Railroad Administration

In the winter of 1917-18, President WoODROW WiLSON took over the railroads in the United States and created the Railroad Administration. In seeking to forge a war economy, Wilson most often preferred voluntary means.

However, when the 2,905 companies that owned 397,014 miles of track refused to cooperate with each other and caused a standstill on the rails, the government acted swiftly. The railroads were just one part of the mobilization challenges facing the Wilson administration during World War I. Because the United States was not prepared for its entry into global war, despite many warnings, its victory in the war could not be assured. Wilson, who had hoped for peace, had only belatedly joined in preparedness measures such as those in 1915 when he created the civilian Council on National Defense, which studied problems of economic mobilization.

Prior to the war, the railroads had functioned profitably. They had paid their workers low wages and had invested little in their operation costs. During wartime they had little interest in improving the system to upgrade service, even though they needed approximately 115,000 new railroad cars. The hard-won Adamson Act ensured for railway workers an eight-hour day for all employees on trains in interstate commerce, with extra pay for overtime, but most workers were still unhappy with their lot. Other wartime industry jobs were more attractive and with better pay, leaving a critical shortage of railway workers.

Wilson strove to inspire all labor in the United States to put forth their best effort for the country with slogans like “Labor Will Win the War.” Women picked up the slack by entering into industry and agriculture. The American Federation of Labor gave loyal support to the war effort. Most mobilization for the war effort was voluntary.

Railroad companies, however, refused to coordinate their efforts to ensure the transport of war materials, and acute shortages on the war front endangered American efforts. In the winter of 1917-18, 180,000 railroad cars sat idle. The Military Affairs Committee under Senator George Earle Chamberlain (R-Oregon) called for an inquiry. The railroads’ lack of preparedness was apparent to committee members. Two weeks after the hearing, the railroads were taken over by presidential decree. Secretary of the Treasury William McAdoo became “tsar of the rails.” He faced challenging weather conditions immediately as winter storms raged in the Northeast. By summer, however, the railroads were operating effectively.

Passed in May 1918, the Overton Act gave the president powers for the duration of the war and six months after. It allowed him to consolidate the six war agencies (fuel, food, shipping, railroads, war trade, and war industries) into a war cabinet. It also gave him power to disband, add, or reorganize any executive or administrative agency without the approval of Congress. Thus, by 1918, the United States had changed within one year from being a “free economy” to a managed one. Railroads became a major beneficiary of government support and regulation, due to their vital role in defense.

Further reading: David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980).

—Annamarie Edelen