the course of the conference it appeared that under the present
9-in-ll law the agreement of the men restricts the company from putting
more than 30 per cent of its schedule runs outside of the eleven outside
hours; that is, that the company is restricted from laying out more than
30 per cent of the schedule runs in such a way as to cover the two rush-
hour periods. The question of modifying this in order that the company
might have available during the morning rush hours and the afternoon
rush hours, but not for a platform period of longer than nine hours, sub-
stantially all the regular men on the road, was thoroughly discussed, and
it was admitted by the union officials that there was much merit in the
request of the company in this respect, due to the fact that there is abso-
lutely no question that it is difficult to-day to get the proper type of men
in sufficient numbers to perform duties of street railway employees and
to maintain the high standard which has always existed on the road.
The union officials felt, however, that it would be unwise to endeavor to
modify the terms of the agreement in this regard, but stated to me,
without any reservation whatever, that in their full appreciation of this
condition they intended, both through their international organization
and local organization, to call strongly to the attention of their member-
ship the necessity of accepting work at such time in order to provide the
necessary service for the public, and so that the men may do their share
towards helping bear the unusual burdens incurred. I am satisfied that
the company in its endeavor to secure sufficient help to furnish the neces-
sary service to the public has gone as far as is consistent or wise in remov-
ing the restrictions and reducing the qualifications necessary for employ-
ment, and I am convinced in my own mind that the condition which
prevails elsewhere in this country and abroad, due to the tremendous
demand for efficient men directly or indirectly involved in war activities,
will, unless the present employees of the company endeavor to cover
the two rush-hour periods, make it necessary to employ women as con-
ductors and in other capacities.
At a mass meeting of the carmen \\e\d in Tremont Temple
on February 28, the general officers and members of the
124
executive board of Division No. 589, Boston Cannen's
Union, — having already signed a statement expressing their
readiness to preserve without change the agreement made
in 1916, — recommended in a written statement that the
men accept 2 cents an hour flat increase over their present
wages for time allowed, until May 1, 1919, at which date
the three years would have elapsed, saying in part: —
It is our unanimous judgment that our duty to our country as well as
to our members requires us to tell our membership that it is the patriotic
duty of us all to accept Mr. Endicott's recommendation.
President Brush has shown a commendable sptirit of fairness and
courtesy in his deaHngs with us, and we hope our members will appre-
ciate the attitude of both President Brush and the company.
We want to express our deep sense of gratitude to the Governor, Mr.
Endicott and Mr. Stevens for the splendid service they have rendered
in this crisis.
This recommendation was accepted by the employees
by a unanimous vote, and the threatened strike, which, if
it had taken place, would have thrown 8,500 carmen out of
employment, was entirely averted without a single employee
leaving his post.
VIII. Street Railways operated in Worcester, Spring-
field, Attleboro and Surrounding Towns
On May 21, 1918, the two-year agreement between the
Springfield Street Railway Company, the Worcester Con-
solidated Street Railway, the Milford, iVttleboro & Woon-
socket Street Railway Company, the Interstate Consoli-
dated Street Railway, and the Attleboro Branch Railway
and their employees terminated, and both parties desired
to extend it for the term of one year with certain modifica-
tions. Conferences were held between the officials of the
companies and the representatives of the men, and no
decision being arrived at, Mr. Endicott at their joint request
consented to arbitrate the dispute. During the hearings
before the arbitrator, both sides agreed to certain proposi-
125
tions involving payments to extra and spare conductors
and motoniien with limited hours of labor, which were
later confirmed in the decision.
Among other matters adjudicated, the arbitrator, in a
long and technical decision, made the following specific
points : —
1. That conductors should be compensated for extra work in making
out reports of zone fare collections, with special conditions and Hmita-
tions, wherever there was no time to do so within the nine liours of the
working day. This was coupled with the understanding that where
tickets were issued, simplifying or reducing the work of conductors on
certain divisions, such reduction should be a basis for reducing the
allowance given, proportionally to the reduction of the conductor's work
on such division.
2. In consideration of the constant increase in the cost of living, and
the pay of men in similar industries in Massachusetts, 43 cents per hour
was held to be a fair rate, and should be the rate of wages for the fourth
and subsequent year of employment after June 1, 1918, for the employees
of the Worcester Consohdated Street Railway Company.
Cents.
The rate for the third year of emplo^inent, . . . . .41
The rate for the second year of employment, . .40
The rate for the second six months of employment, ..... 38j
The rate for the first six months of employment, . . . . .37
3. As for the employees of the Springfield Street Railway, for the
fourth and subsequent year, $3.87 per day was held to be a fair daily
wage; and at the same rate tor the junior grades, the increase would be
as follows: —
For the third year, $3 69
For the second year, . . . . . . . . . 3 60
For the second six months, . . . . . . . 3 46
For the first six months, . . . . . . . . . 3 33
Also that the hourly wage for the Milford, Attleboro and Woonsocket
Street Railway Company, the Interstate Consolidated Street Railwaj''
Company, and the Attleboro Branch Railway Company should be the
same as that fixed for the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Com-
pany.
4. That the overtime paid for extra work to conductors, messengers
and motormcn should not be changed on any of the roads.
5. Requests that every car should be operated by a crew consisting of
126
a conductor, motorman and messenger, and that all transportation of
mail be confined to mail cars exclusively, were both refused.
6. That the allowance for meal tickets be raised from 50 to 60 cents.
7. That a change from a nine-hour day to an eight-hour day was at
that time inadvisable, inasmuch as it would necessitate a complete reor-
ganization of the street railway's business, and, coming at a critical
moment in its financial affairs, involve a burden not justified in the
interest of either the company or the public.
8. That a definite zone should be established by which traveling time
should be allowed to trackmen whose work was more than one mile
distant from the car barn.
9. The demand that seven-day men should be paid time and one-
half for Sunday and holiday work, instead of straight time, was refused,
on the ground that the demand was really one for additional pay and not
for shorter hours, their established wage being on the proposition that
they work seven days a week and share with the other employees in a
general advance in wages under the award. A further reason was that
it would necessitate a complete reorganization of tlie company's business,
and involve a burden not justifiable to either the company or the public.
When employees were called upon to do emergency work on Stindays
and holidays, a minimum of one day's pay was allowed if the hours com-
puted on Sunday and holiday rates did not amount to one day.
10. No preference should be given on seniority basis in the track
department.
11. The demand that if during the period covered by the award a
shorter working day was granted to men in any department, this allow-
ance should apply to all men working at the same kind of work in such
department, was refused on the ground that this was not a time to attempt
readjusting the working hours; that the scarcity of men might require
a general nine-hour day in certain departments, and that it was not wise
to discourage uniformity where that was practicable; in short, that the
whole question was one that ought to be worked out between the men
and the company, and not a matter in which the arbitrator's award
could be helpful.
12. It appearing from the evidence that the wages of the miscellaneous
employees had been based on no uniform system, they should receive an
advance in pay of 24 1 per cent over their present wage.
13. The demand that if during the period covered by the award a
higher wage is paid to new men entering any department, or a voluntary
increase granted, the same should apply to men in the same department
doing the same kind of work, was refused on the ground that in order to
secure temporary help it was often necessary in an emergency to pay a
higher rate than that received by permanent men.
14. The demand that the five minutes allowed to shop men and barn
127
men to wash before going to meals and before their relieving time at the
end of the day's work be increased to ten minutes was refused.
15. The demand that the present system respecting the transporta-
tion of employees in Springfield sliould apply to all roads mentioned was
refused.
16. The demand that when an employee was required to make out an
accident report on his own time he should be paid 10 cents for each
report was refused.
17. The request of ten minutes' time allowance to car crews for taking
out and putting up cars, and that the schedules be arranged so that the
full running time should be allowed the first trips in the morning and
the last trips at night, was refused on the ground that in consideration
of the advance in wages this demand if granted would work an undue
hardship upon the company.
18. The demand that Sunday and holiday runs should be scheduled
so that the maximum for a day's work be completed inside of ten con-
secutive hours, and that night cars operating between midnight and
6 A.M. should receive one day's pay, were both refused as at present
unwise and involving readjustment of service and wages.
Subject to the modifications above given, the original
agreement was extended until June 1, 1919.
It is unnecessary to point out how serious a menace
to the transportation interests of the State, and all thereby
involved, was removed by this arbitration.
IX. Telepho^ie Operators outside Metropolitan
Boston
On March 2, 1918, a strike was threatened by the tele-
phone operators in different cities throughout the New
England States, the result of which, if it had taken place,
would have paralyzed the whole system of telephone com-
munication and most seriously interfered not only with
regular business, but with all the war work in which the
State of Massachusetts was engaged.
The question in dispute was the classification of the
exchanges in some fourteen cities outside of metropolitan
Boston, together with the subject of wage increase in all
other exchanges, not only in Massachusetts but in Maine,
128
New Hampshire and Vermont, and involved from 4,000 to
5,000 employees, mostly women. Added to this was the
reclassification of the exchanges in Fitchburg and Taunton,
Mass., and of those in Bangor and Lewiston, Me. A com-
promise had been offered by the company, but rejected.
A poll of the operators had also been taken, and about
3,500 votes were cast in favor of a strike. The situation
had been brought to the attention of the State Board of
Conciliation and Arbitration by a committee appointed to
represent seventeen locals of the Telephone Operators'
Unions throughout New England, without any immediate
result being accomplished.
On March 5 a telegram was received from the Navy
Department requesting Mr. Endicott to use his good offices
in ending the disagreement, on the especial ground that
the "transaction of navy work in many localities requires
continuous service of telephones." On the same day a
similar telegram was received by him from the Secretary
of War, stating that "any interruption of telephone service
would result in a most serious consequence in the execution
of this Department's war program," and requesting him
to take such steps as he deemed appropriate to bring about
an immediate adjustment.
Several conferences were held at Mr. Endicott's office
between the officials of the company and the representatives
of the Telephone Operators' Union. On March 6 an agree-
ment was reached establishing the following schedules of
wages, which were to remain in effect for at least a year,
with the added provision that during the continuance of
the war all further questions of wage differences which
could not be settled between the parties should be adjusted
by arbitration : —
Schedule AA. — During training period, $5; on assignment as operator,
$6; at end of three months, $7; six months, $8; nine months, $9; one
year, $10; one and one-half years, $10.50; two years, $11; three years,
$12; four j^ears, $13; five years, $14; six years, $15; seven j'ears, $16.
Schedule A. — During training period, $5; on assignment as operator,
129
$6; at end of three months, $7; six months, $8; nine months, $8.50;
one year, $9; one and one-half years, $9.50; two years, $10; two and
one-half years, $10.50; three years, $11; three and one-half years, $11.50;
four years, $12; five years, $12.50; six years, $13.50; seven years, $14.50.
Hcliechdc B. — During training period, $4; on assignment as operator,
$6; at end of three months, $7; end of six months, $8; nine months,
$8.50; one year, $9; two years, $10; three years, $11; four years, $12;
five years, $12.50; six years, $13; seven years, $13.75.
Schedule C. — During training period, $4; on assignment as operator,
$6; end of three months, $6.50; six months, $7.50; nine months, $8; one
year, $8.50; one and one-half years, $9; two years,- $10; three years,
$11; four years, $11.50; five j'ears, $12; six years, $13.
Schedide D. — During training period, $4; assignment as operator,
$6; end of three months, $6.50; end of six months, $7.50; nine months,
$8; one year, $8.50; two years, $9.50; three years, $10; four years,
$10.50; five years, $11; six years, $12,
Schedule E. — During training period, $4; on assignment as operator,
$6; end of three months, $6.50; six months, $7; nine months, $8; one
year, $8.50; two years, $9; three years, $9.50; four years, $10; five
years, $11.
Schedules AA and A to be eflFeetive from the first day of the first week
of February, 1918; other schedules to be effective from the first day of
the first week in March, 1918.
Both parties, in a statement signed by their representa-
tives, expressed their appreciation of the services rendered,
recognizing them as prompted by a spirit of patriotic pubHc
interest and conducted in a manner requiring pubHc acknowl-
edgment.
On the question of classification the existing conditions
were allowed to remain.
In this connection it might be said that two or three
months previously a somewhat similar controversy between
the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company and
its Boston operators was settled in conference, in accordance
with the suggestions offered by Mr. Endicott, satisfactorily
to both sides, although as in previous cases a mediator had
previously been sent by the government to look into the
situation, but without avail.
130
X. Coal Teamsters of Boston and Vicinity
About the 1st of October, 1917, members of the Coal
Teamsters, Chauffeurs' and Wharfmen's Union presented
new demands to certain coal dealers in Boston and vicinity,
in substance calling for an increase of $3 a week in wages, a
nine-hour working day, double time on Sundays and holi-
days, with Saturday afternoon off from April 1 to October 1.
The question being left to Mr. Endicott, after a conference
of both sides he awarded the men an increase of $2 per
week.
On May 15, 1918, the matter again came up, and after
certain issues between the parties had been settled by agree-
ment, Mr, Endicott, having been appointed arbitrator by
both sides, rendered a decision, the chief points of which
were as follows : —
That the work of teamsters, chauffeurs and wharfmen in the coal
business did not require the steady appHcation usually found in trades
which are limited to an eight-hour day; nor did such work make a constant,
unremitting demand upon either the minds or the bodies of the men; and,
taking into consideration the condition of the industrial world and the
withdrawal from it of so many men for military service, it was not advis-
able to shorten the nine-hour day at that time existing.
That overtime should begin at 5.30 p.m. instead of 5.45 p.m.
The rate of wages in force, that offered by the coal dealers, and that
requested by the men, as well as the rate established by Mr. Endicott,
are shown in the f oUowuig table : —
Occupation
Rate now
in Force
(Per Week)
Offered by
Employers
(Per Week)
Demanded
by Men
(Per Week)
Established
by Mr.
Endicott
(Per Week)
One-horse teamsters
Two-horse teamsters, ....
Three-horse teamsters,
Wharfmen,
Electric truck chauffeurs, .
Gas truck chauffeurs,
$■18
19
21
18
20
22
S20
21
23
20
22
24
S21
22
24
22
25
25
$21
22
24
21
23
24
This scale was established by a comparison of wages existing in like
employment.
131
Saturdai/ Half Holidays
The demand that the existing half hohday, during the six months
from April 1 to October 1, be changed to 12 o'clock at noon on Saturday
throughout the year was denied.
Employees when called upon to work on a holiday should receive
double their regular pay.
It was further decided that the new wage should not be
retroactive, beginning May 1, 1918, as demanded by the
men, but should take effect at the time when the new agree-
ment embodying this scale should be in force, viz., from
May 15, 1918, and be operative until May 1, 1919.
The issues involved in this strike were very far-reaching.
Given the severest winter in the history of the Nation, with
the urgent demands of the navy and government ships,
together with the requirements of the ammunition plants
and factories engaged in war work, a few days' delay would
have paralyzed the efficiency necessary in a great emer-
gency. It is vastly to the credit of our working men and
the dealers that in the movement and transportation of
coal during the whole period of the war emergency not one
day's time was lost on account of labor troubles.
XI. Lowell Textile Mills
On May 28, 1918, the employees in the Merrimac, Boott,
Massachusetts, Hamilton, Appleton, Tremont and Suffolk
mills in Lowell, through their representatives, made a de-
mand on the owners for an increase in wages of 15 per cent,
said increase to go into effect on June 17, 1918. The Man-
chester, N. H., and the Pawtucket, R. L, mills also were
indirectly involved. In response to this request a general
increase in wages was made of 10 per cent, and this not
being satisfactory to the employees, a strike followed. This
strike involved about 15,000 hands, composed principally of
loomfixers and slasher tenders, and indirectly their going
out affected the whole mill industry in Massachusetts, com-
prising about 350,000 hands. The result was an immediate
132
and serious menace to the government, which was in great
need of cloth for our soldiers and sailors, and largely depend-
ent on the ability of these manufacturers to supply the same.
On July 3 Mr. Endicott received a telegram from Mr.
Baker, Secretary of War, asking him to use his good offices
towards reconciling the contentions in these mills, "in order
that the soldiers who are so rapidly being sent to France
shall be adequately equipped. It is vital that maximum
production in New England textile mills be resumed at the
earliest possible date."
In pursuance of a request from both the parties in interest,
Mr. Endicott consented to arbitrate the contention between
them, each side agreeing to abide by whatever decision he
made. After a conference called in Lowell on July 5, which
lasted several hours, an award was rendered that, consider-
ing the cost of living, it was only reasonable that the wages
of the employees in these mills should be fixed at an amount
equal to 15 per cent above that which they had been paid
prior to June 17, 1918. In his opinion, Mr. Endicott said: —
What is of far greater importance in this critical moment of the history
of our country than any exact determination of a wage scale is the assur-
ance that in the future tliere shall be absolutely no interruption in the
production of the textile mills of Lowell as long as the war shall last. This
is of equal and fundamental importance both to the mill owners and to
their employees. It is also vital in order that the men who are fighting
for our safety may be properly clothed and equipped.
Therefore it is with the deepest satisfaction that I here record the
solemn agreement entered into to-night before witnesses by all parties at
the hearing, on behalf of themselves and of all persons and organizations
whom they represent, that they and their respective organizations and
associates, in order to ensure continuity of production to the capacity
of the mills throughout the war, will submit any future questions or
issue between the mills, or any of them, and their employees to the
United States War Labor Board, and if that body is not in existence to
some equally responsible tribunal to be agreed upon between them at
the time; and that in no event shall there be cessation of work either
pending the decision of that Board or as the result of its action. In
other words, it is now impossible that hereafter, as long as the war shall
last, there shall be a lockout or strike in any textile mill in Lowell.
133
After the decision was read a unanimous vote was passed
by both parties thanking Mr. Endicott for his services, and
in accordance with the original agreement the men went at
once to work the next morning.
XII. American Woolen Company Mills
About the first of July, 1918, the Wood, Washington and
Ayer mills of the American Woolen Company, employing
about 15,000 hands and turning out daily approximately
50,000 yards of cloth for the government, were involved in
a controversy affecting the weavers, in number about 1,800,
and the latter went on strike, thus directly involving the
labor of all the remaining employees.
The weavers sought the abolition of the premium system
in force at the mills, and the substitution therefor of a per-
centage of the standard wage sufficient to put their regular
weekly wage on a par with what they were already receiving
with the premium; that is, the elimination of the previous
system, and in its place an increase of 55 per cent in wage.
The company took the position that the weavers, in addition
to their regular weekly wage, were receiving under the
premium system a bonus which averaged about 44 per cent.
On the other hand, the men contended that the premium
system caused much friction, and that the way it worked
out was not satisfactory from the standpoint of either em-
ployer or employees; moreover, that the latter in many
instances felt that they received much less in their envelopes
on Saturday night than they had a right to expect and
were entitled to. The weavers also demanded that when
weaving on 8'2 and 72 inch looms, the prices paid them for
the cloth woven on the smaller looms should be the same as
for that woven on the larger looms.
On July 8 Mr. Endicott received the following tele-
gram : —
134
Washington, D. C.
H. B. Endtcott, Executive Manager, Committee of Public Safety, State
House, Boston, Mass.
Cessation of production in mills of American Woolen Company at
Lawrence of serious import to program for furnishing supplies to troops.
]\Iay I request you to take such steps as seem to you desirable looking
toward the earliest possible return to work on the part of strikers and
the settlement of the dispute on the most permanent basis possible.
Newton D. Baker,
Secretary of War.
At the request of both parties Mr. Endicott went to
Lawrence, where the questions at issue were exhaustively
gone into; and on July 9 the following agreement, drafted by
Mr. Endicott, was signed by Mr. Wood as president of the
company, and a committee of fourteen in behalf of the
men : —
First. — The company shall forthwith abolish the system of payment
by premium which has heretofore been in force in the weaving depart-
ment of the three mills above named.
Second. — The company shall forthwith pay to its weavers, in addition
to the price list now in force, a further wage equal to 50 per cent on the
present price list.
Third. — When government work of the same class is being woven on
82-inch and 72-inch looms, both of which are tended by the same man,
the price for the cloth woven on the small loom shall be the same as the
price paid for the cloth woven on the large loom.
Fourth. — The weavers shall return to work immediately, or not later
than Thursday morning, July 11, at the usual opening hour of the mills,
and shall use their best effort to serve the company loyally and maintain
continuity of production to the capacity of the mills.
Fifth. — The company shall receive all weavers of the mills above
named without any discrimination because of any absence from work
during the past week or service on any committee.
Sixth. — - All future issues between the company and the weavers at
the mills above named which may occur during the continuance of the
waT" shall be referred for settlement to the Secretary of War of the United
States, and no lockout and no strike shall be declared by the company
or by any weavers pending the decision, or as the result of his action.
135
This award might have given rise to captious criticism, on
the ground that under its ruling the inefficient workmen
received the same pay as the efficient men, and that thus
the incentive was removed to do good work and to increase
the production. But it must be remembered that the entire
work done at Lawrence was on a piece basis, and that this
was the only real question in the entire controversy. This
so-called premium or bonus system had been the cause of
friction for several years. It might be well, therefore, to
explain the arbitrator's reasoning on so technical a question.
As gathered from letters and statements made by him at
the time and since, investigations showed that the working
of the premium system was unsatisfactory to both employer
and employee, and that time and time again it happened
that the employee, according to his way of figuring, believed
that he was entitled to considerable more compensation
than his envelope showed on Saturday night. Moreover, to
figure the correct bonus in any given case and obtain an
accurate result required something more than average intelli-
gence. If the employee did not find in his envelope what in
his judgment was his due, he became dissatisfied. It there-
fore appeared wiser that all premiums and bonuses should
be abolished, and that a man should know accurately what
he was to receive on Saturday night, provided he had done
a full week's work.
Moreover, the premium system might easily work a dis-
tinct injustice to the weaver, who considered it as jjart of
his regular wage, since, should he be injured, his compensa-
tion was based on the regular scale of wages without the
premium, and the accident insurance which he received was
adjusted on the basic wage and not on the total amount
which he earned.
Again, a first-class weaver might work industriously the
greater j^art of the week, and yet, because of a break in his
machine, not due to any fault of his own, the output from
his loom might be insufficient to entitle him to any premium.
He would therefore lose not only the time that his machine
136
was idle, but also the bonus which he had deserved for
steady work throughout the remainder of the week.
Under Mr. Endicott's award the weavers received a
definite wage per yard for every yard woven. This at once
naturally gave every incentive for a man to weave the last
yard possible, and it was to be expected that the production
of a mill would be greatly stimulated under the straight
piece-price proposition. The mills woidd know their exact
cost of production, and the men would know perfectly what
was coming to them, and the amount thereof would be
dependent entirely on their own industry and efficiency.
It was somewhat ludicrous to hear intelligent men say
that anybody could settle the differences between capital
and labor if the employer was bound in advance to accept
the award and labor was then granted all that it asked.
In this connection it must be remembered that the employers
have generally realized the necessity of meeting the high
cost of living with increased wages, and that in all the
strikes with which Mr. Endicott had anything to do, he
made it an absolute rule — departed from in but two cases
of great exigency — never to enter into a labor dispute
except on the joint application of both parties, or on the
specific request of the United States government. As a
matter of fact, in 99 per cent of the cases adjusted by him
both sides requested him to act.
In no case did the employees receive all that they re-
quested. In certain cases involving a very large number
of hands, where the wage scale had recently been advanced
and where it was found that the rate of pay was as high as
that given by competitors, Mr. Endicott refused absolutely
every demand made by the men. For example, in the Lynn
strike 1,000 girls, out of 15,000 hands, were the only ones to
receive an advance.
Still further, in only two cases did either side attempt to
break the preliminary agreement to abide by the arbitrator's
decision, and in each of these the attempt received so little
support that it fell flat.
137
Mr. William M. Wood, president of the American Woolen
Company, in a statement given out by him shortly after
Mr. Endicott had rendered his decision, said: — -
The settlement of tlie Lawrence strike by INIr. Endicott was such as
to be perfectly satisfactory to both sides. The premium system was a
source of irritation to the weavers and no great benefit to us. We have
had a splendid opportunity to compare figures on efficiency between our
mills in which the premium system was used and our other mills, and
have arrived at the conclusion that it did not promote efficiency. It
was, therefore, to the best interests of all that it should be abolished.
The weavers have been compensated for the loss of the premium by a
50 per cent advance in the weaving schedule, the average rate of wages
thus having been maintained at approximately the same level.
It was the conviction of both Mr. Endicott and those
associated with him that at least 75 per cent of the diffi-
culties between labor and capital which came under his
arbitration would easily have been avoided if both sides
could have had that confidence in each other that is neces-
sary between employer and employee to ensure uninter-
rupted work and steady production. It was Mr. Endicott's
earnest endeavor to eradicate the existing distrust as far as
possible, believing that by so doing the danger of inter-
ruption of business would be very much minimized. He
had always in his own business been governed by the
principle that the difference in quality and amount pro-
duced by satisfied labor over that produced by dissatisfied
labor would yield all the profit needed.
It was also found, in all these troubles, that it was not
the intent of the employer to be unreasonable, and that
this was likewise the attitude of the representatives of
organized and unorganized labor. Both sides, their loyalty
once appealed to, responded promptly, realizing that it was
their duty as far as in them lay to arrive at a satisfactory
understanding. The resultant fact, that in all the labor
difficulties brought to Mr. Endicott for arbitration and in
which he took a hand there was not a single failure to bring
about a satisfactory ending, seems to prove that when in a
138
labor difficulty the right principle is pointed out, both
sides to the controversy will generally follow it, whether it
is a question of time, duties or wages.
Computed conservatively, the amount of saving to Mas-
sachusetts and the Nation by avoiding through these arbitra-
ments an interruption of work must have reached a sum
between forty and fifty millions of dollars, at least. At the
same time, between 300,000 and 500,000 men and women
— during a time of great labor unrest and of national
emergency and excitement, and when the cost of living was
unprecedented — were fairly paid for their labor, and, work-
ing under a mutual agreement between themselves and
their employers, remained contented and cheerful.
139
Part III
MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVITIES
Part I has dealt more particularly with organization and
the results obtained by preparatory and certain special
committees; in general with activities of the Committee on
Public Safety either finished or in process of completion
prior to our entering the war, April 6, 1917; the federaliza-
tion of our troops, July 28; and their departure, September
7 of the same year.
Part II has covered the Committee's relation to labor
controversies and arbitrations.
The activities of the Committee (Part III) admit of no
dividing line concisely drawn, the general character of work
having continued much the same from the Committee's
formation to the time it was dissolved. But it should be
borne in mind that in July and October, 1917, two important
changes took place in its scope and management. In the
first place, a new and exacting line of work devolved upon
the Comjnittee through Mr. Hoover's appointment on
July 11 of Mr. Endicott to be Federal Food Administrator
for New England, — confirmed by the President August l-l,
— and the establishment of Food Conservation Committees
throughout the State as functionaries of the Committee.
On the same date, July 11, Mr. Endicott was appointed
by Governor McCall to be State Food Administrator for
Massachusetts.
It automatically followed that the work of the already
existing Preparatory Committee on Food Production and
(Conservation was at once merged in the larger responsibility
imposed by State and Nation. As Mr. Endicott already
possessed in the Committee on Public Safety an organiza-
140
tion with a personnel on which he could rely, the Food
Administration was carried on by him in conjunction with
the Committee on Public Safety.
Secondly, in the early autumn, another and far-reaching
change took place in the Committee's affairs. For several
months previous Mr. Storrow had found himself obliged to
devote his main efforts to dangers involved by the threaten-
ing deficit in coal. As chairman of the Committee on
Public Safety he had directed its course from the beginning,
and guided it through many a dangerous pathway with
conspicuous ability and success, when, on October 3, 1917,
he took, as will appear later, the entire charge of the Fuel
Administration throughout New England by virtue of both
Federal and State appointments. A "complete overturn was
thus brought about in the conduct of the Committee, as
Mr. Storrow was forced to give his undivided attention to
the new duties to which he was committed, and to place
upon other shoulders the burdens he had so long borne in
behalf of the general work of the Committee. The Fuel
Committee thereafter, with Mr. Storrow as its chairman,
although germane to the general purposes of the Committee
on Public Safety, was carried on independently of the latter
in separate though connecting rooms, with a newly appointed
personnel of paid and volunteer workers. Mr. Storrow con-
tinued to retain the chairmanship of the Committee he had
done so much to create and build up, was consulted on
important matters, and, on the few occasions when he could
make it possible, presided at meetings of the Executive
Committee.
Mr. Endicott, who from the beginning had been the
executive manager of the Committee, now took the entire
guidance of its activities in addition to his Food Administra-
tion duties. Indeed, so closely did the general work of the
Committee become interrelated with that of the Food
Administration that their separation would have been well-
nigh impossible. On the other hand, the program as laid
out by the Fuel Committee involved distinct functions, in
141
no way connected with those heretofore carried on by the
Committee on PiibUc Safety.
With this explanation in regard to the administrative
conditions governing its work, certain miscellaneous ac-
tivities of the Committee on Public Safety will now be
related.
142
CHAPTER I
COMMITTEE ON THE SOLICITATION OF FUNDS FOR
PATRIOTIC PURPOSES
The Committee on the SoHcitation of Funds for Patriotic
Purposes was appointed on March 4, 1918, as follows: —
George H. Lyman, Chairman.
George A. Rich, Vice-Chairman.
Joseph G. Minot, Secretary.
Mrs. Nathaniel Thayer.
Mrs. Roger Wolcott.
Mrs. Charles E. Mason.
Mrs. George R. Fearing.
Mrs. F. Lothrop Ames.
Miss Dorothy Forbes.
Robert Winsor.
Rev. Paul Revere Frothingham.
Adjt.-Gen. Jesse F. Stevens.
J. Frank O'Hare.
Stillman F. Kelley.
L. B. Hayes.
Walter C. Baylies.
A. C. Ratshesky.
James J. Phelan.
B. Preston Clark.
Jesse S. WUev.
The occasion for this Committee and the work which it
was expected to do were set forth in a bulletin issued at the
time by Mr. Endicott and the chairman, reading in part as
follows : —
In our judgment there are very many societies which are duplicating
the work ot already existing agencies, and are spending their time, their
money and their energies without being of the least help to our country
in this occasion of need. There are also societies which we believe are so
unbusinesslike that the cost of collecting funds and the cost of doing busi-
ness take a very large share of the money which each person contributes.
There are undoubtedly other organizations which solicit funds for im-
proper purposes.
Therefore, realizing the danger of duplication, and the danger of inef-
ficiency, and the danger of wastefulness and dishonesty, a sub-committee
of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety has been appointed to
take active steps to have properly supervised all such appeals, in order to
ensure as far as possible in behalf of the generous giver to patriotic societies
that the particular cause itself is worthy, and that the management of the
funds shall be economical and their final disposition follow accredited
channels.
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The Committee had its first general meeting on March
11, 1918, and met for the last time on November 8, 1918,
being in existence almost exactly eight months. During
that period something like 3G6 different activities were
investigated, 80 of which were examined very thoroughly.
The Committee divided its investigations into four
classes : —
1. Organizations which appeared distinctly fraudulent.
These were generally turned over to the district attorney
for such action as he deemed advisable.
2. Those where overlapping and duplication of effort
appeared, causing an unnecessary amount of overhead
charges.
3. Those purely commercial in their nature.
4. Those which, though honest, were so poorly managed
that the beneficiaries received but a small part of the con-
tributions.
The second class required, when possible, an adjustment
of interests which was often quite difficult to bring about.
The third class was not held to be dishonest in character,
but there always exists a certain body of professional men
and women who make, year after year, a good income by
promoting various charities, receiving either a large salary
or working on a percentage basis which sometimes realizes
more than 50 per cent of the total amount collected. For
example, an instance came to the attention of the Com-
mittee where $25,000 was admittedly the average percentage
yearly received by one such promoter, and yet his tran-
sactions appeared to be both honest and open. It was a
purely business matter with him, which, however it may be
classified in times of peace, was pernicious in a crisis whea
moneys given for charitable purposes should be conserved
as far as humanly possible.
The Committee's investigations covered not only Massa-
chusetts, but New York and Pennsylvania as well, for it
was found that a significant interlocking of methods and
persons existed between many of the imdesirable organiza-
144
tions. New York City, particularly, was the headquarters
for much questionable solicitation, and from this center
both appeals and agents were sent into all the neighboring
States.
The Committee had no recognized legal authority. The
power it exercised, though very effective, was purely a moral
influence, generally enhanced by a fear of publicity.
For the enforcement of its suggestions the Committee
was dependent mainly upon public sentiment and the co-
operation of those prominent in business and social affairs.
Recourse to the courts was deemed advisable only when
there was evidence of misappropriation of funds, or of
obtaining money under false pretenses. Moreover, in the
absence of any legal requirement for keeping and verifying
accounts showing sums collected and disbursed, misappro-
priation was not a matter readily susceptible of proof. How-
ever, some such authoritative supervision was exercised by
most of the other States, but in three only was this based
on specific legislative authority. The State of Illinois very
early adopted a system of licenses, and held solicitors of
funds for such purposes to a strictly legal accounting.
Without doubt this last method would have been the
more direct and businesslike procedure, for there is no ques-
tion that in Massachusetts alone considerable sums of
money were wasted or dishonestly appropriated while the
slower methods of elimination and adjustment were going
forward. Large amounts might have been saved to the
givers or conserved for more worthy causes had legal super-
visory regulations been instituted from the beginning. Dis-
trict Attorney Swann of New York, in a report on the
investigations of his office in relation to this group of war
activities, estimated that in a period of twelve months there
was a loss to the general public through theft and misappro-
priation of more than $3,000,000, and these losses were
occasioned by fraud, simply, and were exclusive of wastage
through extravagant and inefficient management.
Yet despite these limitations it may be said with some
145
certainty that the method of supervision alone resulted in a
very distinct and marked success, both locally and through-
out the country. The evidence of this is shown by the fact
that when supervision was largely discontinued by reason of
the armistice, partly through the influence of Committees
on Public Safety, and partly by the force of public opinion,
the country -wide activities had become consolidated under
seven major, and less than a dozen minor, organizations,
while the purely local activities were reduced and co-
ordinated largely on a community basis. The most difficult
problem which the Committee had to deal with in Massa-
chusetts w^as that of the individual who sought to exploit
the patriotic sympathies of the public for his or her selfish
or mercenary purposes. Even here, in the end, and as a
result of the Committee's work, the public was largely
spared from calls, under the guise of helping the war-stricken,
to provide such seekers with a position or a salary.
The wonderfid generosity and readiness of the citizens of
Massachusetts in services and contributions to war charities
demanded every safeguard the Committee was able to offer
for their protection and the conservation of their money to
the best uses. With that end in view steps were at once
taken to direct public attention to the Committee's real
purpose, and to invoke that assistance which every one was
able to render. Letters were addressed by the chairman to
the sub-committees of the Committee on Public Safety
throughout the Commonwealth, in which it was stated: —
I hope you will look into all appeals in your locality, of this general
character, excepting, of course, those promotions well known and ac-
credited. When in your judgment any such appeal coming under your
observation does not meet with your approval, whether on account of its
object, organization, financial methods, agencies, expenditures, etc., or
because it overlaps or duplicates an already existing and dependable
patriotic object; or if for any reason you doubt its usefulness or desirability
in the line of its proposed activities as the recipient of subscriptions, we
request that you will notify us at your earliest convenience, giving all
the information you have in the premises and such suggestions as in your
judgment may be helpful.
14G
Similarly, a form of questionnaire was adopted and sent
to the various agencies who were known to be soliciting
funds in the State or planning to do so, the essential points
of which were : —
Organization
1. Names and addresses of the responsible officers; location of prin-
cipal office; if the organization had its headquarters outside of the State,
the name and address of its responsible Massachusetts representative.
2. Names of the principal endorsers of the activity, and a statement as
to whether these endorsers consented to the use of their names.
Scope of Activity
1. Specific purpose of the activity; how organized, and whether the
proposed beneficiaries had accepted the plan.
2. The amoiuit of money to be raised, and probable duration of the
activity.
3. Proposed method of solicitation, and the nature of the credentials
given to its authorized agents.
Business MetJiods
1. Salaries paid to any officer or agent, direct or contingent.
2. Actual or estimated expenses per month for labor, rent, stationery,
printing, postage, etc.
3. Where the funds collected were deposited; and whether the accounts
were audited and open to inspection.
This preliminary inquiry in many cases developed two
facts, both of which were of importance in checking up
undesirable enterprises. The first was the unauthorized use
of names, always a warning signal; and the second, the
careless lending of names to activities which had not been
subject to careful investigation by those sponsoring them.
Naturally, the latter were the more numerous, as the dis-
honest worker was generally, though not always, too clever
to lay himself open to quick detection through the printed
use of unauthorized patrons. But the Committee from time
to time directed the attention of such sponsors, and more
particularly if their prominence gave weight to their name,
to the obligations which they assumed when they gave their
147
endorsement to any undertaking of this class which sought
contributions from the general public. It was in this way
that certain fonns of entertainment were discouraged, and
ultimately eliminated, as where the principal end in view
savored of personal exploitation, and the net results handed
over to the beneficiaries w^ere bound to be insignificant.
As to the various activities which, for one reason or
another, it w^as found necessary to discourage, there is no
occasion to discuss them in detail. The Committee made it
a fixed rule not to give approval to any organization, not
even to the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus,
Jewish Welfare Board, Salvation Army, or to any of the
world-wide recognized efficient bodies engaged in charitable
endeavor. The purpose of this may readily be seen, for if
no association whatever was formally endorsed, then no
umbrage could be taken in any specific case, nor injury done,
by a refusal. Yet the mere fact that the Committee did
not interfere with an organization collecting money was
generally and to all intents and purposes equivalent to an
endorsement. When, after a close examination, an enter-
prise was judged to be doubtful, and its activities could not
be stopped, information was given to the papers.
There were more than one hundred war charity organiza-
tions regularly working in Massachusetts, independent of
others which were relatively transitory. Among the former
were —
Different societies for the relief of
American, French, ItaHan, Eng-
hsh, Armenian, Syrian, wounded,
bHnd, impoverished, etc.
The Huguenot Committee.
The Army ReHef Society.
Convalescent Home Associations.
Flying Yacht Clubs.
Christmas Cheer Fund.
Poets' Ambulances in Italy.
Ambulance Relief in Russia.
Comfort Kit Committee.
Ball and Bat Fund.
The Battle Song of Peace.
French Heroes' Lafayette Memo-
rial Fund.
League of Loyal Americans.
Samaritan Circle of Fatherless
Chihlren in France.
Chain Letters.
Christian Service.
Association for the Prevention of
Tuberculosis.
Cripples' War Relief.
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British Empire Rally Fund.
War Babies' Cradle.
Friends of German Democracy.
Memorial Funds.
100 per cent Boys.
League of National Unity.
American Prisoners in Germany,
Treasure and Trinket Fund.
Polish Victims.
Children's Ambulance Service.
Aberdeen Fund.
American Red Star.
American Military Hospital.
Bohemian National Alliance.
Belgian Mission.
Belgian Artists' Commission.
British War Relief.
Finnish League.
National Allies.
Lafayette Fund.
Navy Relief.
Navy League.
Stage Women's AVar Relief.
Naval Reserve.
Military Naval Reserve.
Welfare LTnion.
The Committee's work consisted largely of personal inter-
views, and of explanation and persuasion verbally or by
letter. It was found in most cases that, when all the con-
ditions surrounding any particular proposition had been dis-
cussed with those concerned, particularly in their bearing
upon the general emergency situation, the nonessential or
unimportant ventures were promptly discontinued. It is
enough, therefore, to mention a few of the special classes of
organizations which were discouraged, as indicative of the
vie^T^oint taken by the Committee in its work.
1. Certain organizations, the propriety of whose aims
was not questioned, were inclined to adopt special means
for raising money which were open to criticism both in point
of taste and of good business.
For instance, such a plan was that of the promiscuous
distribution of pencils through the mails, with the names of
the involuntary recipients printed thereon, and accompanied
by the request that the same be returned or $1 remitted.
Many persons were decidedly annoyed by this proceeding,
while it had also a reactionary effect upon public sentiment
which was harmful in other directions. This was indicated
by the many complaining letters received by the Committee.
Further, in spite of the high price asked for these pencils as
merchandise, it was not good business. After proper allow-
ances had been made for the cost of the pencils — for the
149
labor, stationery, printing and postage in connection there-
with, and for failures to respond — the margin remaining
for beneficiaries was inadequate, as was indiccited by an
examination of one such account. Indeed, it may be said
that wherever the Committee found merchandise to be used
as an ostensible means for getting contributions the plan
rarely justified itself from any angle.
2. Again, the sale of "tags" was not without certain
objectionable features, which the Committee endeavored to
correct. Naturally, this became a very popular means for
raising small amounts of money for special or local objects,
as it required little preliminary preparation and advance
expenditure. But the facility with which "tag days" could
be instituted made it easy to secure contributions in this
wise for purposes not altogether worthy, while the scattered
public from whom the money was obtained had no way of
knowing how it was finally disbursed. The dime, or quarter,
which the tag cost was not enough to arouse upon the part
of the contributor very much consideration as to the object
of its use. Cumulatively, the sum raised would amount to
a great deal.
Moreover, young girls were largely employed upon the
streets and at the railroad stations in the sale of these tags.
This was by no means an unmixed good. In fact, the Com-
mittee was in co-operation with prominent social workers of
the State with the idea of formulating more careful regula-
tions, in the girls' interest, by restricting the hours and
defining the conditions imder which such sales should be
made. In this same connection, and presenting possibilities
far more pernicious, it was found that young girls were
being solicited, under certain conditions and limitations, to
volunteer for work in foreign lands, the character of such a
request on the face of it being, to say the least, doubtful.
For instance, in one such enterprise a girl would be asked to
visit headquarters, and when there she was looked over as
if with a view to appraising her })hysical value. It appeared
that if she passed muster she was asked to call again, and
150
then questioned regarding her age and whether or not she
was independent of home influences or other control. If
accepted, she was required to make a deposit of cash in
order to meet the expenses of being properly trained for
what was represented as "general relief" work, and at the
same time instructed that she was not to take abroad with
her either money or letter of credit. It is needless to say
that this organization was quickly broken up.
3. The "chain letter" plan of raising money was dis-
approved absolutely, and a bulletin issued advising that it
be "discouraged in every way," the fundamental objection
being the absence of any definite obligation to any person or
persons on the part of the promoters. One phase, of this
irresponsibility was illustrated by early attempts to promote
such schemes in Massachusetts, of which the two following
are noticeable examples. One was in the form of an appeal
for funds for founding a special hospital in France for the
treatment of wounds in the face and jaw. The second was
a plan for the sale of war saving stamps. With each proposi-
tion the name of a prominent and established organization
was linked; yet both of these organizations denied having
given the right to use their names.
4. Under this class came a rather numerous group whose
objects, even if attained, were not considered essential to
the needs of the hour, or were not timely, or were covered
by fully accredited existing agencies. Largely, these were
what might be described as personal propositions. Many of
them had no formal organization, but were managed solely
by their originators. In most cases the money was to be
spent in some way beneficial to the Allies, which involved
sending agents to Europe to conduct the work. In the
absence of convincing reasons all such propositions were dis-
approved.
Of this last type was a project for raising funds for certain
special hospital work in France. A large sum of money for
this purpose was actually obtained, but later, with the con-
sent of all concerned, this was turned over to the French
151
Ambassador, to be expended under the direction of his
government.
Similarly, and in the home field, the activities of the so-
called United States Boy Scouts, with its various interlock-
ing organizations, were not a])proved. They were regarded
as not having a necessary place in the work of the State.
Investigation convinced the Committee that they were all
essentially personal enterprises mostly under one general
directorate, and that the business methods adopted were
often open to the severest criticism. Further, the un-
fortunate similarity of name with that of a well-known and
splendid organization, the Boy Scouts of America, was felt
to be a real injury to the latter as well as a source of con-
fusion to the public.
Well within this class was another scheme, sponsored in
Washington. About the 1st of May, 1918, the Committee
was approached by an agent of the Department of Films of
the Committee on Public Inforuuition at Washington, asking
its encouragement and financial assistance in promoting a
four or five days' festival in the thirty larger cities of the
country, including Boston, at which, for educational and
informational i)uri)oses, the activities of the army and navy,
the Red Cross and other patriotic organizations would be
portrayed. It was proposed, as part of this endeavor, to
transport from one place to another hundreds of trophies,
including heavy ordnance captured from the Germans by
French, British, Canadian and Italian forces, all of which,
together with soldiers lent by the government and other
attractions, would stir the patriotism of the people. The
proceeds derived from the entertainments were to be divided
on a 50-50 basis wilh the Red Cross. The cost for the Boston
exhibit alone was calcidated as somewhere in the neighbor-
hood of $100,000 to $150,000. This venture the Committee
distinctly disapproved of, on the ground that the expense
would necessarily come out of the pockets of the people, and
that the transportation of the properties, as well as of the
soldiers, would interfere with the carrying on of regular
152
business by interrupting and further congesting traffic;
furthermore, that the amount of labor required, which could
only come from industries where it was vitally needed and
could not be spared, was most inadvisable under existing
conditions; and certainly the doubtful beneficial result, to
this section of the country at least, would in no wise com-
pensate for the cost.
In regard to the amount sought to be collected l)y the
different organizations, the general and more human principle
developed was to get all there was in sight ; but where speci-
fied sums were aimed for, a broad margin of difference
existe.d. One perfectly honest young colored girl, collecting
money for colored soldiers, was greatly worried lest she be
relieved of the 50 cents already given her in driblets, though
she had dreamed of eventually raising possibly $50 if not
interfered with. In another more ambitious and apparently
equally honest case an organization conceived the plan of
raising $100,000,000, admitting that the overhead charges
would be at least 50 per cent.
5. The Committee recorded itself as opposed to the "war
chest" method of raising money in the State, and this
position was confirmed at a meeting of the Executive Com-
mittee of the Committee on Public Safety after very careful
deliberation. The strongest argument offered in favor of
the plan was that it conserved energy by concentrating
money drives to one particular time. On the other hand,
there were possible and probable losses to be considered
which were likely to more than offset this gain.
In the first place, a single drive was likely to produce less
money than a number of separate ones, and there would be
lacking the cumulative inspiration which would come from
a series of appeals. Again, the single campaign would
afford a refuge for the slacker. As pointed out by the
Executive Committee: —
In every community are selfish people who contribute only because
they will be advertised if they do not. These people can hide to a certain
extent behind the war chest movement.
153
Secondly, it gave no opportunity to contributors to indi-
cate their preference as to relief agencies. This involved a
distinct loss of individual interest, — in fact, would be a
complete surrender of the personal equation. Quoting from
the letter of a prominent worker, and also contributor to
war charities : —
The war chest will, I believe, substitute a relatively cold, impersonal,
money-gathering and distributing machine for a method which stimulates
patriotism and makes the giver feel that lie is contributing to a cause
which appeals to him and stirs his best impulses. Speaking for myself,
and, I believe, for the majority of people, I prefer to say where my con-
tributions shall go rather than delegate that contributing privilege to the
majority vote of a war chest appropriation committee.
Thirdly, the plan made no provision for unexpected
occurrences or disasters.
It is only fair to say, however, that the "war chest" was
adopted by several cities and towns in the Commonwealth,
with every indication of probable success, though the early
signing of the armistice precluded any final determination
as to its real merits.
The members of the Committee were unanimous in their
sense of obligation to Mr. Charles H. Taylor, Jr., of the
"Boston Globe," who, both through the services courteously
rendered by his paper and his own constant personal interest
and effort, materially aided them in their work.
In regard to statutory authority for the su])ervision exer-
cised, efforts w^ere made in May, 1918, to secure such legis-
lation in Massachusetts, but so late in the session that
nothing was accomplished; also a bill for Federal control
of all war charities was introduced into Congress by Senator
John W. Weeks, which likewise did not reach the enactment
stage. But the Committee put itself on record, as the
result of its experiences, that, should another such emer-
gency befall the country, the question of legislative restric-
tion in the solicitation of funds for patriotic purposes should
receive early attention; for, however successful supervision
154
by way of an educated public opinion — which is, after all,
merely a psychological influence — might be, it is obtained
through the expenditure of too much time and money, when
a more expeditious and permanently binding result would
be obtained through legislative enactment.
The purpose of the Committee was to check a prevailing
evil which curtailed the fuller efficiency demanded for our
public safety, — a war-time measure to continue during
hostilities. In its membership the Committee embodied a
very strong and influential representation of our citizenship,
as well as of the Committee on Public Safety. In many
cases its duty was not perfectly clear or well defined ; and its
efforts, often restricted by the lack of specific legal authority
to enforce its judgment, required at all times the exercise of
a thoughtful discretion in order to avoid trampling on the
rights of others and losing that popular backing which was
its chief executive power and encouragement.
155
CHAPTER II
COMMITTEE ON NEW ENGLAND SAWMILL UNITS
"The New England Sawmill Unit was the best sporting
event that has come to my attention during the war." So
spoke Lord Lovat, Brigadier-General in charge of lumber
interests for the British government.
At the time the United States entered the w^ar Great
Britain was in sore need of timber. Her available wood-
lands had been invaded and her immediate lumber supply
greatly reduced. A similar shortage existed also in all the
other belligerent countries, even Germany being forced to
ruthlessly deplete those forests which she had laboriously
planted and scientifically nursed through several genera-
tions. The erection of innumerable ammunition plants,
the building of hospitals, barracks and ordnance depots;
the manufacture of boxes and shell cases; the increasing
need for railway mileage for military purposes and for
making highways passable; the speeding up of mines and
mills; the construction of trenches; with many other new
demands incident to modern warfare, all contributed to this
deficiency. A further drawback was the limited trans-
portation for overseas service, which, with the menace of
increasing submarine activities, prevented the United States
from shipping lumber across the water. So pressing was
England's need that on April 16, 1917, Col. Vernon Willey
of the British War Office cabled to Mr. William A. Gaston,
chairman of the Finance Committee, suggesting that America
could best help England by sending over experienced lumber-
men to manufacture lumber for war purposes.
Compliance with such a sudden and unexpected demand
called for a wide departure from any activity the Committee
on Public Safety had heretofore contemplated. But this
request, coming from so authoritative a source, at once
156
caught the interest and enthusiasm of the Executive Com-
mittee, who on April 23 voted that Mr. Storrow should
send to Colonel Willey the following message in reply : —
Understanding that skilled lumbermen are needed in England to sup-
ply timber for forces in Europe, New England gladly offers its services in
assembling men and material for ten complete, working, portal>le sawmill
units, all to be shipped from Boston, each unit to consist of thirty experi-
enced men, with portable sawmill, ten suitable horses, harness, wagons,
saws, axes, or other tools and camp equipment, ready for business on
landing; men, all civilian volunteers, with capable men in general charge.
The cost of the portable mill, horses and of equipment, including freight
and other expenses to steamer side, about, and not over, $10,000 per unit;
wages per month per unit about $'2,000. Have not yet consulted lumber
companies because not certain English government would desire these
outfits, but we are sure New England would want to contribute five of
these outfits, delivered at the steamer's side. We assume, if desired, the
English government could arrange space on steamer sailing from Boston.
We prefer men and outfits to be all together on the same steamer.
An immediate acceptance of this offer was received by
telegram through the British Embassy at Washington : —
The War Offices are most pleased to accept Mr. Storrow's offer, and
request that this acceptance should be communicated to him, and ask for
a date on which the transport for these units should be provided.
A corroboration of the above came by letter a few days
later.
British Embassy, Washington, May 15, 1917.
Sir: — I have received a telegram from the Foreign Office stating that
the War Offices accept with gratitude your generous offer of ten complete
sawmill units for work in England. The War Offices request me to convey
to you an expression of their high appreciation of the very welcome co-
operation of the New England States in this matter, and I wish to add a
word of personal thanks to the gentleman who initiated a movement of
such immense practical importance to the successful prosecution of the
great struggle in which our two Nations are so happily united.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Cecil Spring-Rice.
157
On receipt of the wire from the Embassy the proposal was
taken up directly with the War Department at Washington,
and the Secretary of War advised going ahead without
further delay or more formal authorization. Correspondence
then ensued with the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, all of whom
gave full assurances of their sympathy with the project,
and their desire to co-operate to the best of their ability.
In the meantime Mr. James J. Phelan, who had had long
experience in the lumber business, and whose inspiring
energy was from first to last the mainspring of the whole
enterprise, formulated a general plan which he offered to
the Committee, by whose authorization he later presented
it to a gathering of lumber men. The latter quickly formed
an organization to put the proposition through, with Mr.
W. A. Brown of the Berlin Mills Company as chairman,
and Mr. Phelan as vice-chairman, and, assisting them, Mr.
F. W. Rane, State Forester of Massachusetts, and Mr. H. G.
Philbrook of the Connecticut Valley Lumber Company.
Many well-known lumbermen and State Foresters of New
England volunteered for service, and devoted a great deal
of time and thought toward making the undertaking a
success. Headquarters were established in the Committee
on Public Safety's rooms at the State House, where all the
details of organization, transportation and equipment were
carried through under the general direction of Mr. Phelan,
Mr. Brown and Mr. Philbrook.
Within a month l^^ horses and 10 portable sawmills
were purchased. The above were fully outfitted, the equip-
ment numbering over 2,000 different articles. During the
same period more than 350 men were enlisted. Funds
raised by subscription, and amounting to $130,000, were
formally presented as a "gift from New England to Old
England," — a unique example of the former's good will
and patriotism. Of this sum, each of the six New England
States agreed to furnish $1''2,000. The balance was secured
from 77 firms, corporations and individual subscriptions, in
158
sums varying from $10 to $5,000, supplemented by a gift
from the Committee on Public Safety of $^2,017.47.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of holding together during
the three days' wait prior to their departure so large an
aggregate of lumber jacks, — many of them fresh from the
remote back woods, and all anxious to investigate the attrac-
tions of our Boston town, — nevertheless, without the loss
of a man, the Sawmill Units set sail for England on June 15,
1917, the men traveling on rations as British soldiers. They
comprised the first organized body of American lumbermen
to respond for service overseas. Each man was under
separate contract with the British government, his term of
service to expire on June 15, 1918, at which time the British
government agreed to send back to the United States any
man who so desired.
At a farewell banquet given to them at the City Club,
Boston, on the eve of their departure. Governor McCall
said: —
This movement is a most remarkable one, and one of the most splendid
contributions that our country could make to the war. It means com-
fortable buildings erected for the wounded back of the lines. It means
the rapid restoration of bridges necessary for military strategy. It means
trenches lined with wooden sheathing which will obviate to a great extent
the unpleasantness of mud. It means the accomplishment of work for
which the Allies have neither available nor trained men. There is no body
of men who will contribute more to the success of the Allied cause than
you whom I see before me, and I think you should feel that you are as
much America's contribution to the war as if you wore a uniform and
carried a gun.
On July 4, 1917, the contingent disembarked at Liverpool,
and after a journey of five hundred miles, the following day
reached Argday, Rosshire, Scotland, a small village on the
Dornoch Firth, about fifty miles north of Inverness. There
was a slight delay in the arrival of the equipment, but
July 28 witnessed the first board ever sawed on foreign soil
by an organized body of Americans. By the middle of
August the entire outfit was in full action. Timber tracts
159
chosen for operation were on mill sites, situated in north-
eastern Rosshire and southeastern Sutherlandshire, and all
were comprehended within a radius of five miles from the
units' headquarters at x\rgday. Seven of the units operated
on the estate of Sir Charles Ross, the inventor of the Ross
Rifle, and three on the Skibo Castle property of Andrew
Carnegie. The greater part of these tracts had once been
cut over to supply lumber for the Napoleonic Wars, and the
replanted trees, now nearly a centuiy old, had attained to a
magnificent size, offering a high-grade dimension lumber.
All together they were supposed to carry about '■24', 000, 000
feet of timber.
Lumber production began in August, each unit being
organized as follows : —
Woods : —
Four to 5 head choppers.
Four to 5 second choppers.
Four to 5 swampers.
Four to 5 teamsters.
General : —
Cook.
Cookee.
Blacksmith.
Foreman and clerk.
Mill: —
Millwright.
Sawyer.
Unloader and scaler.
Roll-on man.
Take-away man.
Checker.
Fireman.
Slab-and-fuel man.
Teamster.
Lumber sticker.
Each unit plant consisted of the following : —
Portable steam sawmill, t)oiler and engine.
Buildings: —
Cook house, sleeping camps, stable, blacksmith shop and outbuildings.
Camp equipment: —
Complete kitchen and dining-room utensils, camp bedding and neces-
sary supplies.
Ten to twelve horses.
Woods outfit : —
Crosscut saws, axes, wedges, hammers, cant dogs, scoots and sleds.
Wagons were used for hauling lumber from mill units and for mill
supplies. A few logging trucks were available for transporting logs
from main highways to the mills, though very little use was found for
wagons in the woods.
KJO
Sawing Lumber
Bunk House
During the first nine and one-half months of operating
time 20,000,000 board feet of Imnber were produced, in-
cluding railroad ties, dimension lumber and mine props.
Over 60,000 railroad ties were made, and a quantity of
special dimension lumber sawed for army and navy special
construction purposes; and in addition a large volume of
sidings and larger dimension sizes were shipped to resawing
plants to be manufactured into munition boxes. All of this
timber was cut on private estates, and consisted in the
main of Scotch pine, larch and Norway spruce. The trees
were felled on land so steep as to require the use of "scoots"
or wood-shod sleds; yet more feet of lumber were produced
per man per day than by any similar organization in Great
Britain. This was due in part to the mills being portable,
and also to the general make-up of the whole outfit, which
proved peculiarly well adapted to the lumbering conditions
in Scotland, and enabled the operators to work economically
on small lots. This would not have been possible with
larger plants. Before the units left for Liverpool the men
had been recruited as civilians. This was of great advantage,
since it resulted in fewer men being employed to do a given
amount of work than would have been required under
military control, and subjected them to less restraint and
loss of that freedom which they had always been accustomed
to.
However, in order to guarantee a continuity of production,
and to meet the needs of the many war industries dependent
on a steady supply of lumber, arrangements were later made
to loan to the British government a company of the 6th
Battalion of the 20th Forest Engineers of the United States
Army. When the men of the Sawmill Units were given the
option of joining this battalion, about one hundred of them
did so. Others enlisted in different branches of the army
and navy, and about one hundred and fifty returned to the
United States.
Shortly after the arrival at Argdaj^ Mr. D. P. Brown
of the Berlin Mills Company, who had accompanied the
161
expedition as its general manager, resigned tliat he might
return to the United States and enHst in our army. Mr.
Edgar C. Hirst, State Forester of New Hamj^sliire, was then
put in charge, having on his staff as assistant managers and
chief engineers, Mr. H. M. Hackett of Athol, Mass., Mr.
G. M. Shea of the Connecticut Valley Lumber Comjiany,
and Mr. C. A. Pratt. Mr. Hirst practically remained in
control from the time the cutting operations began until the
new military unit was fully organized, the commissioned
officers of which were in general chosen from the foremen of
the New England Sawmill Units.
After Mr. Hirst returned to America he received the
following letter from the Assistant Controller of Timber
Supplies for Scotland, which expressed the appreciation of
that department for the splendid assistance given by the
units : —
Dear Mr. Hirst: — I desire to convey to you formally the thanks of
this department for the valuable assistance it has received from you dur-
ing the year you have been in charge of the New England Sawmill I nits.
Even in this time of great events, the action of the New England States
in sending this expedition to Great Britain stands out as a notable episode.
Thanks to the energy, zeal and hard work of yourself and your assistants,
your mill foremen and men. the gift so generously designed by the Com-
mittee has most happily achieved its object. It has provided us in time
of need with timber we could not otherwise have produced. It has be-
queathed to us valuable plant and horses. On our side it leaves a feeling
of profound gratitude and friendship towards the States that sent you
over, and of warm personal regard to yourself. . . .
Yours very sincerely,
John Stirling Maxwell,
Assistant Controller of Timber Supplie,•«
affi^
"•\^
tMi*^'
»-^ t\
mi
3t-U\ <**C-
:;.,-^>^•>^;^■.^,^^]?^^Tv ^^.41^
At Scituate
At Feeding Hills, Springfield
are typical examples, however, of what could be done when
the right spirit of co-operation and helpfulness was developed
by all the parties interested.
The Bolton Camp. — Three members of the Committee,
by previous arrangement, met one evening at a gathering of
farmers at Bolton. The camp project was put before them
in detail, and in response to a suggestion from the Com-
mittee a local committee was appointed. The principal of
the high school from which it was proposed to draw the
boys impressed upon the meeting that the boys to be sent
from his school should be the kind of boys the town would
be proud of. Arrangements were completed by the local
committee to obtain the use of a large building belonging to
the Agricultural Society, and a certain amount of equipment
was furnished by the town. When the camp opened there
was employment in sight for ten boys. The camp grew
rapidly, and by the latter part of the season it numbered
over thirty boys. For the most part, boys were employed
throughout the summer on small farms within the limits of
the town.
In summing up the results of this camp, the manager of
the largest farm in the vicinity put the matter in this wise : — -
This Bolton camp experiment has accomplished three things : —
1. It has given a more or less discouraged group of farmers a new view
of their own possibilities and the possibilities of their farms.
2. By bringing a supply of seasonal labor when needed, it has enabled
the farmer to increase his acreage one-third to one-half, and has insured
the proper cultivation of the crops at an expense he can afford.
3. It has been one of the most valuable parts of the city boy's educa-
tion, in that it has given him a first-hand experience in production which
he could get in no other way.
The Concord Camp. — The Concord camp was located in
a different type of community, but was no less successful.
Fifty to sixty boys were employed in the town throughout
the summer; of these, thirty -five to fifty were housed at
the camp. The boys worked mostly on truck farms, thereby
coming in contact with the commercial farmer and his
175
are typical examples, however, of what could be done when
the right spirit of co-operation and helpfulness was developed
by all the parties interested.
The Bolton Camp. — Three members of the Committee,
by previous arrangement, met one evening at a gathering of
farmers at Bolton. The camp project was put before them
in detail, and in response to a suggestion from the Com-
mittee a local committee was appointed. The principal of
the high school from which it was proposed to draw the
boys impressed upon the meeting that the boys to be sent
from his school should be the kind of boys the town would
be proud of. Arrangements were completed by the local
committee to obtain the use of a large building belonging to
the Agricultural Society, and a certain amount of equipment
was furnished by the town. When the camp opened there
was employment in sight for ten boys. The camp grew
rapidly, and by the latter part of the season it numbered
over thirty boys. For the most part, boys were employed
throughout the summer on small farms within the limits of
the town.
In summing up the results of this camp, the manager of
the largest farm in the vicinity put the matter in this wise : —
This Bolton camp experiment has aceompHshed three things: —
1. It has given a more or less discouraged group of farmers a new view
of their own possibiHties and the possibihties of their farms.
2. By bringing a supply of seasonal labor when needed, it has enabled
the farmer to increase his acreage one-third to one-half, and has insured
the proper cultivation of the crops at an expense he can afford.
3. It has been one of the most valuable parts of the city boy's educa-
tion, in that it has given him a first-hand experience in production which
he could get in no other way.
The Concord Camp. — The Concord camp was located in
a different type of community, but was no less successful.
Fifty to sixty boys were employed in the town throughout
the summer; of these, thirty -five to fifty were housed at
the camp. The boys worked mostly on truck farms, thereby
coming in contact with the commercial farmer and his
175
problems. The immediate value of the labor employed to
cultivate and market the produce uiade the Concord camp
one of real success from an economic standpoint.
Both the Bolton and the Concord camps were typical of
the best results as the Committee viewed the season's work.
At the very beginning the Committee was confronted with
the vexed problem of child labor and the laws governing its
use. There was a general fear, amounting to conviction,
that only with the greatest difficulty could the country
organize its labor resources so as to conserve its indvistries,
transportation and agriculture for effective prosecution of
the war. On this account many States passed laws tempo-
rarily sus]:)ending the statutes dealing with the employment
of women and children. "The Survey" of August 4, 1917,
referring to the Commonwealth Defence Act passed May
26, made the following statement : —
Massachusetts created a commission of five persons with power to sus-
pend any law licensing or regulating labor or the employment of labor, or
any law affecting in any manner the conditions of labor. This power can
be exercised only upon the application of an employer who declares that
a law of the sort described interferes with work that he is doing, and that
it is required by an emergency arising out of the war. The law applies,
moreover, only for the duration of the war and six months thereafter.
During the week of April 28 the National Child Labor
Committee published a circular containing full statements
and proposals for placing boys on farms. During the same
week the Massachusetts Committee was engaged in formu-
lating its proposals entirely independently.
The two plans differed somewhat in detail but not in
spirit. The Massachusetts Committee soon realized that to
put children on farms without supervision, unless the need
were positive, would be wasteful; that no demand whatever
for inexperienced boy labor existed, but that it had to be
created; and that only boys of sixteen years of age and
over ought to be enlisted, and only from May 1 to October.
It was also satisfactorily demonstrated that their hours o£
17G
•-i-^
.^:aW
At Marblehead
At Hudson
labor should be adjusted to special conditions, such as local
demand, emergency conditions, the state of the weather,
etc., and that it would be mipossible to fix absolutely an
eight-hour working day throughout the State, although a
maximum number of hours per week could be maintained
without any hardship, provided the work was properly
supervised.
Early in 1917 the United States Department of Labor sug-
gested to the Committee on Public Safety that the work
being done by the Committee on Mobilization of School
Boys for Farm Service be merged with that of the United
States Boys' Working Reserve, an organization which was
about to be formed by the Department. Now the boys
already mobilized in Massachusetts were under contract
up to October. Further, the plan of the Working Reserve
comprehended the enlistment of any boy between the speci-
fied ages, whether a school boy or not, whereas the Massa-
chusetts plan comprehended only the placement of high
school boys. Still further, the Boys' Working Reserve had
adopted the following principle: "The Nation needs boys
in many lines of endeavor other than agriculture, and boys
will be enrolled for the kind of work to which each applicant
and boy's training and temperament is best suited."
But the Massachusetts plan originated and was being
carried forward solely as a measure for helping farmers. At
no time did the Committee on Mobilization of School Boys,
or the Committee on Public Safety wish to depart from this
plan.
Eventually, the Committee on Public Safety, after much
correspondence with Washington, voted to unite with the
United States Boys' Working Reserve, provided the Reserve
accepted the method of organization, purposes and policies
of the Massachusetts Committee without enlarging its
scope of activity, and further stipulating that the chairman
of the committee, Mr. F. V. Thompson, be appointed State
Director.
During November and December, 1917, an honorable dis-
177
charge signed by Governor McCall and Chairman Storrow
was presented to each of the 1,600 boys, all of whom had
well earned this recognition by faithful fann work during
the season of 1917.
During the season of 1917 the mobilization of boys for
fann service had been in a great measure experimental.
Although the venture was successful beyond anticipation,
nevertheless mistakes had been made, and the Committee
studied painstakingly to avoid their recurrence in the future.
The report of the original Committee, under date of
October 1, 1917, contained the following recommenda-
tions : —
I. That the work begun during the current year be continued through
1918, and that i)lans be made for 50 camps.
II. A reorganization of the methods of conducting the work, involv-
ing —
A. SHght modifications of the plans for individual placements on
farms.
B. Complete reorganization of the control of placements by
camps : —
1 . Direct connection with the Executive Committee of the Pub-
lic Safety Committee.
2. State support.
3. A salaried director on full time.
4. Training classes for supervisors and camp cooks.
5. Appointment of supervisors.
6. Standardization of camp equipment, supplies, commissary
and business methods.
III. That tKe director have his office with the Committee on Public
Safety, and serve as its responsible agent in all matters of
policj' and action connected with boys' camps.
In accordance with these recommendations, made by the
Committee and approved by the Executive Committee, Mr.
Storrow appointed, in the autumn of 1917, the following as
members of a new Committee on School Boys for Fann
Service for the season of 1918:^ — ■
Frank V. Thompson, Chairman, Superintendent of Schools, Boston.
W. I. Hamilton, Secretary jyro tern.. State Board of Education.
178
^^*
^..--^^"1"'^-^.
'K
"->/.
COMMITTLL ON PUBLIC 5AFLTY
Department ot Mobilization ot School Boys for Farm Service
Be it known 5S(«/ ^/^y'A^/'/ r/y^yA'^ y i//ti9/ad/rm.
Patriotically Served Commonwealth and Nation
Honorably Discharged
tm/tJtmemt, ii iam^iit
irtrin it U i-mUy iimital Unit. They took possession yesterday after-
noon at 2 o'clock, and within a few hours had every arrangement made
for receiving patients, of whom nearly seventy-five are now being accom-
modated. All the arrangements were wonderfully planned considering
the shortness of the time and difficulties that had to be overcome. The
hospital is a triumph of organizing ability.
In a report made by Major Giddings to the Acting Surgeon-
General the following excerpts appear : —
On the evening of December 9 the conunanding officer attended by
request a meeting of Red Cross rejjresentatives, IJeut.-Col. F. McKchie
Bell, Mr. Ratshesky and representatives of the Boston Red Cross I'uit,
which, with the independent contingent of Dr. E. A. Codman, had reached
200
Halifax that morning. Dr. Codman was also present at tllis conference.
That daj^ a Medical Relief Committee had been appointed, with Lieut.-
Col. F. McK. Bell as chairman. Among other things discussed at the
meeting were ways and means of best caring for the sick and wounded of
the city. As a result of observations made on the 8th by various members
of this unit, who had visited many people in their homes, we were able
to suggest the mapping of the city into districts, with the recommenda-
tion that a house to house canvass be made first by the social workers,
who would report as to whether medical or surgical help was needed,
the case then to be seen by a doctor or nurse. This suggestion was made
because our doctors found that large numbers of injured people requiring
surgical aid had sought the shelter of buildings near the devastated area,
where they were content to stay. So dazed were they by the disaster
that they did not realize that help would come to them for the asking.
Also the members of our staff had found that many people could not leave
their places of refuge for dressings because they had literally lost all their
clothing.
Another observation made by our doctors was that contagious diseases
would be likely to make an early appearance, due to the complete destruc-
tion of toilet facilities, the huddling together of large numbers in small
quarters and the general physical demoralization. Because of these con-
ditions we recommended the immediate establishment of a contagious
hospital. That our surmise of early contagion was correct was proved by
the fact that on December 12 three cases of throat infection, cultures of
which immediately were made, were proved to be diphtheritic.
Our suggestions, as above indicated, were both accepted, the house to
house canvass being made by members of the United States medical units,
which went to the aid of the city between the time of their a^ri^'aI in the
city and the establishment of their respective hospitals. "NMiile doing this
work their headquarters were at City Hall.
The morning of December 10 saw the Stars and Stripes flying over the
hospital, the first time they had appeared in the city following the dis-
aster. The flag was secured for us by Mr. Ratshesky. . . .
On this same day we received an official visit from Samuel Wolcott and
R. W. E. Ladd, the respective civil and medical heads of the Massachu-
setts Red Cross Unit, who were establishing a hospital and were anxious
to learn how we had proceeded. . . .
On the afternoon of December 11 the voliuue of work had become so
great that additional nurses were required. "We notified medical head-
quarters of this fact, and they detailed to us the following ladies, all from
St. John, and all, with one exception, graduate nurses: Miss Chambers of
St. Luke's Hospital, New York; Miss Philhps, V. A. D., two years, Eng-
land; Miss Donville, Newport Hospital, Rhode Island; Miss Harring-
ton, Newport Hospital, Rhode Island; Mrs. Tilley, Royal Victoria Hos-
201
pital, Montreal; Mrs. Allison, Newton Hospital, Newton; Mrs. Bowman,
Walthani Hospital, Waltham; Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Brock, Royal
Victoria Hospital, Montreal: ami Mrs. Mclntyre, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Massachusetts. These ladies remained with us until we sur-
rendered control of the hospital, and did very valuable work. . . .
On the 11th Mrs. Barrett Wendell arrived from Boston, who brought
a consitlerable quantity of clothing for distribution and certain needed
hospital supplies, the gift of Mrs. Charles D. Sias of Boston.
In addition to the Massachusetts and Rhode Ishmd divi-
sions of the Red Cross, and the physicians who had come
independently, a number of doctors and nurses arrived from
Maine ready to establish a hospital, so that a superabundance
of ready professional help resulted. Therefore, after a
general conference, at 7 o'clock on the evening of December
12, the Bellevue Hospital was transferred to the Rhode
Island contingent.
Respecting the general character of the wounds treated at
the hospital, Dr. Giddings reports in part as follows: —
They were very largely injuries of the face causetl by flying glass, and
included many injuries to the eyes. In fact, there were more of these than
of any others. The explanation of this is as follows: Two explosions
occurred. One was a comparatively minor affair, but was sufficiently
severe to bring people to their windows to see what had happened; then
came the terrific explosion which razehysical disability incident upon
the explosion. To the care of tlie blind the Massachusetts Halifax Relief
Committee has already appropriated the sum of $25,000, which will be
used in conjunction with other funds provided from other sources to carry
out a policy now in course of preparation with respect to those blinded
by the tlisaster. The provision of pensions or disability allowances conies
properly within the scope of the Halifax Relief Commission, which has
a settled policy in this regard and is adjusting and paying all claims of
this character.
5. The readjustment anresented itself.
Accordingly, a volunteer medical corps had been established
which every physician in the country, not in the service,
was invited to join, with the request that he fill out a blank
stating what help he would be able to render, and ])ar-
ticularly, whether he was willing to serve in another than
his home comnumity. Nearly all the members of the pro-
fession joined this corps.
When Dr. Kelley appealed to Surgeon-General Blue for
aid, the latter selected from the list of members of the
volunteer medical corps certain physicians in those com-
numities which were free from the plague, and wired them
to report as soon as ])ossible to Dr. W. F. Draper, State
House, Boston. He likewise asked them to be prepared to
render any service which might be required of them in
fighting the epidemic.
In patriotic response to this appeal men came from as far
west as lowci and as far south as North Carolina, dropping
in many cases lucrative practices to serve at a small fee and
to undergo the hardships of a country doctor, all in the
service of the Commonwealth and its people.
In the same way, with a splendid s])irit of self-sacrifice,
Dr. Brooks suspended all other work, and at great personal
loss and inconvenience devoted his entire time to the estab-
lishment and supervision of the emergency hospitals.
Likewise the medical officers connected with the State
Guard gave their services cheerfully, working day and
night, also to the great detriment of their personal affairs.
In addition, many j^hysicians throughout Massachusetts,
residing in comnumities which the epidemic had not yet
reached, volunteered in the same patriotic spirit for service
in afflicted sections.
At first, doctors offering their services were assigned by
236
Dr. B. W. Carey of the State Department of Health to the
places where they were most needed, but on Friday, Sep-
tember 27, Dr. W. N. Bryan of the United States Medical
Corps, attached to the Naval Department of the Northeast,
was lent by that department to assist in fighting the epidemic,
and the task of assigning doctors was given over to him.
This work required careful and comparative study of the
needs of each community, as well as of the qualifications of
the different doctors offering their services. These physi-
cians were put on the State pay roll at $10 a day and ex-
penses, the latter not to exceed $4 a day.
On Monday, September 30, Dr. Draper of the United
States , Medical Service, was sent to Boston by Surgeon-
General Blue with six assistants to take up the work on
behalf of the United States. From this time, all doctors
coming from outside the State were assigned by Dr. Draper
and put on the United States pay roll. Each one of his
assistants was delegated to a particular district to help the
local authorities in organizing. Dr. Draper and Dr. Bryan
co-operated most closely, working in entire hannony. After
a week the latter was able to report that all requests which
had come in for the services of doctors were filled. There-
after the supply kept up with the demand.
Dr. Bryan then made a tour of inspection of the eastern
part of the State and visited various sections which had
appealed for aid, in order to find out whether the needed
help had been given, whether the fight was going on success-
fully, and whether assistance was still necessary.
During Dr. Bryan's absence, and after his return to the
navy, his duties were ably carried on by Dr. J. W. Carroll
of the same service. In all, 169 doctors were assigned, of
whom 113 came from outside the State. Seventy-six fourth-
year medical students were also assigned.
Nurses. — As early as September 25 six nurses were sent
out by Dr. Kelley to investigate the nursing situation, and
to give assistance wherever the influenza epidemic was most
severe.
237
On September 26 the Emergency Nursing Committee
held an important meeting, at which a program for home
nursing was adopted.
Most urgent a])peals for nurses were issued through the
press and tlirougli the Red Cross, which were responded to
by nurses from Providence, HaUfax, Toronto, Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, Maine and elsewhere.
The constant application to the Committee for nurses in
behalf of patients who were in extreme suffering and danger
for want of proper care was a heartrending feature of the
situation. Miss Bernice Billings, detailed by the State
Department of Health, attended to the enrollment, and an
effort was made to assign nurses on the basis of 1 to 15
patients. But even at this low scale, during a period of
three weeks several hundred more nurses were needed than
could be supplied. Miss Billings was assisted from the
beginning by Miss Churchill of the State Department of
Health, and after September 28 Miss Ross of the Red Cross
was also on duty, relieving Miss Billings, who had tempo-
rarily sacrificed her health by her unremitting and faithful
work. For the first two or three days Miss Billings was at
the telephone from 8 o'clock in the morning until 11 at
night. The Department was open from early in the morn-
ing until late at night, including Saturdays and Sundays,
and from the time the epidemic became serious until it
began to abate.
Nurses chosen by Miss Billings to work in Boston were at
first sent to the Instructive District Nursing Association to
be assigned to duty, but later to the city health officer.
Nurses assigned to other cities were instructed to report at
once on their arrival to the local board of health or to the
agencies it designated. All nurses were put on the State
pay roll at the rate of $4 per day and expenses, and nurse's
helpers at rates varying from $10 to $15 per week and ex-
penses. The total niunber of the nursing force assigned
was 1,003, of whom 344 were graduate nurses and 659
untrained lay women. There were also a limited number of
238
attendants. Eight hundred and sixty nurses were put on
the State pay roll, and 143 gave their services as volunteers.
Lay Help to Nurses. — Dr. Bryan, foreseeing the great
shortage of nurses, requested Mrs. Thayer and Mrs. Mead
to secure the assistance of persons, whether trained or un-
trained, willing to work among the sick. An appeal was
also made through the public press and through the heads
of organizations to send volunteer assistance.
The services of the Catholic and other sisterhoods, and
of the Federated Jewish Charities, were also generously
placed at the disposal of the doctors, and His Eminence,
Cardinal O'Connell, by special dispensation, authorized in
certain exigencies the employment of cloistered nuns. The
Household Nursing Association offered its trained assistants
and supervisors, and also its undergraduate assistants, and
most of the hospitals furnished undergraduate nurses.
In response to a letter from Mr. Endicott, a number of
the stores, such as E. T. Slattery & Co., Wm. Filene's Sons
Company and Houghton & Dutton Company, volunteered
the personnel of their First-aid Units, and through the
courtesy of the Milo Thread Company a group of lay helpers
came from Maine to help the sufferers in Massachusetts.
A department for registration was established at head-
quarters by the Volunteer Service Bureau of the American
Red Cross and by the Special Aid Society for American
Preparedness, in charge of Miss Priscilla Whiton. Nine
hundred and seventy-one people were examined by this
department, 659 volunteers being secured, who were then
passed on to Miss Billings for appointment. All those de-
siring to serve in the city were sent to the Boston District
Nursing Association.
The assistance of this group can only be fully appreciated
when it is realized that they formed two-thirds of the total
nursing service in the State. No effort was made to divert
assistants from one city to another, it being argued that
workers would be more useful in the localities where they
lived. Any woman who felt herself in any respect capable
239
of assisting in the care of the sick was urged to offer her
services to her local board of health.
Miss Amy Woods, of the League of Preventive Work, was
sent to organize a number of communities that they might
provide their own lay help. Her methods proved so effective
that the State Department of Health sent a statement of
her plan of procedure throughout the Commonwealth and
to the Department of Health in every State in the Union.
Emergency Hospitals. — Reports gathered from many
cities and towns showed a lack of hospital facilities, but Dr.
Brooks's very successful experience with his emergency
hospital on Corey Hill pointed the way to meet this
need.
The emergency hospitals so constituted were put in charge
of the military authorities, as in no other way could discipline
be promptly established and quarantine efficiently main-
tained. The Surgeon-General and Quartermaster-General,
in co-operation with the local authorities and the district
health officers, chose the sites. The Adjutant-General pro-
vided tents, field ranges, cooking utensils, and such equip-
ment as the State was able to furnish, and called out appro-
priate details of the State Guard. Other necessities were
furnished by the Supply Department of the Emergency
Health Committee. The Surgeon-General, with the co-
operation of the district health officers and of the Enroll-
ment Bureau of the Emergency Health Committee, secured
the medical, nursing and service personnel.
To accomplish these results promptly the assistance, au-
thority and backing of the Committee on Public Safety were
given in the fullest measure, and through its efforts in some
instances shacks for emergency hospitals were erected in
less than forty-eight hours, — between Saturday noon and
IVIonday morning. In several cases segregated wards for
influenza patients were established in existing hospitals,
such assistance being given in twenty-six cities and towns
throughout the State. About October 8 a letter giving full
instructions for establishing temporary emergency hospitals
240
was issued by the Health Commissioner to the local boards
of health.
Investigation of Vaccines. — • In view of the favorable re-
ports made by different physicians as to the results of using
vaccine, Dr. Kelley appointed a Committee to investigate
the subject. Dr. T. W. McCoy of the Hygienic Laboratory,
United States Public Health Service, Dr. M. J. Rosenau, of
Harvard University, director of the State Laboratory, and
Maj. Frederick Gay of the United States Army composed
the scientific members of the Committee, while Prof. G. C.
Whipple of Harvard University, Mrs. William Davis of the
United States Bureau of Census, and Mr. F. W. Crum of
the Prudential Life Insurance Company were the statistical
members.
Without, however, awaiting the report of this Committee,
Dr. Kelley purchased for Dr. Leary material on which to
grow the vaccine, loaned assistants from the State Labora-
tory, and detailed for the work Dr. Hiriton in charge of the
State Wassermann Laboratory. He also requested Dr.
Bryan and Dr. Hinton to co-operate with Dr. Leary in the
distribution of the vaccine. Dr. Kelley also prepared a
letter, addressed to every city and town board of health in
Massachusetts, stating that the State stood ready to furnish
vaccine. All bottles of vaccine had printed instructions
wrapped around them, a franked postal card for every one
immunized was issued by the Board of Health, and the
local board was at the same time requested to see that the
person vaccinated filled out and returned the card to the
United States Public Health Service office at the State
House within two weeks after the receipt of the last dose of
vaccine. Thus a positive demonstration was made as to
the value of the procedure.
The report of the Committee of Experts, showing the
results obtained by using the vaccines, was so favorable that
the work of making and distributing the same was continued
at the expense of the State so long as the need lasted.
Convalescents. — Very soon after the organization of the
241
Committee, His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell offered the
large and spacions buildings of St. John's Ecclesiastical
Seminary, situated on hills overlooking the Chestnut Hill
Reservoir and surrounded by beautiful grounds, for any
use to which they might be adapted. This timely offer was
at once taken up by the Committee, the seminary being
peculiarly well suited to receive and take care of convalescent
patients from Boston and the neighboring towns. This
relieved the congestion at the hospitals, and thereby the
wearing strain on tlie nurses. Dr. William H. Devine under-
took the task of superintendent, and also of securing doctors,
attendants and service. This opportunity was utilized from
October 6 to October 26, and was productive of splendid
results. Important clinical observations, and full details as
to patients and personnel, were given in a report made by
Dr. Devine. Ninety-two patients, ranging from ten to
sixty years of age, were admitted to the seminary, — the
average stay being about seven days, — and were sent by
the following institutions : —
Boston City Hospital, .
Massachusetts General Hospital,
Arlington Emergency Hospital,
Homoeopathic Hospital,
Carney Hospital, .
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital,
Beth Israel Hospital, .
Jewish Home,
Merrill School, Cambridge,
Brookline Hospital,
Town of Norwood,
Cambridge Emergency Hospital,
Other sources, ....
9
30
2
2
1
7
1
1
15
1
1
5
17
An offer was also made by the Episcopal City Mission of
the Mothers' Rest at Revere as a convalescent home for
women and children. This retreat, commonly closed at
that time of year, was immediately opened and put in charge
of Dr. Jane D. K. Sabine, with Dr. Edith H. Swift and
Dr. Cordelia I. Williamson as assistants. Mrs. Georgina
242
Withington offered her services to take care of the house-
hold and the well-bemg of its inmates. Sixty -five patients
were cared for, and the work carried on for one month with
the greatest success. Miss Mary P. Winsor took full charge
of the business administration of this home, purchasing
supplies, transporting patients in her own car, auditing all
the expenses, and working day and night in its interest.
Children. — The influenza brought about a great deal of
suffering among children, both from the disease itself, and
also, in many instances, through the death of their parents
or others responsible for their care.
As a rule, these otherwise helpless cases were taken care
of locally; but in Boston the pressure was so great that the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the
Children's Aid Society and the Church Home united in
organizing a home for the care of children who had been
exposed to but were not taken down with influenza. The
Emmanuel House, 11 Newcomb Street, Roxbury, was lent
by Emmanuel Church for this purpose. Miss K. P. Hewins
of the Church Home Society, under the supervision of a
committee representing all the societies above mentioned,
took charge of the house. These societies paid all the ex-
penses of the enterprise excepting a certain amount of
household utensils, beds and other appliances, which were
furnished by the Emergency Health Committee. Accommo-
dations were sufficient to take care of about thirty-five
children at one time, and the home met one of the great
needs of the situation.
The Catholic Charitable Bureau also opened a shelter
at Orient Heights, with accommodations for about forty
children.
Burials. — The number of deaths was so large in the
vicinity of Boston and at the camps that a serious difficulty
presented itself in obtaining coffins. To meet so imperative
a necessity the Committee on Public Safety, that the output
might be increased, induced a large cabinet maker to lend
fifteen of his employees to the New England Casket Com-
243
pany. Dr. Woodward, moreover, rei^orted that the city of
Boston was under obhgation to furnish hiborers to certain
cemeteries so that interments could take place promptly.
Emergency Canteens. — Good, wholesome food, hot, appe-
tizing and served frequently, was early shown to be one of
the most important requisites of treatment.
Accordingly, on Sunday, September 29, the plan of the
Emergency Canteen was initiated in co-operation with the
District Nursing Association and the Boston City Food
Conservation Committee. The scheme was twofold: (a) to
supply food, under the direction of the nurses and doctors,
to the patient and to the healthy members of his family
where the latter were unable to cope with the situation;
(6) to feed the nurses and doctors.
Originally, the Massachusetts Committee on Pul)lic Safety
agreed to pay all expenses, but the Boston Committee on
Public Safety assisted by taking over all canteens operating
inside the city limits. Three canteens were in operation on
Monday, September 30, and fifteen by Thursday, October 3.
Many existing kitchens were taken, including those in
churches, high schools, cooking schools and settlement
houses, the last two mentioned ])roviding effective and com-
plete centers for food distribution. Through the generosity
of the many Food Conservation organizations and of volun-
teer helpers, dietitians were obtained who did the cooking.
In most of the districts the City Food Conservation Com-
mittee was called upon to provide untrained volunteers who
could help in the preparation of food and its distribution.
This last was effected by volunteer motor service. In the
districts where such motors could not be obtained, the Red
Cross and the State Guard were called upon to help. Con-
tributions of glass, tin containers and also vegetables were
asked for. By this method, and because of the extraordinary
and ready response to all calls for help, the only liabilities
incurred were for fuel, carton containers and the actual
food purchased.
Attention might here be directed to how great a degree
244
the influenza emergency demonstrated the value of decentral-
ization to promote efficiency; and that each center should,
if possible, be a complete entity in itself, relying upon a
Central Committee for help only where its own organiza-
tion broke down.
This general plan for canteen work was advertised through
the State on Monday, September 30, by telegrams and
letters asking the Women's Council of National Defense,
local officials and Committees on Public Safety to start the
canteens wherever the necessity arose, after consulting with
the local boards of health and other existing activities which
might aid in such work.
Supplies. — Supplies were bought and furnished, partly
by the Emergency Health Committee, and partly through
the Adjutant-General's office.
The Committee purchased and distributed in considerable
quantities masks, paper napkins, paper bags, paper plates,
spoons, veils, aprons and such other appliances as were
recommended by the doctors, — • all tending to prevent the
spread of the disease from the patient to the nurses, or to
other people in the State. Printed instructions for the use
of these articles were distributed with them, as well as
circulars giving information as to the detection and treat-
ment of the disease and how to avoid it. Many valuable
suggestions were made to the numerous applicants for
advice by attendants who had been carefully coached by
the trained nurses.
The Committee also purchased and distributed to hospitals
and local Committees on Public Safety, or boards of health,
supplies — such as bedding, blankets, sheets, etc. — needed
to outfit the emergency hospitals or emergency wards. It
also furnished to the boards of health a certain amount of
similar articles when needed for the proper care of patients
in their own homes; but this latter distribution was very
carefully restricted, as it was felt that such cases, as a rule,
should be taken care of through the regularly established
charitable agencies.
245
INIr. IVIatthew Luce and Miss E. G. Dewey attended to
the purchasing of supplies, and were assisted by Mr. E. G.
Preston and Mr. J. A. Malone. Mr. Luce also superintended
the distribution, whether made directly from the stores or
from the State House. A careful record was kept of all
supplies given out, either in quantity or small lots.
Paper stock furnishings were given free to 1,363 persons,
who came or sent for them, in large or small quantities, as
follows : —
Plates, .
Spoons,
Cups,
Napkins,
Bags,
Paper towels with rollers (eases).
Aprons,
Quart containers,
Pneumonia jackets
135,000
100,000
120,000
100,000
50,000
7
1,000
1,900
400
In addition, many thousand masks were provided.
As illustrating the educational work accomplished outside
the Commonwealth, samples of paper supplies and masks
were forwarded to many parts of the country, — to Washing-
ton, D. C, Alabama, Minnesota, California, New Hamp-
shire, Maine and South Dakota.
Through the untiring efforts of Mr. Malone and Mr.
Preston, the purchasing agents, the Committee was able to
provide everything needed for a hospital of seventy-five or
one hundred beds in less than twenty-four hours.
For the Emergency Hospital at Taunton the following
supplies were obtained : —
Beds,
Springs, .
Mattresses,
Pillows, .
Pillowcases,
Paper plates,
Paper cups,
100
100
100
105
260
(5,000
(5,000
246
Paper spoons,
Sheets,
Double blankets,
Towels, .
Bedpans,
Urinals, .
Paper napkins.
Paper bags, .
Paper towels and the rollers,
Masks,
6,000
550
120
250
32
6
10,000
1,000
500
1,000
For emergency hospitals, regular hospitals or for home
distribution in Amesbury, Arlington, Auburndale, Boston,
Bridgewater, Brighton, Brockton, Cambridge, Dorchester,
Fairhaven-, Fall River, Gloucester, Haverhill, Hudson,
Ipswich, Lawrence, Lowell, Mansfield, Nantucket, Peabody,
Plymouth, Revere, Salem, Somerville, Springfield, Stough-
ton, Taunton, Tyngsborough, Waltham, Whitman, Win-
throp and Woburn the following articles were supplied : —
Beds,
Cribs,
Springs,
Mattresses,
Pillows,
Pillowcases,
Sheets,
Blankets (wool),
Blankets (paper).
Night robes.
Doctors' coats,
Rubber coats, .
Rubber hats, .
Rubber boots (pairs),
Alcohol (gallons).
Bedpans, .
Enamel washbasins,
Enamel pans.
Pus basins.
Towels,
Rubber sheeting (rolls; 12 yards in one roll),
335
22
245
287
411
3,020
4,408
2,560
120
854
12
12
12
12
30
181
42
30
45
2,512
23
247
Mosquito netting (pieces),
Needles (papers), .
Notebooks,
Playing cards (packs), .
Checkerboards,
Combs, ....
Common pins (papers),
Thread (spools),
Tootlibru.slies,
Bed slippers (pairs).
Chloride of lime (can), .
Crockerj^ pitchers, .
Envelopes,
Face cloths,
Iodine Lime Tablets (bottle)
Padding (yards).
Temperature charts.
Temperature charts, holders and the
Clinical thermometers, .
Wooden tongue depressors furnished
Treatment charts, .
Urinals, ....
Flannelette (yards),
Hot-water bags.
Hypodermics with needles.
Ice caps, ....
paper utensils and masks
from the supply room,
5
8
12
2
2
72
12
18
48
12
1
8
250
120
1
12
1,150
74
53
1,000
200
56
100
57
25
45
Dr. Brooks, in behalf of the United States Shipping Board,
called upon the Adjutant-General's office to authorize and
assist in establishing the emergency field hospital on Corey
Hill, Brookline, for those of the enlisted personnel of the
United States Shipping Board who were stricken with the
epidemic. Similar hospitals were established in Gloucester,
Ipswich, Lawrence, Brockton, Waltham and Haverhill; and
supplies such as cots, blankets, etc., were furnished both to
them and to the local boards of health at Fall River, Fair-
haven, Arlington, Fitchburg, Fayville, Barre, Springfield
and other places.
The supplies on hand at the State Arsenal not being ade-
ciuate for the emergency, 1,034 cots, 3,696 blankets, 28
pyramidal tents and 170 wall tents were procured through
248
the Chief Quartennaster's Department out of the funds of
the Emergency Health Committee. The Adjutant-General's
Department was able to secure the use of over 400 tents,
and of many cots, from various organizations, including the
Northfield Summer Conferences, the Y. M. C. A. in various
towns, the Agricultural College, county fairs, high school
boys' agricultural camps, in charge of Mr. Dow, and also
from many individual and other sources.
Transportation. — The Transportation Department was
under the management of Mrs. Livingston Cushing, assisted
by Miss Mary T. Sawyer, Mr. A. K. Sweet, Mr. F. A.
Turner, and Mr. R. A. Powers. It arranged for meeting
nurses on their arrival in Boston; furnished information as
to the departure of trains; provided motor service to take
doctors and nurses to the station, and, when necessary,
directly to the towns to which they were assigned. It also
notified ofiicials of the local Committee on Public Safety, or
of the board of health, to meet them on arrival. It delivered
supplies from the Supply Department, and planned for
ambulance service on request. As the uniform worn by its
agents made them easily distinguishable, arrangements were
made with the Canteen Department of the Red Cross to
meet nurses coming from a distance. This work necessitated
much detail in locating trains, but was done with remarkable
despatch and success.
When headquarters were first opened at the State House,
the Committee was almost wholly dependent on the assist-
ance of the First Motor Corps of the State Guard. This
body rendered efficient and most willing service, the Com-
mittee always having the privilege of calling upon its mem-
bers. As the corps had many calls to which it must give
first attention, especially the very important work of the
Instructive District Nursing Association, a volunteer service
of private cars was enlisted. This was secured in great part
by personal appeal, and the co-operation and interest of
those who volunteered proved invaluable. Two hundred
and sixty-three calls for motor service were answered within
249
the first ten days. Tlie greatest miinber of ealls filled in
any one day was 40; the lowest, 11.
The First IVlotor Corps furnished automobiles, with
chauffeurs, to trans]iort doctors and niu'ses from patient to
patient in the city of Boston, and in achlition turned over
its complete ambulance outfit to the Medical l)ei)artuient of
the State Guard. Its four auto trucks were also in constant
use transporting su])])lies mider the (hrection of the Chief
Quartermaster. Tlie tweuty-six ambulances, belonging to
the First Ambulance Corps and the Commonwealth Military
Emergency Hos])ital, were always in use. Two of these
were loaned to the Northeastern De])artment; two to the
First Naval District; two to the Fore River Shipbuilding
Company; two to the city of New Bedford. The remainder
were em])lo\'ed in the city proper and at the different emer-
gency field hos])itals.
Reports of Public Safety Committees, Hospitals, etc. —
Inasmuch as the influenza was not at the time it broke out
a disease which the doctors were required by law to re]>ort,
the figures sent in by the local boards of health were at
first incomplete.
Accordingly, telegrams were sent to the chairman of each
local Committee on Public Safety throughout the State,
requesting infonnation as to the number of cases of influenza
and the number of available doctors and nurses in his par-
ticidar town or city, with a further request that a detailed
report ol' its most ])ressing needs l)e also forwarded. More-
over, in order that the course of the epidemic might be
])ro])erly watched, the recipients of the messages were in-
structed to immediately wire in reply. Mrs. Thayer, in
behalf of the Woman's Conmiittee of the Council of National
Defense, sent similar telegrams to each of her chainnen.
In addition, and to check u]> these figures, telegrams were
sent to tlie ])residents of the District Nursing Association in
fifty cities and towns, requesting the same information
asked of the sub-committees on Public Safety.
The messages received in res])onse were hanupplied. Material for this propaganda was dis-
tributed weekly to the local Child Welfare Committees, as
well as published in the newspapers throughout the State.
In addition, the baby hygiene program was personally
268
explained. The physicians of the State Committee pre-
sented the plan to the medical groups; the supervisors spoke
at meetings in every town; and the vice-chairman of the
Child Welfare Department journeyed through the Common-
wealth, meeting her local chairmen at convenient points in
conference. Women's clubs had the plan brought to their
attention by their public health committees, and each local
committee endeavored to arouse its community to the im-
portance of introducing and developing these measures, if
only for its own benefit. The excellent literature of the
State Department of Health on the care and feeding of the
baby was also widely distributed.
An important piece of educational work was done by the
Boston Committee in connection with the Child Conserva-
tion Cottage, one of a group placed on Boston Common
during the war. Posters and exhibits on the care and hygiene
of the expectant mother, and on the hygiene of the baby and
the medical supervision essential for children up to five years
of age, were all arranged in attractive form. Printed placards
showed the value of a doctor's care for the expectant mother,
both for her own safety and that of her baby. Breast-feed-
ing was emphasized, and modification and supervision of
milk explained. Suitable and reasonably priced clothes for
mother and baby were put on view. A cariole made from a
packing box, a clothes-basket bed, and other useful articles
were displayed. A trained nurse, a graduate of the Children's
Hospital, was in attendance to answer questions and explain
exhibits. Her work was reinforced by that of a corps of
volunteers. Mothers sought her professional advice, and
eagerly listened to her talks on the many details of health
and hygiene. Lectures were given in the cottage by experi-
enced physicians on prenatal care, physical care of young
children, and hygiene of the eyes, ears and teeth. Two talks
were given for Italian mothers in their native tongue. A
Liberty Milk Shop was also opened in Boston for the purpose
of educating the people in the value of milk as food, and
269
the many ways of using it. On account of the increased
price much less milk was being used, and in some homes the
children's milk supply was entirely cut off.
As the result of a conference with the vocational school
division of the Board of Education, a course on child welfare
was outlined by the department and the State Department
of Health, for use in the vocational schools. This was ap-
proved by the State Board of Education, and published by
the State Department of Health. About 1,000 copies were
distributed, being designed for the practical instruction of
girls over fourteen years of age and for young married
women. Such topics as prenatal care, infant feeding, care of
the baby, and mental development were included, with a
final study of community resources for child care. Each
subject was treated in a practical way, fully illustrated, and
with ample suggestions for demonstrations. It was believed
that this might be the beginning of a more general education
for girls in infant and child care, and it was earnestly hoped
that the opportunity would be given later for all girls over
fourteen to have like training.
It is impossible to estimate the results of these twenty
months of intensive child-saving in Massachusetts, or how
far their influence reached. Certain definite statements
may, however, be made. Positions were created for sixty
public health nurses. Thirty-three child welfare stations
and eight prenatal clinics were established. The sum of
$85,480 was raised by subscription for nurses' salaries. The
terrible epidemic which swept over Massachusetts in Sep-
tember and October, 1918, demonstrated in many localities
the crying need of the community nurse. Many towns of
2,000 or 3,000 inhabitants were at that time still asking for
municipal appropriations for public health service. The
education of the public in the value of child conservation
largely determines progressive action in this direction, and
Massachusetts may indeed look forward to steady increase
in the practical work as the natural outcome of the activities
of public and private agencies urging these ends.
270
In June, 1918, the recreation program for "children's
j^ear" was issued. An appeal was made to save the children
of the country from the dangers incident to war, by pro-
viding them with wholesome recreation and activities for
their leisure time. In a study of child welfare in warring
countries in Europe, made by the Children's Bureau, it was
stated that juvenile delinquency had increased. Greater
numbers of children than usual were being brought to court,
with increasing seriousness in their offenses. Writers on the
subject were unanimous in their reasons for this delinquency,
such as the absence of fathers in the army, and of mothers
in the factory; the fact that leaders had been drawn away
from the schools and clubs; that parks and playgrounds
had been closed; that children could command high wages,
and therefore developed that sense of freedom from disci-
pline which comes to a child with independent wage-earning
ability.
The national program asked that a "patriotic play week"
be arranged for every town during September, with the idea
that all summer play activities might culminate in one great
demonstration. Leaflets were published with suggestions
for games, pageants, picnics and physical efficiency tests.
These were sent to every chairman in Massachusetts. It
was realized, however, that to do any thorough work expert
leadership was necessary, as in the baby hygiene program,
where the nurses had taken so important a part. The
Playground and Recreation Association of iVmerica was
appealed to, and a field secretary w^as sent to develop recrea-
tional work in Massachusetts in connection with the Child
Welfare Department. She came in August, but unfortu-
nately her work was seriously interrupted by the influenza
epidemic and her own illness, forcing her to be away for
three months and preventing the resumption of her work
until January. Her report of the situation reads as fol-
lows : —
In Massachusetts the plans for a play week amounted to nothing —
as such; but the Child Welfare Committee in disseminating the material
271
on the subject did a very effective piece of constructive work. The htera-
ture sent out has been of decided educational vahie, and has had an un-
toKl influence in arousing coniniunities to the reahzation of the inii)ortance
of play in child conservation. The proof of the efficacy of this propaganda
is the number of towns which have asked for further information regard-
ing the movement, and which have shown a desire to start the work. If
follow-up work can be provided before this interest has a chance to lag,
without doubt much progress will be made.
In November the nationiil i)r()grain for the ''back-to-
school drive" was issued. This aimed to return to school
those boys and girls who left in June but failed to come
back after vacation; also to educate parents, and the public
generally, in the value of a longer period of instruction for
boys and girls, and in establishing scholarships for those
who would otherwise be unable to obtain such education.
Continuation classes and vocational guidance were given
consideration in the scheme. The Child Welfare Depart-
ment turned to the State Board of Education for advice,
and offered its co-operation in carrying out that part of the
program which the commissioner considered proper and
necessary" in Massachusetts. After several conferences be-
tween the two departments, the commissioner made the
following statement, which was sent to Washington : —
The laws of this State appear to provide adequate means to be used
by the [)roperly constituted authorities of the State for the enforcement
of compulsory education laws, and for the prevention of illegal employ-
ment of children in industry. Moreover, it is proposed to strengthen the
compulsory education law, and to add provisions for compulsory continua-
tion schools. Plans for this legislation are being vigorously pushed.
The commissioner further stated as his belief that "ample
machinery was provided by law, through the authorized
school officials of the State, for dealing with this group of
boys and girls from fourteen to sixteen years of age." As
a result of the foregoing, the "back-to-school drive" received
no further emphasis.
With the cessation of war, the departments of the Council
of National Defense were asked to make plans whereby
27^2
such activities as were of use to the State in times ol" i)eace
shoiikl be organized in snch a way as to be permanent and
independent of the Council of National Defense. This
work, also started ))y the IVIassacluisetts Connnittee, would
ap])ear to be as important in peace as in war time. In con-
sidering the actual results accomplished by the depart-
ment, the program in relation to chikl hygiene stood out
most forcibly, and it was determined that every effort
should be centered ui)()n insm-ing its ])ermanency and further
development. Accordingly, each chairman was asked to
report how the work started by the local connnittee could
best be tied to a permanent local organization. The re])lies
fell into three groups: (1) the work should be carried on by
the Visiting Nursing Association; or ('2) by the Board of
Health; or (3), in a few instances, the Child Welfare Com-
mittee of the Council of National Defense should itself
become a permanent Child Hygiene Association.
There already existed in Massachusetts an Association of
Directors of Pu})lic Health Nursing Organizations, of which
many child welfare chairmen were members, and which
others expected to join. The vice-chairman of the Child
Welfare De])artnieut was the ])resident of this association,
and the State Board of Health had the list of its members
and was ready to continue to hold conferences at the State
House, and also to call u])on this same group of women to
helj) carry out a State program governing the health of
children. The official backing of the Council of National
Defense will be missed, but the work that was in existence
for a year should be strong enough to stand by itself with
the co-operation of an unofficial State association. In a few
cities the local interest in recreation was so great that a
special committee was being formed to fm-ther the work
in(le])endently. It is therefore not unreasonable to hope
that what was begun as a war emergency will be of perma-
nent value to the Connnonwealth.
273
CHAPTER III
COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
The Committee on Women in Agriculture, for the summer
of 1918, was as follows: —
Mrs. J. Montgomerj' Sears, Chairman.
Mrs. Gordon Abbott.
Miss Mabel Babcock.
Mrs. William A. Copeland,
Miss Helen Holmes.
Mrs. Lewis K. Morse.
Mrs. William S. Patten.
Mrs. Richard S. Russell.
Mrs. James Swift.
In the spring of 1918 a conference was called by Mrs.
Thayer to plan for the work of women in agriculture in
Massachusetts, at which were present representatives of
the Committee on Public Safety and the Women's Agri-
cultural Committee of the Council of National Defense.
At this meeting it was decided that the registration of
women for agricultural service should be done by the Land
Service Committee of the Woman's National Farm and
Garden Association, and that the experiment of establish-
ing separate units should be attempted, rather than to make
a State-wide canvas for woman labor. As the chairman of
the Land Service Committee, Mrs. Sears, was also a member
of the Woman's Committee on Agriculture, this work was
done in co-operation with the Council of National Defense.
Twelve hundred women were registered, and 250 were
placed in units or on private estates. Eleven units were
established by the Land Service Committee, and the two
largest, at Lancaster and Westwood, were financed by the
New England branch, both being installed as demonstration
units and sources of labor supply.
In connection with the Westwood unit, which began work
in May and closed October 1, a community market was
established in Dedham, where fresh vegetables were sold by
the farmerettes two days each week. Canning was also
274
carried on throughout the season, and the unit furnished
labor to 50 employers. In its behalf a farmerette festival
was held, September 19, 1918, on the estate of Mrs. Edward
Cunningham, which proved a great success. Five hundred
people were present, 100 of this number being farmerettes,
and the net returns amounted to $1,400.
The demands for service at Lancaster began with the
first warm days in the spring, when the emergency w^ork
consisted of asparagus cutting, and continued until after
harvesting, in October. In all, 52 employers were served in
Lancaster and vicinity, and 33 per cent of this service re-
mained in the country to work during the winter.
Ten other young women, from various summer units,
were placed at work on the estate of Mr. Richard T. Crane,
Jr., at Ipswich, where they likewise studied various phases
of farm life.
Very few of the women employed had any previous knowl-
edge of farm life, but their spirit and attitude toward the
project contributed largely to its success. This was proved
by the appreciation shown on the part of their employers,
who felt (the labor problem being so acute) that their crops
in many cases would have been lost but for this extra help.
On Labor Day, the Pittsfield Unit, which was supervised
by Miss E. M. Boutwell and financed by Miss Gertrude
Watson, held a county fair in Pittsfield, which netted
$400. This sum was given to the Land Service Com-
mittee, who added another $100. The whole was then
contributed to the New England branch for a scholarship
fund, to be used by young women wishing to take special
agricultural courses at Amherst the following winter. These
scholarships were awarded to five young women w^ho had
worked in units the previous summer, and who wished to
take up agriculture as a vocation and to pursue their studies
at the Massachusetts Agricultural College.
Improved health was reported by practically all workers,
and for the first time the joys of country life and work in
the open were realized by many of these young women.
275
A report of the work on the Brookhne gardens, nnder the
direction of Mrs. "WilHam S. Patten of the National Civic
Federation, stated : —
The Brookline Girls' Gardening Unit was most satisfactory. Not one
of the girls dropped out, missed a single day or was late at her work.
Twelve out of the fifteen girls asked to be allowed to woi-k until September
8, five weeks longer than the time for which they volunteered.
A dance was given for the girls at the Brookline Day Nursery. On
July 13, Mrs. Higginson and INIrs. William Reed invited them to Cohas-
set, where they tliorouglily enjoyed a swim and a ])i(nie supi)er.
On July 15, the garden was inspected by Mrs. Mead. We fed the girls
at the Brookline Day Nursery morning and evening at a cost of 25 cents
a day for each girl. With the cook's wages of $10.50 a week it brings the
cost per girl to 38 cents a day. As we receive 50 cents from the town of
Brookline, the expense to the Civic Federation, not including installment,
for eight weeks, May 15 to July 10, is $8.08.
The Lowthorpe Horticultural School, represented by Miss
Babcock, director, reported : —
The school established short training courses for supervisors in the
spring of 1918. During the summer eleven students were enrolled who
did good work. Courses of lectures were given by Amlierst men. The
classes planned and planted their own gardens, assisted the Girl Scout
Camp of Harvard, and did most of the work on the farm at Lowthorpe
— haying, apple picking, canning, etc., — except plowing, and learned
to milk and to take care of the stock. The garden and crops proved suc-
cessful, and we were able to send fre(iuent contributions of vegetables to
Camp Devens.
The Service Unit of the North Shore Garden Club, repre-
sented l)y Mrs. Gordon Abbott, reported: —
Last spring, when the food shortage was beginning to be acutely felt
in this country, a group of young girls, most of them still at school, offered
to give their time during the summer holidays to growing vegetables for
the Beverly Hospital, if the Garden Club would underwrite expenses.
This offer was gladly accepted, and the hospital, with a personnel of
one livmdred, has bought no ^'egetal)les since the early cro})s were rii)e.
The sui)ply of canned and dried vegetables will last until next spring's
crops are ready.
The girls enlisted for voluntary service of at least nine hours a week,
276
under the name ot the Service Unit of the North Shore Garden Ckib.
Their work had three branches, — a motor corps that collected surplus
vegetables from neighboring gardens, a group of farmerettes who did all
the work exclusive ot ])lowing and harrowing, and a canning group. This
last worked at the Wenham Cannery under the direction of Mrs. Edward
B. Cole for one da}' a week, and the members put her instruction to such
good use that they were able, by the 1st of July, to undertake, without
supervision, the canning and preserving of large quantities of their garden
produce at a small and vvell-e(iuipped room tliat was lent to them for the
purjxise in the neighborhood of their farm. Only 4 jars of the 3,0G9 pre-
pared by them have spoiled.
No man worked on the farm, nor was any labor hired. Most of the
girls worked with splendid spirit, and earned the arm band of the Farm
and Garden Association, which was given to any girl who kept conscien-
tiously her agreement with the unit. The results, that no bookkeeping can
compute, are the gain to the girls in character, the real benefit to patients
and nurses of an ample supply of fresh vegetables, the increased produc-
tion of food at a time when it was much needed, and the help to the hos-
pital when the funds of all home charities were low. Much encourage-
ment and useful advice from older North Shore residents have helped to
make this experiment of the girls and their youthful leaders a success.
£77
CHAPTER IV
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND RECREATION
The Department of Health and Recreation, under the
leadership of Mrs. Clarence R. Edwards, was formed in
May, 1917. During the summer Mrs. Edwards was instru-
mental in starting three service clubs, — - one in Ayer, one
near Camp Devens, and one in Boston at 48 Boylston
Street. Mrs. Edwards also formed a very efficient committee
of chairmen of existing organizations interested in work
among women and girls. Later, Mrs. Edwards left Boston,
and Mrs. Robert W. Lovett was appointed executive chair-
man, the chainnanship being held by Mrs. John A. Johnston,
with the following executive committee : —
Miss Mary A. Barr.
Mrs. A. K. Cohen.
Mrs. William Coolidge.
Miss Mary Fay.
Mrs. George R. Fearing,
Mrs. Henry Howard.
Mrs. Joseph Lee.
Mrs. Harold Peabody,
Mrs. R. S. Russell.
Mrs. Robert Weston.
This department was formed, not only to act as a clearing
house and co-ordinating agency, but to carry out in the
State the work so ably suggested and accomplished by the
War Camp Community Service in the cantonments. It co-
operated closely with the Naval Auxiliary, the Special Aid,
the Massachusetts League for Catholic Women, the Jewish
League, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Massachusetts League
for Women and Girls, and the War Work Councils of both
the Young Women's and Young Men's Christian Associa-
tions, The chairman served on both of these councils, and
the department worked in concert with the local committees
of both organizations and with the Massachusetts Com-
mittee for Girls Work.
Since it was found that there existed pressing need to
278
awaken girls from fourteen to twenty-one years of age to a
sense of their responsibilities and to the definite part they
must. take in the war, certain service leagues were established
with the help of trained, as well as of volunteer workers.
These leagues were organized in the following twenty-two
cities and towns of the State: Springfield, Northampton,
Greenfield, Sunderland, North Adams, Ayer, Pittsfield,
Worcester, Fitchburg, Leominster, Framingham, New Bed-
ford, Fall River, Weymouth, Scituate, Wakefield, Medford,
Ipswich, Newburyport, Lowell, Quincy and Cambridge. In
ten cities trained organizers were provided by the War
Camp Community Service. This is only one of the many
cases where the co-operation of these service leagues was of
vital importance to the department. Four of the cities
were equipped with such organizers through local support.
The experience of the Committee in Lowell showed great
possibilities. A community recreational center was estab-
lished under the auspices of the War Camp Community
Service. This was entirely non-sectarian, and was enthusi-
astically supported by Jews, Catholics and Protestants.
In Ayer, where the congestion caused by Camp Devens
was very acute, the Committee was able, through the kind
offices of the State, to establish a comfort and first-aid
station.
The enthusiasm shown by the girls, and their eagerness to
do their share, encouraged every effort to continue in the
future the plan so started, and to profit by the lessons
taught by the emergencies of war. It was therefore especially
gratifying when later the War Camp Community Service
agreed to take over the work of the department, as under
its auspices none of the benefits of the past months were
likely to be wasted.
279
CHAPTER V
COMMITTEE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF EXISTING
SOCIAL AGENCIES
Mrs. Frederick S. Mead, Chairman.
Mrs. L. Carteret Fenno, Fimt Vicc-Chairman.
Miss Ida M. Cannon, Second Vice-Chair man.
Miss Mary T. Beard.
Miss Francis R. Morse.
Miss Mary M. Riddle.
The duties of this Committee were not considered to be
executive. Through its co-operation with the other depart-
ments of the Council of National Defense and its Advisory
Committee, and in consultation with the leaders in the
field of social agencies, its task was: —
First. — To be satisfied, through a preliminary survey,
that the existing agencies were not being seriously crippled
because of the war emergency. In this connection a survey
conducted by Miss Cannon, Miss Ella Lyman, and Miss
R. Emerson showed that Massachusetts charitable agencies
did not apprehend serious difficulty financially. They re-
ported that their greatest trouble lay in a shortage of social
workers, many of whom had been drawn upon for service
in the Red Cross, Young Men's Christian Association, etc.
Second. — To carry and interpret the messages from
Washington, and to make sure of such correlation among
the peace-time agencies as was essential to meet the necessi-
ties created by war conditions. Recognition of this require-
ment had already been felt among the agencies, which were
fouiul to be working satisfactorily.
Settlements
Boston was especially fortunate in its many settlement
groups. The Council had little to offer to them. On the
280
other hand, they were of inestimable service to the com-
munity during the continuance of the war.
One piece of settlement work, however, was brought
about, through the Council of National Defense, with the
sanction of this Committee, and with the approval also of
Mr. Robert A. Woods, president of the Social Union. This
was the districting of the city of Boston by neighborhoods,
undertaken by Mr. S. Woods of the South End House, Miss
Wills of the Lincoln House, Mrs. Gookin, overseer of the
poor, and Miss Mary A. Barr, chairman of the Food Com-
mittee for Boston. Under Miss Barr's leadership the plan
ultimately developed, for the food work of the city proved
to be of permanent value.
Day Nurseries
Several conferences were held with day nursery groups of
the State Department of Health, following which the work
was undertaken by the Department of Women in Industry,
and it was ultimately decided to leave the matter entirely
in the hands of that organization. Particular attention was
given to the question of licensing day nurseries in the State.
Hospitals
The necessity for increasing both the number of candi-
dates and the facilities for a nursing service was judged to
be the most obvious requirement. A year previously con-
ferences of hospital superintendents, called by Dr. Herbert
B. Howard of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, led to a
survey of facilities in training schools, and arrangements
were made to fill all available space in these schools.
To increase the nursing service without lowering pro-
fessional standards, different methods were adopted : —
1. The Housing-out of Pupils. — ■ This was not widely
favored by superintendents in Massachusetts, who felt that
nurses should have routine hospital life during their training.
2. Admittance of College Women. — This permitted the
281
admittance of college women, whose degree is accepted as
the equivalent of one year's service.
3. Release of Pupil Nurses. — Encouragement was given
for the release of pupil nurses for a period of four months
during their senior year, that they might acquire special
experience in public health work.
Opportunities for the training of sixty of the nurses thus
released were arranged through the Instructive District
Nursing Association and Simmons College. A sub-committee
of the Council of National Defense, under the chairmanship
of Mrs. Stephen Rushmbre, rendered helpful service. Pro-
vision for housing the nurses was made through a special
grant of $20,000 from the Metropolitan Chapter of the Red
Cross.
4. Army Nurses' Training Corps. — Massachusetts had
one of the first army nurse training schools, — at Camp
Devens. Miss Mary M. Riddle, superintendent of the
Newton Hospital and a member of the Committee, was
chosen superintendent. At this juncture Washington in-
quired whether the Committee w^ould be able to secure
suitable personnel for the opening class within a fortnight's
time. Dr. Anne H. Strong undertook the task, and the
class was largely chosen from a list submitted by her. The
members entered the service for patriotic reasons, and
brought a new group into the field of nursing. Miss Strong
was asked to send to Washington a synopsis of the method
she used to secure this group.
A sub-committee, with Mrs. F. L. Higginson as chairman,
and Mrs. L. C. Fenno as treasurer, raised a fund to buy
equij)ment, textbooks and other necessities for the routme
of the school. Without this money the training would have
been much delayed, and in many instances found to be
impossible.
Drive for Army Nurses* Training Corps
When the general call came from Washington for the
enrollment of candidates for the Army Nurses' Training
282
Corps, a joint meeting was held with the councilors of the
State Nursing Association, by which their co-operation was
secured in making the plan known throughout the State,
and also in the establishment of a bureau at the Massachu-
setts General Hospital under the guidance of Miss Helen
Wood. Exceedingly important work was done through the
bureau in the distribution of information on the general
subject of nursing, as well as in regard to the army course.
The results were far greater than is shown by the figures.
Number receiving army application blanks, 204
Average age of applicants, 24
Number having more than a high school education (not including
a business course), 75
Two hundred and fourteen applicants were found to be
ineligible for the army school. These were given a list of
civilian hospitals, to which they were directly to apply.
Student Nurses' Reserve Corps
A meeting was called of representative superintendents
throughout the State, and their opinion asked as to the
manner in which the Student Nurses' Reserve Corps should
be organized. With their assistance, and through the Com-
mittee's connection with the Council of National Defense,
as well as by extensive publicity, a large enrollment was
secured. The work was so well done that the training
schools throughout the Commonwealth will continue in the
future to reap the benefit thereof in the increased number of
applicants they have to draw from.
Other work undertaken by the Committee follows.
Commission for Nurses
At the request of Acting Surgeon-General Brooks, 100
nurses were passed upon to serve in case of emergency in
the Massachusetts State Guard. These nurses were given
the rank and pay of Lieutenant. It is believed that this is
283
the first time such rank and ]iay liave Ixvmi ple-
m.ented by special license regulations binding on all manu-
facturers and handlers of non-perishable foods, prohibiting
them from owning under any guise a supply greater than
the requirements of their business for thirty or sixty days.
Licensees were also forbidden, knowingly, to sell to any
customer more than enough to give him a thirty or sixty
days' supply.
The second type of regulation restrained profiteering,
and also discouraged speculation and hoarding. Practi-
cally all licensees were required to limit their prices to actual
purchase cost of the particular goods sold plus a reasonable
profit, the latter being defined as the average pre-war profit,
071 an even market. Though the wholesale price might have
doubled in the interval between purchase and sale, the mer-
chant must sell on the basis of his actual cost, thus under-
selling his competitor, who had bought later than he at a
higher price. This regulation was designed to prevent
middlemen from taking \mdue toll from the consumer on
account of the generally rising war market, and at the same
time to remove the incentive to hoarding and speculation
by making it of no advantage to the owner of food that the
market advanced. A quick turnover, and small aggregate
stocks in trade, was thus to be expected.
This rule of "cost plus reasonable profit" created much
unavoidable hardship throughout the administration's exist-
ence. Of course it was not universally obeyed, but it was
390
sufficiently respected so that many concerns had their
average profits diminished. For, although the government
restricted the dealer's profit if the market rose while he
held the goods, it could not enable him to get his original
cost back if the market declined. His profits were limited,
but not his losses. In normal times the unusual gains
offset the unusual losses. During the war period all food
markets advanced more than they declined, but a number
of sharp declines took place which brought losses unre-
coverable because of this rule.
Without these anti-speculation rules much greater in-
flation of food prices would undoubtedly have taken place,
and the "cost of living" problem would have been even
more serious than it was.
Administration of License Regulations
The first task of the Massachusetts Administration's
License Division was to give notice to the large number of
persons within the State affected by the important procla-
mation of October 8, 1917, that they were subject to license,
and that severe penalties were provided for failure to secure
a license. About 20,000 circular letters were accordingly
printed and sent to Massachusetts wholesale and retail
grocers, provision dealers, bakers, grain dealers, etc. A
number of applicants were assisted by personal interviews
and letters to make their applications in proper form, and
many rulings were made in the food office on line cases where
there was uncertainty whether or not the concern was
required to have a license. The circularization revealed
the considerable shifting which is always taking place in
the trades, since a large number of letters were returned
unclaimed.
As the duplicate card catalogues of licensees within the
State were sent from Washington, a comparison was made
with trade lists to detect concerns which had evaded license.
One could never be certain that every such wrongdoer was
391
actually detected, because of the magnitude of the task
compared with the size of the organization and the time
at its disposid.
Two license regulations assisted greatly in this respect.
The first required every licensee to display his license
number on various documents and quotations issued by him.
The other prohibited licensees from dealing knowingly with
a culpably unlicensed person or concern. Through the co-
operation thus secured from the trade.'-', and through in-
spections, complaints and follow-u]) letters, it is believed
that substantially every concern in Massachusetts required
to be licensed was put under license. The total list of
licensees in the State as of record, 1918, was approximately
10,570. This included 1,870 bakers, and about 5,000 salt-
water fishermen the licensing of whom was a rather minor
incident. The absence of fee for the license, and the le-
niency of the regidations compared with the stringent pen-
alties for failure to comply, made it of no object to evade
licensing. Moreover, as tiuxC went on a slight distinction
was drawn between licensees and non-licensees in the en-
forcement of the license regulations, under the assum])tion
that the purjioses of the Food Control Act, which was bind-
ing on every one, were to be carried out l\v universal ob-
servance of the license regulations. The elaborate and
cumbersome reports at first required by the Washington
License Division of all licensees were onerous to the trade,
but these reports were greatly simplified by the middle of
1918.
Monthly reports to Washington on the quantities of
goods handled, and the average profits and prices, with a
duplicate to the Massachusetts office, were for several months
required of substantially all licensees. These reports made
such an accunndation of papers that the organization, small
as it was, and lacking in technical experience with the food
trades, was unable to derive nuich assistance therefrom;
but a member of the staff partially audited the rei)orts,
and in this way a few irregularities were discovered and
392
stopped. The quarterly financial statements required of
feed dealers in 1918 promised to be of value in detecting
profiteering in those special trades.
Another part of the work during the whole period was
notifying the trades of regulations prescribed for them by
Mr. Hoover, The notices of changes in regulations sent
directly from Washington to the licensees affected were
frequently late and often miscarried, and were not sent to
unlicensed dealers such as the small grocers. Finally, to
remove all doubt of due notice, the weekly "Food Ad-
ministration Bulletin" was sent to every food dealer in the
State. Up-to-date lists of such dealers were secured through
the local sealers of weights and measures, by the kind co-
operation of Commissioner Hanson. The successive issues
of the Bulletin contained a section devoted to the new li-
cense regidations and changes of rules, together with im-
portant interpretations and rulings issued either by Wash-
ington or by Mr. Endicott. This caused an edition of 16,000
or more copies and an expense of about $^200 a week, but it
was fully justified.
The existence of so large a body of detailed regulations
brought numerous appeals for interpretations on special
cases, and a considerable part of the work of the License
Division consisted in answering inciuiries from licensees
about rules. When the Commodity and Trade Divisions
separated from the License Division they gave out inter-
pretations of the rules relating to their own subjects, such as
sugar and baking. As mentioned above, questions on
miscellaneous commodities and trades were always referred
to the License Division.
The office was exposed to a multitude of complaints as
to the hardships entailed by various regulations. Licensees
usually knew that the rules were made and changed in
Washington, and not by the Massachusetts Administration,
but, believing that the latter was able to understand their
problem better than the Washington officials, counted on
it to intercede for them. In some cases Mr. Endicott or
393
ir embers of his staff asked the Washington office for changes
in rules because of injustice to the dealers. An instance
was the prohibition of use of milk by bakers in bread. When
enough pressure of the same sort had come from other States,
the rules were usually canceled or modified throughout the
covmtry. The National Administration seldom found it
feasible to make regional or local regulations.
Another phase of the regulation of trade was the granting
of special dispensations or permits for individual tempo-
rary failure to observe the rules. Discretion to give such
permits was vested by IVIr. Hoover in Mr. Endicott. For
instance, when the 50-50 substitute rules were announced
from Washington, Mr. Endicott made a temporary ruling
that grocers in Massachusetts might sell only 25 pounds of
substitutes to 75 pounds of wheat flour until the situation
should warrant full requirements of the 50-50 formula.
The relation of the county food administrators to the
State Administration, after their appointment early in
February, is explained elsewhere; and in the regulation of
trade they carried on the same work within their territory
as did the License Division and the Commodity Division
in the State House. The State office, however, issued most
of the notices to dealers simultaneously throughout the
State, and special information, interpretations and permits
were given by both the county administrators and the State
House, according to whether the matter was local or of
State-wide importance.
Enforcement and Revocation of Licenses
One main reason for the establishment of the county food
administrators was the evident need of better enforcement
of the rules. Few penalties were inflicted during the first
six months. The administration held itself ready to follow
up complaints, but these were not numerous; and it was
usually felt that if the co-o|)eration of violators could be
secured for the future, no drastic penalty for the past was
394
needed. Following Mr. Endicott's general policy, the
License Division always endeavored to enlist the sympa-
thetic co-operation of dealers and consumers. Persuasion,
personal influence and appeals to patriotism were used with
good effect.
The cases handled by more stringent process dealt chiefly
with alleged hoarding and with supposedly extortionate
prices, with a few violations of special license regulations.
Complaints of hoarding were occasionally brought against
private individuals; and during the flour shortage, at the
beginning of 1918, several persons found to have excessive
amounts of flour or sugar were informed of the penalties
of the law, and were induced to dispose of the hoarded goods
according to the administration's suggestions.
During the campaign preceding the election of 1917,
charges were made in the public press that the storage ware-
houses within the State were bulging with foodstuffs held
for speculation. This led to an investigation of food stor-
ages by Messrs. R. M. and H. C. Everett, Jr., and to the
installation of a system of regular reports to them of all
warehouse transactions.
After the sugar shortage developed, in the latter part of
1917, numerous complaints were received of unfair distri-
bution and of extortionate prices on the part of dealers.
Some penalties resulted later from investigations begun in
this way. Several apparent violations of license rules were
brought to the administration's attention by Washington
and otherwise, but up to March, 1918, no cases presented
themselves which seemed to call for drastic action.
On March 7, 1918, the first suspension of license in Massa-
chusetts was ordered for sales of sugar at exorbitant prices.
On March 25 the next announcement of penalty was made
in the "Food Administration Bulletin," a dealer having
been required to take back an excessive amount of flour
sold to a customer. On April 6, for the first time, a bake
shop in Massachusetts was closed temporarily for failure
to use the required cereal substitutes.
395
By March 1, 1918, the members of the License Division
had become convinced that their organization, concen-
trated in the State House, was not sufficient to enforce the
food reguhitions properly. Hitherto it had been proper to
depend chiefly on persuasion, and to hold Mr. Endicott's
great legal powers in reserve, the latter constituting in
addition to persuasion a background of potential coercion.
At this later period, however, it began to appear that many
violations were occurring which never came to the adminis-
tration's attention, and that this situation was encouraging
would-be violators while penalizing more conscientious
members of the trades. The License Division accordingly
welcomed the appointment of county administrators who
could take responsibility for enforcing food regulations within
their territory. As soon as the county offices were estab-
lished, in late March and early April, 1918, the number
of violation cases handled by the administration sub-
stantially increased, and penalties became much more
numerous.
Also, about the middle of April, W. Rodman Peabody
was asked by Mr. Endicott to head a new Enforcement
Division of the Massachusetts Administration, and with
this specialized department systematic investigations and
hearings were carried on daily, resulting in frequent drastic
penalties, usually connected with the power of suspending
or revoking licenses. The record of such suspensions appears
elsewhere in the report of the Enforcement Division.
Another means of securing fuller observance of the emer-
gency food rules was the development of inspection staffs
by several of the regulatory divisions. Thus the Sugar,
Baking, and Price Divisions each acquired field agents
especially trained to detect violations of the particular
regulations in the charge of their divisions.
The total result was that, in the latter months of 1918,
the Food Administration organization in Massachusetts,
volunteer and paid, was large enough to detect and punish
^uch a i^ercentage of all violations that thereafter not only
396
patriotism but fear of punishment deterred the vast ma-
jority of members of the food trade from profiteering and
other unfair practices.
(b) Division of Enforcement
The work of enforcement was first included in the work
of the License Division. Violators of rules were called in
for warning, and from the beginning of work until April,
1918, the head of the License Division performed all judicial
work, referring penalty cases to the Washington office. In
the earlier days of the License Division, Mr. Endicott or
Mr. Ratshesky usually sat as final authority in cases re-
quiring penalty.
In April, 1918, the Division of Enforcement (see Appendix,
page 569) was separated from the License Division and
placed under the charge of W. Rodman Peabody, who gave
his full time to the work and acted as trial officer, ably
assisted by Isaiah R. Clark and James E. Hannigan. From
this time the License Division did no enforcement work,
but confined its activities to the interpretation and publi-
cation of rules. The Division of Enforcement became a
tribunal to hear and act upon cases of violation presented
to it by other agents of the Food Administration. The
policy of the head of the division was, as far as possible,
to draw a line between administrative (including detective)
and judicial functions, leaving the preparation of cases to
others. The wisdom of this course became increasingly
evident as time passed.
The power of the Enforcement Division was based upon
the Federal Food Control Act, and upon the Common-
wealth Defence Act. The powers of the Federal Act were
in most cases sufficient, but the additional powers granted
under the Massachusetts law were a valuable supplement.
The Federal act regarded distributors of food as agents for
the public, whose duty it was to effect distribution to pur-
chasers at fair prices and in reasonable quantities without
waste. If a distributor failed to perform his duties toward
397
the public he avus unfit to act as a Federal licensee, and his
functions should be assigned to others. Food is the prime
requisite of the ])eople, and in time of national crisis no one,
it was assumed, has a right to handle food unless considera-
tion for the welfare of the entire people is the principle by
which he conducts his business.
The intent of the Division of Enforcement was primarily
to secure observance of regulations, not to pimish violations.
All cases were approached with the hope that compliance
could be secured without ])enalty. Extreme forms of ])unish-
ment were ordinarily inflicted only in the more flagrant
cases, where the defendant deliberately disobeyed. First
offenders were given friendly warning, usually without
penalty. In some cases the posting of a sign in a prominent
place in the establishment of the offending dealer informed
the public that he had violated the rules, but had promised
compliance in the future. In cases where restitution of
excess profits was possible, this was insisted upon; in a few
cases, particularly of retailers, such restitution was out of
the question, and contributions to war charities were ac-
cepted in lieu of restitution. This, however, was always
treated as the proposition of the offender, and not exactly
imposed as a penalty of the Food Administration. In the
case of unlicensed dealers, of whom over 13,000 existed in
Massachusetts, the most effective procedure was that of
the "unfair order," which prohibited licensed wholesale
dealers from furnishing supplies to the offending non-licensed
retailers. In the case of licensed dealers, suspension or
absolute revocation of license was possible, and in some
cases was used. In no case was it necessary to resort to
prosecution in criminal action by the Federal courts, al-
though this was possible under the act. Publicity proved,
on the whole, the most satisfactory deterrent. Reports of
all penalty cases were given to the press, and were published
in the weekly "Food Administration Bulletin." thereby
reaching every dealer in foods, — a total mailing list of
31,000. Next to this the posting of premises was most
dreaded bv dealers.
398
'I'lic coiiiplniiils ;icl('(l on (•;iiii(> lo lli(> l)i\isi(»ii <»!' iMilorcc-
iiiciil Iroin I lie .st>\('r;il ;iil iiicnis <>l I lie ollicc, ('.s|>('ci;ill\'
llioscol l?;ikiii^', SiiL'Mr, 'rr;iiis|)()rl;il ion ;iii«l I'imcc; Iroiii llic
liiilcd Slahvs h\)oi°odu<-l ion ainl disi riltiil ion ('arri('i\ision was laken up by coniplainls in r<><;!U"d lo llie
use ol Hour willionl snbslilnles (selling" and Waking); I lie
impr»»|ier use ol" sn^ar; arWil ral ion eases; refusal lo unload
ears an' adiiiinisl ra lor
<.''a\'e a lirsl liearini;', and linndreds of eases were llins sell led.
()nl\' where eoinplianei^ was nol, secured hy friendly per-
suasion of I he local aulhoiily was I he mailer r<>fei-red to
Ihe Slale Mouse for hearing', or lo Ihe local adminisl ralor
anlhori/,ed lo ini|)ose a minor penally.
Ins|)eclors of Ihe \arions dixisions of Ihe l^'ood Adminis-
Iralion aiul lliose allached lo Ihe coiinly admimslralors
were of i^re^al snee serxiee of Ihe Adjulanl
(leiierars olliee and of Ihe I'niled Slales Treasiiiy was
used in some eases where iimiK'diale and secr<'l aelion WJis
necessarw ("eiiilied puMic acconnlaiils were employed al,
Ihe expense of the defendanis lo secure e\'idenee from Ihe
books of eoucerns under suspicion. 1 1 was Ihe consisleut
|)olicy of Ihe (li\ ision lo peiiah/e no eases excepi upon e\i-
deiK'c which would salisfy a I'casouahK' eourl of jnslice.
The mosi serious eases were rcferi'ed lo Ihe Dixisiou of
Knforcemenl in \\ asliin^lon for eonlirmal ion before |)eiially
was imposed, and all mallei's of policy in respecl. lo penallies
were worki'd oul carefully willi Ihe iM'deral aiilhorilies.
When eomplainls were reeei\'ed which seemed well
founded, a confiM'eiice, friendly or formal, was held wilh
Ihe aeciised. I<]ach defendani was i^ix'en op|)orlunily lo
be heard bolli in person and by wilnesses, and also had Ihe
;{!)!)
privilege of being represented by counsel. The head of the
Division of Enforcement made trips into the various coun-
ties, and many cases were heard at the offices of the. county
administrators. This procedure by circuit, especially in
the western part of the State, brought the regulations home
to the dealers of the district more forcibly than a distant
hearing in Boston. All told, over 500 cases were given
formal hearing, and many more were disposed of informally.
A perplexing question was that of procedure against con-
sumers who violated rules. Because of the insistence of
Mr. Hoover that the approach to the public must be kept
on a voluntary basis, the Enforcement Division was used
against householders in only a few peculiarly flagrant cases.
In general, it was sufficient to make it dangerous for dealers
to connive with householders. Public opinion was the chief
deterrent in this field, and without its support success would
have been impossible.
The first large group of offences arose in the matter of
wheat substitutes. A Bakers' Committee was organized for
the policing of bakers by bakers. A similar committee of
grocers was formed, and where correction of wrong practices
was possible, cases were not brought to the Enforcement
Division. These two groups of food distributors — bakers
and retail grocers — included many ignorant and untrained
persons, and it was difficult to make sure that they under-
stood the rules. Some of them wilfully used ignorance as
a shield of disobedience. In the baking industry analysis
of the product was very difficult, and the improper use of
substitutes could be checked only by inspecting the bakers*
purchases of ingredients.
The small retailer could be kept in line only by insisting
that he purchase due amounts of substitutes with his flour,
and that he make the required combination sales. Whole-
sale grocers were of great assistance here by refusing to sell
white flour without the required substitutes, and by report-
ing cases of violation by retailers. The grocery trade, as
a whole, gave full co-operation to the administration, and
400
the problem of enforcement was reduced to a minimum by
frank dependence upon trade committees to secure com-
pliance before cases reached the stage of prosecution.
The problems of wheat substitutes had hardly been solved,
and the trades brought into line, when the shortage of sugar
compelled drastic rules concerning its use. The difficulties
of making an equitable distribution of sugar had never
before been forced upon the trade by an insufficient supply,
and it is not strange that much confusion and many honest
errors resulted. During the months of July, x\ugust, Sep-
tember and October, 1918, most of the time of the Division
of Enforcement was devoted to sugar cases. Many dealers
and consumers who would have scorned to permit themselves
unpatriotic action with reference to wheat substitutes seemed
devoid of conscience in the case of sugar. In fact, the
enforcement of sugar rules was in many respects the most
difficult matter which came before the Division of Enforce-
ment. The sugar problem also appeared in hotels and
restaurants, and because they were not under license proved
much more difficult. Here, again, appeal to the patriotism
of owners and proprietors, and the spur of public sentiment,
were the most efiicient instruments of enforcement.
Another type of case came from the Division of Trans-
portation. A board of arbitration had been set up to secure
the prompt unloading of cars. Delay, due to the refusal
of consignees to accept shipments, hampered transportation
and tended to cause waste of perishable foods. In the
greater number of the 400 cases handled, report to the
Enforcement Division was not necessary. In a few cases
one or both parties refused to accept arbitration, and pro-
posed to fight the matter out, leaving the foodstuff's to
deteriorate. The Division of Enforcement was then able
to require that the shipments should be put into channels
of distribution before the food spoiled.
In January and February, 1918, transportation difii-
culties were so great that some question arose as to whether
adequate stocks of Hebrew passover bread, or matzoth,
-101
would be received in time for the feast of Passover. The
matter was taken up with the transportation companies,
and ultimately a supply arrived in due time. It then ap-
peared that because of the shortage of supply and a virtual
cornering of the market some dealers were profiteering.
Such were promptly taken to task by the Food Adminis-
tration and the proper penalties inflicted, with the result
that the unlawful practice was speedily checked.
(c) Cold Storage and Flour Stock
From every public or private cold-storage warehouse in
the State, a monthly report was required by the Food Ad-
ministration showing the quantity on hand of certain lead-
ing foodstuffs. By means of these, and through comparison
with amounts in storage the preceding year, cases which
looked like hoarding could be easily detected. Summaries
were also drawn up which made it possible to see tendencies
toward shortage of supply in each kind of food.
As a further protection to the public against holding food
for a rise in prices, the chief individual concerns carrying
edible commodities in storage were obliged to file a similar
monthly' report, and by studying their financial rating any
improper speculative operations could be discovered. After
six or eight months these latter reports proved unnecessary,
and were dropped, partly because most of the concerns were
licensed and made similar reports to Washington.
From November, 1918, every railroad entering Boston
sent in a daily report of flour received in that city (other
than for export), with the name of all consignees. The
information was thus in hand for adjusting, when necessary,
the shipments to Boston from flour mills.
These departments of the work were in charge of R. M.
Everett and H. C. Everett, Jr., who kept at all times a
complete body of information available which would have
been indispensable if emergencies had arisen.
402
(d) Price Division
The publication of prices, a task at once onerous and
exacting, was put in January, 1918, into the hands of Rich-
ard M. Everett and Henry C. Everett, Jr., and carried
through by them uninterruptedly until the Committee on
Public Safety dissolved. The work of the division covered
both wholesale and retail trades. A Trade Committee,
consisting of the following persons, met every few days and
rendered indispensable services : —
C. F. Adams.
C. O. Blood.
James D. Casey.
Henry S. Potter, Jr.
Leonard H. Rhodes.
H. A. Spinney.
Charles S. Tenney.
With the Committee, besides R. M. and H. C. Everett, Jr.
(joint chairman), met regularly J. Frank O'Hare of the
Committee on Public Safety, Mrs.. W. M. Wheeler of the
Women's Municipal League, Mrs. E. W. Hoist, and Miss
Bertha R. Eastman. In the price publication work an
important part was played by the existing organization for
price investigation of the Women's Municipal League under
Mrs. Wheeler.
An elaborate system of reports from wholesale dealers
was maintained. From these it was possible to follow the
prices charged to retailers, and to know the gross profit
of the wholesaler. They were checked with the margin
allowed by the United States Food Administration, and
where excessive profits were found, inspectors made careful
and thorough investigation from the dealers' books. The
chief work, however, of the division was to publish fair
prices, which were determined by means of the weekly
wholesale reports through the aid of the Trade Committees.
The prices on a selected list of commodities, published
weekly, included both prevailing prices paid by retailers
and fair prices to be charged to consumers. Copies of this
weekly statement were furnished from the outset to every
403
newspaper in the State, and eventually, under pressure from
the public, a large number of newspapers carried it regularly.
It was also regularly published in the weekly "Food Ad-
ministration Bulletin." This systenuitic publication of
prices is believed to have protected consumers against
improper prices, and at the same time to have protected
dealers against adverse public criticism of their necessarily
high but not unfair prices. After careful study of local
conditions it was found that two sets of prices would be
sufficient : one applying to the western counties, — Berk-
shire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire, — and the other
to the rest of the State.
From nearly 700 consumers throughout the State, organ-
ized by Mrs. W. M. Wheeler, regular sheets were received
showing prices actually charged by local stores. These
proved of great value as a check on other methods of regu-
lating prices, and as a means of discovering individual profits
above the allowed margin.
Consideration was chiefly given to grocery prices, but
prices of fruit and vegetables were also published. Ques-
tions relating to the prices of fish are dealt with in another
section. The most difficult problem encountered by the
Price Division was that of determining a fair price for meat,
especially beef. For the purpose of regulating prices a
standardization of cuts seemed to be necessary.
The chairmen of the Price Division Committee agreed
that the public during the war was too much disposed to
blame the retailers for the prevailing high prices. Great
numbers of cases were investigated, and many retailers were
reproved; but the chief cause of what seemed to be blame-
worthy action on their part not infrequently turned out to
be ignorance.
404
CHAPTER VI
PUBLIC EATING PLACES AND BAKERS
(a) Hotels and Restaurants
On July 13, 1917, Mr. Hoover, following suggestions from
the hotel associations of the country, appointed a Hotel
Men's Conservation Committee of five. On this Committee
the New England representative was Frank C. Hall of the
Hotel Somerset, Boston. Early in September a hotel com-
mittee of the Massachusetts Food Administration was
organized (see Appendix, page 571), with Mr. Hall as
chairman, who thus became a member of Mr. Endicott's
staff.
As early as August 1, 1917, a conference of hotel men at
Washington had worked out the main lines to which con-
servation endeavor in hotels ought to be directed, with a
view to the saving of wheat, pork products, butter and all
fats, and beef, and to a greater use of sea food, fresh vege-
tables and fruits.
The first step in Massachusetts was the "No white bread
week" of August 6 to 12, 1917, recommended to the public
and especially to hotels by Mr. Endicott after a conference,
July 31, with representatives of the New England, Massa-
chusetts and Boston Hotel Associations. The voluntary
response from all sides to this request was highly gratifying,
and gave full ground to believe that public eating places,
and the public which they served, would render complete
support to the many and varied measures which, it was
foreseen, must follow.
In September, Tuesday of each week was made a beefless
day for public eating places. In October Mr. Endicott
felt that the assured fish supply made it possible to request
that Tuesday, in addition to the already customary Friday,
405
be observed as a fish day, and the hotel committee circu-
lated pledge cards and posters to that effect. Tlie adminis-
tration also furnished at this time, and for some months
subsequently, menu blanks on which extended instructions
and ai)peals regarding food were printed, with one page
left blank for the menu itself. For the waiters and em-
])loyees a pknlge card was also ]n'ovi(led.
At about the same time an inspection began of monthly
reports of meat and wheat saved and of fish used, and Mr.
Hall started a collection of actual hotel and restaurant
menus. Wednesday and Thursday were designated as
"wheatless days."
In November, with the possibility ahead that all public
eating places would be put under license, renewed efforts
on a large scale were put out to secure voluntary compliance
with the request for two wheatless days and two no white
bread days. It had already become evident that unfair
competition by the unscrupidous made the position of the
loyal almost impossible, unless uniformity could be attained.
The monthly reports already showed a great saving of meats
and white flour, and also of sugar, in all public eating places.
In December many hotels and restaurants came inider
the rule requiring bakers to be licensed, and thereafter
these large eating places were regulated by law. The aid
of commercial travelers and of the fraternal orders was
available in many phases of the work. Constant pressure
was kept up by address and appeal, by instruction and
advice, as to the best methods of making the many incon-
venient changes involved. All sorts of questions arose as
to sandwiches, sellers of "hot dogs," the composition of
"frankfurters," the possibility of using substitutes in dough-
nuts, crackers and cake, and countless other things, and
the members of the office force not previously conversant
with these subjects acquired much interesting information
about the food they had previously merely eaten. Many
ingenious methods were devised by the technical employees
of hotels and bakeries, and many things deemed impossible
406
proved not beyond human power. One of the great achieve-
ments, but by no means the only one, was a war oyster
cracker containing 55 per cent of rye.
The "general plan" issued in January, 1918, gives a good
idea of the whole subject. In detail, however, the changing
seasons brought changing applications of the general prin-
ciples, especially in relation to meat and poultry; and these
changes were necessarily so many that the Massachusetts
oflBce found it extremely difficult to keep up to date its
general summaries of rules, even though frequently issued
at large expense. The plan referred to was as follows : —
General Plan
Our problem is to feed our Allies this winter by sending them as much
food as we can of the most concentrated nutritive value in the least
shipping space. These foods are wheat, beef, pork, dairy products and
sugar.
Our solution is to eat less of these and more of other foods of which
we have an abundance, and to waste less of all foods.
Bread
Serve breads or rolls made from corn, rye or from mixed flour. Use
breakfast food and hot cakes composed of corn, oatmeal, buckwheat,
rice or hominy. Under European plan, give individual service of bread
and butter of uniform weight, rolls or slices to weigh not more than 1|
ounces. Serve absolutely no toast as garniture or under meat, etc.
Serve war bread. Do not serve bread and butter before the first course.
People eat them without thought. Where a charge is made for bread,
a higher charge should be made for white bread. If white bread is de-
manded, charge for it.
Meat
Use more chicken, fish, hare, rabbit, duck, goose, lobster, oysters,
clams, sea foods and egg dishes of all kinds. Use less beef, mutton and
pork. Serve smaller portions of these. Have fewer of these items on
the menu. If you must include one of the three, use mutton in prefer-
ence. Serve "per person" portions of these meats, of moderate size,
and charge accordingly. War portions at reduced prices may be served.
Provide more entrees and made dishes. Beans are most useful, as they
contain nearly the same nutritive values as meat. Serve bacon only as
a dish, not as a garniture.
407
Fish
Tuesday and Friday are fisli days. Serve larger variety on those days.
On otlier days also be sure to serve enough kinds. Fish, either fresh,
salt or smoked, forms an excellent substitute for meat. It has high food
value and can be made extremely palatable. Special attention given to
the fish on your menu will be worth while. New kinds of fish, such as
whiting, gray fish, pollock, are being introduced. Try them.
Milk
Use it all. Economize on milk and cream except for children. Serve
buttermilk. Serve cottage cheese regularly in varying forms; it is
especially nutritious. Use skimmed milk in cooking. A great cjuantity
of it goes to waste in the country. Use cheese generally. The children
must ha^•e whole milk; therefore, reduce the use of cream.
Fats
Serve as few fried dishes as possible so as to save both butter and lard,
and in any event use vegetable oils for frying, that is, olive oil, corn oil,
cottonseed oil, vegetable oil compounds, etc. They are equally good.
Serve all butter in standard pats, for guests and employees. A butter
pat machine promotes economy. Trim all coarse fats from meats be-
fore cooking, and sell the waste fats to the soap maker, thereby increasing
supply of soap and glycerine. We are short of soap fats, as our supplies
of tropical oils for soap making are much reduced. Do not waste soap.
Sugar
Use less candy and sweet drinks. Use honey, maple syrup, molasses
and dark sjrups with hot cakes and waffles in order to save butter and
sugar. Use also all classes of fruit preserves, jams, marmalades and
jellies. Use brown sugar in cooking, and economize by the use of granu-
lated sugar on the table. Do not frost or ice cakes. Use honey for sweet-
ening pastry and cakes.
Vegetables
Use more vegetables and potatoes. Make fruits and vegetables into
salads and attractive dishes. Feature vegetable dinners and vegetable
salads of all kinds. Encourage the use of cheese with salads. We have
a great surplus of vegetables, and they can be used by substituting them
for staples, so that the staples most needed will be saved.
General
Use local and seasonal supplies. Do not require abnormal use of the
railways to transport products from far afield, now that we need all
cars possible for war purposes.
408
All waste food should be saved to feed animals or for reduction to
obtain the fats. No food should be burned.
The encouragement of hors d'ccuvre of vegetable salads, fish and sea
food at the start of the meal, and of cheese, fruit and coffee at its end,
will save greatly in all staples, and permit the effective use of many
available foods. Reduce the number of courses served which contain
the staples that must be saved for export. This means beef, pork prod-
ucts and wheat.
Table d'hote service, unless very carefully supervised, results in waste
in eating and preparation, and should be discouraged in larger hotels and
restaurants wherever conditions will permit. In circumstances requiring
table d'hote meals, articles of food not required for export to our Allies
should be served. The American plan hotel or restaurant should require
its guests to choose specifically in writing from the items offered, as in
the European plan, so as to avoid waste.
The cafeteria system is recommended for employees wherever possible,
as it facilitates service and eliminates waste.
Note. — Under various circumstances and with varying conditions
advisable modifications of our plan and other opportunities for food saving
will suggest themselves to you. The essential is a sincere and patriotic
will to save, and thus serve the country.
Henby B. Endicott,
Food Administrator.
In late January, 1918, by proclamation of the President
of the United States, the plan was modified by asking for
one wheatless meal a day ia addition to the two wheat less
days, and by other changes which only partly coflformed
to the needs of the Massachusetts situation. At about the
same time a more complete organization was effected by
Mr. Hall, with six "zone captains" for the city of Boston,
and three hundred "town captains" in the other counties
of the State. Under Mr. E. H. Ansell of the New England
Telephone and Telegraph Company, industrial and school
restaurants feeding 200,000 persons daily were covered by
pledges and inspection service.
It would be impossible to trace in detail the development
of rules and of methods of appeal and enforcement which
were part of the plan for reducing by 30 per cent the total
consumption of wheat in the country for the crop year
409
1917-18. The culmination came in the dramatic occasion
on March 29, when a large body of leading hotel and restau-
rant men gathered at Washington and responded with fidl
heart and voice to Mr. Hoover's statement of the extreme
anxiety of the public crisis, by pledging themselves to con-
duct their establishments without the use of any wheat
products whatever. The effect of tliis action directly, and
also indirectly, by bringing the urgency of the situation home
to householders and setting them an example, was great
and far-reaching. The hotel and restaurant keepers most
sincerely tried to keep their pledge, and to a large and
highly honorable degree did so, until the supply from the
new crop permitting, they were released by Mr. Hoover on
August 1, 1918. The task required much earnest effort
and patriotic endeavor. As one looks back on the inci-
dent, the significance of the ringing reply which these men
gave without hesitation or reserve can hardly be over-
estimated.
As an example of the work of the hotels and restaurants
the following table is interesting. It gives the saving of
various articles in public eating places in Massachusetts in
the months of April, May, June and July, 1918, as compared
with the corresponding period of normal times.
Pounds
Meats, 9,5t6,272
Flour," 5,929,396
Sugar, 3,373,436
On the general subject of meat saving, it is significant
that a committee of wholesale packers and representatives
of meat houses complained bitterly to the administration
that their sales of beef had fallen to 25 per cent of normal,
and their sales of other kinds of meat to less than 50 per
cent. Nothing, however, shows the willingness on the part
of the people of Massachusetts to do everything in their
])ower to help our suffering Allies more plainly than their
action when told of the great need in Belgium, France and
England for meat. A letter sent to Mr. Endicott from
410
Washington by Mr. John E. McBowman, chairman of the
Hotel and Restaurant Division, showed that Massachusetts
saved over one-tenth of all the meat saved in the entire country.
The supervision of conservation in hotels, restaurants and
clubs reflected on every side the complex and successive
phases of the administration's efforts for conservation.
Many recipes, especially adapted for public eating places,
were considered, experimented with and issued to the public.
Much attention was given to the problem of making general
bakery products with the least practicable use of wheat;
if possible, with less than the government regulations per-
mitted. The increased use of milk and of potatoes, economy
through simplification of menus and by diminished use of
fats, carefulness in wastes and in disposal of garbage, and
the collection of fruit stones for gas-mask charcoal were all
earnestly promoted. Open sugar bowls were abolished.
On December 23, 1918, restrictions on public eating
places in Massachusetts were removed. It may be said in
conclusion that no body of persons in Massachusetts worked
harder and with better spirit and truer patriotism in the
civilian support of war measures, and made more fully the
sacrifices necessary for the war, than the proprietors of
public eating places, under the general supervision of Mr.
Hall.
(b) Baking Division
Questions relating to bread arose in the summer of 1917,
and in conference with the leading bakers of Massachusetts,
Mr. Endicott began work looking to a possible reduction
in the already high price of bread, and also to the abolition
of the bakers' customary practice of allowing grocers to
return to manufacturers stale bread and cake. When the
Baking Division of the United States Food Administration
came into full activity in the early autumn, the relation of
the Massachusetts Food Administration to the whole baking
industry of the State became close, and touched many
subjects.
411
Some 40 to 50 per cent of all bread eaten in the United
States is baked in commercial bakeries, and this bread
offered an immediate point of attack for the conservation
of wheat. In solving this problem it was necessary to
secure the co-operation of the bakers, and, as well, volun-
tary self-denial on the part of purchasers, without which
the bakers would have been almost helpless. The questions
related to wheat, sugar (both as an ingredient and in short-
ening) and fats.
Until December the work with bakers was on a voluntary
basis, and in that period some considerable progress was
made, especially in establishing mutual confidence between
the administration and the trade. Early in December all
bakers (including hotels, restaurants and clubs) using not
less than ten barrels of flour or meal a month were put under
license, and thereafter a succession of rules was put out by
the Food Administration which the Massachusetts Adminis-
tration had to interpret and enforce. The principal rules
related to the weight of bread (in order to secure uniformity
in weight and so in price), to the return of stale bread by
grocers, and to the amount of sugar, shortening and milk
permitted in bakers' bread. The rule about price was at
this time limited to the principle that bakers must not take
greater profits than had been their practice before the
beginning of the war.
From the outset the administration received much aid
from Mr. Thure Hanson, State Commissioner of Weights
and Measures. Mr. Hanson's previous experience in in-
vestigating the price of bread sold in the State, and espe-
cially his large staff of local sealers of weights and meas-
ures scattered throughout Massachusetts and in constant
contact with grocers and provision dealers, made it possible
for the administration to call on him over and over again.
It repeatedly happened that instructions from Washington
to furnish immediate statistical information could hardly
have been met at all without his efficient aid.
One of the problems was to make sure that foreign-
412
speaking bakers understood the regulations; and transla-
tions of the rules were published in four languages and
distributed to foreign bakers, and then discussed at meet-
ings held with them. In the end but little difficulty was
found even here in enforcing the rules.
In January, 1918, the gravity of the wheat situation was
made known, and it became evident that drastic measures
for conservation of wheat would soon be adopted. Before
the rules were finally formulated Mr. Endicott invited all
the 1,800 bakers of the State to meet at the State House.
Several hundred attended the meeting, heard Mr. Endi-
cott's explanation of the situation, and recognized that a
large proportion of substitutes would certainly be required
in all bakers' bread and other products. The task before
the bakers was a difficult one, but they accepted the situa-
tion promptly, and immediately began experiments in the
necessary change of technical processes. On January 27
the wheat conservation rules were announced, and all li-
censed bakers were required to use 20 per cent of substi-
tutes in their bread. This proportion was later increased,
but it proved impossible to require of bakers as great a
proportion of substitutes as could be safely used in bread
baked at home for immediate household use.
The organization for the administration and enforcement
of the regulations for licensed bakers constantly grew in
the number of persons emploj-ed and in the variety of its
tasks. The public demand for bread of white appearance,
and the relatively low price of wheat, increased the tempta-
tion of bakers to include less than the required substitutes,
and violation of the rules was difficult to detect because no
scientific method existed for determining the proportional
amount of wheat flour contained in mixed bread. The
work would have been impossible but for the organization
of the industry itself and the patriotic efforts of the leading
bakers. In its later labors the Baking Division was much
concerned with prices, which in the end were virtually fixed
by the administration. The limitation of the use of sugar
413
in bread and cake, including frosting, was also an important
aim during most of the war.
The division was able to co-operate with the bakers in
sending out important scientific information relating to the
prevention of the bread disease known as "rope;" and in
this connection, through local officers, tried to secure an
improvement in the cleanliness of bakeries. Valuable aid
was received on the scientific side from Prof. Lawrence J.
Henderson of Harvard University.
The routine work of the Baking Division, very ably
handled by Mr. Arthur N. Milliken, its chief, was heavy,
and engaged a number of persons. The monthly and weekly
reports which were essential in the enforcement of the sub-
stitute rules, correspondence with the county food adminis-
trators, and conferences every day with bakers who found
difficulties in complying with the rules or had misunder-
stood them, or who came to complain of unfair competi-
tion, occupied a great amount of time.
The very large saving of wheat effected in bakers' prod-
ucts was due to the friendly and cordial relations which it
was possible to maintain with the trade, and to the efforts
of the more experienced bakers in helping the less-informed
to a knowledge of how to observe the regulations without
spoiling their product. The bakers of Massachusetts cheer-
fully submitted to restrictions, and voluntarily co-operated
in methods of doing their business which meant great in-
convenience, diminished returns, and in many cases actual
loss. They fully earned the right to say that they had put
patriotism above self-interest.
414
CHAPTER VII
FOOD COMMODITIES
(a) Cereal Division
Wheat Flour and Cereal "Substitutes"
The relations of the Food Administration with the cereal
trades began with the approach of winter in 1917, at which
time Mr. Endicott laid on Mr. Ratshesky the responsibility
of securing adequate flour supplies for the State, and of
regulating its distribution.
The United States Food Administration, within a few
days after its organization in August, had licensed the
millers of wheat and rye flour and had limited their profits
to the pre-war level. The maximum profit permissible to
the miller, over the actual expenses, was 25 cents per barrel
on flour, and 50 cents per ton on the by-products, i.e., wheat
mill feeds. The millers were allowed to adjust their prices
on flour and feed in accordance with the relative supply
and demand of the two together, provided the total profit
on both classes of products did not exceed the maximum
above named. The millers were also required by the ad-
ministration, beginning in the fall of 1917, to extract a
larger proportion of the wheat kernel in the form of flour
than had been the trade custom.
In October, 1917, all wholesale distributors and the larger
retailers of flour were licensed, and their profits also were
restricted, supposedly to the pre-war level. The Wash-
ington Administration soon gave the trades to understand
that it regarded any margins in excess of 50 to 75 cents per
barrel for wholesale transactions, and $1.20 per barrel for
retail transactions, to be larger than the average pre-war
rate, and consequently cause for revocation of license.
Measured by percentages, however, there are some indica-
tions that these figures were actually somewhat lower than
415
the average pre-war rate of profit in these trades, since the
price of flour had greatly increased since 1914.
The commercial bakeries were put under license by De-
cember 10, 1917, and their profits and practices controlled
by the Food Administration; the prices of wheat had been
stabilized through the oi)erations of the Food Administra-
tion's Grain Cor])oration; and drastic penalties were pro-
vided for hoarding by any individual. Therefore the use
of the most vital foodstuff, wheat, was regulated in sub-
stantially all of its phases. Yet the exemption of the
nmltitude of small dealers from license by the terms of the
Food Control Act seemed likely to impair somewhat the
administration's power to control distribution.
Difficulties from the Thirty-Day Rule
One of the main pillars in Mr. Hoover's food control
system was the license rule forbidding any distributor of
flour (and of nearly all other staples) to hold in his possession,
or under control by contract, a larger supply than would be
sufficient for his ordinary business requirements for thirty
days. This rule was designed to prevent speculation and
also to reduce hoarding.
It was apparent to the Massachusetts Administration at
the beginning of the winter that this thirty-day rule on
flour, which had been made applicable to the whole country,
would jeopardize New England's necessary su})plies for the
winter. Distributors near the mills could operate on thirty-
day reserves; but New England distributors, depending on
two railway lines from the West, would find their reserves
exhausted in case, on account of winter weather, the running
time of flour from tlie mills should slow down from the usual
two weeks in good weather to two months. Such a slowing
down did, in fact, occur, and due to the unusual severity
of the winter, as well as to other impediments to transpor-
tation, abnormally slow movement continued for al)out
four months.
This possibility of a flour famine in Massachusetts, with
416
attendant unrest among the foreign population, was fore-
seen by a number of the flour dealers and brought to the
attention of the administration. After a meeting with the
dealers in the latter part of November, 1917, Mr. Endicott
gave the distributors and bakers special permission to ac-
cumulate more than thirty days' supply before the trans-
portation troubles should fully develop.
In the following January and February, when cars from
the West were being held up all along the line, the wisdom
of this action was made clearly evident. The administra-
tion was approached nearly every day by bakers, dealers
and some important public and private institutions for
assistance in securing the minimum of flour necessary' for
their current use. Not less than one hundred such appli-
cations were received, and in every case means were found
to help the applicants. It was often necessary to ask the
dealers, who had been allowed to obtain larger than thirty-
day reserves, to go out of their accustomed channels in order
to provide supplies. During this period Mr. Ratshesky
was assisted by Mr. C. O. Blood of Lynn. Mr. Blood,
anticipating still greater difiiculties to come, held conferences
with distributors on the possibility of adopting flour ration
cards, similar to the grocers' sugar cards which had l)een
installed in many places. The necessary complexity of such
a system was surprising. The mere fact that the people
would always be getting a part of their flour in the form of
bread, or other baked goods, suggests the difficulty inherent
in a rationing program. But the shortage of flour supplies
never became sufficiently grave to call for such extreme
measures.
Prevention of Hoarding
Throughout the nine months from November, 1917, to
August, 1918, the administration was keenly alive to the
danger of private hoarding likely to result from reports of
flour shortage, which, if it became widespread, was certain
to intensify shortage. The conspicuous sugar deficiency in
417
October, November and December, 1917, had shown what
happens when an important article of food becomes un-
comfortably scarce. At the first sign of scarcity of flour,
a multitude of people would have remembered the sugar
experience, and have tried to protect themselves on flour.
An absurd run on salt for a few days in the Boston stores
showed how easily a panic may arise, even without the
slightest foundation.
The suggestion of danger, however, would have itself
tended to bring on a perilous situation. Accordingly, the
first cases of imreasonably large supplies of flour in the hands
of individuals which came to the attention of the adminis-
tration were dealt with privately by patriotic appeal, and
no publicity was given.
Early in December, 1917, Mr. Endicott addressed a
circular letter to all the retail grocers in the State, strongly
impressing on them their duty to prevent hoarding, and
asking them to sell only a small quantity to a customer at
a time, preferably as low as one-eighth barrel. By the 1st
of February the license regulations compelled all licensed
retailers to sell small quantities to consumers, and by this
time the compulsory use of cereal "substitutes" with wheat
flour had been inaugurated. It then became safe to talk
publicly about the wrong of hoarding flour, and reported
cases of hoarding w^ere dealt wdth more sternly. Several
women who had purchased barrel lots were obliged to return
to the grocer their excess over one-eighth barrel. The
grocer in each case was also summoned and made acquainted
with the penalties for connivance at hoarding. The county
administrators dealt with a number of individual cases by
similar methods, and publicity was given to the cases, to-
gether with reports of penalties inflicted in other States.
Report on Flour Census
In the latter part of March and early in April, 1918, the
very great need of flour for export to our soldiers and Allies
was impressed upon the State Food Administrators by Mr.
418
Hoover. To brincj this need as forcibly as possible before
the public a flour census was deemed advisable. This
measure had the further advantage that, if it should appear
that any considerable stocks were being hoarded, proper
steps could be taken to use the stocks and, if necessary, to
punish the hoarders.
It was evident from the beginning that the stocks in
Massachusetts would not be available in large enough units,
nor in proper packing, to be exported to Europe. It was
hoped, however, that the inflow of flour into Massachusetts
might be checked, and our stocks on hand made to last
until the next harvest, and assistance was asked from whole-
salers, retailers, hotels, bakeries, institutions and house-
holds. The wholesalers were requested to send in a card
showing their stock on hand, and if they had over thirty
days' supply to obtain a permit to retain the same, with
an agreement on their part to hold it subject to the orders
of the Food Administration. Retailers were required to
make return of their stocks, and if these appeared to be
considerable and to amount to more than a thirty days'
supply, they were also required to obtain a similar permit,
as were likewise the hotels and the bakers and private
institutions.
The directors of public institutions were called together
and the situation explained to them, and they unanimously
pledged themselves to reduce to a minimum their use of
wheat flour, and to hold their excess subject to the order
of the Food Administration.
The householders' canvass, which involved enormous
work on the part of the county food administrators, was
also of the greatest value, and brought home to the house-
holders the seriousness of the situation and the need of
individual effort on their part. Householders who had over
a barrel of flour, where a barrel was more than a thirty days'
supply, were as a rule required to hold their excess stock
subject to the order of the Food Administration. A few
cases of criminal hoarding were punished in other ways.
419
At the same time, appeals were made, chiefly through the
women's organizations, for signatures to a householders' roll
of honor pledge, by which a large number of householders
pledged themselves to use no more wheat flour until the
arrival in Massachusetts of flour from the next harvest,
due about September 1, 1918.
The campaign, which was in charge of Mr. W. L. Putnam,
was concluded at Mr. Hoover's request about the end of
July, by which time enough flour had been conserved to
answer the purpose. As a result of the efforts made, im-
ports of flour into the State decreased from 44,000 barrels
for the week ending April 13 to 16,000 barrels for the week
ending June 22, and the amount continued small for sev-
eral weeks after this. This decrease was accomplished in
spite of the fact that it was necessary for the Food Adminis-
tration to supply flour to a large number of transports sail-
ing with troops from Boston and other New England ports.
The receipt of flour in Boston in normal times is about
65,000 barrels a week.
The information contained in the flour return cards from
individuals was in most counties not tabulated, although
the cards were all scrutinized for cases of hoarding. The
result of the tabulation in one large and representative
county (Middlesex) is of considerable interest. These re-
turns were from 54 towns and cities, and the total of cards
was 36,151. Of this total, only 5,325 cards showed pos-
session of more than one barrel. The number of cards be-
tween one and two barrels was 4,863. The cards of two
barrels or over totaled 462. If we reckon at one and a half
barrels the amount held by the group between one and
two barrels, there was in the hands of this class 7,294 bar-
rels of flour. If the second class be reckoned, at two and
a half barrels, it represented 1,155 barrels. The total of
flour in these two classes is not much more than two days'
supply for metropolitan Boston in normal times.
420
Compulsory Use of Cereal "Substitutes"
The program of the United States Food Administration
for the conservation of wheat flour by the compulsory sale
and use of other cereals in combination with it was launched
on Sunday, January 27, 1918. The fundamental provi-
sions were that a wholesaler should not sell flour to a retailer,
nor a retailer to a consumer, unless the customer bought
at the same time one pound of authorized wheat flour
*' substitutes" (certain products of corn, oats, barley, rice
and a few other foods) for each pound of flour; and that
all commercial bakers must mix 20 to 25 per cent of these
same substitute cereals in all bread. The pound-for-pound
rule in the family trade was not made effective immediately,
as sufficient supplies of substitutes were not yet available
in Massachusetts, so Mr. Endicott authorized the sale of
three pounds of flour with one pound of substitutes until
February 10. Even by this time the supply of substitutes
was small, and by permission from Washington potatoes
were for some weeks continued as a substitute. The great
and unsatisfied demand for substitutes in this period of
scarcity resulted in very large orders being immediately
placed with the western mills, and later in an enonnous
oversupply of cereal products in the Massachusetts market.
The measures to which this gave rise are described below.
Considerable criticism was expressed in Massachusetts,
as doubtless elsewhere, of the different treatment of bakers
and of household users of flour. The answer was that
bakers' bread could not be made with more than 25 per
cent of substitutes, if it were to stand the necessary hatid-
ling before reaching the consumer. The housewife, on the
other hand, could use her 50 per cent of substitutes in
various quick breads containing little or no wheat, and also
in dishes other than bread, such as puddings and por-
ridges. The question was complicated by the ruling allow-
ing public eating places to obtain flour on the 3 to 1 basis
because they held bakers' licenses. The public eating
421
places appeared to have all the facilities of the householder
for using 50 per cent of substitutes, but the Food Adminis-
tration treated them as bakers, since it had required them
to be licensed as such.
As was to be expected, a number of violations of the
substitute regulations were soon reported to the Massachu-
setts Administration. A number of these proved upon in-
vestigation to be the result of ignorance, and in a large
percentage of all the cases it was impossible to secure satis-
factory evidence. Some complaints, a comparatively small
number, turned out to be deliberate violations, and the
wrongdoers were punished.
The weekly "Food Administration Bulletin," containing
the rules in full and all the changes and interpretations
made from time to time, was sent to all retail grocers in the
State, and likewise some 15,000 large posters summarizing
the flour and substitute regulations.
After a few weeks the complaints coming to the State
House diminished perceptibly in number, partly because
of a great decrease in violations, and partly because of the
increasing share of the county and local administrators in
the work. The small retailers who were exempt from li-
cense were compelled to obey the substitute regulations
under penalty of having their supplies from the licensed
wholesalers cut off. A number of wholesale flour dealers
were brought before the county administrators in April
and the following months, and some suspensions of license,
as well as large money contributions to war charities on
account of sales of flour without substitutes and of excessive
prices, followed.
The wheat conservation program of the Food Adminis-
tration was on the whole a distinguished success. As in-
dicated above, the people of Massachusetts, as also of the
other States, took it in good part. The rules were effectively
enforced by a very small body of officials, and the sales of
flour throughout the country were shown to have decreased
50 to 60 per cent for several continuous months. The
422
necessary quantities of wheat were sent to Europe, and
there was no bread shortage at home, although we were
tided over to the 1918 harvest by the narrowest of margins.
On September 1, 1918, the proportion of substitutes re-
quired was reduced for bakers and wholesalers to 20 per
cent, i.e., 1 pound of substitutes to 4 pounds of wheat flour.
The list of substitutes was also somewhat reduced, substan-
tially to corn meal, corn flour, rye flour and barley flour.
This program was based on the assumption that the war
would continue until the harvest of 1919. Immediately
after the signing of the armistice, on November 11, the
substitute regulations were all repealed and the use of
straight white flour again permitted. The considerable con-
servation which the 80-20 rules had accomplished during
these months, together with the abundant wheat harvest
of 1918, had already resulted in a great accumulation of
wheat flour, the handling and financing of which was very
difficult for the government as well as for the dealers. By
the end of 1918 the flour situation in Massachusetts was the
reverse of that of 1917, every distributor and consumer
having provided himself with large stocks.
The Food Administration's Purchase of Surplus
Cereals for Export
In May, 1918, the glut of substitute cereals already re-
ferred to took place in the markets of Massachusetts, the
same as elsewhere on the Atlantic seaboard. Among the
causes of this condition may be distinguished the following.
In February and March, when the rules were first made,
a great demand arose for the substitutes. These coarse
grain products are manufactured chiefly in the central part
of the United States, so that in addition to waiting for the
production to readjust itself, the eastern markets were
compelled to wait for transportation. The short available
supplies and the large demand naturally resulted in a rising
market, and numerous speculative purchases were made
423
besides those from actual consumers. The rising prices of
the substitutes were the occasion of much criticism, and
caused great anxiety to the Food Administration, which
had no legal authority to limit the farmers' price for their
grain. The release of transportation also resulted in the
sudden arrival, all at once, of supplies previously ordered.
Another contributing factor was the diminished consump-
tion of all breadstuffs, due to the unpalatable nature of the
substitute mixtures. The orders for cereals had apparently
been placed on the assumption that the total amount of
bread used would be about normal. A less important
cause was the removal on April 1 of rye flour and meal from
the bakers' substitute list. The Washington Administra-
tion believed that the stocks of rye must be protected in
that way for the foreign populations who depend upon
rye bread. In Massachusetts, in spite of the displeasure
of Washington, permission was given to bakers to use rye
until INlay 1; but this relief was not sufficient, and when
the glut of cereals first arose there were very large inactive
stocks of rye products.
Early in May the Massachusetts Food Administration
became concerned about the dangerous condition of the
flour trade. The increasing number of complaints of re-
jections of substitute arrivals by consignees was one symp-
tom, and many notes of alarm were heard from the trade
as to how the flood of cereals which was about to come in
could be taken care of. Clearly, much of the corn meal,
rye meal, barley flour, and perhaps of the other substitutes,
could not be carried through the summer, because in hot
weather these commodities become rancid from the fat they
contain, or contract weevils. The poor quality of much
of the milling, due to the attraction of many inexperienced
concerns into the field, was a large element in the situation.
Mr. Ratshesky gave the matter almost his entire atten-
tion for several weeks. Careful inquiry showed that at
least 80,000 barrels of cereals should be taken out of the
market entirely, in order that the balance might be handled
424
before the warm summer weather would cause it to spoil.
Several remedies were discussed. These were the possible
export of barley or rye flour through the Wheat Export
Company (the Allied purchasing agency); educational
measures in the trades as to the best methods of storage,
and as to using in the first instance the more perishable
goods; embargo of further shipments into Massachusetts
from the mills; and the stimulation of consumption of the
more perishable goods by temporary change of the baking
regulations, as well as by instruction to consumers. To
restore rye flour and meal to the bakers' list of substitutes
would have merely improved the position of the rye holders
at the expense of the owners of corn meal, since the bakers
would have used rye products instead of corn meal or other
substitutes which were likewise superabundant.
A corn meal campaign was immediately started through
the household conservation and publicity agencies, remind-
ing the people that corn meal was good food and abundant,
and that the price had become relatively low. The Food
Administration at Washington was also urged to take action,
either through the bakers' rules or otherwise, in order to take
care of the great surplus. Under this pressure and similar
appeals from other New England States, and from New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other points, the pur-
chase was authorized about May 1 of several cargoes of
substitute cereals by the Food Administration Grain Cor-
poration, for export to neutral countries of Europe. A
steamer was to be furnished at Boston by the Grain Cor-
poration, and in order to adjust the cargoes to the tonnage
allotted, the entire purchasing for New England was to be
done through the Massachusetts office. A 5,000 ton steamer
was in Boston Harbor almost before the arrival of final
instructions to purchase, but the administration's informa-
tion as to the location of stocks was so adequate, and the
help given by certain members of the trade so efficient,
that it was possible to load the steamer within eight or ten
days after she reached the dock.
425
Although by this means 50,000 barrels had been removed
from the market, an embarrassing surphis still remained in
New England, and tlie Grain Corporation was prevailed
upon to make further purchases and furnish three more
steamers. The total quantity of cereals thus purchased
through the Massachusetts Food Administration in New
England for export was over 200,000 l)arrels, and the sellers
received more than $2,000,000 from the Grain Corporation
for the goods. Nearly three-fourths of this total for New
England came from INIassachusetts concerns. The under-
taking was all accomplished by July 8, 1918, and the course
of the market thereafter showed that the enterprise had
been entirely beneficial. No shortage of substitutes de-
veloped, and corn meal remained abundant. There was
almost no complaint of inequitable treatment, and the four
cargoes took virtually all the exportable goods that were
offered in New England.
Two other difficulties with cereals may be mentioned as
illustrating the complexity of the breadstuff rearrangements
which the Food Administration was compelled to undertake.
At the time of the glut of corn products, rye flour, etc., just
mentioned, a surplus of graham and entire wheat flour was
also reported from many concerns. These commodities had
been popular during the period of voluntary wheatless days
and wheatless meals, and the trade had been supplying
unusually large quantities. The compulsory regulations for
substitutes almost put an end to the use of entire wheat
and graham flour by householders, and the wholesale and
retail grocers were left with a number of carloads on hand,
which were in danger of spoilage or weevils before the
summer was over. It was out of the cfuestion to allow a
pure wheat product like graham and whole wheat to be
used as a wheat flour substitute. For a long time the
Federal Administration at Washington refused to let Massa-
chusetts give special permits for the sale of graham flour to
householders without substitutes. An attem])t was then
made to get the bakers voluntarily to use uj) the stocks of
42G
graham, but they reported they could not increase their
sales of graham bread. The administration published some
graham propaganda for householders, but no appreciable
relief was given until about the middle of August, when
the Food Administration relaxed its rules and permitted
existing stocks to be sold to families without substitutes.
A somewhat similar situation occurred in the case of plain
white corn flakes, one brand of which is called "Cream of
Maize." This product was put on the market during the
period of the 50-50 substitute regulations, and as it ap-
peared to be useful only in baking, was allowed as a sub-
stitute for householders. It gained considerable vogue, and
a number of carloads were in process of distribution through
the State by the 1st of September, when the substitute
rules were changed; plain corn flakes were pronounced to
be no substitute, and the market for them as a human food
was gone. An effort was made to secure special dispensa-
tion from Washington for this product, but without success.
About the 1st of November permits were given for such
stocks to be sold as a substitute, but soon after all substi-
tute regulations were abolished, and so the product was
still unsalable. As it could not be exported, apparently
the only disposition left for it was for animal feed,
A second export of surplus substitute cereals was under-
taken by the Food Administration through its Grain Cor-
poration in November, 1918, when the armistice and the
great wheat crop of 1918 led to the abolition of the sub-
stitute requirements. This export, instead of being confined
to the eastern seaboard, was undertaken throughout the
United States. The consumers and trades were urged to
consume the substitutes as far as possible, and the induce-
ment for them to do so was strong, because the prices were
usually favorable compared with wheat flour. At this time
the Grain Corporation secured a special representative for
New England, Mr. A. I. Merigold, and placed him in the
Massachusetts office. The Food Administrators of the other
States were called in for conference, and a plan of procedure
427
worked out for securing offers. Ships were secured which
took substantially all offerings of proper quality from New
England, as follows: — ■
Sacks
Barrels
Corn products,
Barley flour,
Rye flour, .
Victory flour,
Wheat flour,
143,715
73,305
33,441
17,432
17,660
9,399
8.343
4,698
16,560
9,998
(b) Grain and Feed Division
In the spring of 1917 prices of all feeds were advancing
sharply, following the advance in the price of wheat, and
dealers were uncertain of supplies. Consumers on their
part were suspicious of the grain dealers. The first work
of the Committee on Food Production was, therefore, to
assist in securing the delivery of shipments of grain, par-
ticularl}' cars consigned to co-operative associations. The
Committee also urged a larger home production of corn
and oats.
The second phase of the work in grain and feeds came
in August and September, 1917, and concerned the man-
ner of transacting business. One difficulty was that the
same jobber varied his practice in this respect in different
localities.
The evil to be remedied is made sufficiently clear by the
following circular letter, which was sent out after a con-
ference with the jobbers, in which their attention was
called to the provisions of the Food Control Act and to other
legislation : —
October 5, 1917.
To Feed Manufacturers and Wholesale and Retail Feed and Grain Dealers.
The attention of the Federal and State Food Administration has re-
cently been called to the fact that it has been more or less difficult for
farmers' co-operative associations and also large farmers who have the
428
facilities for taking care of carload shipments of feed and grain (both as
to finance and to storage) to buy grain and feed at wholesale prices.
The Federal and State Food Administrator feels that our State and
national welfare demand that it be possible for the large producer, who
is in this case the farmer, to purchase his feed and grain at the same prices
and under the same conditions that the retail feed dealer buys, in order
that he may, in turn, produce his dairy and other products at a mini-
mum cost.
In order to assist in accomplishing this object, the Administrator is
asking all feed manufacturers and all wholesale feed and grain dealers to
sell all consumers, who can purchase as outlined above, at the same price
as they are selling the retail feed dealer.
It is not the desire of the Administrator to disturb any present methods
of transacting business where those methods perform a necessary public
service. It is not his desire or intention, where it can be avoided, to
suggest any plan of operation which will work any material hardship on
any retail feed dealer who is performing his function properly.
Very truly yours,
H. B. Endicott,
Federal and State Food Administrator.
<
The majority of the grain and feed trade wilHngly com-
pHed with the request of this circular as soon as it l)ecame
evident that all must come under it alike. Such firms as
refused were warned that continuance of their practice
would lead to their retiring altogether from business with
farmers.
In November, 1917, difficulties about the supply of feeds
began to arise, due to a variety of causes. Transportation
facilities were congested and arrivals badly delayed. The
Federal wheat saving campaign had led to a diminished
output of wheat feeds, since a larger proportion of the berry
was applied to human consumption. Of the by-product
feeds made from corn, oats and barley the value was little
known. Millers were limited to a fixed margin of profit
per barrel of flour, and were required to take a profit of
50 cents per ton on feeds.
A still further difficulty came from the limitation of stocks
which dealers might have on hand or under control. In
order to make possible a due supply of grain and feed in
4'29
New England in the face of winter transportation risks,
the Massachusetts Food Administration had to secure for
New England dealers exceptions to the new regulations,
even at the cost of some incidental increase in prices.
A larger ordering of stocks was permitted; and had it
not been for the courage of New England jobbers in making
large calls on western supplies, it is probable that much
live stock in New England would have suffered and some
have perished.
In December and January various classes of grain and
feed dealers were placed under license, and a fixed price
placed on wheat feeds. The relatively high price of other
grains led western hog and beef feeders to sell corn and
oats, and purchase wheat feeds, at the same time that the
nonnal production of wheat feeds was diminished. Thus a
variety of circumstances, together with the most difficult
winter for transportation known for many years, left New
England with almost no stocks of wheat feed and no pros-
pect of getting any. Corn, oats, and barley feeds, too,
were hard to get, and in the months of January, February
and early March live stock were threatened with famine.
At many times the supply of oats available to feed Boston's
20,000 team horses was not adequate for more than three
days. An arrangement was made with the Food Adminis-
tration Grain Corporation, so that if an actual failure of
supply took place the stock of oats in the Mystic, Hoosac
and Albany elevators awaiting shipment to Europe could
be drawn upon. The committee of dealers agreed that such
stocks as were available should be divided among them in
order that each might take care of his local trade.
In February, 1918, after a series of conferences in Boston
and New York witli wholesale and retail dealers, rules were
issued relating to profits and to resales; and in March a
report of licensed grain dealers began to be required. Sworn
statements showed the inventory at the beginning of the
quarter, amounts expended for purchase of grains, amounts
expended in the transaction of business, the inventory at
430
the end of the quarter, and the total amount received for
sale of grain and feed and from other revenue. From the
first report, March 31, 1918, it was evident that many grain
dealers had taken very large profits. The most flagrant
cases were dealt with directly; others were warned that if
continued such profits would be regarded as excessive. In
the majority of cases it was felt that it would be unfair to
judge the business by the profits of a single quarter. After
various changes in the rules about prices and margins of
profits, the Federal Food Administration fell back on the
principle that the net profits of wholesalers should not be
greater than 4 per cent per annum, and that for retailers
6 per cent per annum would not be considered unreasonable;
and that 15 per cent should be the maximum margin in the
case of any sale of any commodity. The sworn report of
grain dealers at the end of the second quarter, June 30,
showed that many dealers who had made substantial profits
in the first quarter of the year had suffered a substantial
loss in the second quarter.
During the latter part of March and April the shipments
delayed in transit by the winter's congestion arrived all at
once; and the market for many commodities broke, with seri-
ous loss to the trade, — - a loss in many cases of as much as
$25 a ton on corn products. The government gave relief by
allowing retailers for all feeding stuffs, except wheat feeds,
a margin on a percentage basis instead of as a fixed charge,
and thus made it possible for most dealers to carry through
their year's business at a reasonable (although strictly
regulated) profit.
On July 1 a new schedule of wheat prices was announced,
reducing the delivery price of feeds to a figure much lower
than before. The differential between various grades of
feeds was reduced at the same time. These changes were
beneficial to the interests of eastern cattle feeders.
The further depression, however, of wheat feed prices
caused heavier purchasing by western farmers, with the
result that New England could purchase no wheat feeds
431
at all, and again the Grain and Feed Division had to ])resent
to Washington the needs of New England. Help was given
from Washington, and later a rule was made requiring that
wheat feeds be distributed at the same ratio as in pre-war
times, although the rule was so difficult of enforcement
that not until the close of the war was New England able
to secure adequate supplies of wheat feeds.
Another work of the division was in getting local dealers
to install segregated accounts. It was found that many
retail grain dealers combined the grain business with a
coal or lumber business, or with a general store. Com-
monly these dealers had no certain knowledge as to what
return such department of their business was bringing in.
The reports required by the Federal Food Administration
made necessary some basis of segregated costs, and many
conferences were held in the office of the Food Administra-
tion in assisting grain and feed dealers in this direction.
In conclusion, the head of the division reported that in
his opinion, during the war very few of the grain dealers of
the State were making excessive profits on their business,
although many of them were charging very high prices.
This situation was due to excessive credit given; to un-
willingness to make a reduction for cash, and for delivery
direct from the car on arrival; and to lack of capital.
The inability of small dealers to meet the needs of cash-
paying customers was the real reason for the development
of co-operative organizations. It seems also probable that
chain grain stores, parallel to chain grocery stores, will
arise and be economically advantageous.
Milling of Massachusetts-grown Wheat
Before the outbreak of the war and the food production
campaign of 1917, in the State of Massachusetts hardly
250 acres were planted with wheat. In 1918 at least 2,500
acres of wheat were planted. When the product of these
new wheat fields was threshed, the question of milling im-
mediately arose.
432
The Food Administration milling regulations were strict,
requiring full reports as to percentage of extraction and the
separation of by-products, and were suited only to wheat-
producing areas. Realizing this, the Massachusetts Food
Administration authorized county food administrators to
issue permits to local millers for the milling of Massachusetts-
grown wheat, to serve in lieu of the milling licenses. In
this way mills of the State capable of producing entire wheat
flour, and the few small mills capable of producing white
flour, were enabled to take care of the output of the farmers'
wheat. Had the Federal rules been rigidly enforced, the
wheat would have been fed to the annuals of the farmers
who had raised it.
(c) Potato Committee
The earlier efforts regarding potato production have al-
ready been described. In July, 1918, the newly created
Food Administration took up the subject with reference
to the 1918 crop. A conference of representatives from all
New England was held on July 30, and a Potato Committee,
including the president of Harvard College, a labor repre-
sentative, and a leading banker, with members from other
States, began active work. The distribution problem was
found to center in the provision of sufficient storage facili-
ties, since the delivery to market of the Maine crop was the
responsibility of the railroads, particularly of the Bangor
and Aroostook Company.
The Committee feared hasty sales by farmers at low
prices, with resulting fluctuation and speculation, subse-
quent high prices, small profits and discouragement of pro-
duction for 1918. The Committee was, therefore, prepared
to buy with the aid of private capital large quantities of pota-
toes for storage, and so to stabilize the market. Elaborate
plans were also made for local storage throughout the State.
The crop, however, proved smaller than had been antici-
pated, fair prices ruled, and intervention by the Committee
was not needed. In the spring of 1918 a very energetic
433
and interesting campaign for the increased use of potatoes
was made at the instance of Washington by the women's
office, l)iit it was liardly necessary in INIassachusetts. The
production conditions for 1918 were normal.
(d) Federal Milk Commission for New England
The price of milk has always been a subject of discussion
and a source of irritation to producers, dealers and con-
sumers. Early in the year 1917 the Food Production Com-
mittee saw that the price of milk would surely advance
with advancing costs of feed and labor. The advance
might be excessive if too large a shortage developed and
demand exceeded supply; or, on the other hand, it might
be insufficient to insure the continuance of dairy production.
Because of these dangers the Food Production Committee,
as elsewhere described, provided funds for the making of
a survey of the costs of milk production.
When the Food Administration was organized in July,
it was hoped that the subject of milk might be avoided.
In August, however, announcement was made that on a
given date prices would advance, the reasons given being
the advance in the cost of processing and delivery, and the
increased price paid to producers. Representatives of con-
sumers immediately protested. A conference of several of
the larger dealers was called, and the matter carefully
discussed between them and the Food Administration. As
a result of the recurrence of these difficulties, the matter of
price was taken up at a larger conference of all the dealers
who could be reached, together with the officers of the New
England Milk Producers' Association, who had announced
that ])roducers nuist secure larger returns for milk or go
out of business. A Milk Committee was appointed from
the personnel of Ihe Food Administration, as follows: —
Philip R. Allen, Chairman.
A. Lawrence Lowell. | Joseph B. Russell.
Robert Winsor. | J. Frank O'Hare.
434
This Committee held conferences with producers and
consumers.
The figures which had been secured by the survey pre-
viously mentioned were available for the Committee, and
on the basis so obtained the demands of producers were
approved as reasonable. The price agreed upon for the
months of August and September was 8 cents per quart
delivered in Boston, subject to deductions for freight, country
plants and can rental. At the same time, consumers' prices
were discussed with dealers, who argued impending bank-
ruptcy imless they could be given relief.
Another relief measure suggested was that milk stations
be opened at various points in the city. One of the large
firms agreed to supply milk at a cost of 10 cents per quart,
provided storekeepers who furnished stations would resell
without profit. At the same time, prices to retail and
wholesale trade were approved. Prices agreed upon at this
time were as follows: to producers, 7f cents per quart,
f. o. b., Boston; retail price, 14 cents per quart.
The milk stations were opened with much advertising,
and their business for the first few days was enonnous.
But new developments came in to upset the original calcu-
lations. Storekeepers who were not receiving milk at the
same price as the low-price stations complained of discrimi-
nation. Other concerns went into the field, and for many
days a cut-throat milk war was waged which threatened
bankruptcy to all concerned.
In the meantime Massachusetts was not the only State
suffering from milk problems. New York, Illinois, Pennsyl-
vania, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and other communities
were involved in more or less violent dissension, producers
claiming ruinous losses, dealers claiming ruinous costs, and
consumers claiming prohibitive prices.
A conference was then called in Washington, and repre-
sentatives of several States, including Massachusetts, ex-
pressed the belief that regional milk commissions should be
established by the Food Administration. It was urged that
435
New England be treated as a unit, because while the large
consuming markets are in the three southern States, the
large producing areas lie in the three northern ones.
Meanwhile the dealers, who were engaged in disastrous
competition, ai)i)ealed to Washington for helj), and agreed
to the idea of a milk commission. Price levels were estab-
lished which were to hold until the commission could review
the evidence of costs. The contracting parties to this agree-
ment were the New England Milk Producers' Association
and the larger distributors, together with representatives of
the Independent Milk Dealers' Association. It was further
agreed that if either party had sustained losses by the con-
tinuance of the price agreed upon at the time of signing
the agreement, these losses should be recouped in the period
for which the commission fixed the price.
In accordance with this plan a New England Milk Com-
mission was appointed by Mr. Hoover: —
Philip R. Allen, Chairman.
A. W. Gilbert, Secretary.
George F. Morris, New Hampshire.
Elbert S. Brighani, Vermont.
Robert Seoville, Connecticut.
John S. Murdock, Rhode Island.
Walter H. Sawyer, Maine.
Robert Winsor.
Dudley N. Hartt (assistant secretary for a time).
John D. AYillard (secretary for five months).
A. Lawrence Lowell.
Josepli B. Russell.
J. Frank O'Hare.
James O. Jordan.
Reginald W. Bird.
Henry B. Endicott.
To this Commission was given power to ascertain the
costs of production and distribution of milk in Boston, and,
if it seemed advisable, in other New England cities, and on
the basis of these determined costs, to fix prices to producers
and to consumers which would yield a reasonable profit to
both producer and distributor.
With this task before them the Commission held hearings
in the latter part of December, 1917. Ev^idence was heard
from specialists who had made the survey in the various
States on the cost of production. The method of procedure
436
was outlined, and the figures resulting from this survey sub-
jected to analysis and question. As these were published
in pamphlet form by the Boston Chamber of Commerce in
a complete report, it is unnecessary to discuss them in
detail here. On the basis of the findings of the Commission,
])rices which dealers should pay to producers were fixed for
the period from January 1 to April 1, 1918 (see Appendix,
page 567).
Evidence was then taken concerning the costs of dis-
tributing milk. An audit had been made of the accounts
of distributors, both large and small, under the direction
of the Attorney-General of Massachusetts. Thanks to his
cordial assistance the Commission was enabled to use the
results of this survey, and on the basis of these figures a
price was set for the retail and wholesale trade.
It was found that in previous experience surplus quan-
tities of milk had caused competitive underbidding on the
part of milk distributors to wholesale, or can, trade. The
losses sustained in such sale of milk, at less than the cost
of distribution, were met by the price to householders.
The same was the case with regard to bottled milk delivered
to stores.
At this stage of the work the Commission was swamped
by complaints, especially with regard to irresponsible dealers,
who, by slighting sanitary precautions and by failure to
pay farmers, succeeded in cutting under the established
])rice. Further trouble resulted from the difficulty of co-
ercing unlicensed distributors doing a business of less than
$100,000, and who did only a retail trade. The case of
farmers who retailed their own product was not touched
by the Commission. Neither did the Commission attempt
to fix prices for special grades of milk (certified, inspected,
etc.).
As the end of the first three months' period drew near,
the dealers began to complain bitterly of surplus, a term
the meaning of which is explained below, and of the fact
that the price to farmers must go down as surplus increased.
437
The Connnission tried to devise a means of determining a
price for surplus, and assessing the loss occasioned there-
from upon those who caused it. It was conceded by all
parties that surplus had been a stumbling block as between
dealers and producers in time past, but no agreement in
regard thereto had ever been reached. So much did the
surplus involve, that the Commission was prepared to with-
draw unless both parties — producers and distributors —
agreed to assist in working out some sort of surplus plan
which would determine the loss, and assess that loss on
those producing it.
The surplus plan was finally adopted and became effec-
tive May 1, 1918, when Philip R. Allen was appointed Milk
Administrator for New England. It was his task to super-
vise, under the control of the Food Administration, the work
of the distributors and producers in the matter of record
systems and cost determination.
Under the so-called surplus plan the ]VIilk Commission
fixed prices for milk for both farmers and dealers. The
milk product supplied by the farmers was held to consist
of two parts: first, that milk which the dealers were able
to resell to the public as whole milk, either at wholesale or
retail; secondly, the "surplus milk," that is, milk taken
over by the dealer but which he was unable to resell as
whole milk, and which, consequently, went into manufac-
tured by-products. For dealers, wholesale and retail prices
to be charged to the public were fixed by the Commission.
For farmers, a fixed price was established for the resold milk,
as defined above. For surplus milk (not resold as whole
milk), the price to be paid to the farmer was to be on the
basis of the return received when this portion of the milk
product was made into manufactured by-product, the
dealers having agreed to manufacture these by-products
without profit to themselves. During the spring months
the quantity of surplus milk is usually large, but diminishes
rapidly during the summer and fall, and in the latter part
of the year there is no surplus; in fact, during these months
438
dealers usually have to search for sources of milk to supply
their trade.
Under this plan the Milk Administrator was to receive
sworn statements from milk distributors each month, stating
the exact disposition of all of the milk which they had re-
ceived from producers, and to determine market prices for
the various surplus products. The price paid to farmers
was made up by the price fixed by the Commission for
whole milk and the prices received for surplus by-products.
This plan enabled the Commission to fix prices for milk
which entered regularly into the wholesale and retail trade
without regard to manufactured by-products. The plan
proved so successful that it was adopted quite generally
throughout the United States by dealers and producers,
and was continued by dealers and producers in New England
since the expiration of the term of the Commission.
The Milk Commission continued to hold hearings, and
fixed prices usually for one month at a time. These prices
were based upon sworn evidence from producers and dealers.
The secretary of the Commission, Dr. Gilbert, was author-
ized to send at intervals questionnaires to thousands of
milk producers throughout New England for the purpose
of receiving sworn evidence as to the actual labor and feed
costs prevailing.
In order to get accurate information in regard to the
cost of distributing milk, the Commission, with the aid
of accounting experts, formulated a uniform method of re-
porting costs, which was used by the various dealers and
resulted in bringing the data concerning costs before the
Commission on a uniform and comparable basis.
The prices fixed by the Commission were generally ac-
ceptable to all parties. The producers evidently continued
their business without diminution, and with possibly a
slight improvement in country conditions during the year.
The milk dealers received a return which might be con-
sidered fair under war conditions, although not as large
as that received by most business concerns, nor as large as
439
would be considered sound business in normal times. The
consumers were generally satisfied with the prices, as is
evidenced by the steady increase in the consumption of
milk.
When the armistice was signed, the work of the Com-
mission had been so generally acceptable to all parties that,
because of existing agreements between the Commission and
the producers and dealers, it was allowed to continue its
activities until April 1, 1919.
In conclusion it may be said that the work of the Com-
mission served several useful jjinposes: first, the prices
fixed, based on careful study, seemed to be fair ones, and
as a result of these the industry was continued without
disorganization throughout the war period; secondly, the
work of the Commission brought about a stability, and
created a confidence w^hich was indispensable; thirdly, the
surplus plan and the system of uniform cost reporting are
notable contributions to the milk business, valuable not
only in New" England in war time, but throughout the
country during peace times, as well; and fourthly, the
Commission under its warrant was also able to bring about
certain economies in the production and distribution of
milk which helped materially to prevent costs from rising
to unusually high figures.
The whole question of milk, its production and distribution,
was seriously handicapped by the surprising ignorance met
by the Commission at every turn. A facetious illustration
of this will be found in the point of view entertained by
a certain sergeant stationed at one of our military camps.
The strictest orders had been issued against the infringement
of any of the farmer's rights, when the sergeant caught one
of his men, in flagrante delicto, milking one of the farmer's
cows, and the pail half full. After much pleading on the
part of the culprit the sergennt agreed not to report him,
adding: "But see to it that every drop is put back."
440
(e) Campaign for Wider Use of Dairy Products
Believing that the vahie of milk and milk products had
never been fully realized by the consuming public, the
Food Administration co-operated with the Massachusetts
Agricultural College and the State Department of Agri-
culture in various campaigns to promote the use of dairy
products. In the late summer and fall of 1917 an illustrated
circular was prepared urging the wider use of dairy prod-
ucts. This was issued by the Food Administration and the
Dairy Bureau of the Massachusetts Department of Agri-
culture in very large quantities, urging particularly the use
of sufficient milk for children and invalids. Posters setting
forth the value of milk as a food were also endorsed by the
Food Administrator.
in the summer of 1918 a campaign was carried on at the
instance of Washington to increase the use of cottage cheese.
Specialists gave demonstrations in many parts of the State.
Several interesting menus were worked out in which the
entire meal was based on milk and milk products. The
result of all this was that the market demand for cottage
cheese through retail stores was materially increased. Al-
though at that time the supply of milk w^as diminishing in
consequence of the demand for export butter and the re-
sulting diversion of milk to butter factories, yet enough
was accomplished to prove that soft cheeses have great
possibilities in the markets of the future, and to convince
many householders that their home manufacture is neither
difficult nor unprofitable.
Special milk consumption campaigns were also under-
taken bv the Federal Milk Commission for New England.
'&'
(f) Committee on Fish
One of Mr. Hoover's first announcements was a state-
ment that meat of every kind, especially pork, beef and
mutton, were most seriously needed by the Allies, and would
be in still greater demand for our own armies when they
reached Europe. Following the example of Canada the
441
Massachusetts Food Administration accordingly appointed
a Committee on Fish, in the behef that an increased use of
fish would decrease the consumption of meat, and thereby
effect a substantial saving of the latter. The Committee
consisted of — •
James J. Phelan, Chairman.
Matthew Luce, Secretary.
George H. Lyman.
John F. Stevens.
It seemed to the Coinmittee that Massachusetts, tradi-
tionally the largest fish consuming State in the I^nion, and
with an increasing fish business, was in a position to lead the
way in such a change. A meeting of the New England,
Boston and Massachusetts Hotel Men's Associations was
called, and the increased use of fish in public eating houses
thoroughly discussed. It was agreed by all parties that,
provided the fish supply were augmented, hotels and res-
taurants would be able to set a pace that would furnish an
excellent foundation for appeals to consumers in i)rivate
households.
The Committee was at once confronted with a demand
that the fish industry be investigated by the Food Adminis-
tration for the purpose of more stringent control. As both
the Federal and State governments had this in hand, it
seemed not only unnecessary but very unwise for the Food
Administration to duplicate efforts, and so create confu-
sion and a natural feeling of resentment on the part of other
agencies already in the field.
The Food Administration believed that its appointed
task was rather to bring about a proper distribution of
supplies and effective conservation of exportable foods, and
that it should concern itself with four major problems: —
1. An increase in the catch of fisli.
2. A larger consumption of fish by an instructed public.
3. An educational campaign relative to the proper cooking and utili-
zation of fish.
4. Assistance in the matter of transportation.
442
It was evident, with the prevaihng high prices and a
demand outrunning the supply, that notliing could be done
to stimulate increased consumption unless anticipated by
increased production, and the Committee bent its efforts to
that end. Of the fleet of 17 trawlers which were in service
at the beginning of the season of 1917, the United States
government had commandeered 13, 8 going to the United
States Navy, 2 to Canada, and 3 to Russia. The produc-
tive capacity of these 13 trawlers was not less than 50,000,000
pounds per annum, at the most conservative estimate.
Several trawlers were on the ways in process of construc-
tion, and in addition a large number of schooners and small
boats were being completed for service. About 400 schooners'
and 1,000 smaller boats had composed the fishing fleet in
1917. As the government had already taken measurements
of schooners and trawlers on the ways, it was expected by
their owners that as soon as the boats were laimched they
would be requisitioned. This acted as a serious deterrent to
the men who had been counting on their use.
The Committee immediately took up with the Washing-
ton office of the Food Administration and with the Naw
Department the return of these boats to the fishing service.
Mr. Phelan, after visiting the authorities at Washington, in
behalf of the Committee, was convinced that the return of
boats already taken was out of the question. He was able,
however, to urge that the government must release its
claim on boats in process of construction, and especially on
schooners and lighter craft which had been measured and
were under consideration for the navy. The result was
that no more trawlers were taken from the fleet during the
season of 1917. The new boats added to the fleet were of
the more modern type, and their catch reached at times over
300,000 pounds a trip per boat.
In the season of 1918 the government again depleted the
fleet by taking four more trawlers, but in the meantime the
entry of many more small boats into the fishing service
partly offset this depletion. It is probable that the loss of
443
iheso last boats requisitioned did not seriously reduce the
amount of fish coniing' into I he market as nmch as did the
taking of the first thirteen trawlers in 1017.
One of the last activities of the Committee on Fish was to
take up with the Navy Department the matter of adequate
protection for both steam and sailing vessels. After submarine
attacks had begun on the Banks, it was but natural that
owners and crews should hesitate to venture out unless they
were given armament or protection by naval patrol crat't.
This proved satisfactory to both owners and crews, and
thereafter fishing continued without serious interruption.
The second ]>r()blcm was that of the losses sustained by
crews from enlistment in tlu^ naAv. The Committee urged
that men be encouraged to stay in the fishing service, as
this method would in the end better subserve the country's
needs, but deemed it unwise to ask for the return of men
who had already enlisted. While loss of men to naval and
merchant marine service was continuous during the war, the
Committee remained convinced that the work of skilled
men in the fishing fleets was quite as necessary to the de-
sired result as service in the armed forces.
Again, early in the year 1918, the fishing industry was
seriously crippled because of dissensions between owners and
fishermen's union.?. Indirect labor problems also came up,
due to the fact that fishermen generally work on what is
termed a "lay," or interest in the catch, so that their re-
turns are in part based on a percentage of the total ])rofit
of the tri]). The men strongly maintained that the i)rices
])aid fishermen were too low, at the same time charging
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)19
A copy of report of audit of accounts of H. G. Philbrook, treasurer,
by A. R. Patterson, showing contril)utions and interest received, $119,-
189.50, and disbursements, $129,17().'-2o, follows.
After the accounts were turned over to the Massachusetts Committee
on Public Safety, that Committee contributed $12,017.47 by taking
up a note then due amounting to $9,986.75, and paying bills presented
later amounting to $'2,030.72, making the total receipts for the enterprise
$131,206.97. Disbursements of $129,176.25 made by Mr. Philbrook
and $2,030.72 made by the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety
make total expenditures of $131,206.97, which equal the amount of
total receipts. For details of expenditures see exhibits numbered from 2
to 10.
Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety,
EDMUND W. LONGI.EY,
Treasurer.
Report of Audit of Accounts of H. G. Philbrook.
Stone & Webster, 147 Milk Street,
Boston, September 14, 1917.
E. W. LoNGLEY, Esq., Treasurer, Committee on Public Safely, State House,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Mr. Longley: — Mr. Philbrook is arranging to forward to
you by special messenger all of his records in connection with his services
in the capacity of treasurer of the Committee on Mill Units for England.
From the accounting viewpoint, the principal records included in
the schedule which will be presented to you are a combined cash book,
journal and ledger, and a file of vouchers, the former including entries
dating from June to September, 1917, and the latter being numbered
from 1 to 173, inclusive.
In accordance with your request we have audited the cash book and
the vouchers and have found them to be satisfactory. The information
contained therein is summarized as follows : —
Contributions $119,175 00
Interest on deposit, 14 50
$119,189 50
9,986 75
$129,176 25
Disbursements as per vouchers No. 1 to 173, 129,176 25
Balance, -
520
Demand note, June 11, 1917, $25,000 00
Less payments indorsed 15,013 25
This combined cash book, together with the vouchers, constitutes a
simple, clear and, considering the object, adequate record of Mr. Phil-
brook's transactions as treasurer for this committee.
We presume you will be concerned with the question of contributions
yet to be received and possible unpaid bills. This is a subject upon which,
we understand, Mr. Philbrook personally will write you. In this con-
nection it would seem desirable to inform you that there will be no charge
for our services in making this simple audit.
I shall take pleasure in referring your acknowledgment to this letter
to Mr. Philbrook in order that he may be possessed of both your receipt
for the records to be sent you and a copy of this letter representing the
audit of his accounts.
Yours very truly,
A. R. PATTERSON.
521
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The Stetson
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522
Report of Expenditures recommended by the Massachusetts
Committee on Public Safety, and made by the State
Treasurer.
Funds were made available for such war and eont:'" ent expenses as
the Governor and Executive Council might approve under the following
legislative acts : —
Under chapter 202 of the Special Acts of 1917, approved March 19,
1917, the sum of $1,000,000 was appropriated to be expended in de-
fraying the military, naval and other expenses which the emergency
arising out of existing conditions and tlie exigencies of possible war might
render requisite and proper.
Under chapter 32-1 of the General Acts of 1917, approved May 25,
1917, the sum not exceeding $1,000,000 was authorized to meet the
expenses arising from any emergency during the recess of the General
Court by reason of the exigencies of the existing state of war.
Under chapter 63 of the Special Acts of 1918, approved March 1,
1918, the sum not exceeding $200,000 was authorized for the purpose of
promoting and stimulating the production and conservation of food
products and for like purposes growing out of the present war emergency.
Under chapter 139 of the Special Acts of 1918, approved April 24,
1918, the further sum of $100,000 was appropriated for the purpose of
promoting and stimulating the production and conservation of food
production, etc.
Under chapter 278 of the General Acts of 1918, approved May 31,
1918, expenditures were authorized not exceeding $1,000,000 to meet
any emergency which might arise during the recess of the General Court
by reason of the exigencies of the existing state of war.
The total expenditure made by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
under these four war appropriations is reported by the Auditor of the
Commonwealth lo have been $1,489,653.50.
Expenditures amounting to $823,126.89, including the erection of a
building wherein shipments could be mobilized in connection with the
Food Conservation Plan, and preparing the road in front of the Boston
Fish Pier Freight House, and for the cost of combating the influenza
epidemic, and considerable expenditures in connection with equipping the
State Guard, have been made by the State Treasurer on vouchers certi-
fied to by State departments other than the Massachusetts Committee
on Public Safety.
The statement which follows shows expenditures which have been
made by the Commonwealth upon recommendation of the Massachusetts
Committee on Public Safety, on vouchers presented and certified to by
that committee.
523
Statement of War Expenses incurred by the Massachusetts
Committee on Public Safety, paid by the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, from Organization of Committee on February
15, 1917, TO April 15, 1919 (Two Years and Two Months).
Account
and
Appropria-
tion
Numbers.
Amounts
appropriated
by the
Governor
and Council.
Amounts
expended.
A-l-A-
A-7-A-
A-17
A-3
A-13
A-21
A-9-5
A-22
A-9-3
A-9-I
A-14-A-24
A-38-B
A-4
A-44-63
A-72
A-32
A-19-A-38
A-5
A-23
Expenses of organizing and of conducting all
affairs of the Committee not covered by the
following special appropriations, including
furniture, fittings and stationery, wages, print-
ing, travel, etc., ......
Construction and operation. Naval Training
School at Squanturn, .....
Military Expenditures.
Equipment for men of Base Hospital Unit No. 5,
Additional expense in connection with Base
Hospital Unit No. 5, — finger-print outfits,
medicine, knives, forks and plates for the
9th Regiment,
Advertising in connection with recruiting, .
For recruiting men for National Guard,
Buttons for recruits, .....
Care of and supplies for militia in the field.
Wooden floors for tents at Watertown Arsenal
used by militia, ......
Returning booths used for shelter by militia from
Watertown Arsenal to Boston,
Dental equipment, medicines, etc., in 1917,
Dental supplies used for drafted men by Harvard
and Tufts Dental Schools, 1918, and for supplies
used on the teeth of drafted men and for neces-
sary expenses of a clerk and records in connec-
tion with the same, .....
For the purchase of 200 hats for the State Guard,
replacing hats taken by men sent overseas,
Rental of land opposite Commonwealth Armory
used by the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry,
Washington expenses of Assistant Executive
^Manager Donham, securing some $700,000
worth of clothing and equipment for Massa-
chusetts troops, ......
Veterinarian supplies, .....
Installing sanitary system at Framingham for
State troops, ......
Cost of military instructions for providing officers
and non-commissioned officers of Massachusetts
National Guard with military instructions
prior to ordering into Federal service,
$103,937 05
45,000
00
5,000
00
1,086
49
2,764
20
2,500
00
750
00
1,452
06
1,149
49
125
00
9,000
00
1,940
00
350
00
67
60
1,063
75
309
45
19,750
00
2,430
01
$103,144 25
32,998 24 '
5,000 00
1,086 49
2,738 25
2,230 25
750 00
1,438 02
1,149 49
125 00
6,556 55
1,185 31
350 00
67 50
1,063 75
227 00
16,933 23
2,430 61
1 $20,000 of this amount has been collected from the Bethlehem Steel Corporation for
.buildings erected, and paid to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth.
524
Statement of War Expenses, etc. — Continued.
Account
Amounts
and
appropriated
Amounts
Appropria-
tion
by the
Governor
expended.
Numbers.
and Council.
Military Expenditures — Con.
A-60
For putting aeroplane belonging to Common-
wealth into commission in 1917,
$503 28
$503 28
A-38-C
Expenses of instruction of medical officers, Coast
Defense Course, Class 4, . . .
293 00
293 00
Food Production, and Conservation.
A-6
Food Production and Conservation, Genera
conmiittee expenses, 1917,
40,000 00
40,000 00
A-15
Fertilizer for Massachusetts Agricultural School
1917
1,500 00
-
A-8
Additional help for county agricultural agent
1917
35,000 00
24,494 51
A-39
Expenses of Department of Mobilization o
Schoolboys for Farm Service to April 1, 1918
4,000 00
3,714 99
A-51
For promoting and stimulating the production o
food products through establishing schoolboy
camps since April 1, 1918,
46,000 00
35,764 64
A-50-A
Expense of promoting and stimulating the pro-
duction and conservation of food products, 19 IS
general office expenses,
41,250 00
23,533 61
A-50-B
License department.
15,360 00
3,245 96
A-50-C
Retail merchant representatives,
2,788 00
1,299 88
A-50-D
Hotels and restaurants, .
4,000 00
1,168 02
A-50-E
Committee on Food Production,
6,000 00
975 84
A-50-F
Boston produce market service.
3,000 00
824 96
A-50-G
State-wide market service.
5,800 00
7,386 47
A-oO-H
County administrators, .
15,000 00
24,525 97
A-oO-I
County farm bureau.
30,000 00
27,479 85
A-50-J
College special service.
24,700 00
16,730 11
A-70
Cost of Food Administration Building on
Common, ......
1,.500 00
1,495 S3
Hospital and Emergency Equipment and Other
Costs.
A-43-B
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, twenty
Ford ambulances, ....
14,000 00
13,385 62
A-43-C
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, matroi
nurse, ......
900 00
900 00
A-43-D
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, assistant
matron nurse, .....
750 00
750 00
A-43-E
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, heating.
3,600 00
315 03
A-43-F
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, fire pro-
tection, ......
500 00
249 25
A-43-A
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, two first-
aid dressing stations, ....
10,000 00
10,000 00
Statement of War Expenses, etc. — Continued.
Account
and
Appropria-
tion
Numbers.
Amounts
appropriated
by the
Governor
and Council.
Amounts
expended.
Hospital and Emergency Equipment and Other
Costs — Con.
A^O-A
Emergency Hospital, Commonwealth Avenue,
building, .......
S30,000 00
$25,-598 94
A-40-B
Emergency Hospital, Commonwealth Avenue,
equipment, ......
15,000 00
14,778 94
A-40-C
Emergency Hospital, Commonwealth Avenue,
X-raiy plant, ......
2,000 00
978 44
A-40-D
Emergency Hospital, Commonwealth Avenue,
fittings and extras, .....
3.000 00
2,982 24
A-45
For purchase of four hospital units and for medi-
cal supplies, ......
10,000 00
4,296 28
A-61
Commonwealth Emergency Hospital, mainte-
nance, messing kitchen and ward equipment, .
14,000 00
7,706 80
Activities of Committee 07i Social Evils surround-
ing Military Camps.
A-31
For prevention of social evils surrounding mili-
tary camps, ......
15,000 00
10,464 53
A-33-A
Construction of a convenience station for men
and women at Ayer, .....
10,000 00
7,324 68
A-33-B
Convenience station for men and women at Ayer,
maintenance and operation of same.
2,000 00
791 00
A-59
To cover the cost of purchasing a portable house,
and to cover expenses in connection therewith
for the use of the special officer or officers of the
Massachusetts District Police stationed in the
town of Ayer, and for other use in connection
with the work in combating social evils arising
out of the establishing of a camp at Ayer,
Mass., .......
1,400 00
1,400 00
Miscellaneous.
A-6-lo
Women's enrollment campaign,
1,500 00
1,500 00
A-9-2
Cataloging physicians in Massachusetts, .
600 00
-
A-9-4
Industrial survey, ......
560 91
560 91
A-9-6
Pennants for automobiles volunteered for service.
65 00
65 00
A-20
Equipment of Sawmill Units, ' .
12,000 00
12,000 00
A-26'
For cost of securing adequate supply of coal for
Massachusetts in connection with the work of
the New England Coal Committee, 2 .
5,709 47
5,709 47
' The total cost of this enterprise was $131,206.97, the remainder of the cost being met by
contributions of other New England States and by private contributions.
2 In connection with this work Maine paid $653.70, Connecticut, $926.07, New Hampshire,
$35t.09, Rhode Island, $381.32 and Vermont, $550.
526
Statement of War Expenses, etc. — Concluded.
Account
and
Appropria-
tion
Numbers.
Amounts
appropriated
by the
Governor
and Council.
Amounts
expended.
Miscellaneous — Con.
A-37
Clerical work, selective draft, office of Director of
Statistics, Mr. Gettemy, ....
$626 94
$626 94
A^l
Committee on War Labor Efficiency,
5,824 84
5,824 84
A-68
10 typewTiting machines, ....
900 00
900 00
A-73
Work of Women's Division, Council of National
Defense, .......
2,000 00
1,168 24
A-74
Committee on Americanization,
Influenza Epidemic.
7,000 00
1,923 31
A-71
Emergency Health Committee expenses (to date
of this report) .......
Totals
500,000 00
141,416 29'
SI, 144,307 14
$666,527 61
Correct.
Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety,
E. W. LONGLEY,
Treasurer.
' Other expenditures, which make the total cost of combating the epidemic of Spanish
influenza $354,219.20, have been made by the State on vouchers approved by departments other
than the Committee on Public Safety.
527
Report of Public Auditor
Boston, Mass.. June 25, 1919.
We hereby certify that tlie books of the Massachusetts Committee on
Pubhc Safety show payments received from the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts aggregating $234,704.88, which, according to the books
of the Committee, represent reimbursements of cash paid for pay rolls
and emergency payments which had been advanced out of the General
Fund of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety.
We also certify that we have seen the pay rolls for sums advanced to
Federal employees, amounting to $142,747.44, on which cash amounting
to $140,524.04 has been credited, leaving a remainder of $2,223.40, which
mainly represents payments for overtime. The books of record show in
account No. B-90 that $703.07 of this amount has been paid out of the
General Fund of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety. The
remaining $1,520.33 has been paid from another source.
We also certify that we have seen receipted vouchers for amounts
reported as paid from the High School Boys Fund and the Milk Fund,
and that the cash on hand in the MUk Fund has been verified.
We further certify that we have seen receipted vouchers for amounts
paid out of the General Fund of the Massachusetts Committee on Public
Safety amounting to $63,858.88, and that the cash on hand appearing
in the accompanying statement of the Treasurer in three items, namely,
$32,343.31, $5,562.26 and $490.07, a total of $38,395.64, is represented
by a deposit at the National Shawmut Bank in Boston, and we have
verified the amount with that bank.
HARVEY S. CHASE & COMPANY.
528
DISSOLUTION OF THE COMMITTEE
On November 20, 1918, nine days after the armistice
was declared, a meeting of the Massachusetts Committee
on Public Safety was called at the State House, and presided
over by Governor McCall. His Excellency, after compli-
menting the Committee's work, said in part: —
The Commonwealth contributed her share to a fitting victory; the
victory has been won, and, as this was essentially a war Committee, it has
been suggested that the time has come for it to terminate its existence.
Alluding to the appointment at his initiative of Mr.
Storrow as chairman of the Committee on Public Safety, he
spoke of the latter's high capacity for organizing just such
work as the Committee had to do, and his ability to estab-
lish it upon broad and patriotic lines, and said that the
result obtained richly vindicated his selection. He also
gave the greatest commendation to Mr, Endicott, speaking
of his quick and unerring judgment, his prompt and just
decisions which commanded the approbation of everybody,
and, "because of the way in which he has performed his
duty here, he rightly takes his place among the great patriots
of Massachusetts."
Continuing, he said : —
I am not going to attempt to review the work of this Committee. I
appointed it in order that it might be an arm of the Executive Depart-
ment, and it has proven a mighty arm on which I could very confidently
lean. It has helped to marshal the young men of the Commonwealth,
operating, of course, with very many men outside, with the members of
our different advisory boards and draft boards, who gave up their whole
time; it has helped also to marshal the industries of the State. It has
settled by the hundred industrial disputes between employers and em-
ployees, so that the wheels of our factories have been kept turning, and I
think I can say without boasting that there has been no State that has
made a nobler or a prompter response to the calls of the President of the
T'nited States than has the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. . . .
529
The history of the part that Massachusetts has played in the Great
War would be imperfectly written if it did not have very much in it
about the work of this Commonwealth, and therefore I thank you from
the bottom of my lieart, both on my own account and for all the citizens
of the Commonwealth, for what you have done to help keep the Com-
monwealth, in time of national danger, abreast with its noblest traditions.
The Governor likewise suggested the advisability of
selecting a few members of the Committee especially famil-
iar with its activities to attend to its unfinished business
and to wind up and liquidate its affairs, and for that pur-
pose appointed the following to act as a Termination
Committee: —
James J. Storrow, Chairman.
Charles F. Choate, Jr.
B. Preston Clark.
Henry B. Endicott.
Edmund W. Longley.
George H. Lyman.
W. Rodman Peabody.
James J. Phelan.
A. C. Ratshesky.
John F. Stevens.
Mrs. Nathaniel Thaver.
Remarks were also made by different members present,
Mr. Endicott saying: —
You were the first Governor in the United States to appoint a Public
Safety Committee, and it seems particularly fitting that Massachusetts
should be the first State to take steps towards getting back to peace
conditions. . . .
At this time. Your Excellency, I would like, if I may, to refer to the
women of Massachusetts. From the very start they have been working
shoulder to shoulder with us, and Massachusetts ma.y well be proud and
pleased with lier women and with their leader, Mrs. Thayer.
INIr. Storrow, addressing the meeting, said in part: —
Once in a while somebody says he thinks we have borne something of
a burden here, but I do not think any of us for one minute ever looked at
it in that way. In this great war and great crisis, if the men who have
been working here had not had a chance to do something for the public
weal, we certainly would have been miserable. We have escaped that
misery, I am thankful to say, and I feel, and I know that the rest of us
feel, great gratitude that we have had the confidence of the Governor
o30
and were selected by him. We are perfectly aware that the State has
many other men who could have done just as well, and perhaps better,
but the lightning happened to hit us, for which we are very, very grate-
ful, and have been every day.
We are the Committee on Public Safety created by the Governor of
this Commonwealth, but we ought not to adjourn without remembering
that our work has only been made possible by the fact that in every town
and city throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts there has also
been a Committee on Public Safety, not directly appointed by the Gov-
ernor, but generally through the Committee of One Hundred; there has
been this organization of the State, which was the thought the Governor
had in mind when the idea was first formulated. It has not made any dif-
ference what the problem was, what the task was, what kind of help we
wanted, those committees have jumped to the front, given us a boost,
worked with utmost patriotism and met every test.
When we first began, I think we all felt that our task was to or-
ganize not legal machinery but voluntary co-operation. That is what
we stood for. The Governor and Legislature in their discretion gave us
certain powers. Mr. Endicott as Food Administrator received certain
Federal powers, and similar powers were given to me as Fuel Adminis-
trator. But our thought all the time was that our work would not amount
to anything if it came to a question of compelling this man to do this, or
that man to do that. That form of procedure has been entirely absent
from our thought, and I think I may say with accuracy that practically
no power of any sort or kind has ever been used or needed in dealing with
the people of Massachusetts in this great emergency. We only had to
ask this man, that man, or all the men and women in the State, for their
help, and the response was always instantaneous.
Mrs. Thayer, when called upon, spoke as follows: —
Your Excellency, I feel that this is perhaps a rather unfair advantage
to take of the weaker sex, because I had no idea that I was to have so
honorable a part in these proceedings. But the only word I have to leave
behind me is to thank you from my heart, because I think the women of
Massachusetts, whom I had to represent as well as possible, have been
given a very extraordinary chance and opportunity. That fact I dis-
covered in Washington last spring, when it was reported that only two
States in the Union had come forward and taken the women in on an
equal footing with the men in their war work; those two States being
South Carolina and Massachusetts. It gave the women an opportunity
which, I saw after a few months, was so remarkable that our work would
have amounted to but little without it. It was not only the present
531
backing, but it was the absolute day by day support, advice and help,
and last, but not least, the financial backing. I think the work as it has
gone on has proved, as we have stood up and fought this big fight,
tiiat the civilian army was worth while, and that it should be made
up of men and women together.
But I have at this time simply the word of gratitude that the women
were given the chance in Massachusetts, so that there was this splendid
co-oiJeration of our organizations and of the women individually. There
was not one woman who did not want to fall into line, and there is
not one in the State, I am sure, who does not appreciate the fact that her
work has been made possible by the Committee on Public Safety here in
the State House, with the splendid backing and help you have given
from the very beginning.
His Excellency then declared the Massachusetts Public
Safety Committee to be dissolved.
532
Thus, after twenty-one months and ten days of patriotic
.service, the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety
ceased its activities as a unit of the great home army,
which, gathered from every State of the Union, had been the
backbone of our combat army,- — a part fighting on foreign
soil, a part straining at the leash and eager to cross the seas.
America entered the lists at a crucial time. She stayed
to play the game, to do her duty, to do her utmost, to win.
She poul-ed out her wealth on the altar of her country's flag,
mobilized her vast industries from sea to sea, and backed
with all her latent strength the cause for which she fought.
For us it was a people's war. It was the people's cry which
finally forced the issue, — that people, American men and
American women, whose teachings from infancy were
founded on the right to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness."
We can therefore look back to that far-off time when
under the thirteen stars our sires won for us a glorious lib-
erty, and say that it was only right to expect that Massa-
chusetts should again rally foremost at the front when the
cause of Freedom, of Humanitv, of Civilization was at stake!
533
APPENDICES
APPENDICES
Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety
Executive Committee
James J. Storrow, Chairman.
Charles F. Weed, Vice-Chairvian .
Edmund W. Longley, Treasurer.
Guy Murchie, Secretary.
Henry B. Endicott, Executive Man-
ager.
E. Bowditch, Jr., Assistant Secre-
tary.
John B. Pierce, Assistant Secretary.
Charles S. Baxter.
W. A. L. Bazeley.
B. Preston Clark.
Walton A. Green.
Levi H. Greenwood.
Robert F. Herrick.
Benjamin Joy.
George H. Lyman.
J. Frank O'Hare.
W. Rodman Peabody.
Gen. Gardner W. Pearson {e.v offi-
cio) .
James J. Phelan.
A. C. Ratshesky.
Joseph B. Russell.
Col. Jesse F. Stevens {ex officio).
John F. Stevens.
Gen. E. Leroy Sweetser {ex officio).
Mrs. Nathaniel Thaver,
Assistant E.vecvtive Managers
^Y. A. L. Bazeley.
B. Preston Clark.
Wallace B. Donham.
Levi H. Greenwood.
A. A. Kidder.
E. W. Longley.
James J. Phelan.
A. C. Ratsheskv.
Committee on Finance
Col. William A. Gaston, Chairman.
Junius Beebe.
C. S. Bird, Jr.
Spencer Borden, Jr.
Charles L. Burrill.
W. Murray Crane.
Francis H. Dewe3\
Allan Forbes.
Thomas B. Gannett.
W. G. Garritt.
W. E. Gilbert.
Joseph H. O'Neil.
Samuel D. Parker.
J. M. Prendergast.
Jos. B. Russell.
A. Shuman.
Philip Stockton.
E. V. R. Thayer.
Geo. R. Wallace.
F. G. Webster,
John E. White.
Daniel G. Wing.
537
Committee ox Co-ordination of Aid Societies
John F. Moors.
B. Preston Clark, Chairman
Henry Abraliams.
Henry V. Cunningham.
Hon. Grafton D. Cusliing.
David A. Ellis.
John L. Saltonstall.
Alexander Whiteside.
Capt. Porter B. Chase, Military
Representative.
Committee on Industrial Survey
Charles G. Bancroft, Chairman.
Howard L. Rogers, V ice-Chairman.
Charles F. Gettemy, Secretary.
Chas. L. Allen.
Edwin P. Brown.
Leonard B. Buchanan.
Charles Chase.
Howard Coonley.
H. C. Dodge.
C. L. Edgar.
Adolpli Ehrlich.
Walter C. Fish.
Edwin ¥. Gay.
Edwin Farnham Greene.
John S. Kent.
Chas. T. Main.
F. H. Payne.
Harry G. Stoddard.
John F. Tobin.
F. E. Wing.
Capt. Robt. M. Magee, Military
Representative.
Committee on Transportation
James H. Hustis, Chairman.
H. M. Biscoe.
Mat. C. Brush.
C. D. Emmons.
Chas. P. Hall.
Walter L. McMenimen.
E. J. Pearson.
P. F. Sullivan.
C. V. Wood.
C. Q. Richmond.
Maj. Henry B. Knowles, Military
Representative.
Committee on Hygiene,
Dr. Richard P. Strong, Chairman.
Dr. Allan J. McLaughlin, Chairman
(later).
Dr. Arthur A. Brown, Vice-Chair-
man.
Dr. Merrill E. Champion, Vice-
Chairman.
Dr. Francis A. Finnegan, Vice-
Chairman.
Dr. John S. Hitchcock, Vice-Chair-
man.
Dr. Adam S. MacKnight, Vice-
Chair man.
W. Walcott, Vice-
Medicine and Sanitation
Dr. Clias. E. Simpson, Vice-Chair-
man.
Dr. Howard A. Streeter, Vice-
Chairman.
Dr. William
Chairman.
Dr. John Bapst Blake.
Dr. John T. Bottomley
Dr. Walter P. Bowers.
Dr. Harvey Cusliing.
Dr. David L. Edsall.
Dr. Henry Ehrlich.
Dr. C. W. Elliott.
538
Dr. Homer Gage.
Dr. Reid Hunt.
Dr. George M. Klein.
Louis K. Liggett.
Dr. Francis X. Mahoney
Edwin Mulready.
Dr. Milton J. Rosenau.
Committee on Hygiene, etc. — Continued
Prof. Wm. T. Sedgwick.
Dr. Ralph Seelye.
Dr. Paul Thorndike.
Prof. George C. Whipple.
Dr. Frank P. Williams.
Dr. Frank A. Woods.
Dr. Samuel B. Woodward.
Committee on Federal and State Legislation
W. Rodman Peabody, Chamnan.
Edmund K. Arnold.
Charles L. Barlow.
Malcolm Donald.
J, Wells Farley.
Donald Gordon.
Prof. Arthur D. Hill.
John G. Palfrey.
Robert L. Raymond.
James P. Richardson.
Committee on Food Production and Conservation
K. L. Butterfield, Chairman.
John D. Willard, Secretary.
Austin D. Kilham, Secretary (later).
Philip Allen.
H. F. Arnold.
Reginald W. Bird.
Nathaniel I. Bowditch.
Joshua L. Brooks.
Warren C. Jewett.
M. Ernest Moore.
Evan F. Richardson.
CD. Richardson.
Henry Sterling.
Glenn C. Sevey.
Leslie R. Smith.
Pay son Smith.
Marcus L. Urann.
Wilfrid Wheeler.
Committee on Publicity
Louis E. Kirstein, Chairman.
Louis A. Coolidge.
Thomas J. Feeney.
John F. O'Connell.
William S. O'Connor.
Maj. Harry G. Chase, Military
Representative.
Chaplain Lyman Rollins, Military
Representative.
Committee on Land Forces
Gen. Charles H. Cole, Chairman.
J. Franklin McElwain, Chairman
(later).
Gen. Butler Ames.
Hon. W. Cameron Forbes.
W. B. Donham.
J. Lovell Johnson.
W. B. Stearns.
539
Committee on State Protection
Edwin U. Curtis, Chairman.
Gen. Butler Ames.
Chas. W. Bosworth.
John S. Caldwell.
John W. Cummings.
A. B. Daniels.
H. I. Harriman.
James Logan.
Dana Malone.
Samuel D. Parker.
Maj. Hoi tern B. Perkins, Militarij
Representative.
Lieut. Edwin M. Brush, Militarij
Representative.
Committee ox Naval Forces
Rob't W. Emmons, 2d, Chairman.
Brooks Frothingliam, Vice-Chair-
man.
Ernest G. Adams.
N. F. Aver.
John G. Crowley.
Charles K. Cummings.
Arthur B. Denny.
G. R. Fearing, Jr.
Robert F. Herrick.
Charles Hamilton Parker.
James Otis Porter.
Jolin H. Proctor.
Richard S. Russell.
William H. Seabury.
Clifford L. Webster.
Com. James P. Parker, Militarij
Representative.
Committee on Military Equipment and Supplies
Elwyn G. Preston, Chairman.
Thomas P. Beal, Jr.
Jacob F. Brown.
John Calder.
Albert Greene Duncan.
Edward J. Frost.
Chas. H. Jones.
Louis K. Liggett.
Jesse P. Lyman.
Michael V. Martin.
John Moir.
James L. Richards.
Committee on Emergency Help and Equipment
Charles R. Gow, Chairman.
Harold L. Bond.
E. J. Cross.
H. P. Cummings.
Geo. H. Dresser.
Chas. E. Godfrey.
Arthur M. Huddell.
Leo Ley.
Hugh Nawn.
Capt. M. D. Nickerson.
Michael S. O'Riorden.
John A. Peabody.
J. J. Prindeville.
James W. Rollins.
Jeremiah A. Sullivan.
Antonio G. Tomasello.
Morton G. Tuttle.
George H. Wrenn.
540
Committee on Mobilization and Concentration Camps
Gen. Wm. A. Pew, Chairman.
Wm. A. L. Bazeley, Acting Chairman.
Dwight E. Brigham.
X. H. Goodenough.
Joseph R. Hebblewaite.
E. E. Lockridge.
L. deB. Lovett.
Frank H. McCarthy.
Dr. Allan J. McLaughlin.
C. F. Gourley.
Col. Wm. B. Emery, Military Rep-
resentative.
Maj. Christopher Harrison, Mil-
itary Representative.
Maj. Henry B. Knowles, Military
Representative.
Committee on Horses
T. G. Frothingham, Chairman.
Arnold Lawson.
Dr. Arthur W. May.
Harry P. Nawn, Sr.
John T. Wheelwright.
Committee on Trucks and Motor Cars
Chester I. Campbell, Chairman.
Roy D. Jones, Chairman (later).
Carl T. Keller, Chairman (later).
Francis Hurtubis, Jr., Vice-Chair-
man.
William T. McCracken, Secretary.
Harry D. Carter.
F. P. Daly.
Allan Forbes.
Arthur M. Huddell.
Capt. Josiah S. Hathaway
Fred C. Munroe.
Richard B. Stanley.
Committee on Recrijiting
Executive Committee
P. A. O'Connell, Chairman.
John L. Bates, Vice-Chairman.
W. L. Glidden, Vice-Chairman.
Michael J. Murray, Vice-Chairman .
Edw. J. Sampson, Secretary.
George E. Adams.
Capt. C. Lawrence Barry.
Charles S. Baxter.
Col. Stanhope E. Blunt.
Chandler Bullock.
Abraham K. Cohen.
Marcus A. Coolidge.
Dr. John W. Coughlin.
R. Osborne Dal ton.
R. C. Davis.
Col. Jenness K. Dexter.
Note. — Executive Committee as originally formed
bers appointed throughout State from time to time.
William H. Feiker.
John W. Haigis.
Eugene C. Hultman.
Herbert E. Jennison.
George N. Jeppson.
Eben S. S. Keith.
John P. Meade.
Joseph Monette.
James R. Nicholson.
John Nicholson.
C. A. Pastene.
James F. Phelan,
George S. Smith.
Harry W. Smith.
Perry D. Thompson.
Charles A. Williamson.
Additional mem-
541
Committee ox Home Guards
Gen. John J. Sullivan, Chairman.
Samuel D. Parker, Vice-Chair man.
Capt. S. W. Sleeper, Vice -Chair man.
Ernest G. Adams.
Robert T. Allen.
John T. Burnett.
Fred Knight.
Frederick Parks.
Herbert Parker.
Robert E. Stone.
Capt. Porter B.
Representative.
Chase, Military
Chairmen of Public Safety Committees in Cities and
Towns in Massachusetts
Abington,
Acton,
Acushnet,
Adams,
Alford, .
Agawam, .
Amesbury,
Amherst, .
Andover, .
Arlington.
Ashburnham,
Ashby,
Ashfield, .
Ashland, .
Athol,
Attleboro,
Ayer,
Barnstable,
Barre,
Bedford, .
Belcher town,
BelHngham and N
Belmont, .
Berkley,
Beverly,
Billerica,
Bolton,
Boston,
•th
Bellingham
Dr. F. G. Wheatley.
Allen B. Parker.
Emery E. Cushman.
Dr. A. K. Boom.
John M. Dellea.
James W. Moore.
Col. E. W. N. Bailey.
E. M. Whitcomb.
S. Paul Jefferson (later)
Hon. John N. Cole.
Horatio A. Phinney.
C. A. Hubbell.
Rev. E. S. Treworgy.
Charles A. Hall.
George G. Tidsbury.
/ F. A. Ball.
\W. W.Woodward (later).
George H. Sykes.
George H. Brown.
Raymond A. Hopkins.
John S. Rice.
George H. Blinn.
T. D. Walker.
M. J. Kennedy.
Torrance Parker.
Joseph Howland.
James W. McPherson.
Prescott L. Pasho.
Thomas F. Sheridan (later).
Harry W. Butts.
Admiral Francis T. Bowles.
Major Patrick F. O'Keefe (later)
Victor A. Heath (later).
542
Bourne Eben S. S. Keith.
Boxford, Edward E. Pearl.
Boylston, Peter Stewart.
Braintree, Benjamin H. Woodsum.
Brewster, Dr. L. A. Crocker.
Bridgewater, Robert W. McLean.
Brimfield, Orrin Hicks.
J John S. Kent.
Brockton IWilHam L. Gleason (later).
Brookfield, A. F. Butterworth.
Brookline, Philip S. Parker.
Burlington, Horace B. Skelton.
/ Walter C Wardell.
Cambridge, | J. Frank Facey (later).
Canton . H. Ware Barnum.
Carver, Ellis G. Cornish.
Charlemont, Charles E. Graves.
Charlton, . . . . . . E. A. Lamb.
Chatham, Heman A. Harding.
Chelmsford, . . . . • . . Walter Perham.
/ Joseph M. Riley.
^^^^^^^' \ Edward E. Willard (later).
Cheshire, George A. Reynolds.
Chester, Charles T. Purse.
Chesterfield, Charles M. Drake.
f Hon. D. J. Coakley.
. ' [ N. P. Ames Carter (later).
Chilmark, Henry H. Allen.
Clinton, Edward G. Osgood.
Cohasset, Harry E. Mapes.
Colrain, Rev. Harvey M. Eastman.
Concord, Murray Ballou.
Conway, Edward Affahauser.
Cummington, Milton S. Howes.
Dalton, Thomas H. Mooney.
Anthony Mason.
' ' Moses Nolette (later).
Danvers, Walter T. Creese.
Dartmouth and North Dartmouth, . Elmer M. Poole.
Dedliam and Westwood, . . . George E. Hall.
Deerfield, Philip Ball.
Dennis, James H. Jenks, Jr .
543
Digliton, ....
George B. Glidden.
Dover, ....
Augustin H. Parker.
Dracut, ....
George H. Stevens.
Diulley, ....
. Edgar Hill.
Duxbury,
. Alfred E. Green.
East Bridgewator, .
. Ezra S. Whitniarsli.
Eastham,
. Nathan P. CMark.
Easthampton,
. John H. Cullen.
Easton, ....
. John S. Ames.
Edgartown,
. B. T. Hillman.
Egremont,
George Peck.
Enfield, ....
. Dr. W. B. Segur.
|v,cc*»v
f Albion Riggs.
XJOOCAy • . . .
■ ■ \ Charles Bruce (later).
Fairhaven,
W. Fred Delano.
Fall River,
. Robert C. Davis.
Falmouth,
George W. Jones.
Fitchburg,
. George R. Wallace.
Florida, ....
. Fred R. ^Yhitcomb.
Foxborougli, .
Orlando C. McKenzie.
Framingham, .
. Theo. F. Rice.
Franklin,
. . H. W. Hosie.
Freetown,
Harris E. Chace.
Gardner, . . .
. Fred L. Butler.
Gay Head,
L. L. Vanderhoop.
Georgetown, .
William Bray.
GiU,
Charles 0. Bruce.
Gloucester,
. T. J. Carroll.
Goshen, ....
. George L. Barrus.
Grafton, ....
. Francis Prescott.
Granby, ....
George F. Eastman.
Great Barrington, .
. Harry Douglas.
Greenfield,
Joseph W. Stevens.
Greenwich,
George B. Loux.
Groton, ....
f Walter S. Hinchman.
• \ Frank L. Blood (later)
Groveland,
George Mitchell.
Hadley, ....
Frank H. Smith.
Halifax, ....
. William B. Wood.
544
Hamilton, South Hamilton and Wen-
ham, E. R. Anderson.
J John Q. Adams.
^^^P^^^ j Rev. R. B. Lisle>ter).
Hancock, D. L. Whitman.
Hanover, C. J. Ellis.
Hanson and South Hanson, . . . F. W. Howland.
Hardwick, . . R. D. Lull.
f Henry H. Putnam.
^^''^^^^' \ Lyman M. Morse (later).
Harwich, Thomas H. Nickerson.
Haverhill, Hon. Leslie K. Morse.
Hawley, H. C. Dodge.
Hingham, William L. Foster.
rr. . . . Dr. W. L. Tucker.
Hmsdale,
G. T. Plunkett (later).
Holbrook, . . . . . . A. T. Southworth.
Holden, Jefferson W. Coe.
Holliston, W. P. Kingsbury.
Holyoke, John J. Wliite.
Hopkinton, Edward Carr.
Hudson, E. W. Dunbar.
Hull, Dr. W. H. Sturgis.
Hyannis, C. W. Megathlin.
Ipswich, Frank W. Keyes.
Kingston, Walter H. Faunce.
Lancaster, John E. Thayer.
Lawrence, John J. Hurley.
Lee, Wellington Smith.
Leicester, F. Lincoln Powers.
Lenox, George W. Ferguson.
Leominster, Frank S. Farnsworth.
Lexington, Alfred Pierce.
Littleton, F. B. Priest.
Longmeadow, William K. Davis.
f James E. O'Donnell.
' I Perry D. Thompson (later).
Ludlow, . . . . • . . . M. T. Kane.
Lunenberg, Edwin C. Smith.
Lynn, Ralph W. Reeve.
Lynnfield, William Walden.
545
Maiden, .
Manchester,
Mansfield,
Marblehead,
Marion, .
Marlborough,
Marshfield,
Mashpee,
Mattapoisett,
Maynard,
Medfield, .
Medford, .
Medway, .
Melrose, .
Merrimac,
Methuen,
Middleborougli,
Middleton,
Milford, .
Millbury,
MiUis, .
Milton, .
Monson, .
Montague,
Monterey,
Mount Washington
Nahant, .
Nantucket,
Natick,
Needham,
New Bedford, .
New Braintree,
New Marlborougli
Newburyport,
Newton, .
Norfolk, .
North Adams,
Charles M. Blodgett.
Rev. A. G. Warner.
Raj'mond C. Allen (later).
Daniel C. Richardson.
Greeley C. Allen.
Herbert C. Hiunphrey (later).
George B. Crapo.
Charles W. Curtis.
William L. Sprague.
Edmund B. Amos.
L. W. Jenney.
Arthur J. Coughlin.
Horace F. Bates (later).
William G. Perry.
Granville C. Mitchell (later).
Irwin O. Weight.
W. W. Ollendorf.
John C. F. Slayton.
James W. Bailey.
W. L. Stedman.
Samuel Rush ton (later).
Bourne Wood.
Maurice E. Tyler.
John C. Lynch.
Fred W. Moore.
R. W. Mann.
James S. Russell.
F. K. Gamble.
A. J. Nims.
George L. Keyes.
A. I. Spurr.
H. C. Wilson.
Stillman C. Cash.
George C. Fairbanks.
Judge Emery Grover.
James M. McCracken (later).
Thomas S. Hathaway.
W. E. Loftus.
Dr. R. C. Sellow.
Fred E. Smith.
William F. Garcelon.
William M. Gallagher.
E. D. "Wliitaker.
546
North Andover,
North Attleborough,
North Brookfield,
North Reading,
Northampton,
Northborough,
Northbridge,
Northfiekl,
Norton, .
Norwell, .
Norwood, .
Oak Bhiffs,
Oakham, .
Orange,
Orleans, .
Osterville,
Oxford,
Palmer,
Paxton,
Peabody, .
Pembroke,
Pepperell,
Petersham,
Phillipston,
Pittsfield,
Plainville,
Plymouth,
Plympton,
Preseott, .
Princeton,
Provincetown,
Samuel D. Stevens.
Charles D. Paye.
Dr. Joseph B. Gerould (later).
E. D. Corbin.
Herbert D. Wilson.
John J. Kennedy (Secretary).
Dr. J. L. Coffin."^
J. M. Lassell.
Dr. N. P. Wood.
George C. Haskell.
Frank W. Jones.
Herbert M. Plimpton.
Fred W. Smith.
John P. Day.
Hon. E. S. Hall.
Edgar H. Upham.
G. W. Hallett.
Charles N. Turner.
Harold W. Brainerd.
Henry H. Pike.
Louis P. P. Osborne.
Edgar C. Thayer.
Charles H. Miller.
W. S. McNutt.
James H. Hatchings.
Arthur W. Eaton.
Rufus King.
Millard S. Rines (later).
Arthur Lord.
Fred W. Dennett.
W. M. Waugh.
Fred W. Bryant.
W. H. Young.
_ . j Joseph L. Whiton.
^'''''''y' \ H. L. Kincaide (later).
Randolph, Joseph Belcher.
-p , j Sinare Beaulieu.
^^ ^™' \ Fred Rogers (later).
Reading, Captain Frank Gray.
Rehoboth, Ellery L. GoflF .
Revere, Alfred S. Hall.
547
Richmond, . . . . . . William H. Sherrill.
Rochester, L. C. Humphrey.
Rockland, Elvin T. Wright.
Rockport, Frederick H. Tarr.
Rowe, Henry D. Wright.
Rowley, Joseph N. Dummer.
Royalston, Charles H. Brown.
Russell (Woronoco), . . . E. D. Parks.
Rutland, Walter A. Wheeler.
Salem, Arthur H. Phippen.
Salisbury, John Q. Evans.
Sandisfield, Thomas Fox.
Sandwich, Charles E. Brady.
Saugus, William O. Bursch.
Savoy, William E. Cain.
Scituate, Walter Haynes.
Seekonk, George F. Carpenter.
Sharon, Robert G. Morse.
SheflBeld, Rev. Stanley Cummings.
o, ,. J J. W. Thurber.
bhelburne, < ^ ^ _.^ ,, .
[ C L. Upton (later).
Sherborn, ( Henry MChanning.
[ Arron C Dowse (later),
q, , I W. H. Chamberlain.
■^ ' \ Henry H. Ham (later).
Somerset, Adam W. Gifford.
Somerville, Hon. Charles V. Blanchard.
South Hadley, Fred M. Smith.
Southbridge, John E. Paige.
Southborough, R. H. Overson, Jr.
Southwick, H. L. Miller.
Spencer, N. C. Bryant.
Sterling, John P. Mitchell.
Stockbridge, William Lynch.
Stoneham, . . . . . . George R. Barnstead.
q , j Ira F. Burnliam.
' [ William Curtis (later).
Stow, Charles A. Hearsey.
Sturbridge, William H. Hinman, Jr.
I Courtenay Crocker.
Sudbury, | Charles H. W. Way (later).
[w. H. Fairbanks (later).
Sutton, S. Martin Shaw.
548
Swampscott, Henry S. Baldwin.
Swansea, A. W. Weaver.
Taunton, William J. Flood.
Templeton, Harvey O. Winch.
Tewksbury, Irving F. French.
Tisbury, William J. Look.
Tolland, ....... J. R. Rogers.
Topsfield, James D. Phillips.
Townsend, F. B. Higgins.
, Thomas H. Peters.
Iruro,
Manuel Corey (later).
Tyringham, Charles H. Hale.
Upton, I. Plummer Taft.
(Harry B. Stearns.
Uxbridge, . . " . . . . -j D. H. Reese (later).
Charles A. Root (later).
Wakefield, Charles E. Walton.
Wales, Harry B. Weaver.
j Louis R. Vose.
^^^P^^^' \ Waldo R. Pratt (later).
Waltham, John M. Gibbs.
Ware, Henry C. Davis.
Wareham, Lewis H. Bullard.
Warren, E. D. Sullivan.
Warwick, O. W. Cole.
Watertown, William P. McGuire (Executive
Manager).
Webster, George J. Brunnell.
Wellesley, . . . . . John W. Edmunds.
Wellfleet, Dr. Clarence J. Bell.
Wenham, D. R. Anderson.
West Boylston, Charles E. Burbank,
West Bridgewater, .... Charles P. Kendall.
West Brookfield, D wight Fairbanks.
West Hanover, C. J. Ellis.
West Medway, W. W. OUendorf.
West Newbury, Robert L. Brown.
West Springfield, Walter S. Barr.
West Tisbury, Ulysses E. Maykew.
549
Wes thorough,
Westford,
"Westlianipton,
Westminster,
Weston, .
Westport,
Weymouth,
^\Tiately, .
"\Miitman,
Wilbraham,
WiUiamsburg,
Wilhamstown,
Wilmington,
Winchendon,
Winchester,
Winthrop,
Woburn, .
Worcester,
Worthington,
Wrentham,
John W. Slattery.
Oscar R. Spaulding.
Francis A. Loud.
Hobart Raymond.
Dr. Fresnius Van Nuys.
Rev. H. H. Crawford.
Arthur C. Heald.
Montville L. Crafts.
James P. Kirby.
F. A. Warren.
Wilbur M. Purrington.
S. P. Blagden.
Charles C. Alden.
William M. Wliitney.
Lewis Parkhurst.
Elmer E. Dawson.
Leonard B. Buchanan.
Dr. Ira N. Mollis.
H. S. Cole.
George L. Dodd.
Yarmouth, Thatcher T. Hallett.
New England Sawmill Units
Statement of Receipts akd Expenditures in Connection with
Equipping and Despatching over 350 Men, 122 Horses and
10 Portable Saa\tmills from New Engl.\nd to Old England,
June 15, 1917
Receipts
Commonwealth of Connecticut,
Commonwealth of Maine,
Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Commonwealth of New Hampshire,
Commonwealth of Rhode Island,
Commonwealth of Vermont,
Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety (from its funds
raised by public subscriptions),
Seventy-seven firms, corporations and individuals.
Interest on bank deposit,
$12,000 00
12,000 00
12,000 00
12,000 00
6,200 00
12,000 00
12,017 47
52,975 00
14 50
$131,206 97
550
Expenditures
Portable mills and equipment,
Horses and equipment, ....
Logging camp equipment, ....
Clothing, shoes, etc., for millmen and woodsn
Packing and storage,
Passport expenses,
Transportation,
Express, freight and trucking, .
Miscellaneous,
en,
$45,684 60
43,494 74
25,245 57
6,768 68
1,932 56
621 60
1,732 00
2,011 38
3,715 84
List of
10 portable sawmills.
2 sawmills.
Spare parts.
1 power plant.
10 sides lace leather.
200 sheets galvanized.
Belting and lacing.
1 model T runabout.
3 blowers and 1 fan.
Steam boiler, steam engine, tools
and equipment.
43 saws, points, tools, etc.
5 2-horsepower engines and parts.
Engine, boiler and spare parts.
Oil and grease.
1,404 shanks.
Packing cement, etc.
Belting.
Boxes.
Boiler and engine.
Pipe, tools, etc.
Blocks, jacks, tools, etc.
2 coils 3-inch Manila rope.
Nails, wire netting, tools, etc.
Smokestack, grates, etc.
Horse housings, poles, tents, etc.
122 horses.
Harnesses, etc.
20 dozen halter ropes.
2 sets express harness.
Collars, blankets, harnesses, etc.
Currycombs, measures, lanterns, etc.
$131,206 97
Equipment
10 units of horse medicine.
Tents, blankets, spreads, flags, etc.
10 first-aid cabinets, etc.
Tools.
Axes and cant dogs.
150 bars.
36 farm handy trucks.
Chains, yokes, trees and hooks.
Extinguishers, pumps, etc.
50 stoves, cooking utensils, etc.
Gears, boxes, seats and brakes.
4 log trucks, rebuilt and ironed.
200 saws, files, etc.
32 swages.
5 houses, special truck.
200 fire-extinguisher charges.
Remodeled lumber wagon.
180 mats, 45 bales.
Horseshoes, chains, tools, neck
yokes, tool chests, etc.
360 pairs men's shoes and lacings.
90 dozen shirts, 22 1 dozen sweaters,
drawers.
60 dozen socks, hats, handker-
chiefs.
15 dozen oil coats, etc.
28 1 dozen duck pants.
13| dozen oil coats, and other cloth-
ing and miscellany.
Twine.
Flag bows.
Stationery.
551
Recreational Equipment and Library Privilege
Recreation Equipment located in the Farm Camps for High School
Boys
September 1, 1917
Phonographs, 16
Records (20 in a box), 17
Phonograph needles, 7,500
Checker games, 48
Chess games, 21
Checker boards, 67
Dommoes, 25
Quoits, 21
Playground bats, 22
Plaj'ground balls, 19
Flags (5x7), 10
Baseball bats, 22
Baseballs, 44
Baseball gloves, 22
Basket balls, 1
Additional games, 3
Pathescope, $175 00
Screens, $12 50
Exchange service on reels, $50 00
September 1, 1918
Baseballs, 160
Baseball bats, 85
Catchers' gloves, masks and protectors, 38
Volley ball and net, 1
Footballs, 3
Tennis balls, 6
Phonographs, 19
Records, 749
Phonograph needles, 5,200
Checker sets, 61
Checker boards, 58
Sets of dominoes, 62
American flags, 18
Envelopes, 16,500
Sheets of writing paper, . ' 32,500
Moving-picture machines and accessories, 5
Batteries, 2
Feet of film, 360,000
Note. — The first fourteen items were supplied by the National
War Work Council; the last four, by the State Executive Committee,
Y. M. C. A.
552
Camp Activities
Ball games, 119
Athletic contests, 33
Number of camp social events, 56
Boys participating in community social events, .... 638
Number of addresses, 73
Number of visits to Y. M. C. A. buildings and swimming pools, . 1,145
Number of moving-picture shows, 161
Number of farmers, helpers and neighbors attending camp
movies, 3,500
Number of visits by supervisors to boys on individual farms, . 389
Number of visits by welfare director to camps, .... 210
Number of visits by welfare director to farmers, ... 52
Mileage covered by auto, 9,923
Mileage covered by rail, 2,635
Fourth of July celebration and parade, 1
Memorial Day celebration and parade, 1
Camp minstrel shows, • 3
Attended minstrel shows, 900
Library Privileges extended to Camps for Mobilizing
School Boys for Farm Service
The Free Public Library Commission of the State has furnished
nine loan libraries in units of 30 books for camps which could not
be supplied locally. The camps have been provided with library
privileges in the following manner: —
Bolton, Camp Me-L-Ev: Boys borrow books on cards from Public
Library, Bolton.
Concord, Camp Thomas: Library of 30 books. Free Public Library
Commission.
Egj-pt, Camp Lawson: Boys have use of library on estate.
Essex, Camp Storrow: Library of 30 books, Free Public Library Com-
mission.
Groton, Camp Groton: Boys borrow books on cards from Public Librarj',
Groton.
Ipswich, Turner Hill Camp: Library supplied by Public Library, Ipswich.
Lenox, Camp Crane: Library supplied by Public Library, Lenox.
Marblehead, Camp Davis: Two libraries of 30 books. Free Public
Library Commission.
Plymouth, Camp Chilton: Doubtful.
South Acton, Camp "Huntington: Library of 30 books. Free Public
Library Commission.
Stockbridge, Camp Riggs: Library supplied by Public Library, Lenox.
553
Topsfield, Camp Topsfield: Library of 30 books. Free Public Library
Commission.
Walpole, N. H., Camp Newton: Library supplied by Newton Public
Library.
Massachusetts Halifax Health Commission
Ax Act to incorporate the Massachusetts Halifax Health
COMMISSIOX
Whereas, The explosion in Halifax Harbor on the sixth day of
December, 1917, not only caused heavy loss of life and personal
injury, but also produced conditions which seriously menaced
the general public health of the city of Halifax and the to\\Ti of
Dartmouth; and
Whereas, The people of the State of Massachusetts have gen-
erously contributed in services, money and materials to the relief
and rehabilitation of Halifax and Dartmouth, and in addition to
the gifts already made have expressed through their agents, the
Massachusetts Halifax Relief Committee, a desire to give further
assistance in the restoration and improvement of the sanitary con-
ditions of Halifax and Dartmouth and other districts affected by
the explosion, and the health of the inhabitants; and
Whereas, As a result of careful investigation and expert advice
it has been determined by the said Massachusetts Halifax Relief
Committee to carry out a definite program for the said purposes
in co-operation with the Halifax Relief Commission, the Province
of Nova Scotia and the city of Halifax, which shall involve the
expenditure of large sums of money, and it is considered advisable
to incorporate a Commission with proper power and authority
for said purposes to work in conjimction with the provincial de-
partment of health, the boards of health of the city of Halifax and
the town of Dartmouth, the Halifax Relief Commission and other
constituted authorities; and
Whereas, The proposed program and contributions have been
heartily appreciated and endorsed by various public bodies rep-
resenting the people of Halifax and Dartmouth;
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Assembly as folloics: —
1. In this act, unless the context otherwise requires: —
(a) The term "Commission" means the Massachusetts Hali-
fax Health Commission.
554
(b) The word "person" shall include persons, firms or private,
public or municipal corporations.
2. There shall be constituted the Massachusetts Halifax Health
Commission, composed of the provincial health ofiicer for the
time being; the chairman of the board of health of the city of
Hahfax for the time being; the medical health ofiicer of the town
of Dartmouth for the time being; two members appointed by the
Halifax Relief Commission; and four members appointed by the
Massachusetts Halifax Relief Committee, each for a term of two
years. Such Commission shall be a body corporate under the name
of the Massachusetts Halifax Health Commission, and by that
name shall have perpetual succession and a common seal.
3. The Provincial Health Officer for the time being, the chair-
man of the board of health of the city of Halifax for the time
being, and the medical health officer of the town of Dartmouth for
the time being, shall be members of the Commission by virtue of
their respective offices.
If a vacancy occurs in the Commission by the death, resigna-
tion or removal of any of the other members of the Commission,
the successor of such member shall be appointed by the body which
appointed him.
4. The Commission shall elect a chairman from among its
members and also a vice-chairman, who, in the absence of the
chairman, shall exercise all the functions of the chairman.
5. The Commission may appoint a secretary who shall under-
take the correspondence of the Commission and keep its records,
minutes, orders and accounts. He shall hold office during the
pleasure of the Commission, and the Commission may prescribe
the duties and powers of such secretary.
6. Any four members of the Commissicn shall constitute a
cpiorum for the transaction of any business or for the exercise of
all or any of the powers exercisable by the Commission.
7. The objects and powers of the Commission shall be the re-
habilitation of the city of Halifax and the town of Dartmouth
from the effects of said explosion of December 6, 1917, and to
this end it shall have power —
(a) To undertake and carry into effect whatever in its opinion
may make for the restoration and improvement of the sanitary
conditions of the city of Halifax and the town of Dartmouth, and
the health of the inhabitants of said city and town.
555
(b) To collaborate with and assist the constituted authorities in
the said city and toA\Ta, including the city board of health, the
Hahfax Relief Commission or any other public body who may
exercise any powers of jurisdiction with respect to the purpose of
the Commission.
(c) To receive, hold and invest from time to time all moneys
and property paid, voted or contributed by any person or govern-
ment to the Commission for the purposes of the Commission.
(d) To expend, distribute and appropriate all such moneys and
property in such manner as the Commission shall in its discretion
deem proper: provided, hoivever, that in case any money or prop-
erty has been contributed or voted for any particular purpose or
purposes, the Commisson shall expend, distribute or appropriate
the same in accordance with the expressed intention of the donor.
(e) To aid any institution, association or public body which
undertakes or has heretofore undertaken any work which in the
opinion of the Commission conduces to the improvement or the
restoration of the health of the inhabitants of the city of Halifax
and the town of Dartmouth, or for any other purposes of the
Commission.
(J) To collect, publish and distribute information to promote
good health and improved sanitation.
(g) To appoint and hire such officials, servants, agents and
workmen as the Commission may think proper for the purpose of
the proper exercise of the powers exercisable by the Commission,
and in particular the Commission may employ experts in municipal
sanitation and public hj^giene, or otherwise.
(h) To enter into agreements and contracts for the purpose of
carrying out the powers exercisable by the Commission.
(i) To acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property
of every kind and description, and to deal with the same in any
way the Commission may think fit.
(j) To effect from time to time temporary loans with any char-
tered bank, if for any reason funds to be supplied to the Commis-
sion are not presently available.
(k) To make reports and recommendations to the city board of
health, the city council or board of control of the city of Halifax,
the town council of the town of Dartmouth, and the Halifax Relief
Commission on any matter which in the opinion of the Commission
may conduce to the improvement of public health.
556
(/) To do all such other things as are mcidental or conducive
to the attainment of the above objects and powers, or any of
them.
8. For the purpose of more effectually carrying out the above
objects and powers, or any of them, the Commission may make
all such by-laws, and from time to time alter, amend or repeal
such by-laws as to it may seem proper.
9. The Commission may appoint an executive officer who may
be a physician, not necessarily registered in the medical registry
of the Province of Nova Scotia, but a graduate of a medical school
approved by the provincial medical board.
Then passed in the House of Assembly.
Then passed in Council.
May 9, 1919.
Robert Irwin,
Speaker.
May 17, 1919.
M, H. GOUDGE,
President.
I, William A. Dickson, Clerk of the House of Assembly, do
hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an act passed
at the last session of the Legislature and assented to by the
Lieutenant-Governor on the seventeenth day of May, A.D. 1919.
Dated at Halifax this twenty-second day of May, A.D. 1919.
W. A. Dickson,
Clerk.
Chairmen of Woman's Committees, Council of National
Defense, in Cities and Towns in Massachusetts
Abington, .
Acton,
West Acton,
Acuslmet, .
Adams,
North Adams
Agawam, .
Alford,
Amesbury,
Mrs. S. E. Eastman.
Miss Charlotte Conant.
Miss Laura A. Brown.
Mrs. W. A. Wliite.
Mrs. Frank Hanlon.
Mrs. C. W. Dibble.
Mrs. Henry E. Bodurtha.
Mrs. Robert McLaren.
Mrs. C. A. Smith.
557
Joint chairmen.
Amherst, Mrs. W. R. Hart.
Andover, Mrs. B. H. Hayes.
North Andover and West Box-
ford, Mrs. Wm. Sutton.
Arhngton, Mrs. H. W. Reed.
Ashburnham, Mrs. Jas. T. "\Mieelan.
Ashby, Mrs. G. H. Joyce.
Ashfield, Mrs. Wm. S. Hunter.
Ashland, Mrs. H. E. Warren.
Athol, Mrs. Geo. H. Dodge.
Attleboro, Mrs. H. M. Daggett.
North Attleborough, . Mrs. Geo. Cotton.
Avon, Mrs. E. C. Glover.
Ayer, Mrs. S. B. Dickerman.
Baldwinsville and Templeton, Mrs. I. M. Coleman.
Barnstable and Osterville, Mrs. Edward A. Handy,
Barre, Mrs. Harold Wilder.
f Mrs. Fred Bullard
' I Mrs. Bertha Shaw
Bedford, Mrs. Geo. R. Blinn.
Belchertown, Mrs. E. E. Sargent.
Bellingham, Mrs. Walter E. Cooke.
Belmont, Mrs. E. F. Atkins.
Berkley, Mrs. Chas. H. Macomber.
Berlin, Mrs. Geo. Sawyer.
Bernardston, Miss M. B. Barnard.
Beverly, Mrs. Edgar Rideout.
BUlerica, Mrs, Wm. H. Sexton.
Blackstone, Mrs. A. F. Thayer.
Blandford, Miss Susan E. Tiffany.
Bolton, Mrs. O. A. Everett.
Boston Mrs. H. J. Gurney.
Bourne, Mrs. Eben S. S. Keith.
Boxborough, Mrs. George W. Burroughs.
Boxford, Mrs. E. L. Bradford.
Boj^lston, " Mrs. Wm. S. Garfield.
West Boylston, . . . ■ . Mrs. C. E. Burbank.
Braintree, Mrs. Pamelia G. Webber.
Brewster, Miss Alice E. Sears (Secretary).
Bridgewater, Mrs. R. W. McLean.
East Bridgewater, . . . Miss ^laria L. Nutter.
West Bridgewater, . . . Mrs. J. J. Copeland.
Brimfield, Miss Anna Tarbell.
Brockton,
. Mrs. W. A. Chaplain.
Brookfield,
. Mrs. John MacLaurin,
North Brookfield,
. Mrs. Herbert E. Cummings
West Brookfield, .
. Miss F. E. Gilbert.
Brookline, ....
. Mrs. Caroline Perkins.
Buckland, ....
. Miss M. B. Brown.
Burlington,
. Mrs. Geo. B. Perkins.
Cambridge,
. Mrs. Edmund A. Whitman.
Canton, ....
. Miss Mildred M. Dunbar.
Carver, ....
. Mrs. Edw. Slugg.
CentervUle and Craigville,
. Miss Mable Phinney.
Charlemont,
. Mrs. L. W. Sears.
Charlton, ....
. . Mrs. E. W. Preble.
Chatham, ....
. Mrs. Herman A. Harding.
Chelmsford,
. Miss Maude Perham.
Chelsea, ....
. Mrs. Chester N. Cole.
Chester, ....
. Mrs. Frank Fay.
Chesterfield,
. Mrs. F. H. Bryant.
Chicopee, ....
. Mrs. W. B. Culver.
Chilmark, ....
. Mrs. F. B. Mayhew.
Clarksburg,
. Mrs. Elizabeth H. Dibble.
Clinton, ....
. Mrs. Wm, Bancroft.
Cohasset, ....
. Mrs. Oliver H. Howe.
Colrain, ....
. Mrs. A. F. Smith.
Concord, ....
. Mrs. Geo. M. Baker.
Cotuit and Santuit,
. Mrs. C. F. Hodges.
Crescent Mills,
. Mrs. Jas. Walkinshaw.
Cummington, .
. Mrs. Leslie Porter.
Dalton,
. Mrs. E. L. Brown.
Dana,
. Mrs. C. C. Richardson.
Danvers,
Mrs. Osborne Leach.
Dartmouth
. Mrs. E. M. Poole.
Dedhani,
. Miss Margaret Warren.
Deerfield,
. Miss Edith Root.
Dennis,
. Mrs. Hayden Richardson.
East Dennis,
. Mrs. Susan H. Sears.
Dennisport, . . . .
Mrs. M. F. Young.
South Dennis,
Mrs. C. A. Davis.
West Dennis,
. Mrs. E. S. Osborne.
Dighton,
. Mrs. Geo. B. Glidden.
Douglas,
. Mrs. Gertrude McMahon.
Dover,
. Mrs. Richard AV. Hale.
559
Dracut, . .
Dunstable,
Duxbury, .
Eastham, .
Easthampton,
Easton,
Edgartown,
Egremont, .
Enfield, .
Erving,
Essex,
Everett,
Fairliaven,
Fall River,
Falmouth, .
Feeding Hills Center
Fitchburg,
Foxborough,
Framingham,
Franklin, .
Freetown, .
Gardner,
Gay Head,
Georgetown,
Gill, .
Goshen,
Gosnold,
Grafton,
Granby,
Granville, .
Greenfield,
Greenwich,
Groton,
Groveland,
Hadley,
South Hadley,
Halifax,
Hamilton, ,
Miss Edna Cutter.
Miss Alice L. Butterfield.
Mrs. Lewis J. Thomas.
Miss May A. Knowles.
Mrs. W. C. Tannatt.
Mrs. L. A. Frothingham.
Miss Enid Yandell.
Mrs. C. Leonard Holton.
Mrs. Walter Bliss.
Mrs. W. G. Hawkes.
Miss Evelyn Knowlton.
Mrs. B. M. Rowand.
Miss Mabel Potter.
Miss Anna H. Borden.
Mrs. J. M. Watson,
and Agawam, Mrs. F. W. Taylor.
Mrs. Chas. E. Ware.
Mrs. Arthur W. Owen.
Mrs. N. I. Bowditch.
Mrs. U. L. Burns.
Mrs. Wm. Sherman.
Mrs. Selon Wilder.
Miss Nanetta Vanderhoop.
Miss Katharine D. Root.
«
Miss Laella Van Valkenburgh.
JVIrs. George L. Barrus.
Mrs. Roland S. Snow.'
[ Mrs. J. L. Keith.
\ Mrs. Frank Warren, Acting Chair-
[ man.
Mrs. Chas. W. Ball.
Mrs. Emma L. Stowe.
Mrs. Arthur D. Potter.
Mrs. Wm. H. Walker.
Mrs. Frank A. Torry.
Mrs. Ernest W. Boner.
Mrs. F. H. Lawrence.
Mrs. Wm. O'Brien.
Mrs. Abram Bourne.
Mrs. Edward B. Cole.
560
Hampden,
Mrs. C. S. Shute.
Hancock, .
Mrs. Charles Wells.
Hanover, .
Mrs. William F. Bates.
Hanover Center,
Mrs. Bernard Stetson.
North Hanover, .
Mrs. John Prosper Merrill.
South Hanover, .
Mrs. Morrill A. Phillips.
West Hanover,
Miss Grace L. Russell.
Hanson,
Mrs. Mary Lewis.
Harvard,
Miss Clara E. Sears.
Harwich,
Mrs. Harriet D. Handy.
Hatfiekl,
Mrs. R. F. Wells.
Haverhill,
Mrs. Grant H. Fairbanks.
Hawley,
Miss Mabel P. Sears.
Heath,
Mrs. Wilson Hillman.
Hingham,
Miss Grace Richards.
Hinsdale,
Miss Harriet E. Tracy.
Holbrook,
Miss Mary L. Holbrook.
Holden,
Mrs. J. Quincy Dix.
Holland,
Mrs. Arthur G. Childs.
Holliston,
Mrs. Allan V. Garratt.
Holyoke,
Mrs. Nathan P. Avery.
Hopedale and Milford,
Miss Fanny C. Osgood.
Hopkinton,
Mrs. G. W. Butterfield.
Hubbardston, .
Mrs. Wm. E. Clough.
Hudson,
Mrs. Henry P. Walker.
Hull
Mrs. Carrie E. Mitchell.
Huntington,
Mrs. Frank T. Clapp.
Hyannis, .
Mrs. James N. Smith.
Hyde Park and Readville,
Mrs. Fred S. Smith.
Ipswich, Mrs. Joseph W. Ross.
Kingston, Miss Helen Holmes.
Lancaster, Miss Mary W. Bartol.
Lanesborough, .
Mrs. H. C. Beers.
Lawrence, . . .
Mrs. John P. Sweeney.
Lee, ....
Miss Henrietta Y. Bosworth
Leicester, .
Mrs. J. S. Whittemore.
Lenox,
Mrs. Roswell D. Curtis.
Leominster,
Mrs. W. H. Bosworth.
Leverett, .
Miss Florence E. Eel ton.
North Le
verett, .
Miss Carrie Graves.
561
Lexington,
Leyden,
Lincoln,
Littleton, .
Longmeadow,
East Longmeadow,
Lowell,
Ludlow,
Lunenburg,
Lynn,
Lynnfield, .
South Lynnfield,
Maiden, .
ISIanchester,
Mansfield,
Marbleliead,
Marion,
Marlborough,
Marshfield,
Mashpee, .
Mattapoisett,
Maynard, .
Medfield, .
Medford, .
Medway, .
Melrose,
Mendon, .
Merrimac, .
Methuen, .
Middleborough,
Middlefield,
Middlcton,
Millbury, .
Millers Falls,
MiUville, .
Milton,
Mittineague,
Moore's Corner,
Monson,
Montague,
Monterey, .
Mrs. Ed. H. Nowers,
Mrs. Alfred P. Black.
Mrs. Sarah Phillips Bradley.
Miss Fannie A. Sanderson.
Mrs. Flynt Lincoln.
Mrs. Albert Denslow.
Mrs. Butler Ames.
Mrs. C. T. Harrington.
Mrs. Frederick L. Francis.
Mrs. Henrietta T. Rundlett.
Mrs. Annie P. Hutchinson.
Miss May Elder.
Mrs. F. A. Shove.
Mrs. Wm. Hooper.
Mrs. Lillian A. Davison.
Miss Edith J. Fabans.
Mrs. H. M. Knowlton.
Miss Mabel Leighton.
Miss Emma Sparrell.
Mrs. Dorcas M. Gardner.
Miss Alice Stackpole.
Mrs. Augustus L. Morse.
Mrs. W. A. Werker.
Mrs. Laura P. Patten.
Mrs. Orion T. Mason.
Mrs. Harold Marshall.
[ Miss Juha F. Darling.
\ Miss Florence Bennett,
[ Chairman.
Mrs. Hattie M. Bridges.
Mrs. Franz Schneider.
Mrs. GranvUle E. Tillson.
Mrs. W. Ovid Fames.
Mrs. J. Warren Osborne.
Mrs. C. C. Ferguson.
Mrs. H. M. Ward.
Mrs. John M. Ransom.
Mrs. Wallace C. Tucker.
Mrs. Henry Tower.
Mrs. Frank N. Bourne.
Mrs. Robert H. Cushman.
Mrs. C. M. Bardwell.
Mrs. Campbell.
Acting
5G2
Montgomery, .
Mrs. Frank J. Clark.
Mount Washington,
Mrs. Earl VanDeusen.
Nahant, ....
Mrs. Fred A. Wilson.
Nantucket,
Mrs. Ida H. Folger.
Natick, ....
Mrs. Henry C. Mulligan.
Mrs. Bernard J. Rothwell.
Needham, ....
. ■ Mrs. Moses Williams, Jr.,
Chairman.
New Bedford, .
. Mrs. Andrew G. Pierce, Jr.
New Braintree,
Mrs. James Green.
Newburyport, .
. Miss Mary T. Spalding.
West Newbury,
Mrs. Jas. E. Holmes.
New Salem,
. Mrs. Geneva Sieg Ballard.
Newton, ....
Mrs. Irving 0. Palmer.
Northampton, .
. Mrs. Chas. E. ChUds.
Northborough, .
Mrs. Herbert L. Kimball.
Northbridge,
. Mrs. Sidney R. Mason.
Northfield,
. Mrs. C. E. Williams.
Norton, ....
. Mrs. Herbert H. Smith.
Norwell, ....
Mrs. Amy W. Sylvester.
Norwood, ....
. Mrs. J. C. Lane.
Oak Bluffs,
Mrs. Adalj'n Ripley.
Oakdale, ....
. Mrs. Chester N. Pratt.
Oakham, ....
. Mrs. Effie Swindle.
Orange, ....
. Mrs. W. E. Osterhout.
Orleans, ....
. Miss Mary S. Cummings.
Otis,
. Miss Nellie E. Haskell.
Oxford, ....
Mrs. Joselin.
Palmer, ....
. Mrs. G. S. Holden.
Paxton, ....
Mrs. Chas. H. Derby.
Peabody, ....
Mrs. J. B. Palmer.
Pelham, ....
. Mrs. F. A. Shepard.
Pembroke,
. Mrs. Dorothy H. Thayer.
Pepperell, ....
. Mrs. Nathaniel W. Appleton
Petersham,
. Mrs. Wm. S. McNutt.
PhUlipston,
. Mrs. G. M. Chaffin.
Pittsfield, ....
. Dr. Mary Anna Wood.
Plainfield, ....
. Mrs. N. K. Lincoln.
Plymouth,
. Mrs. Edward E. Hobart.
Plympton,
Mrs. Charles D. Page.
Pottersville,
. Mrs. Albert Walton.
Acting
563
Prescott, .
Princeton, .
Provincetown,
Mrs. Frank Allen.
Miss Isabel Davis.
Mrs. Marv E. Kendriek.
Quincy,
Mrs. John D. MacKav,
Randolph, .
Reading,
North Reading,
Rehoboth,
Revere,
Richmond,
Rochester,
Rockland, .
Rockport, .
Rowe,
Rowley,
Royal ston,
Russell Mountain,
Rutland, .
Mrs. Ellen T. Proctor.
Mrs. Helen R. Grimes.
Mrs. C. F. Burditt.
Mrs. Amelia Carpenter.
Mrs. Alfred Hall.
Miss Catharine B. Runkle.
Miss Mary L. Holmes.
Mrs. Giles W. Howland.
Mrs. Fred H. Tarr.
Mrs. B. T. Henry.
Mrs. W. H. Keyes.
Mrs. Walter N. Farrar.
Mrs. A. E. Bolton.
Mrs. F. H. Drurv.
Salem,
Salisbury,
Sandwich,
Saugus,
Scituate,
Seekonk,
Sharon,
Sheffield,
Shelburne,
Sherborn,
Shirley,
Shrewsbury,
Shutesbury,
Somerville,
Southborough,
Southbridge,
Southampton,
Southwick,
Spencer,
Springfield,
West Springfield,
Sterling,
Mrs. C. O. Emmerton.
Mrs. John Q. Evans.
Miss Julia A. Yard.
Miss Emma Newhall.
Mrs. George V. Yenetchi.
Mrs. Herbert E. Cusliing.
Mrs. Samuel G. Spear.
Mrs. Joseph Kirby.
Mrs. F. E. Chapman.
Mrs. Francis Bard well.
Mrs. David Lindenberg.
Mrs. Thomas A. Hickey.
Mrs. Thomas H. Ingham.
Mrs. Frederick G. Smith.
Mrs. Ellwood W. Ward.
Mrs. George M. Cheney.
Mrs. E. C. Searle.
Mrs. A. R. Webb.
Mrs. J. C. Austin.
Mrs. Arthur C. Dutton.
Mrs. M. L. Brown.
Mrs. Herbert W. Robinson.
50-1
Stockbridge, Mrs. Grenville G. Merrill.
West Stockbridge, . . . Mrs. Francis Day.
Stoneham, Mrs. G. W. Nickerson.
Stoughton, Mrs. Nathaniel W. Faxon.
Stow, Mrs. Charles A. Hearsey.
Sturbridge, Mrs. George S. Ladd.
Sudbury, Mrs. Melvin Guptill.
Sunderland, Mrs. Charles Moline.
Sutton, Mrs. George Freeland.
Swampscott, Mrs. P. S. Bailey.
Swansea, Mrs. Augusta Barney.
Taunton, ]Mrs. Edward Lovering.
Templeton and Baldwinsville, . Mrs. I. M. Coleman.
Tewksbury, Mrs. C. Brooks Stevens.
Three Rivers, Mrs. C. H. van Deusen.
Tisbury, Mrs. Henrj^ R. Flanders.
West Tisbury, .... Mrs. James Adams.
Tolland, Mrs. Homer T. Hale.
Topsfield, Miss Katherine Willman.
Truro, Miss Mary M. Rich.
Turners Falls, Mrs. W. L. Salmon.
Tyngsborough, .... Mrs. Chester H. Queen.
Tyringham, Mrs. Banyer Clarkson.
Upton, Mrs. Samuel R. Capen,
Uxbridge, Mrs. D. H. Reese.
Wakefield, Mrs. Henry S. Bouve.
Wales, Mrs. C. T.Holt.
Walpole, Mrs. Joseph S. Leach.
Waltham, Mrs. Florence E. Crocker.
Ware, Miss Carolyn V. Tucker.
Wareham, Mrs. Frank A. Besse.
Warren, Mrs. H. N. Shepard.
Warwick, . . . . . . Mrs. Frederick W. Bass.
Washington, Mrs. Alexander Drumm.
Watertown, Miss Lillian C. Albee.
Wayland, Mrs. Frank I. Cooper.
Webster and Dudley, . . . Mrs. J. H. Hetherman.
Wellesley, Mrs. John E. Oldham.
Wellfleet, Mrs. Arthur H. Rogers.
Wendell and Farley, . . Mrs. Chas. H. Cogswell.
Westborough, . . . . Mrs. Arthur W. Nourse.
565
Westfield, .
Mrs.
Westford, .
. Mrs.
Wcsthanipton,
. Miss
Westminster,
. Rev.
Weston,
Mrs.
Westvvood,
Mrs.
Weymouth,
. Miss
Whately, .
Mrs.
Whitman, .
Mrs.
Wilbraliam,
. Mrs.
WilHamsburg,
Miss
WilHamstown, .
. Mrs.
Wilmington,
. Mrs.
Winchendon,
. Mrs.
Winchester,
Mrs.
Winthrop, .
Mrs.
Woburn,
. Mrs.
Worcester,
. Mrs.
Woronoco,
. Mrs.
Worthington,
. Mrs.
Wrentham,
. Mrs.
Wyben,
Mrs.
Yarmouth,
Mrs.
Frederic Hull.
John P. Wright.
Julia M. Edwards.
Lucy M. Giles.
Arthur H. Morse.
E. Howard Child.
Louisa E. IIumplir(\v.
A. H. Beers.
B. S. Atwood.
Joseph B. White.
Anna Dunj)hy.
William C. Hart.
Tyler A. Stevens.
William E. Holden.
Minnie C. Ely.
John E. Gilman, Jr.
Wm. R. Emery.
Samuel B. Woodward.
James B. Wagg.
Frederick Fairman.
George L. Wallace.
S. A. Allen.
Mrs. Nathan H. Matthews.
oGii
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567
Food Committees
Home Economics
Mrs. Nathaniel Thayer, Home Economics Director.
Mrs. Malcolm Donald, Chairman, Women's Council of National 'Defense
Food Committee.
Dean Sarah Louise Arnold, Ex-Chairman, Food Committee.
Pres. Kenyon L. Butterfield.
Laura B. Comstock.
Z. C. Dickinson.
George H. Ellis.
Henry B. Endicott.
Mrs. Herbert J. Gurney.
Louise Pryor.
Antoinette Roof.
James H. Ropes.
Frances Stern.
Educational Director and Publicity Agencies
John F. O'Connell.
Thomas J. Feenev.
Daniel J. O'Connor
Robert B. Kelty.
Grace M. Burt.
Grace E. Cobb.
Mrs. Frederic E. Dowling.
Retail Store Publicity
George W. Mitton, State Merchant Representative,
Earle Power, Assistant.
Gertrude Chamberlain, Secretary.
Printing, Spe.ak.ers' Bureau and Movies
Arthur A. Kidder, Chief.
Francis H. Appleton, Jr.
Mrs. Caroline Fitzgerald.
Kenneth G. T. Webster.
Literature Bureau
Louise W. Jackson. | Mrs. Kenneth S. Usher.
Library Director
Edith Guerrier. | Mrs. Marian P. Libbey, Assistant.
Elizabeth Burrage, Assistant.
Director of School and College Activities
James H. Ropes.
Ada Comstock, Secretary of Volunteer College Workers.
Boston Produce Markets
A. Presby Colburn. | Alice Parker, Field Agent.
508
State-wide Market Service
E. Farnum Damon.
Robert W. Merrick.
William L. Machmer.
Elliot Rogers.
Joseph McEvoy.
James L. Early.
CoMMxnsriTY IVIarkets
George H. Burnett.
Regulation Divisions
Enforcement Division
W. Rodman Peabody, General Counsel
Isaiah R. Clark, Assistant Counsel.
John E. Hannigan, Assistant Counsel.
Beatrice Vaughn, Secretary.
License Division
Z. C. Dickinson, Chief.
Alice McWilliams, Clerk.
Paul J. Sachs (in service), former
Chief.
C. O. Blood.
Charles H. Cutting.
Dr. Walter G. Chase.
Price Division
Richard M. Everett. Chief, Assistant Food Administrator.
Henry C. Everett, Jr., Chief, Assistant Food Administrator.
Bertha R. Eastman.
Mrs. W^. M. Buckley, Secretary.
Mrs. W. M. Wheeler, Chief of
Price Reporting.
Mrs. E. W. Hoist.
George W. Lakin, Inspector.
Benjamin Freedman, Inspector.
Retail Price Committee
Charles F. Adams.
C. O. Blood.
James D. Casey.
J. Frank O'Hare.
Henry S. Potter, Jr.
Leonard Rhodes.
H. A. Spinney.
Charles S. Tenney.
Mrs. W. M. Wheeler.
Sugar Division
EdAvard Wigglesworth, Chief, Assistant Food Administrator.
Kenneth S. Usher.
Arthur S. Browne.
Mary H. Bergen, Secretary.
H. P. Smith.
Grocers' Sugar Department
I H. M. Northev.
569
Manufacturers' , Bakers' and Restaurant Sugar Department
Frank A. Harding.
J. Fred Hussey.
X. J. Stevens.
Harrv B. Blake.
Joanne Tobin.
Sugar Inspection Department
Henry R. Benson.
W. Everett Smith.
Thomas F. Fitzgerald.
Sugar Certificate Department
1 Mrs. French.
Cereal Division
Z. C. Dickinson, Chief.
Flour and Substitute Department
Russell J. Goodnow.
Mrs. Louise B. Thompson.
John Heard, Jr.
Donald G. Barnes.
Leon H. Davis.
Edward A. Cutting.
Warren G. Torrey.
A. I. Merigold, representing Food
Administration Grain Corpora-
tion.
Dr. Edward Revnolds.
Medical Advisers
I Dr. Charles W. Townscnd.
George H. Ellis.
Food and Grain Department
I . J. D. WiUard.
Baking Division
Arthur N. Milliken, Chief.
G. Glover Crocker.
Louis A. Merry.
J. J. Sullivan.
' William T. May, Assistant.
Harriet Ross, Secretary.
Inspectors
H. C. Thomas.
Executive Committee Bakers' Service Board
Alton H. Hathaway, Chairman.
Frank R. Shepard, Treasurer.
D. F. Phelps, Secretary.
George B. Ochsner.
Alexander Renton.
Robert Rausch.
570
County Captains of Bakers
Barnstable, Edward J. Sheehan.
Berkshire, C. I. Bigley.
Bristol, H. P. Dion.
Essex, Joseph Dube.
Franklin, Louis A. Phelps.
Hampden, Eugene A. Dexter.
Hampshire, J. A. Maloney.
Middlesex, Victor A. Friend.
Norfolk, William J. Gurley.
Plymouth, A. C. Hastings.
Suffolk, C. J. McGovern.
Worcester, A. Swanson.
Hotel and Restaurant Division
Frank C. Hall, Chairman.
Dr. H. P. Jacques.
Arthur N. Milliken.
Mrs. Gertrude E. Simpson, Secre-
tary,
Hotels
Arthur L. Race.
Archie Hurlburt.
Chas. T. Shean.
C. S. AveriU.
H. L. Teague.
N. A. Eldridge.
W. M. Kimball.
J. Floyd Russell.
Lester Roberts.
C. M. Hart.
H. S. Kelsey.
Walter Cook.
Restaurants
W. L. Bireley,
Steaniboats
E. R. Grabow.
Industrial Restaurants, Schools and Colleges
E. H. Ansell.
Clubs
Llewellyn Howland.
Transportation and Adjustment Division
W'illiam L. Putnam, Chairman.
O. M. Chandler.
George M. Flint.
Davenport Brown.
Alfred W. Otis, Adjuster,
Anna Griffin, Secretary.
John J. Higgins.
571
Town and City Food Administrators
Barnstable County
Barnstable and West Barnstable,
Bourne,
Brewster, .
Centerville,
Chatham, .
Dennis,
Falmouth, .
Harwich, .
Hyannis, .
Orleans,
Provincetown,
Sandwich, .
Truro,
Wellfleet, .
West Dennis,
Yarmouth,
Howard N. Parker.
Robert S. Handy.
W. B. Crocker.
C. E. Doubtfire.
Geo. H. Nickerson, 2d.
James H. Jenks.
H. V. Lawrence.
L. G. Williams.
L. B. Boston.
E. H. Upham.
W. B. Bangs.
George L. McCann.
M. F. Corey.
James L. Gordon, Acting Chair-
man.
Geo. H. Garfield.
Edmund W. Eldridge.
Berkshire County
Adams, Harry E. Davis.
Alford, A. S. Garrison.
Becket Ormi S. Willis.
Cheshire, W. A. Benjamin.
Clarksburg, Richard L. Francis.
Dalton, C. H. Church.
Florida, J- A. Newman.
Great Barrington, Thomas H. Maloney.
Hancock, W. K. Hadselle.
Hartsville (New Marlborough), Miss L. A. Doncaster.
Hinsdale, T. J. O'Leary.
Hoosac Tunnel (Florida), . J. A. Newman.
Lanesborough, Chas. A. Fowler.
Lee James B. Pollard.
Lenox, George F. Bourne.
Monterey, Lester S. Miner.
New Ashford, Forest C. Wliitc.
North Adams, . . . M. V. N. Bramaii.
Otis, George P. Carter.
Peru, F. G. Creamer.
Pittsfield, Harry Holden.
572
Richmond, R. C. Stead.
Savoy, A. J. McCuUoch.
Sheffield, W. D. French.
Stockbridge, E. J. Flynn.
South Egremont, J. C. O'Neil.
Tyringham, El. L. Tinker.
West Stockbridge, Fred Toby.
Williamstown, Samuel B. Blagden.
Windsor, ^ . J. A. Estes.
Bristol County
Attleboro, Rehoboth and Seekonk, . Joseph Finberg.
Easton, Wm. N. Howard.
Fall River, Somerset, Swansea and
Westport, M. A. McClarence.
Mansfield and Norton, .... Elvin L. Smith.
New Bedford, Acushnet and Dart-
mouth,
Fairhaven, Freetown and New Bedford, Ernest A. Wlieaton.
North Attleborough, .... Rev. H. E. Latham.
Taunton, Raynham, .... Merle T. Barker.
Somerset, Pottersville and Swansea, . Adam W. Grifford.
Dukes County
Chilmark, Hartford C. Mayhew.
Edgartown B. T. Hillman.
Gay Head, L. L. Vanderhoop.
Gosnold, Chas. B. Church.
Oak Bluflfs, F. W. Smith.
Tisbury, Wm. A. Robinson.
West Tisbury, W. E. Mayhew.
Essex County
Amesbury,
Andover, .
Beverly,
Danvers,
Essex,
Georgetown,
Gloucester,
Groveland,
Hamilton and Wenh
John J. Allen.
Fred H. Jones.
J. W. McPherson.
Chas. H. Preston.
Albion Riggs.
William Bray.
T. J. Carroll.
Chas. H. Pike.
J. D. Barnes.
573
Haverhill,
Ipswich,
Lawrence,
Lynn,
Lynnfield,
Manchester,
Marblehead,
Merrimac, .
Methuen, .
Middleton,
Nahant,
Newbury, .
Newburyport,
North Andover
Peabody,
Rockport,
Rowley,
Salem,
Salisbury,
Saugus,
Swampscott,
Topsfield, .
West Boxford,
West Newbury,
Geo. L. Martin.
Chas. E. Goodline.
T. A. Welch.
H. Herbert Richardson.
Nelson B. Todd.
Geo. Wilmonton.
Joseph W. Coates.
Willis H. Scott.
William Taylor.
Maurice E. Taylor.
H. C. Wilson.
Richard P. Noyes.
William G. Fisher.
Herbert McQuestion.
J. J. Cartten.
John Dennis.
J. N. Dummer.
Arthur H. Phippen.
Charles Lawson.
John Q. Evens.
Wm. O. Bursch.
Ed. H. Kitfield.
I. H. Sawyer.
Leroy E. Colby.
L. G. Dodge.
Franklin County
Ashfield, Abbot L. Howes.
Bernardston, Henry L. Crowell.
Buckland, F. D. Kendrick.
Charlemont, Geo. Frary.
Colrain Walter Kemp.
Conway, Edward Affhouser.
Deerfield, Lincoln B. Wells.
Erving, C. H. Holmes.
Gill, P.S.Eddy.
Greenfield, ...... Fred W. Burnham.
Hawley, H. C. Hodge.
North Heath, J. G. Thompson.
Leverett, C. Hall Beaman.
Leydon, Rev. A. E. Roberts.
Monroe, E. C. Davis.
Montague, Fred C. Abercrombie.
574
New Salem, E. F. Stowell.
Northfield, F. A. Welch.
Orange, W. S. Johnson.
Rowe, Henry D. Wright.
Shelburne, F. D. Kendrick.
Shutesbury, S. R. Johnson.
Sunderland, C. P. Smith.
Warwick, ■ . O. W. Cole.
Wendell, N. B. Plumb.
Whately, Montville L. Crafts.
Hampden County
Agawam, . D. J. Collins.
Blandford, W. V. Bodurtha.
Brimfield, C. B. Brown.
Chester, Leon J. Kelso.
Chicopee, N. P. A. Carter.
East Longmeadow, H. W. King.
Granville, . O. R. Noble.
Hampden, . C. J. Burleigh.
Holland, J. F. Hebard.
Holyoke, J. B. Weis.
Longmeadow, Fred M. Flagg.
Ludlow, W. E. Gushen.
Monson, Rufus P. Cushman.
Montgomery, MjTon Kelso.
Palmer, R. C. NeweU.
Russell, E. D. Parks.
Southwick, J. W. Root.
Springfield, C. B. Potter.
Tolland, John R. Rogers.
Wales, L. H. Thompson.
West Springfield, A. L. Pease.
Westfield, L. B. AUyn.
Wilbraham, F. A. Warren.
Hampshire County
Amherst, Mason A. Dickinson.
Easthampton, Archibald Forbes.
Greenwich, E. H. Walker.
Northampton, Louis L. Campbell and William
Kimball.
Ware, E. H Brenan.
575
Middlesex County
Acton Administrator,
Arlington Administrator,
Food Control,
Ashby Administrator,
Food Control,
Ashland Administrator,
Aver Administrator,
Food Control,
Bedford Administrator,
Food Control,
Belmont Administrator,
Food Control,
Billeriea Administrator,
Food Control,
Boxborougli Administrator,
Food Control,
Burlington Administrator,
Cambridge Administrator,
Food Control,
Carlisle Administrator, .
Food Control,
Chelmsford Administrator,
Food Control,
Concord Administrator, .
Food Control,
Dracut Administrator,
Food Control,
Dunstable Administrator,
Everett Administrator, .
Food Control,
Framingham Administrator
Control,
Groton Administrator,
Food Control,
HoUiston Administrator,-
Hopkinton Administrator
Control,
Hudson Administrator, .
Food Control,
Lexington Administrator,
Lincoln Administrator, .
Food Control,
and
and
Food
Food
Allen S. Porker.
Charles H. Higgins.
Warren P. Peirce.
Rev. E. S. Treworgy.
Walter H. Smith.
George G. Tidsbury.
George L. Osgood.
George H. Hill.
George R. Blinn,
W. J. Balfour.
Dr. L. B. Clark.
F. H. Kendall.
Charles A. Wright.
Thomas F. Sheridan.
Stephen D. Salmon, 3d.
Arthur W. Nelson.
Fred Kneeland Walker.
William W. Davis.
Edwin A. Cutting.
Herbert A. Lee.
James F. Anthony.
C. George Armstrong.
Herbert C. Sweetser.
Allen French.
George M. Baker.
Thomas Varnum.
A. L. Blizzard.
James E. Kendall.
H. Heustis Newton.
Henry Duncan.
Theodore F. Rice.
S. Warren Sturgis.
Stephen W. Sabine.
Louis E. P. Smith.
Daniel J. Riley.
Loriman Brigham.
Thomas Kelly and Edgar P.
Larkin.
George E. Briggs.
C. S. Smith.
George L. Chapin.
576
and
Littleton Administrator and Food
trol, ....
Lowell Administrator,
Maiden Administrator, .
Food Control,
Marlborough Administrator,
Food Control,
Maynard Administrator,
Food Control,
Melrose Administrator, .
Food Control,
Natick Administrator,
Food Control,
Newton Administrator, .
Food Control,
North Reading Administrator
Control,
Pepperell Administrator,
Food Control,
Reading Administrator, .
Food Control,
Sherborn Administrator,
Shirley Administrator,
Food Control,
Somerville Administrator,
Food Control,
Stoneham Administrator,
Stow Administrator,
Food Control,
Sudbury Administrator, .
Tewksbury Administrator,
Food Control,
Townsend Administrator,
Food Control,
Tyngsborough Administrator,
Food Control,
Wakefield x4dministrator.
Food Control,
Waltham Administrator and Food
trol, ....
Watertown Administrator,
Food Control,
Wayland Administrator,
Westfield Administrator,
Con-
Food
Con-
John H. Hardy.
Edward Fisher.
George H. Johnson.
Daniel McKenzie.
John A. O'Connell.
Winfield Temple.
George Smith.
George F. Morse.
Chas. H. Adams.
Chas. E. Merrill.
John B. Leamy.
Chas. H. HoUis.
Alfred McDonald.
Alfred W. Fuller.
Herbert D. Wilson.
Waldo Spaulding.
John L. Boynton.
Frank Gray.
M. E. Brande.
Arthur R. Wright.
Mrs. David L. Lindenburg.
Frank Lawton.
Chas. V. Blanchard.
Irving Taylor.
George R. Barnstead.
Rev. J. Sidney Moult on.
R. P. Harriman, Maynard.
Winthrop H. Fairbank.
Irving F. French.
Harry L. Shedd.
A. Dudley Bagley.
Frank B. Higgins.
H. E. Symonds.
Raymond W. Sherbourne.
Dr. Chas. E. Montague.
Joseph L. Gooch.
Fred H. Kirwin.
Wesley E. Monk.
H. L. Paine.
Chester B. Williams.
James W. Rafter.
577
Weston Administrator, .
Wilmington iVdministrator, .
Food Control,
Winchester Administrator,
Food Control,
Woburn Administrator and Food Con-
trol, B. G. Fowler.
Mrs. John B. Paine.
Dr. T. B. Buzzell.
Ed. Woodside.
James Hinds.
Maurice Deneen.
Norfolk County
Avon,
Braintree, .
Brookline,
Canton,
Cohasset,
Dedham and W
Dover,
Foxborough,
Franklin, .
Holbrook, .
MiUis,
Milton,
Medfield, .
Medway, .
Needham, .
Norfolk,
Norwood, .
Plainville, .
Quincy,
Randolph,
Sharon,
Stoughton,
Wellesley, .
Wrentham,
estwood
Carroll A. Capen.
Chas. O. Miller.
W. E. Ward.
H. Everett Beal.
Geo. W. Collier.
Theodore F. March.
James H. Chickering.
Ernest A. ^^^^ite.
Ulysses L. Burne.
Alfred C. Magaw.
Everett L. Coldwill.
Joseph Babcock.
Henry E. Young.
Sewell E. Kingsbury.
Henry L. Thompson.
Clifford L. Hubbard.
Frederick E. Brooks.
Theodore E. Fuller.
Miss Wane.
Carroll A. Capen.
J. J. Rafter.
Ernest H. Gilbert.
Geo. H. Sweetser.
Geo. L. Dodd.
Plymouth County
Town Captains
Abington, E. P. Boynton.
Bridgewater, Samuel Norton.
Brockton, Walter T. Packard.
Lieutenants: William Rankin, C. G. Clap]), C W. O. Lawson, Walter
Pratt, Orvis F. Kinney and Miss Annie L. Burke.
578
Carver, H. S. Griffith.
Dvixbury, Sidne.y G. Soule.
East Bridgewater, Fred E. Fuller.
Halifax, C. F. Tewksbury.
Lieutenants: Frank E. Tyler, Secretary, E. Lawrence Grover, Wm. E.
Robertson, Geo. W. Sturtevant, Wm. B. Wood and Clarence E.
Devitte.
Hanover, John W. Beal.
Hanson, A. B. Sturtevant.
Hingham, Edgar M. Lane.
Hull, John WTieeler.
Miss Helen Holmes.
Oscar F. Stetson.
Arthur E. Griffin.
David F. Strange.
Kingston,
Lakeville,
Marion,
Marshfield,
Lieutenant: Oliver Hatch.
Mattapoisett, Henry L. Dunham.
Middleborough, Oscar F. Stetson.
Norwell, Joseph C. Otis.
Lieutenants: Henry D. Smith, Carleton O. Litchfield, Charles Scully,
Jesse Reed and Geo. H. Turner.
Pembroke, H. L. Shepard.
Plymouth,
Plympton,
Rochester, .
Rockland, .
Scituate,
Wareham, .
W^est Bridgewater,
Whitman, .
W. L. Mayo, Jr.
Mrs. Elizabeth Fillebrown.
Lawrence Humphrey.
Edward H. Williams.
H. W. Cole.
I. C. Hammond.
Geo. Cobb.
W. W. Copeland.
Suffolk County
W^m. J. Randall.
Peter F. Conley.
Miss Clementina Derocco
Ascanio Dirago.
District Deputies
Horace Waite,
Mrs. R. A. Woods.
F. W. Dickerman.
Advisory Committee
John B. Drum.
James T. O'Brien.
Frank V. Thompson.
George C. Greener.
William L. Terhune.
F. W. Dickerman.
579
Ashbiirnham,
Clinton,
Fitchburg,
Hardwick,
Leominster,
Oxford,
Southbridge,
Spencer,
Warren,
Webster,
Westborough,
Worcester,
Worcester County
C. A. Hubbell.
Edward Osgood.
James E. Shea.
Fred Crawford.
J. A. Jalbert.
Joseph L. Brown.
Herman T. Hude.
Geo. H. Bemis.
P. O. Perkins.
Harry Nado.
Fred W. Humphrey,
Carmine Zemarro.
Calendar, Home Economics Committee, March, 1917, to
November, 1918
March, 1917.
Women's food work started. Dean Sarah Louise Arnold appointed
chairman of Food Conservation Committee, being a sub-com-
mittee of President Butterfield's Committee on Food Produc-
tion and Conservation of the Massachusetts Committee on
Public Safety.
June 15, 1917.
Women's food work incorporated with Council of National Defense.
Mrs. Nathaniel Thayer appointed director.
Monthly coixference started.
July, 1917.
First Hoover pledge card drive.
August, 1917.
"No white bread week" in all public eating places of the State.
September, 1917.
\Miite breadless days campaign.
October, 1917.
\Mieatless and meatless days compaign.
Aimouncement of plan of work of merchant representative.
First meeting of Home Economics Committee, held bi-monthly.
November, 1917.
Plan proposed for lectures on food conservation in retail stores.
Food movies discussed.
Fish campaign.
Lecture bureau started.
Liberty Bread Shop opened (privately financed).
Red Cross Lunch Room opened (privately financed).
Publicity organized.
580
December, 1917.
Conservation menus sent to cantonments.
January, 1918.
Corn meal campaign.
Porkless days.
209 Food Conservation Committees organized under Council of
National Defense.
1918 home card campaign.
Sunday bulletin in newspapers started.
Circular letter sent to unit chairmen containing report of food saved
through food conservation in November, 1917.
First weekly Food Bulletin issued.
Retail price reporting started.
February, 1918.
Fats campaign.
Appointment of men and women county food administrators.
Questionnaire on results of distribution of 1918 home card.
April, 1918.
Potato campaign.
Poster campaign —
Food and child welfare.
Campaign for centers: —
Canning centers.
Markets.
Community markets.
Campaign for using up corn meal.
May, 1918.
Five conservation cottages on Boston Common opened.
Flour card campaign.
Absolutely wheatless campaign.
Beef conservation campaign.
June, 1918.
Milk campaign.
Canning centers questionnaires sent out.
July, 1918.
Distribution of sugar cards.
Wheatless and sugarless food demonstration electric car.
Motor demonstration truck.
426 moving-picture slides circulated, "Sugar Ration."
418 moving-picture slides circulated, "Wheat Ration per Person."
August, 1918.
Drive for storage of vegetables.
406 moving-picture slides circulated, "Canning and Preserving."
581
September, 1918.
Questionnaires sent to canning centers regarding supply of sugar.
Cottage cheese campaign.
Exhibits at county fairs.
Pit and nut campaign for gas masks.
400 moving-picture shdes circulated, "Use Fancy Meats."
68 moving-picture slides circulated, "Eat Cottage Cheese."
Emergency canteens established during influenza epidemic.
November, 1918.
400 moving-picture slides circulated, "Save Food to Save Humanity."
Circular issued by The New England Coal Committee
State House, Boston, July 24, 1917.
To New Englmid Consumers of Coal.
The New England Coal Committee has been able during the
last few weeks to assist in materially increasing the all-rail move-
ment of anthracite to New England. The New England railroads,
their officers and employees, have spared no effort to co-operate
with the Committee in securing this result. Receivers of coal
also have helped to increase the carrying capacity of the scanty
supply of cars available for New England needs by making un-
usual efforts to unload their cars between sunrise and sunset on
the day received, though there is still need of better dispatch in
unloading on the part of many consignees. We are writing to
each consignee who detains cars, asking for his patriotic co-opera-
tion in more prompt unloading, and we are glad to say that our
letters have been received in the spirit in which they have been
written, and we are receiving assurances in every direction of a
willingness to make a better showing in future.
The solid trainload movement from the hard coal fields of Penn-
sylvania direct to the twenty-eight New England distributing
points, arranged by this Committee, is also adding to the carrying
capacity of the New England cciuipment. ISIuch credit is due the
Reading Coal Company and the Philadelphia and Reading Rail-
way for the inauguration of this solid trainload movement; with-
out their interest and co-operation this most promising innovation
could not have been begun. The Committee feels, however, that
while hard coal conditions have thus been improved. New Eng-
land is not yet by any means out of the woods as regards its supply
of anthracite for tlie coming winter, owing to the fact that while
582
more coal is being carried by rail, less is being brought by water
due to lack of sufficient water tonnage, and also to shortage of coal
at the loading ports.
The Committee is now addressing its efforts especially to these
water conditions.
Coal Reserves Too Low
As we all know, the New England industries depend chiefly
upon bituminous coal, and this is also true of our railroads, trolley
lines, electric light and gas companies and many other essential
activities. The stock of bituminous coal now on hand in New
England is deficient, and bituminous coal is not now moving and
has not been moving during the last few months of good weather
into New England in sufficient quantities to accmiiulate the re-
serves needed to carry our industries through the coming winter.
There is a temptation during the summer months for consumers
of coal to be lulled into a false sense of security. The use of house-
hold coal falls off to a marked extent during the warm weather,
and the use of commercial bituminous coal falls off sensibly also,
because in summer the large factory burns coal only for power
instead of for both power and heat. The consmnption by railroads
is also less in warm weather, and due to the shorter daylight hours
every one of the electric light and gas companies dotted over
New England increases materially its coal consumption in winter.
We are likely to forget under the easier railroad operating con-
ditions of the smiimer months, that in winter the carrying capacity
of our New England railroads, which can barely take us through
the summer months, suffers a serious reduction in the number of
freight cars that can be hauled into and out of New England. It
is probably not too much to say that the average carrying capacity
of our railroads is reduced during the three months of severest
winter weather by 25 per cent. It is certa'nly within bounds to
place this reduction in carrying capacity at 20 per cent. The in-
clement winter weather, moreover, operates to reduce, probably
to a greater extent, the carrying capacity of the vessels and barges
bringing coal to the New England ports.
Next Ninety Days Critical
New England has never been able to bring in coal during the winter
months as fast as it must be burned. Our rail and water facilities
583
have been pro\ided on the theory that they would be kept busy
all the year round, and that consumers would take care of the heavy
drain on their coal piles in winter by accumulating coal in summer.
It is most certainly true that if New England is to pass success-
fully through next winter, every single car of coal which can pos-
sibly be brought into New England during the next thirty, sixty
and ninety days should be so brought, and that every ton which
can be moved towards New England by barge or steamer should
be so moved. New England cannot possibly make up next winter
any slackening in the movement of coal during the next ninety
days of favorable weather.
Fill the Bins now
We are not now discussing the question of price, though we
fully appreciate the oppressive burden which has been borne by
New England in this respect during the last twelve months. We
are pointing out that if New England is to get through next winter
with the coal it must have, and thus avoid hardships much greater
than even the exorbitant prices of last winter, our people must
take coal and keep taking coal every day to the limit of the New
England carrying capacity.
This duty to keep our carrying capacity working to the full
limit during the next ninety days falls especially upon our larger
corporate units which have the financial resources and the storage
capacity required to accumulate now a large proportion of their
next winter's supply. The obligation, however, rests with equal
force upon the individual, whether householder or manufacturer,
who has the financial resources and storage capacity to take in his
next winter's coal at the present time. In our judgment the house-
holder of means should now make sure that his bins are full, so
that his competition with the poor man during next winter's
crisis shall be at the minimum.
A New Cause of Shortage
There are a number of other unfavorable factors bearing upon
the New England fuel problem, several of which it is perhaps as
well to mention. The Navy Department and other departments
of the government must be kept fully supi)lied with coal, but
several times recently different departments of the Federal gov-
584
ernment, without notice, have suddenly commandeered at the
tidewater ports large quantities of our coal which had left the
mines and were actually on the move to New England. Bottoms
to a considerable extent during the last thirty days have arrived
at Hampton Roads only to find that without notice their coal had
been suddenly taken by the government.
If the government had estimated its needs and had given ten
days' notice, this shipping could have been diverted to other ports,
thus being probably kept employed. Furthermore, if in future
the government requirements could be filled by a comparatively
steady stream of coal instead of by sudden, peremptory demands
for large quantities, it would be of great assistance.
Coal from the mines of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and other western
and southern coal-producing districts is not required to any appre-
ciable extent for governmental purposes, because these smoky coals
are not suitable for naval use and because the coal is not accessible
from the Atlantic seaboard. This throws practically the whole
government demand on to the West Virginia and Maryland fields,
which are the chief sources of supply for New England. Before
the war South America, the Mediterranean and many other
points were fed with coal chiefly from Belgium and England.
These sources of supply have gone, and every ton of coal for which
shipping can be secured is being taken from these same regions
tributary to New England to replace Belgium and British coal.
A Costly Competition
These unusual demands upon the eastern coal fields and the
shortage in water transportation have crowded an unusual amount
on the all-rail routes, and this has thrown an abnormal New Eng-
land demand upon the somewhat limited Clearfield coal district
of northern Pennsylvania where this all-rail coal is secured. This
has forced New England buyers of coal into unusual competition
with each other and with others seeking coal in the Clearfield
district, thereby forcing up the price of all-rail coal. It has in-
creased New England's coal bill both directly and indirectly, the
latter because the high price for all-rail coal has prevented this
fuel supply from furnishing the usual competition with water-
borne coal coming to us from Maryland and West Virginia. Coal
cannot, under ordinary circumstances, be brought successfully
585
from the West Virginia and Maryland fields by rail, because of
the excessive cost of the long railroad haul and the inadequate
supply of cars.
New England Purchasers should broaden their Market
We suggest that New England purchasers of tidewater, who
have difficulty in securing coal from the New River and Poca-
hontas districts, should turn their attention more to the mines
producing the higher volatile coals accessible to tidewater in West
Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, even
though some of these more distant fields involve from 15 to 25
cents higher cost of transportation to seaboard. It seems partic-
ularly worth while for New England consumers to investigate the
possibilities of these sources of supi)ly. Coal moving from the
Virginia fields takes the same rate as Pocahontas and New River.
Price Very Uncertain
We are repeatedly asked if the consumer, by waiting, will be
able to get his coal at a lower price. We cannot answer this
question, because while the government seems to be contemplat-
ing the regulation of coal prices, on the other hand, the govern-
ment itself has felt obliged to take such contrary steps as the sud-
den seizure of New England's coal for naval purposes. More-
over, the tremendous pressure which the government is putting
on industrial establishments for war materials, and the conse-
quent acute competitive labor demand created thereby, tends to
deplete further the already insufficient supply of labor at the
mines, and besides, conscription, if applied to miners, will also
soon aggravate the situation still more.
A fixed government price at which needed coal cannot be se-
cured will not run a factory or keep a house warm next winter.
Then, too, there is the transportation difficulty. Our railroads
can carry much less coal in the winter months when the needs
are much the greatest. Less can move by water, and while rail-
road rates are stable, control of water rates so far has not been
undertaken by the government. Last spring and winter water
carriage on coal to Boston went as high as $5 per ton, and to this
must be added the cost of railway transportation from the mines
to tidewater, plus a second railroad charge if the coal was to move
586
from Boston or other New England port back into the interior.
A possible saving on the price of coal at the mines may be much
more than wiped out by the extra cost of winter transportation.
At present, water rates to Boston are about $2.50 per ton, though
few or no time contracts have been placed on this basis, and the
market is highly sensitive. To-day's spot price is now much more
favorable than last winter, although still much above the price
before the war, which was well under $1 to Boston, with corre-
sponding rates to ports east and west of Boston.
We think the only safe course for New England consumers to
pursue is to purchase coal on a considerable scale during the next
ninety days, so that before the end of October they may be sure
to have on hand a liberal supply. In no other way can we be sure
to keep warm and to keep our industries going next winter.
NEW ENGLAND COAL COMMITTEE,
By James J. Stokrow,
Chairvian.
Organization of Federal Fuel Administration for New
England
Federal Fuel Administration for New England
James J. Storrow, Federal Fuel Administrator for Nexo
England.
J. B. Pierce, Deputy and General Secretary.
D. H. Howie, Deputy.
E. S. Kelley, Assistant.
A. G. Duncan, Special Assistant.
J. F. O'Hare, Special Assistant.
E. W. Longley, Treasurer.
W. R. Herllhy, Jr., Assistant Treasurer.
New Engl.\nd State Fuel Administrators
T. W. Russell.
' C. W. Jaynes, Deputy.
T-r . I J. C. Hanilen.
^ N. Chfford, Dejmty.
J. J. Storrow.
Massachusetts, -j J. B. Pierce, General Secretary.
D. H. Howie, Deputy.
^ TT , . I H. E. Slay ton.
I H. W. Phinney, Secretary.
I J. T. Wilson, Secretary.
\j . f H. J. M. Jones.
Vermont, Wr t i^r , o
\ JVl. JL. >Vood, Secretary.
Allocation of Administration Coal
W. W. Willett, Chairman.
L. F. Leighton. | B. Covel.
United States Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corpaiaiion, Division of
Operations
Capt. A. L. Crowley.
New England Coal Barge and Towers' Association
Capt. A. L. Crowley, Supervisor'.
James J. Storrow, Chairman Executive Committee.
Long Island Sound Barge Operators' Association
Frederick T. Kellers, Supervisor. \ J. P. Collins, Secretary.
Payment for and Rebilling of Administration Coal
Borden Covel, Manager.
H. N. Mitchell, Auditor.
W. S. Howell, All-rail Administration Coal.
J. E. Mason, Tidewater Administration Coal.
United States Ordnance Department
Lieut. A. L. Moore. | S. A. Haley.
Legal
A. A. Schaefer.
Publicity
H. W. Kendall.
Statistician
E. F. O'Dowd.
Oil, Gasoline and Charcoal
F. D. Comerford.
588
Advisory Shippers' Covimittee
W. W. Willeil, Chairman.
B. Covel, Secretary.
O. L. Alexander.
S. P. Burton.
H. P. Cannon.
Capt. A. L. Crowley.
Capt. J. G. Crowley.
R. Grant.
E. Hamlin.
G. Hawley.
Commander H. E. Stevens, U. S. N.
Massachusetts City and Toion Organizations, Retail Prices
Clianning E. Sweitzer.
E. F. Jackson.
L, F. Willard, Field Agent.
F. M. Hildebrandt, Federal Trade Commission Representative.
312 local committees.
Massachusetts Conservation
I. N. HoUis.
A. E. Norton, Executive Secretary.
Manufacturing Plants, Advisory Engineers
G. P. Gilmore, Southeastern.
T. Hawle3% Boston.
I, N. Holiis, Central.
C. T. Main, Boston.
A. T. Safford, Northeastern.
J. A. Skinner, Western,
Factory, fuel and power committees in 2,300 factories.
Laundries
E. R. Marshall, Chairman.
W. P. Creamer,
F. H. Foster,
H, P. Hovey.
Factory Inspection, Field Engineers
C. M. Allen.
E. Q. Cole.
A. S. Kellogg.
J. W, Moran.
E, Smith,
Volunteer visiting engineers in 60 cities and towns.
Domestic Economy
C. F. Allen,
N, Nightingale.
589
Interconnection of Public Utilities
D. M. DeBard, Chairman.
State Institutions
A. E. Norton.
Operating Engineers and Firemen
H. H. Comerford.
W. H. Damon.
W. J. DuWors.
T. Hawley.
F. H. Kimbali.
J. H. Mullen.
Street Railways
H. B. Potter, Chairman.
Hotels
L. C. Prior, Chairman.
Anthracite
A. M. Macleod.
Massachusetts Retail Distribution
W. H. Ballard. | F. M. Miller.
Records
A. H. Roby.
Massachusetts Supply and Distribution
W. G. Carter. | R. W. Cook.
Emergency Supply
T. F. Dwyer, Jr. | W. F. Harris.
Tideirater Reports
W. C. Carlisle.
All-rail Diversions and Car Delays
W. J. Vaughan.
Diversions
E. T. Cate.
590
Car Delays
W. H. Knight. I F. H. Wheeler.
Special Representatives, Neiv England Railroad Gatetoays
O. R. Eytel, New York, New Haven & Hartford Raihoad, Harlem.
G. B. Smith, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Maybrook.
G. G. Gilson, Boston & Maine Railroad, Mechanicsville.
D. F. Regan, Boston & Albany Railroad, West Albany.
Bituminous
R. S. Coffin.
Tidewater Reports
W. C. Carlisle.
All-rail Diversions and Car Delays
W. J. Vaughan.
Diversions
E. T. Cate.
Car Delays
W. H. Knight. 1 F. H. Wheeler.
All-rail Bituminovs Distribution
E. G. Blaisdell. | A. E. Wood.
Special Representatives, New England Railroad Gateways
O. R. Eytel, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Harlem.
G. B. Smith, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Maybrook.
G. G. Gilson, Boston & Maine Railroad, Mechanicsville.
D. F. Regan, Boston & Albany Railroad, West Albany.
Records
L. F. Leighton. | G. Sanford.
591
Industrial Priorities
T. S. Spinney.
Gas Coal
J. F. Wing.
F. W. Clemson, Supply and Distribution.
Tidewater Bituminous Distribution
S. W. WiUett.
C. P. Chase.
C. W. Parker, Jr.
H. M. White.
Special Representatives, Dumping Ports
W. H. Brown, Norfolk, Va.
J. P. Collins, New York City.
J. J. McSweeney, Baltimore, Md.
Wood
J. R. George.
W. D. Clark.
G. D. Button.
Local wood fuel committees.
Chairmen of Fuel Committees in Cities and Towns in
Massachusetts
Abington,
Acton,
Acushnet,
Adams,
Agawam,
Amesbury,
Amherst, .
Andover, .
Arlington,
Ashburnham,
Ashby,
Ashfield,
Ashland,
Assonet,
Athol,
Attleboro,
Auburn, .
C. L. Keen.
Edgar H. Hall.
William G. Taber.
Edwin K. McPeck.
F. A. Worthington.
A. N. Parry.
Dr. C. S. Walker.
E. Barton Chapin.
S. Frederic Hicks.
C. A. Hubbell.
James C. Allen.
George W. Cook.
Franklin Enslin.
George W. Hathaway,
Frank A. Ball.
Frank M. Payson.
Alfred Bennet.
592
Avon,
John T. Dolan.
Ayer,
. Eugene S. Barry.
Barnstable,
Howard N. Parker.
Barre,
John S. Rice.
Becket, .
W. C. Ballon.
Bedford, .
Nathan H. Daniels.
Belchertown,
E. A. Randall.
Bellingham,
Timothy E. Foley.
Belmont, .
Winthrop Brown.
Berkley, .
T. F. Paull.
Berlin, .
Ira G. Dudley.
Bernardston,
H. M. Moat.
Beverly, .
Charles W. Trask.
Billerica, .'
Edgar P. Sellew.
Blackstone,
George W. Maxon.
Blandford,
W. V. Bodurtha.
Bolton, .
Frank S. Hamblin.
Boston,
David A. Ellis.
Bourne, .
Frederic Tudor.
Boxborongh,
Stephen D. Salmon.
Boxford, .
Chester Killiam.
Boylston,
Eugene C. Potter.
Braintree,
Charles C. Mellen.
Brewster,
Francis H. Perry.
Bridgewater,
Frank E. Sweet.
Brimfield,
Charles W. Waldron.
Brockton,
David Perkins.
Brookfield,
W. McLaurin.
Brookline,
Frederic Cunningham
Cambridge,
Elmer H. Bright.
Canton, .
James P. Lynch.
Carver,
Philip S. Cole.
Charlemont,
Rev. E. G. Hooper.
Charlton,
Thomas Longbottom.
Chatham,
Augustus M. Bearse.
Chelmsford,
Paul Dutton.
Chelsea, .
William J. Murdock.
Cheshire, .
Thomas J. Curtin.
Chester, .
R. H. Cook.
Chieopee,
John E. Granfield.
Chilmark,
Daniel Vincent.
Clinton, ,
Judge Charles Mayberry
593
Cohasset,
Arthur W. Hatch.
Concord, .
Edward L. Parker.
Conway, .
Edward AfFhauser.
Cummington,
Leslie L. Porter.
Dalton,
L. A. Haworth.
Dana,
Otis E. Hager.
Danvers, .
Thomas E. Tinsley
Dartmouth,
Henry L. Tiffany.
Dedham, .
F. P. Royce.
Deerfield,
. . . . John J. Greenough.
Dennis,
Zebina H. Small.
Dighton, .
George M. Chase.
Douglas, .
F. J. Libby.
Dover,
Harold Walker.
Dracut, .
Fred A. Bassett.
Dunstable,
James E. Kendall.
Duxbury,
Ralph K. Bearce.
East Bridgewat
er, Henry L. Moorehouse.
East Brookfield
, George A. Putney.
East Longmeac
Eastham,
Arthur W. Parnell.
Easthampton,
Albert D. Sanders.
Easton, .
Frederick Hanlon.
Edgartown,
Dr. Edward P. Worth
Egremont,
John C. O'Neil.
Enfield, .
Dr. ^N. B. Segur.
Erving,
Lewis L. Claflin.
Essex,
Everett, .
J. Arthur Benner.
Fairhaven,
Thomas W. Wliitfield.
Falmouth,
Dr. Lewis C. Weeks.
Fall River,
Charles L. Holmes.
Fitehburg,
Charles B. Smith.
Florida, .
Joseph Newman.
Foxborough,
W'. S. Cruickshank.
Framingham,
N. I. Bowditch
Franklin, .
Alfred W. Dana.
Freetown,
John Thwaites.
Gardner, .
Alvin W. Bancroft.
Gay Head,
E. D. Vanderhoop.
594
Georgetown, H. Howard Noyes.
Gill, William J. Anderson.
Gloucester, Frederic A. Shackelford.
Gosnold, Charles B. Church.
Grafton, Frank Kilmer,
Granby, C. W. Perry.
Great Barrington, Noble B. Turner.
Greenfield, Harry E. Hamilton.
Greenwich, Louis A. Faverio.
Groton, C. Z. Southard.
Groveland John F. Dearborn.
Hadley, Elam S. Allen.
Halifax, Jared Baker.
Hamilton and Wenham, . . . Lester E. Libby.
Hancock, Rev. John D. Graham.
Hanover, Edward A. Bowker.
Hanson, Andrew P. Sturtevant.
Hardwick, Joseph Knight.
Harvard, F. W. Bateman.
Harwich, Charles E. Hamer.
Hatfield, Harry L. Howard.
Haverhill, Fred D. McGregor.
Hingham, Charles B. Barnes.
Hinsda'.e, L. Harry Brague.
Holbrook, . . . . . . Dennis E. McCarthy.
Holden, Loring W. Hubbard.
Holliston, Arthur A. Williams.
Holyoke, Edward J. Meacham.
Hopedale, William W. Knights.
Hopkinton, George V. Brown.
Hubbardston, William H. Wlieeler.
Hudson, E. W. Dunbar.
Hull, Charles S. McDowell.
Huntington, Don V. Messer.
Hyannis, Edward F. Maher.
Ipswich, Walter E. Hayward.
Kingston, Frank C. Woodward.
Lancaster, Dudley H. Dorr.
Lanesborough, Zadoc Williams.
Lawrence, Richard Ward.
595
Lee, .
Lenox,
Leominster,
Leverett, .
Lexington,
Lincoln, .
Littleton ,
Longmeadow,
Lowell,
Ludlow, .
Lunenburg,
Lynn,
Lynnfield,
Walter J. Ingram.
Dr. H. P. Jaques.
E. B. Richardson.
Charles L. Putney.
Frank W. Herrick.
C. Lee Todd.
Hon. Frank A. Patch.
Dr. E. S. Temple.
Albert D. Milliken.
A. H. Bartlett.
Emerson W. Baker.
C. Fred Smith.
Dr. E. W. Freeman.
Maiden, .
Manchester,
Mansfield,
Marblehead,
Marion, .
Marlborough,
Marshfield,
Mattapoisett,
Maynard,
Medfield,
Medford, .
Medway, .
Melrose, .
Merrimac,
Methuen,
Middleborough
Middleton,
Milford, .
Millbury,
MiUis,
MUlviUe,
Milton,
Monroe,
Monson,
Montague
Henry P. Porter.
Everett L. Edmands.
W. C. Fuller.
Henry F. P. Wilkins.
Reid D. Macafee.
Dr. Edward H. Ellis.
Fred M. Lamson.
Everett C. Stetson.
Joshua Naylor.
George L. L. Allen.
J. W. Rockwell.
Charles W. Auel.
Edward E. Babb.
Thomas H. Hoyt.
James C. Forbes.
William B. Crossley.
Galen B. Howe.
Patrick E. Sweeney.
John R. Greenwood.
Horace M. Cushman.
C. R. Day.
Philip M. Reynolds.
Carl W. Kingsley. '
Charles L. Ricketts.
E. L. Bartlett.
Nahant, Dana A. Sanborn.
Nantucket, Walter H. Burgess.
Natick, Judge M. F. Kennedy
596
Needham, Howard A. Grossman.
New Bedford, Henry H. Crapo.
New Braintree, Harry D. Pollard.
New Salem, E. F. Stowell.
Newbury, Richard T. Noyes.
Newburyport, Hon. Moody Kimball.
Newton, Oliver M. Fisher.
Norfolk, Arthur M. Sumner.
North Adams, Hon. Carlton T. Phelps.
North Andover, Isaac Osgood.
North Attleborough, .... Andrew Morris.
North Brookfield, Thomas G. Richards.
North Reading, Leslie A. Nichols.
Northampton, William D. Mandell.
Northborough, Alfred Thomas.
Northbridge, . . . . . Henry A. Owen.
Northfield, Charles S. Warner.
Norton, Vinton I. Reynolds.
Norwood, Albin K. Parker.
OakBlufPs, .
. Ezekiel H. Matthews
Oakham, . . .
. Harry B. Parker.
Orange,
. Hervey S. Dawley.
Orleans, ....
George S. Hall.
Otis,
. Robert M. Clark.
Oxford, ....
Charles N. Turner.
Palmer, Charles Le Gro.
Paxton, Henry H. Pike.
Peabody, George E. Hayes.
Pelham, E. P. Bartlett.
Pembroke, William A. Howard.
Pepperell, Joseph A. Saunders.
Petersham, Daniel Broderick.
Phillipston, John Cotton.
Pittsfield, Daniel England.
Plainville, Millard S. Rines.
Plymouth, George W. Bradford.
Plympton, Lloyd D. Wright.
Princeton, Raymond J. Gregory.
Provincetown, Edwin N. Paine.
Quincy, Perley E. Barbour.
597
Randolph,
Reading, .
Revere,
Richmond,
Rochester,
Rockland,
Rockport,
Rowe,
Rowley, .
Royalston,
Russell,
Rutland, .
Salem,
Salisbury,
Sandwich,
Saugus,
Savoy,
Scituate, .
Sharon,
Sheffield, .
Shelburne,
Sherborn,
Shirley, .
Shrewsbury,
Somerset,
Somerville.
South Deerfield,
South Hadley,
Southampton,
Southborough,
Southbridge,
South wick,
Spencer, .
Springfield,
Sterling, .
Stockbridge.
Stoneham,
Stoughton,
Sturbridge,
Sudbury, .
Sunderland,
Sutton,
Swansea, .
Mark B. Claff.
A. Newell Howes.
Robert Pirie.
Charles D. Benton.
Charles R. Dexter.
A. I. Randall.
Edgar Knowlton.
Thatcher R. Raymond.
J. W. Dummer.
Loren V. Sampson.
W. O. Johnson.
Louis M. Hanff.
Alvah P. Thompson.
George W. Buswell.
George B. Lapham.
Frederick L. Sawyer.
H. H. Fitzroy.
William E. Supple.
Ernest C. Church.
Alfred O. Tower.
Leander Bird.
Arthur R. Wright.
Edward S. Pratt.
H. A. Maynard.
Fernald L. Hanson.
Fred M. Carr.
James Campbell.
Harry E. Hanks.
Charles Graves.
James E. O'Leary.
John G. Clarke.
A. R. Webb.
Charles M. Durell.
Edwin A. Carter.
Harrison W. Rugg.
James H. Punderson.
Ralph R. Patch.
James Lehan.
Joseph La Flame.
Charles H. Way.
C. F. Clark.
Charles N. Woodbury.
F. L. Gardner.
598
Taunton, .
. William J. Davison.
Templeton,
Robert T. Bourn.
Tewksbury,
. Wilbur A. Patten.
Tisbury, .
Edward C. Lord.
Topsfield,
. Leroy Gleason.
Townsend,
A. Dudley Bagley.
Truro,
. I. M. Small.
Ty ngsborough ,
Chester H. Queen.
Tyringham,
George R. Warren.
Upton,
. William H. Miskell.
Uxbridge,
James Fisher.
Wakefield,
. Dr. Curtis L. Sopher.
Walpole, .
. Henry M. Stowell.
Waltham,
. Joseph P. Morrisey.
Ware,
. Charles C. Hitchcock
Wareham,
Frank A. Besse.
Warren, .
. Frank E. Gleason.
Watertown,
. Frederick H. Robie.
Wayland,
. William S. Lovell.
Webster, .
. Edgar S. Hill.
Wellesley,
. F. C. Leslie.
Wellfleet,
. S. F. Porch.
Wendell, .
. E. S. Putnam.
West Boylston,
. Walter E. Clark.
West Bridgewater,
. C. P. Kendall.
West Brookfield, .
George A. Johnson.
W^est Newbury,
Daniel Cooney.
West Springfield,
. A. H. Remington.
West Stoekbridge,
. James S. Moore.
Westborough, .
George H. Woodman.
Westfield,
Frank Grant.
Westford,
. Julian A. Cameron.
Westminster, .
. Frank A. Miller.
Weston, .
. Arthur T. Johnson.
Westport,
. Charles R. Tallman.
Weymouth,
. Henry Tilden.
Wliately, .
Montville L. Crofts.
Whitman,
. Benjamin S. Atwood.
Wilbraham,
. Fred W. Green.
Williamsburg,
. Albert S. Hills.
Williamstown,
. F. E. Moore.
Wilmington, .
. Charles C. Alden.
599
Winchendon,
Winchester,
Windsor, .
Winthrop,
Woburn, .
Worcester,
Wrentham,
Yarmouth,
Dr. J. G. Henry.
Jere A. Downs.
W. C. Estes.
Hugh W. Rr.berts, Jr.
Elmer E. Silver.
Thomas H. Gage.
George L. Dodd.
Charles R. Howes.
H kb- 79
600
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