"(4) Those decreasing in stocks and decreasing in price; we have the accompanying significant tables, which indicate that the 'law of supply and demand' is not working. III--INDUSTRY AND LABOR IN WARTIME Unprecedented Conditions and Developments Due to the World War and How They Were Met The issue of the great world conflict between autocracy and democracy rested largely in the hands of the laboring classes behind the lines. Mr. William B. Wilson, Secretary of Labor, placed vividly before the public in one of his official statements the views of American labor at the outbreak of the war: "During the past decade the sentiment of American labor has crystallized against resort to arms as a means of settlement of disputes between nations. War had come to be considered wasteful economically, socially, and morally. Labor felt that no national advantage gained through force of arms could offset the human life sacrificed, the burden of taxation levied upon successive generations to pay the cost of war, the standards of life set back or destroyed, which had to be rebuilt slowly and with infinite sacrifice. In short, war had come to be looked upon as morally wrong, entirely unnecessary, a calamity that could be avoided and must be avoided if the race was to progress. This feeling was shared to a greater or lesser extent by the workers of all civilized nations, and there was a universal feeling in world labor ranks prior to the outbreak of the European war that this sentiment, shared by many thoughtful people outside the ranks of the wage workers in all civilized nations, was strong enough to prevent any armed conflict which would involve any number of peoples. This sentiment was undoubtedly responsible for the lack of military preparedness, in the sense that Germany prepared, among the other major powers now engaged in the world conflict.