But here at home there were armies too. They were created without mandates; they were welded into cohesive form by suggestion rather than by order; they were galvanized from beginning to end by the mighty force of voluntary coöperation; and they went into the home stretch with a power which nothing could have stopped. These were the armies of production--production mainly, it is true, of guns and steel plates and soldiers' shoes; but production as well of energy, of thought that made the sword a flaming thing, of optimism to offset the stupid pessimism of people who criticized but had nothing tangible to contribute, of the immortal spirit of "carry on," of, above all, unification. In all of this endeavor, in all of this uprooting of the static national life of peace time, the business man of America reached his apotheosis and surprised even himself in his ability to merge his heart and nerves and brain into the national interest in the most emergent hour of the country's history. In effect, America went into the war unprepared. The will to war was a dormant thing throughout the nation. The country was swollen with material success almost to the point expressed in Lincoln's phrase: "A fat hound won't hunt." The evolution of the Government of the United States, enjoying profound peace for more than half a century, except for the minor military operations of the Spanish-American conflict, into a great war-making machine in mercilessly short time was a task to challenge the ability of even the most resourceful nation of the earth. There, broadly stated, was the national picture in the spring of 1917. War came, and almost with every day grew the need for increased participation on America's part. COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE The only federal agency in existence on April 7, 1917, capable of the elasticity to mobilize industry, labor, and science for the national defense was the United States Council of National Defense. This body, composed of the Secretaries of War, Navy, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, had providentially been created by Congress eight months before. It was charged by Congress with "the coördination of industries and resources for the national security and welfare" and "the creation of relations which will render possible in time of need the immediate concentration and utilization of the resources of the nation." With it was to act an advisory commission of seven men, each to have expert knowledge of some special industry, public utility, or the development of some natural resource. The Council was further charged with the following particular duties: 1. To supervise and direct investigations and make recommendations to the President and the heads of Executive Departments as to: (_a_) The location of railroads with reference to the frontier of the United States, so as to render possible expeditious concentration of troops and supplies to points of defense.