WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD, a body the object of which was to concentrate control over the industries of the United States so as to meet the requirements of the war in an efficient manner. The board was dissolved at the end of 1918, it being held that its duties had ceased with the conclusion of the war, and that restric tions that had been laid on the industries of the country should be lifted as soon as possible. Before the ending of its ac tivities by the order of the President many of the divisions of the board had already been disbanded, but provision was made for the continuance of certain of the board's activities by other de partments of the Government. The War Trade Board took over the duties of the Division of Planning and Statistics. The Bureau of Markets of the Department of Agriculture took over the powers and duties of the Wool Division of the Board. The Price Fixing Committee was still held as being capable of doing valuable work. It was commissioned to continue performing its functions until all the prices fixed by the committee and not ex piring by Jan. 1, 1919, had expired. Such other divisions of the War Indus tries Board as could not be dispensed with were reorganized and placed under the War Trade Board, the expenditure on behalf of which, it was arranged, would be paid out of the appropriations of the War Industries Board.
The Board had justified its existence from the beginning. It served in creating order out of the industrial confusion that followed the earlier part of the war. It was a development of the advisory com mission of the Council of National De fense whose duty it was to settle ques tions of priority, the distribution of sup plies, and the elimination of wasteful competitive bidding for labor and ma terials. This Advisory Commission had, in March 1917, organized committees of transportation and communication; mu nitions and manufacturing; supplies; raw materials, minerals and metals; en gineering and education; labor; and medicine and surgery. The reorganiza tion of the commission as the War In dustries Board greatly strengthened the work. The board constituted for Ameri can industry an element similar to that of the general staff in an army. It stand ardized the products, made labor more efficient, and had a reorganizing influence in almost every division of the industries of the country. When it was dissolved it had introduced methods that became per manent, and as a result of it services were established that have proved useful in the period of reconstruction.