World War 1 and the Loss of Liberty
World War 1: 20,000,000 Dead
The entire map of Europe was redrawn. The once powerful
Central Power countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire
were brought low and their countries were divided. Russia no longer had a Tzar,
but a communist dictator named Lenin. Large swaths of land across Europe were
destroyed. The Middle East was recreated by Britain and France. In varying
degrees, all world events afterwards were shaped by it. Put simply, the world
would never be the same.
Although the carnage was far removed from the United States,
the war had its effects there as well. After the war, the United States became
a louder voice on the international stage, although it did not join the League
of Nations. Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points were influential among the Allies
and how Europe would be reshaped after the war. The old days of relative
isolation were gone.
The war had consequences at home for the US as well. After
the declaration of war, the Wilson administration set about increasing its power
over the American economy and daily life. The old concepts of constitutionally
limited government were thrown out in favor of European-style socio-economic
planning. These increases were said to be necessary to fight the war. This is
an emergency after all!
These increases in the size and scope of government would
come to have disastrous consequences for the American people, many of which we
can still feel today. The precedent set by the Federal governments conduct
during this First World War would lay the foundation for even larger increases
in control in peacetime, World War II, and beyond.
Selective Service Act of 1917
The Selective Service Act, more commonly known as the Draft,
was implemented shortly after the United States entered the war. It still
exists today, and men are required to register shortly after their 18th
birthday. The draft had existed in various forms before, such as in the Civil
War in the North, but was not formalized into a permanent part of American
society. The powers in the act have not been used since Vietnam, but the
government still possesses the ability to conscript a large portion of the
American population through the act.
Without the draft, the United States would have had few
troops to send to Europe. Robert Higgs states that at the initiation of war,
only 179,000 men were on active duty in the entire US Military (Crisis and
Leviathan). Enlistment numbers were low at the start of the war as well. By
April 24, eighteen days after the start of the war, Higgs states that only
32,000 had signed up. Again, still not enough to make any difference in the
trenches and battlefields of Europe.
The draft was not signed out of necessity or because of any
shortage of manpower, although it served that purpose. Higgs writes that the
draft bill was drawn up by the War Department and General Staff and was
forwarded to Congress on April 5. War was declared on April 6, one day after
the draft bill was forwarded. Wilson, like Lincoln before him, likely wanted a
draft bill to ensure that he would be able to fight the war without a lack of
support from the public stopping him.
The institution of the Draft is indefensible on multiple
fronts. There is no provision in the Constitution that allows the federal
government to institute a draft. One could argue that the Thirteenth amendment
actually prohibits a draft! The draft is also indefensible morally. To force
someone under the threat of violence to fight against an enemy is morally
offensive. True, the government did pay its soldiers, but this pay was low,
averaging $30 a month, or $738 in today’s dollars. However, even if the pay was
higher, could this ever compensate for the forced risk to life that was
enforced upon them by their government? Bluntly put, the draft is military
slavery.
Around 2.8 million Americans were drafted into World War 1,
almost half of the 4.8 million in total who served. Millions more have been
drafted through the Selective Service Act since. Many soldiers who were forced
into this war came back with physical and physiological wounds, if they
returned at all. Shell Shock, or PTSD, was not well understood at the time, and
suicide rates post-war among veterans were much higher than in the general
population.
Over 116,000 US soldiers were killed in World War 1. Many of
them were drafted, or volunteered under the threat of the draft. For those
whose lives were unjustly cut short, there is no adequate compensation.
Price Fixing
Woodrow Wilson and his administration took unprecedented
control over the economy during World War 1. One of the most important pieces
of legislation in this takeover was the Departmental Reorganization Act, also
known as the Overman Act. The act allowed the President to reorganize
governmental power for the duration of the war. Government organizations could
be created at Wilson’s decree.
The most important of these organizations was the War
Industries Board. The job of the board was to organize the purchase of material
needed for the war and to supervise the fixing of certain prices throughout the
economy. The WIB had a limited impact on the economy, as the United States
entered the war relatively late, but it would serve a valuable president for
later agencies organized in the New Deal and in the Second World War.
Price fixing was not exclusive to the WIB, however. Congress
had also passed the Food and Fuel Control Act, also known as the Lever Act. Any
importation or manufacturing of and food or fuel product required a license.
Prices for these goods could be set by the president, and he could commandeer
any material and food or fuel supplies needed for the military. These controls
were used, as the price of Wheat was pegged at $2.20 per bushel in 1917 and
1918. Various prices were also fixed for coal depending on the region.
Price fixing stands as a violation of the right to contract.
If two parties enter into a voluntary agreement where one party wishes to sell
a good at a particular price, and the other wishes to buy at that price, what
justification exists for the government to step in and claim that this
agreement is illegitimate because the government doesn’t like the terms of the
agreement?
One might argue that price fixing was necessary for the war
effort. In actuality, the prices fixed by the government were usually higher
than they would have been otherwise. The reasoning being is that the government
wanted to try and stimulate industry in those areas. Prices were fixed higher
to attract entrepreneurs to do the stimulating.
This helps the government, but also helps big business as
well. It is usually the smaller and newer companies that innovate to drive
costs and prices down. Larger businesses can often times be set in their ways,
and newer competitors can destroy their market share if they are not careful.
If prices are fixed, then there is little point to innovate to drive costs
down. This helps ensure big business keeps their market share. This arrangement
worked to everyone’s arrangement, except the taxpayers stuck with the bill and
the small business owners who were forced to keep prices high.
Price fixing and industry control would come back in full
force during World War 2. FDR went much farther than Wilson and would control numerous prices in numerous industries all throughout the economy. Without free prices, markets are not free to function. Where markets are not free, the people are not free.
Wilson’s Takeover of the Railroads
Out of all the president set during World War 1, none was
more sweeping than the effective nationalization of the railroad industry by
Wilson. This was made possible because of the Army Appropriations Act of 1916.
Among other provisions, this bill allowed the president to take over and
nationalize any industry during wartime if he felt it was necessary to fight
the war.
1917 saw numerous labor strikes, especially in the railroad
industry. Toward the end of year, railroad workers threatened a nationwide
strike. If this were to occur, it would be a death blow to the war economy of
the United States. Wilson saw this to be the case, and decided to use the power
of the Army Appropriations Act to nationalize the railroads.
To manage the railroads, the United States Railroad
Association was created. It would control all operations concerning rail
transportation in the US, including both commercial and passenger
transportation. The entire industry now operated as a single unit, and there
was not any form of competition between different lines. In order to sooth rail
workers, wage rates were increased, but fare prices were also increased to help
pay the increased wages.
Nationalization is nothing more than government
appropriation of private property for its own means. In a word, theft. If any
other person or group were to expropriate another’s property for the own means,
we would condemn such action, even if the group used the stolen property to
pursue noble ends, such as helping the poor. Theft is theft, regardless of the
thieves and regardless of who gets the spoils.
If private property can be completely violated because of an
emergency, what remains of private property? The government, of course, is
itself the judge of any emergency, perceived or otherwise. If at any time your
property can be taken from you, private property only exists as function of
government not exercising its power. Whatever you have, the state allows you to
have.
The United States Railroad Association was stripped of its
authority in 1920, after the end of the war. Nevertheless, the damage was done.
A precedent had already been set that in times of trouble, the economy could
become a puppet of the government, with Washington D.C. pulling the strings.
World War 2 would see this very situation come about.
Espionage and Sedition Acts
The Sedition Act served as an expansion of sorts to the Espionage
Act of 1917. The Espionage Act criminalized any attempts to disrupt military
operations or recruitment. In practice, this meant jailing anyone who spoke out
against the draft or American involvement in the war. Those who called for
conscientious objection or abolition of the draft risked time in prison.
The Sedition Act added additional charges that could be
levied at unwanted resistance to the United States’ war effort. It criminalized
any “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the United
States Government, US flag, or armed forces. It also allowed the Postmaster
General to abstain from delivering any mail that met these criteria. These
additional provisions were meant to increase the US Governments scope of its
censor.
Violations of the Espionage or Sedition Acts were often much
less severe then one might be led to believe. Eugene Debs was the leader of the
national Socialist party, and was tried under the Espionage Act. His crime was
nothing more than giving a speech were he criticized the draft and stated that
the audience was “fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder.” His
case traveled up the judicial system all the way to the Supreme Court where his
conviction was upheld. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutions under these acts could border on the edge of
insanity. Robert Goldstein was a silent film maker during World War 1 and
created a movie about the Revolutionary War. The title was “The Spirit of ‘76”.
The film contained some factual events, and some fictional events that were
portrayed. He was tried under the Espionage Act. The reason being that the film
portrayed Britain, an ally of the United States, in a negative light. Because
of this “crime”, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. I’m sure everyone in
1917 America slept better at night knowing “criminals” like Goldstein were
behind bars.
The Sedition Act was repealed in 1920, but the Espionage Act
exists to this day. Although it was passed over 100 years ago, it has been used
in prosecution in recent memory. Edward Snowden has been charged under the act
and would certainly be behind bars if not for his asylum in Russia. Chelsea
Manning was tried and convicted under the act, and Julian Assange, if expedited
to the United States, will presumably be tried and convicted under the act as
well.
The Espionage and Sedition Acts stand as one of the greatest
violations of free speech instituted by the United States government. To say
that questioning the actions of the government is reprehensible is anathema to
the very ideas of basic liberties this country was founded upon. If we applied
this standard throughout history, the United States would not even exist!
Suppressing the speech of those who spoke out against the injustices of the
state is nothing less than the destruction of the First Amendment.
The Espionage Act is revealing of the attitude that Woodrow
Wilson and his administration had towards the Constitution and restriction of
government powers. During times of peace, all the normal limitations on
government apply. However, during an emergency, the status quo is reversed.
Government needs to take action! To do this, some rules have to be bent. Wilson
put this paradigm into action, and it has been applied in emergency situations
ever since.
This line of thinking is completely incorrect. The Founding
Fathers certainly knew that there would be wars, environmental catastrophes,
and many other troubling times ahead in their newborn republic. If they
believed that government needed to act in order to alleviate those situations,
those provisions would be in the Constitution. They are not.
The Founding Fathers knew that government action in the name
of emergency powers can only come at the price of the liberties and freedoms
that so much blood had just been spilled to purchase. To fight World War 1,
Wilson took it upon himself to violate the rights of property, free speech, and
free press. These losses were not accidents. They were the inevitable outcome
of the increased role the Wilson had carved out for the state. Where these
powers were increased, liberties of everyone were decreased in proportion.
Into the Future
Emergency powers often stay long after the emergency is
concluded. The Espionage Act is still law today even though the United States
in not involved in a major war. Another bill passed not discussed above is the
Trading With the Enemy Act, which is still law as well. As Milton Friedman once
famously said, “There is nothing so permanent as a temporary government
program.”
Important president was set for future crisis situations.
World War 2 would see even more government control over the private sector. The
recent War on Terror relied on precedent set in the Espionage and Sedition
Acts. Of course, not every emergency power is return upon the ending of the
emergency situation. How necessary is the Espionage Act in today’s day and age?
World War 1 was a watershed moment for the United States in
many ways. One could accurately divide the history of the US into two sections.
Before and after the First World War. Before the war, the United States, with
some exceptions, was a country with a small, limited government and a strong
focus on individuality. After the war, this government would become less and
less limited with the passage of time. Where the state grows, liberty must
shrink.
The “Great War” served as the opening of Pandora’s box on
the initiation of government control and power. Once unleashed, it would never
quite be closed.
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