The Expansion of Federal Bureaucracy During WWI

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Table of Contents

Establishment of the Public Information Committee
War industries Board
The National War Labour Board
The United States Food Administration
Smith-Lever Act and the Cooperative Extension Service
Food and Fuel Control Act and the Food and Fuel Control Administration
The economic war agencies
Conclusion
References

The federal bureaucracy entails a number of departments, administrative units, agencies, commissions, as well as authorities that perform responsibilities and duties assigned to them under the law (Tindall & Shi, 2013). There are very many reasons why the federal bureaucracy has been expanding, but the Congress, the public, as well as head of the state, contended that some aspects of connected to global and domestic affairs needed more attention from the federal government (Tindall & Shi, 2013).

With these, a number of government agencies were created during the WWI particularly when it emerged that there was a need to regulate or control industrial sector as well as the call for the US to participate in the war to support its allies. The paper discusses areas that witnessed bureaucratic expansion during the WWI and also gave reasons about why it expanded or departments were added.

Establishment of the Public Information Committee

The public information committee was established to manage domestic public opinion that had gone out of control during the WWI. The committee specifically supplied the media with information relating to the situation at hand. Committee worked together with other government agencies to define what the general public was allowed to say during the time of war. Those who opposed the government directive were sent to prison.

War industries Board

The board was created in 1917. As a federal agency, the board was to ensure that the people the United States both home and oversees had to access to affordable products and materials (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The board was headed by people who were close to President Wilson. The president asked the head of WIB to work closely with the head of agriculture, Hoover.

This means that whilst the emphasis of Hoover was on agriculture, the raw materials produced were to support the growth of local industries falling under war industries board (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The war industries board was generally organized in several units to supervise and manage all aspects of WWI needs. This ranged from the distribution of raw materials to price controls on the end products.

The National War Labour Board

The National War Labour Board was created in 1918 (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The WIB consisted mostly of public servants who worked in the army. This is different from the NWLB, which was mainly dominated by the common people. Some of these people included trade unions, workers, and business leaders (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The responsibility of NWLB was to settle conflicts arising from the labor, as well as other issues that had the potential to affect the industrial process during WWI negatively.

The United States Food Administration

The United States Food Administration was created by the federal government upon invoking the executive order in 1917 (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The agency was headed by Hoover. The main responsibility of the agency was to assure that food was promptly supplied, distributed, and conserved during the wartime.

The agency also was to facilitate transportation food, containing monopolies as well as hoarding. In addition, the United States Food Administration was to maintain the control of the government over foods, and this was to be done using a system of licensing as well as voluntary agreements.

Furthermore, the agency tried to get all American people to preserve what they had and also to utilize less of what could be made or even grown. The agency also asked all people living in the United States to grow their own food and also heed to call and preserve what they had (Tindall & Shi, 2013). In other words, they were encouraged to grow more to ensure the country had plenty of food and consume less, as it could also be sent to the American troops and those of friendly countries.

Smith-Lever Act and the Cooperative Extension Service

The Smith-Lever Act was created by Congress in 1914 (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The Cooperative Extension Service was created by this legislation in order to build up effective animal and agricultural husbandry programs, classes, as well as the use of land, offered to organizations such as high learning institutions involved in the field of crop and animal production (Tindall & Shi, 2013). The aim was to give permission to these universities to share knowledge and information with known students.

Food and Fuel Control Act and the Food and Fuel Control Administration

Congress adopted the Act in 1917 as soon as the United States declared that it would take part in the war (Tindall & Shi, 2013). It led to formation of fuel and food administration. Its aim was to ensure that Americans both at home and oversees did not lack anything.

The food and fuel control administration was tasked with managing the production process, price issues, as well as the distribution of food and fuel at the time of war (Tindall & Shi, 2013). Most importantly, the administration ensured that the fuel demand of the United States during the war would be met through conservation.

The economic war agencies

Largely, the economic war agencies used indirect approaches instead of blatant commands to attain their targets (Tindall & Shi, 2013). These agencies were formed during the WWI to help the federal government establish a system of identifying companies that would be used to produce war-related goods.

These companies were allowed greater access to basic things such as raw materials, workforce, fuel, as well as transportation compared to those that were involved in activities that were considered insignificant (Tindall & Shi, 2013). In other words, the agencies were formed to contain companies that chose not to cooperate with the federal government.

One of the main reasons why these agencies set the prices for most goods they prioritized those cooperating with them. That is, they allowed them to earn good profits based on the fact that prices for industrial war were set by these agencies at a level or point that could easily benefit them a lot (Tindall & Shi, 2013). In addition, most players in the industry felt at ease dealing with the agencies as opposed to government officials.

These agencies awarded contracts to those companies that cooperated with the government and also negotiated good terms with them (Tindall & Shi, 2013). In addition, cooperating businesses could easily take part in illegal activities or without being summoned. Several business leaders appreciated the opportunity brought by the war and expanded their companies as there were ready markets and ready labor.

Conclusion

The federal government expanded rapidly during the WWI, particularly around 1916-1918. This is because the US was at the point of or had already the allies in the war. Previously, there were agencies and administrative units, especially those created before or during the civil war. However, many more were established as the need both from the public and federal government grew.

The government developed many agencies to ensure that war weapons were manufactured and delivered the army on time. Others were created to oversee local or home activities such as production and conservation of food, fuel, and raw materials.

References

Tindall, G. B., & Shi, D. E. (2013). America: A narrative history (9th ed., Vol. 2). New York, NY.: W.W. Norton & Co.,.

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