In lines where Mr. Baruch was not expert he, of course, had experts in charge. There was Mr. Julius Rosenwald, another Jew, who was in charge of “supplies (including clothing)” and who had a Mr. Eisenman to represent him. Mr. Eisenman was on the stand for a considerable period with regard to uniforms, the change made in their quality, the price paid to the manufacturers (mostly Jewish) and other interesting questions.
The great Guggenheim copper interests, who sold most of the copper used during the war, were represented by a former employe; but undoubtedly Mr. Baruch himself, who was much interested in copper during his business career, was the principal expert in that line.
It is impossible to escape the names of Jews all down the line in these most important departments. But, for the present, attention is called to the scope of Mr. Baruch’s control in the country at large. It is best stated in his own words:
“No building costing more than $2,500 could be erected in the United States without approval of the War Industries Board. Nobody could get a barrel of cement without its approval. You could not get a piece of zinc for your kitchen table without the approval of the War Industries Board.”
3. Authority over industries.
He determined where coal might be shipped, where steel might be sold, where industries might be operated and where not. With control over capital needed in business, went also control of the materials needed in industry. This control over industry was exercised through the device called priorities, which Mr. Baruch rightly described as “the greatest power in the war.” He was the most powerful man in the war, because he exercised this power.
Mr. Baruch said there were 351 or 357 lines of industry under his control in the United States, including “practically every raw material in the world.”
“I had the final authority,” he said. Whether it was sugars or silk, coal or cannon, Mr. Baruch ruled its movements.
- Mr. Jefferis—“
