OCR Text |
Show INDUSTRIES BOARD SC0PEIS1DENED President Creates Body as an Agency Under His Own Direction. WASHINGTON, May 29. Under an executive order announced tonight, President Presi-dent Wilson formall-y created the war industries in-dustries board as a separate administrative adminis-trative agency to act for him and under his direction, with all the duties and powers informally conferred by the presi- dent last March in a letter to Bernard M. Baruch, chairman of the board. Many of the powers delegated are vested vest-ed in Chairman Baruch, who is the president's right arm for war production. The board, originally a great division of the council of national defense, has been exercising Its wide powers for three months, but its creation as a distinct branch of the government under the president has awaited the enactment of the Overman bill authorizing the president presi-dent to reorganize government agencies. Besides exercising supervision over virtually vir-tually the entire industrial fabric of the nation, with power to commandeer plants or take other drastic steps to assure adequacy of war supplies and speed up production, the board directs purchasing for the allies, eliminates competition for supplies between the various departments of the government, has power to allocate allo-cate materials and contracts and curtail' the output of non-essentials, and fixes prices to be paid by the government. Not the least important effect of the board's work is Its influence in obtaining obtain-ing for the public the same prices on necessaries that the government pays. |