Leslie's Weekly newspaper clipping

February 22, 1919

men ot affairs the two

biggest things which we
have done as a Government
in the way of passing laws
were accomplished when we
passed the Draft Law and the
Overman Act. There was no
question at any time about
Uncle Sam’s ability to get all
the men he needed under
some rule or regulation, but
the process ot getting that into a law, and getting full
popular support was a rather difficult matter. Con-
scription was decidedly distasteful to most Americans
and had we left the matter of securing the proper number
of troops within.a given time to a voluntary decision on
the part of the individual, we hold our breath to think
what might have been the result. The passage of the
universal service act enabled us to go right to the “stock-
room,’’ so to speak, and draw.irom the abundant supply
of men in America. That was the first thing to be done
to prepare us to enter the war.

The second thing, after having obtained the men, was
the great problem of supplies and equipment for them
both on this side and overseas; in other words, the war
after the passing of the service act was an industrial war.

There we struck our real handicap. The problem was
so big and so new and its ramifications so many that we
really had to begin at nothing or zero, and design, formu-
late, procure, produce and transport almost simultane-
ously. We had no definite knowledge of many materials
and supplies, nor provision for obtaining such knowledge.

ie the opinion of many

Epiror’s Note.—When war came Secretary Baker sent for Mr. L
banking affairs of Detroit, and appointed him Chie
Lewis has recently retired from the War Depar
synchronizing the ouiput of American

LESLIE’S WEEKLY

Brains vs. Bureaucracy

By EUGENE W. LEWIS

We had made no effort to obtain this knowledge in the
past. As to what we had, wher2 it was, how much of it
we had, how we could get it—we were entirely ignorant.

We were amazed to find that, where we thought we had
an abundant supply of certain raw materials and certain
elements, we did not have them in anything like suffi-
clent quantities and in some cases we had none at all.
In many cases it was necessary to start research in
laboratories and to invent processes as well as material
to work out synthetic materials. Otten the processes
themselves might be considered of a synthetic character.
In countless instances in order to make initial starts on
industrial programs it was necessary to invent processes
and work out the method of manufacturing from the basic
design up.

When we hear narrow criticism of governmental con-
duct of affairs during the process of getting ready indus-
trials to meet the war demands, and an attempt is made
to point to a certain large sum of money spent in some of
these developing processes in a way considered extrava-
gant or wasteful, it is well to remember that one of the

Is the Fuel Situation

Motor Department

with gasolineless Sundays. We, however, who

confidently unlock our garage doors, start the
engine these cool days until it becomes thoroughly
warmed up, and then-drive to-our-dealer’s for ten gallons
of gasoline, for which we may pay $2.00 or $2.50, do not
realize that geologists, mining experts and petroleum
refining authorities are literally lying awake nights to
_solve the future of the automotive fuel problem.

T. country will probably not again be confronted

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WSS

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Llyy,

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GY es =

A portion of the guests attending the dinner given by the Contest Board of the American
Automobile Association in honor of the return of the American ace and former automobile
racing driver, Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker, at the Waldorf-Astoria, February 3.

Conducted by H.

The optimist will see nothing to worry about in the
report of the United States Geological Survey, which
discovers an unmined supply of crude petroleum in this
country, at present, of some six and three-quarter billion
barrels.But-we are becoming somewhat blasé, and a
billion means less to us now than it did before our war
expenditures amounted to this many dollars every two
weeks or so. Furthermore, our consumption of petro-
leum, which is practically our sole source of gasoline

At the

é

ewis, prominent in the manufacturing and
f of the Production Branch of the General Staff. Mr.
iment, leaving a most enviable record of accomplishment in
manufactures with the demands of our vast military establishment.

=

267

greatest residues or items of
salvage that we have lert is
the new and novel processes
and methods resulting from
the preparation for war.
Consider the new devices,
machines, new chemicals, ma-
chinery, etc.,that have resulted
from this preparation and the
practical American wil! hardly
consider the money invested
lost or wasted, but rather will
consider the industrial war bill as a permanent invest-
ment of inestimable value for all time to come.

It is safe to assume that in at least some of the lines
indicated the knowledge and experiment gained repre-
sent an advancement in science and manufacturing the
equivalent of from fifty to one hundred years of normal
effort and progress.

How to create industrial effort on a scale sufficient to
meet the requirements of the war program and to thus
obtain the vast quantities of material needed was the
huge problem confronting the various governmental
agencies and bureaus. It was necessary for the Govern-
ment to translate its estimates and demands to industrial
America in terms of commodities, raw materials, etc.

There was not sufficient or proper organization ma-
chinery set up to deal with this huge problem, nor avail-
able authority for the setting up of such machinery;
so that the second important thing that was accom-
plished was the passage ot the Overman Act ,which gave
the President authority to do almost any and everything

Continued on page 278.,

Serious?

W. SLAUSON, M. E.

supply, is such that, if maintained without increase, our
unmined stores will scarcely last more than eighteen or
twenty years. This presents an unanswerable argument
to the suggestion to the effect that all we have to do to
meet our increasing gasoline requirements is to drive
new wells. This is being done continually, but the per-
centage of successful “strikes” is rapidly diminishing, and
we are fast learning that Mother Nature’s storehouses
Continued on page 272




Wi



speakers’ table, No.1 is Secretary of War Baker, No. 2 is Capt. Rickenbacker, and, in the fore-
ground, No. 3 is Col. E. A. Deeds, who was largely responsible for the success of the Liberty
motor, and whose personal integrity was vindicated by Secretary of War Baker in his speech,












268

A Germa

*

n

LESLIE’S WEEKLY

City

in the Argonne Forest





February 22, 1919
































For four years the Ger-
mans held the Argonne
Forest, until the Ameri-
cans drove them out last
October. During their long
stay there the Huns con-
structed cozy quarters and
an elaborate defensive
system, which they be-
lieved could not be broken.







An artistic well, one
source of the water
supply for the city
in the Argonne.





The headquaiters o:
Prince Max. A re-
markable dugout pro-
tected by a bomb-proof
concrete roof s'x feet
in thickness. It was
luxuriously furnished.













The officers occupied comfortable homes

built

in terraces into the hillside,









A miniature.city was built

which imnctuded concrete

homes, beer gardens,
swimming-pool and a the-
ater. Here, at first, in
quiet, and later while shells
whistled overhead, the of-
ficers enjoyed life, until
the American attack forced
their hurried retreat.











PHOIOS © AMERICAN PHOTO SERVICE

The concrete pool
where the officers
enjoyed the luxury
of a cool plunge.