USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume III > Part 8
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
The Manifold Operations Carried On-So far we have been consid- ering the preparatory and early special committees, whose activities ceased or were in the process of completion prior to the federalizing of the troops, July 28, 1917. On this date and again in October, important changes were made in the scope and management of the Safety Commit- tee. New work was loaded upon it through the appointment by Secre- tary Hoover of Henry B. Endicott as Federal Food Administrator for New England, and the establishment of Food Conservation Committees throughout the State. In October, Mr. Storrow took entire charge of the Fuel Administration in New England, which took practically all of the chairman's time and energy. Fortunately, the foundations of the Committee on Safety had been so firmly laid that even the upheaval taking two of its leaders did not weaken the structure. From now on, the most important work of its career had to be accomplished. For an organization so hurriedly formed, working always under irksome con- ditions, and the clerical part in inadequate quarters, its members scat- tered throughout the State, although most were located in the metrop- olis, with emergency following emergency, with haste always required,
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it is still a cause for amazement at the perfection with which it func- tioned, and the success that attended its efforts. Mr. Endicott is remem- bered as Fuel Administrator, yet he was the arbiter and arbitrator in more than one hundred and fifty strikes at a time when there was the greatest of labor unrest and an increase in the cost of living that was unprecedented. Only twice were there attempts to override his findings, and both failed. The saving to Massachusetts and the Nation through these arbitraments is estimated at fifty millions of dollars; perhaps a half million workers were fairly paid and kept reasonably contented.
Special Services-Among the miscellaneous activities of the Massa- chusetts Committee on Public Safety during, for the most part, the period after the declaration of war, were those of somewhat unrelated commit- tees, and those of a temporary nature. The Committee on the Solicita- tion of Funds for Patriotic Purposes was the expansion of the prepara- tory body for the coordination of aid societies. It was in existence eight months during which 366 activities were investigated. The intent of the investigation was to prevent duplication of effort with its danger of inefficiency, wastefulness and sometimes dishonesty. George H. Lyman was chairman.
The mobilization by committees of the main organization of the saw- mill units, of the schoolboys for farm service had picturesque features. Lord Lovat said : "The New England Sawmill Unit was the best sport- ing event that has come to my attention during the war." In the camps for boys, established in various parts of the State, hundreds gathered to give aid to the farmers. Twenty-five hundred boys were placed on farms in the summer of 1918, while 1600 worked during the year before. It is thought that during 1918, nearly $2,000,000 worth of farm products were added to the supply of Massachusetts.
On December 6, 1917, word came to Boston of the catastrophe that had overtaken Halifax when two vessels loaded with munitions col- lided, exploded, laying half the city in ruins. Within three days the committee had a relief ship on the way with another following. About a half million dollars were raised and expended within a few weeks in the rehabilitation of the Canadian city.
Three committees provided an emergency hospital in the Common- wealth Armory, Boston; provided for the training and instruction of disabled soldiers and sailors, and organized the most of New England for efficient transport on the highways. Of different character, but each by its name showing the sort of work in which it was engaged, were the Committees of Americanization; Landlord and Tenant (War profiteer- ing); Commercial Economy; Non-War Construction; the Influenza Epidemic of Autumn of 1918; Emergency Health Committee.
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Women's Activities-The story, thus far, has been that of the men who served on the Committee of Safety. But the story would be but illy told if the tremendous part played by the women of Massachusetts was not emphasized. They rallied with the men to the call of the coun- try, and with untiring zeal and helpfulness accomplished many things quite beyond the abilities of other than their sex. In May, 1917, Mrs. Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, was chosen temporary, later permanent, chairman of the Massachusetts Division of the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense, and from this time the women became more and more prominent in all phases of the work in the State for which they had particular fitness. The Committee of which Mrs. Thayer was the able chairman, gathered in one unit the activities of the women's organizations of the State; appointed local chairmen in each of the 356 cities and towns through the State; and brought about a cooperation of the women's societies that made for an efficiency of labor during the eighteen months that the council functioned. The work of the council was done by a series of committees, the most important of which will be mentioned.
The Committee on Child Welfare had a program which included : public protection of mothers, infants and young children ; home care and income; child labor and education; recreation; children in need of special care. The work of the organization filled so great a need that it was continued by other organizations after the war. The Committee on Women in Agriculture for 1918 registered 1,200 women for agricul- tural service. Our language still retains the flavor of this effort in the word "farmerette." The Committee on Health and Recreation, under the leadership of Mrs. Clarence R. Edwards, accomplished its best serv- ice by means of girls' leagues formed in twenty-two cities and towns, and through the backing given the different War Camp Community Service in the cantonments. The Committee for the Maintenance of Existing Social Agencies was coordinating rather than executive. It made a survey of the field, and conditions growing out of the shortage of social workers, many of whom had been drawn into the Red Cross and similar organizations. And the peace time agencies were encouraged to adapt their activities to war conditions.
The Army and Navy Yarn Shop Committee, Education, Women in Industry and Publicity hardly need to be explained, but were no less necessary or lacking in importance because their work defies summary.
Food Administration-To the ears of one who lived in this country during the World War, the term Food Administration has a familiar sound. Never had the American thought much about what he ate, or
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felt any restraint upon his appetite other than that imposed by his pocket- book. For two years, 1917 and 1918, he was to learn things about food that he never knew, eat what he never had eaten, and do without what he thought was produced in endless quantities. Early in 1917, Herbert Hoover was recalled from Europe to advise the President and Congress in matters concerning the food supply of this country. He, before any provision had been made by Congress, went ahead creating organizations preparatory to any measures taken by the Government. As previously stated, Henry B. Endicott was requested to act as Mr. Hoover's repre- sentative in Massachusetts, and as such he named a Board of Food Administration selected from the widest range of interests. In August, 1917, the Food Control Act was passed by Congress which gave authority to the board selected by Mr. Endicott.
The Food Administration was charged by this act with a variety of duties. "It was to regulate exports so that adequate supplies should be left in this country for the use of our own population ; to arrange for an equitable distribution of food supplies within the United States, so that all sections should have food stocks adequate for the people's needs ; to check speculation and profiteering activities, in order that such sup- plies as were available might reach the consumer at as low cost as pos- sible; and to effect prevention of waste, and actual conservation of stocks, so that sufficient supplies of exportable foods should be available for the feeding of our own armies abroad, for the armies and civilian pop- ulation of allied countries, and for the relief of stricken people in the war zone. The Department of Agriculture was charged with the task of planning for the stimulation of production, so that in succeeding seasons, production of essential commodities should be adequate to war-time needs.
"The problem confronting New England was more difficult than that of other parts of the country because of the relatively small food pro- duction compared with food consumption, and also on account of the remoteness of New England from the large sources of supply, and its de- pendence on overburdened transportation systems. Altogether, New England was in a critical situation with regard to her food supply, and problems of provisioning became very intricate. The Atlantic seaboard, and particularly the northern ports, furnished the outlet for war supplies moving toward Europe. The main railway lines were compelled to give preference to such export commodities. The enormous growth of indus- tries manufacturing war materials added a further burden to the rail- ways. The very condition of the New England transportation systems was of itself a menace, as the chief railways were in a state of virtual bankruptcy, and neither funds nor actual supplies were available for
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rehabilitation. The extreme winter of 1917-18 imposed the severest task of recent years on all transportation systems. Added to this, the withdrawal of coastwise shipping for government uses threw upon the rail systems the burden of an enormous tonnage normally moving by water.'
Voluntary Cooperation of the People-From the first, the policy of both State and Federal food administrations was to accomplish the utmost possible by gaining the voluntary cooperation of the people, especially of the food handling trades. Nor did Hoover believe in the policed rationing of supplies, and except at the height of the sugar short- age, did the Administration establish a legal system. The food handling trades were required to furnish data concerning available stocks, but were interfered with otherwise but little. Special efforts had to be made to increase the production of food and the economical distribution of it, with care taken to prevent profiteering. The policy of the Admini- stration was to place consumer, handler and producer upon their honor, and the results proved the wisdom of the course.
More important than the regulatory functions of the organization were those of education and publicity. "It was the belief of all concerned in the Federal and State Food Administration work that if the people of the United States were once given the facts, together with suggestions for meeting the emergency, their response would be prompt and ade- quate." In Boston this was difficult for there was such a large number of its residents who could not read a newspaper or bulletin, and much ingenuity was expended in getting around this difficulty. There were many activities of the Food Administration, some of short duration, some which had to be continued for awhile after the war. A really great authority and power was placed in the hands of the members, but seldom was this abused. Significantly, when once the war was over, the Food Administration dwindled to small proportions almost immediately.
How the Work Was Divided-The work of the Food Administration was carried on by a system as elaborate as that of any government, the direction, in most cases, resting in the hands of committees. The main divisions of administration covered: Production of food and its direct distribution close at home; conservation and publicity, including every- thing from home economics to bulletins; regulation of the food trades ; public eating places and bakers; food commodities with its campaigns for the conservation of certain foods, and the encouragement of the use of some others like fish and dairy products; transportation and adjust- ment division ; and fuel supply for the food industries.
The powers that were, did well their work. We learned to reduce
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our use of wheat and sugar which we liked, and eat corn and sweeten- ings for which we did not care. There were wheatless days, meatless days, fat saving days, sugar saving days, even garbage days, and curi- ously enough we were the better for them. We ate fish that had hitherto been considered inedible,-dog fish, squid, skate and shark. All this had to be learned, but the Food Administration was not the least remiss in teaching, in fact, one could not get away from teachers. One of the sights of Boston was the five little Conservation Cottages on Boston Common. In the center was the Food Administration cottage, a bureau of information of the activities of that body. Flanked on one side, was the Food Facts Bureau Cottage supported by the Women's City Club of Boston; on the other was the National Civic Federation Cottage, where cookery demonstrations were given twice daily. The fourth building was the Children's Cottage of the Woman's Food Committee, where 24,000 persons came during that summer seeking information about child welfare. The fifth cottage was that of the Red Cross, where the activities of the Society were explained. It was a picturesque group, a summer university with a student roll of 25,000. It did splendidly, but it was but one of the many means used to teach folk what war meant to the stay at home, and what each must do to bring the conflict to a speedy close.
The Fuel Administration-The Fuel Administration, with Mr. Stor- row at its head, was established on October 9, 1917, succeeding the Mas- sachusetts Coal and the New England Coal committees. It had to meet a very real crisis from the first, for the speeding up of the factories of New England used up the local supply of coal, and the railroads were so overladen as to be unable to renew the supply. New England has always suffered under the disadvantage of being farther removed from coal mines than the other manufacturing states, and as the war progressed water transit was all but done away with. Mr. Endicott at the final meeting of the Committee on Public Safety, said in part :
Mr. Storrow was appointed Fuel Administrator for New England. As soon as he was appointed, he realized the seriousness of the situation here,-one more serious, I believe, than in any other part of the country. He went to Washington and took up the matter with the "powers that be" . . until it finally dawned upon the people there that what he had been telling them was absolutely true, with the result that today they hold up the New England Fuel Administration as a model to the entire country. I know that he has made himself responsible at times for $10,000,000 worth of coal; I know he has been working here night and day; I know that if it had not been for him some of us would have been cold in our homes last winter; and I know that in all probability but for Mr. Storrow's organization, the thousands of factories would have had to close. He had such an organization that he knows where every barge is, every pound of coal that is shipped, and nearly every pound of coal that is wanted. It is my judgment that
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there are more thanks due to Mr. Storrow throughout New England than to any other single man in this part of the country.
The work of the Administration was carried on in other States by county officials, but the scheme which made the Fuel Administration so uniformly successful in New England was based on local committees appointed in every town having a coal dealer; there were 312 of these committees in Massachusetts. During the severe winter of 1917-18, the hand of the Fuel Administration rested heavily on those who misused the meagre fuel supplies on hand, but in spite of the tremendous handi- caps of distant location, impeded traffic, lessening production (propor- tionately) of the mines, New England suffered but little, and the "heat- less days" were few, and there was no wholesale closing down of indus- tries not directly contributing to the needs of the war.
The Committee Dismissed-On November 20, 1918, nine days after the armistice was declared, Governor McCall called the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety together at the State House, for the purpose of dissolution. The organization had been a war committee and once the victory at arms had been won, it was felt that the time was at hand to terminate its existence. His Excellency after complimenting the com- mittee upon its work, with special commendations of several of those who had been at the helm, said in closing :
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 Department, 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 mem- bers 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 employees, 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 United States than has the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. .
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 Common- wealth, and therefore I thank you from the bottom of my heart, both on my own account and for all the citizens of the Commonwealth, for what you have done to help keep the Commonwealth, in time of national danger, abreast with its noblest traditions.
After remarks by Mr. Endicott, Mr. Storrow, and Mrs. Thayer, the Governor declared the committee dissolved. "Thus, after twenty-one months and ten days of patriotic service," writes George Hinckley Ly- man, from whose report this account has been drawn, "the Massachu- setts Committee on Public Safety ceased its activities as a unit of the great home army, which, gathered from every State of the Union, had
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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 poured 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 Amer- ican 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 liberty, and say that it was only right to expect that Massachusetts should again rally foremost at the front when the cause of Freedom, of Humanity, of Civilization was at stake !"
Massachusetts War Memorial-The question of erecting a suitable memorial or monument to the soldiers of Massachusetts in the World War was, in the summer of 1927, still unanswered. The delay, while great, has characterized the building of war memorials everywhere. The United States was signing contracts during late 1927 for structures abroad which it was feared would not be completed to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the departure of the A. E. F. from France. The three most ambitious of the monuments in France were to be erected at Chateau-Thierry, on Mount Sec, and at Montfaucon. They were to signalize our three greatest battle efforts in the Aisne-Marne Sector
from June to August, 1918; St. Mihiel in September, and the Argonne drive from late in September to November 1I, 1918. Many smaller memorials were to be erected to mark other localities where American troops were engaged along the western front. In recognition of the navy's part in ferrying and convoying the American soldiers to France, a monument was to be erected at Brest, another in London in memory of the navy's cooperation with the British. Memorial chapels were planned for France, Belgium and England at eight places which are now virtually American soil, and where are buried 30,000 soldier dead. Other monuments were to be built at Gibraltar, Corfu, Rome and elsewhere. Memorials to troops from sections of the United States are frowned upon, it being realized that the ground over which the American soldiers had fought had been the battlefields of other troops before ours had arrived; and it was thought more fitting that there should be built in the home places of their soldiers such monuments as are deemed suitable.
That Massachusetts still remains unable to decide what it wants or Met. Bos-52
1
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where to place whatever is decided upon, is not a matter for criticism. The memorial must be fitting to the deeds of the Commonwealth's sol- diers, and fittingly placed, and the permanent occupancy of the site can- not be forgotten. Whether it should be simply ornamental, or serve useful ends ; whether it shall be a monument on Copley Square ; a vast Memorial Hall in some part of the city, the meeting place for thousands ; or a graceful bridge across the Charles dominated by a great tower, has never been determined. It must be beautiful, impressive and worthy ; a. something which will be a shrine and an inspiration to the beholder ; a monument which is a true expression of the memorial feeling now within the hearts of the people. It is a solemn task, but one soon, it is hoped, to be accomplished.
GOLD STAR LIST.
Abbiento, Domenico, Co. A, 305th Inf., 77th Div., of disease, France.
Abbott,. Edmund Benton, Corporal, Service Co., No. I, Q. M. C., disease in Camp Johnston.
Abraham, Thomas, Co. A, 10Ist Inf., 26th Div., disease overseas.
Adams, Irving William, Bty. B, 7th F. A., Ist Div., killed in action, France.
Ahearn, Frank Joseph, Co. M, 73rd Inf., 12th Div., disease in Boston.
Akabas, Maurice W., Hq. Co., 143d Inf., 36th Div., killed in action, France.
Akins, Harry Joseph, Co. B, 102d M. G. Btn., 26th Div., killed in action, France.
Alexander, Curt, Army field clerk, Ist Lt., disease in Staten Island Hospital.
Alsen, Carl Henry, Hdq. Co., 104th Inf., 26th Div., killed in action, France. Awarded C. de G., with gilt star.
Allen, Julius Pinteritz, Co. B, 102d M. G. Bn., killed in action, France.
Allen, Walter H., Canadian Inf., killed in action.
Allen, William H., Co. H, 103d Inf., 26th Div., died of wounds received in action, France. Almiro, Patricio, Ward room steward, U. S. N., died in Va.
Amerena, William Richard Rupert, Co. A, 60th Inf., 5th Div., killed in action, France. Amory, Thomas Dwyer, Ist Lieut., Inf., Co. B, 26th Inf., Ist Div., killed in action, France. Awarded D. S. C .; rec. for Congressional Medal of Honor.
Anderson, Harry Louis, cabin steward, U. S. N., Naval Training Sta., drowned Newport.
Anderson, Daniel Francis, corporal, 6th Truck Co., 10Ist Sup. Tn., 26th Div., disease in France.
Anderson, John William, 20th Co., 5th Marines, 2d Div., killed in action, France.
Anderson, Julian, Tr. L., 15th Cav., killed in action, France.
Anderson, William Edward, Co. A, 102d M. G. Bn., 26th Div., killed in action, France. Andrews, David J., 2d lt., Q. M. C., R. A., died in France.
Andrews, Hendrick, 49th Co., 151 D. B., disease at Camp Devens.
Andrews, William Galen, chief yeoman, U. S. N., R. F., died of disease, Chelsea.
Anslow, Henry George, corporal, Co. D, 28th Inf., Ist Div., killed in action, France. Archer, John, Co. L, 30th Inf., 3d Div., killed in action, France.
Armstrong, Arthur Sullivan, Co. L, 23d Inf., 2d Div., killed in action, France. Awarded C. de G., with silver star.
Aronson, Harry M., Co. F, 59th Inf., 4th Div., killed in action, France.
Arthur, James Donald, apprentice seaman, U. S. N., disease in Newport, R. I.
Austin, Francis Reed, Ist It. Inf., 109th Inf., 28th Div., died in action, France. Awarded
D. S. C.
Austin, Thomas .Arthur, cook, Supply Co., 101 F. A., 26th Div., of wounds received in action, France.
Baboyan, Charles A., 26th Reg. Bn., disease at Camp Syracuse.
Bagley, Leo Ignatius Lane, I Ord. Supply Co., O. M. & R. S., disease at Raritan O. T. Camp, N. J.
Bailey, Margaret Stewart, nurse, Hosp. Train 58, disease in France.
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