Throughout all the many services of the Council of National Defense during the war, its organization of war machinery, its mobilization of material resources, its bringing together of leaders in all phases of national life and showing them how they could aid the country, its vital work in enabling the humblest individual, and all the individuals in the nation, to become efficient in action for the war, the two most conspicuous features are, the voluntary character of all the effort and the universal willingness of the equally universal coöperation. Of all the vast and varied services which it commanded, from captains of industry and leaders of science to the committee heads in little country towns, practically all, except those of its office staff and clerical assistance, were given gladly to the nation for the sake of love of country and belief in American ideals. And the result proved, in the words of President Wilson, “beyond all question that the highest and best form of efficiency is the spontaneous coöperation of a free people.” CHAPTER XXIV INFORMING THE PUBLIC America fought ardently in the world war because of the devotion of her people to democratic ideals. Since one of those ideals is to base the participation of the people in public affairs upon a knowledge of those affairs as complete and accurate and universal as the limitations of human nature and human institutions make possible, it was necessary to provide some machinery that would serve as a means of communication between the purposes and the vast undertakings of the Government, functioning for the people, and the people themselves. In common with the spirit and the methods by which all the war activities were carried on--spirit and methods which strikingly exemplified one of the fundamental traits of the national genius--the situation was met by creating an organization for the widest possible spreading of information about the national needs, activities and aims. The Committee on Public Information, created by an executive order of the President soon after our declaration of war, began with a civilian Chairman and the Secretaries of State, War and the Navy as its members. At the close of hostilities it had a world-wide organization which commanded the services of thousands of authors, artists, journalists, speakers, moving picture actors and producers and people of public spirit, most of them giving their services, who were working zealously among our own people, our war associates, our enemies and the neutral nations.