During the war, governments both here and abroad were driven to a sharp realization of the extent of economic waste. > The maintenance of "business as usual" made it impossible to mobilize and equip a fighting force and at the same time to support a civilian population, "Business as usual" was, therefore, forced to give way to a coordinated plan, crude, but in certain respects very effective. The industrial re- sources of the nation were surveyed—both as to raw mate- rials and plant facilities—its productive possibilities measured, and its major requirements calculated. This was done hastily and often inaccurately, but it sufficed to bring about a tremendous release of labor power and raw materials into war industries and so-called "essential industries." The war administration placed the transportation system on a national, unified basis with competitive hauls eliminated. It shut off capital from non-essential industries. It restricted the consumption of luxuries, encouraged certain crops, rationed and husbanded coal, reduced the output of excessive grades and styles, and conserved necessary materials.
