During the early years of the Department, the Bureau was responsible for administration of the laws relating to claims by employees of the Federal Government for injuries sustained in the service. This function was originally placed with the Bureau at the time of enactment of the law in 1908. In 1916 it was transferred to a newly created independent U.S. Employees' Compensation Commission. From 1914 to 1916 the Bureau allowed a total of over 7,500 claims, and authorized the payment of over $930,000 in compensation. (1916: 88-89) Children's Bureau Shortly after its transfer to the Department of Labor, the Children's Bureau was considerably enlarged, increasing from 15 persons in 1914 to 76 in 1915. Its activities covered a wide field of related interests, and it approached its problems with vigor and originality. The study of infant mortality, conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Public Health Service, was concentrated in selected cities. The collected evidence indicated a close relationship between high death rate among babies and low earnings of the breadwinner, large families, poor housing, and maternal drudgery. The Bureau urged a more complete registration of births. The exploitation of child labor had by this time become a problem of national concern. As a result of agitation throughout the country, a Federal child labor law was enacted in September 1916, establishing age limits in the employment of young people in interstate commerce. Administration of this act was placed in the Children's Bureau. The work of the Bureau in analyzing State child labor laws and their administration thereupon acquired new significance. But adequate statistics on the employment of children were still lacking. Studies were also made of the extent of mental deficiency, illegitimacy, and delinquency among children. Two significant accomplishments of the Bureau during this period were the establishment of a specialized library on child welfare, and the publication of pamphlets on "Prenatal Care" and "Infant Care" (by Mrs. Max West), which quickly became Government best sellers. (1914: 85) WAR EFFORT 1917-20 While the United States was putting its house in order through legislation and social action, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany was building an army and worrying his neighbors. On June 28, 1914, a Serbian patriot shot an Austrian archduke, and this was enough to set the tinderbox of Europe on fire. Two months later the Imperial Germany Army marched into Belgium. Quickly, England, France, and other nations were drawn into the First World War. President Wilson called on all Americans to be "impartial in thought as well as action," but little by little, the Nation seemed to draw closer to the conflict. In the early years of the war across the sea, Secretary of Labor Wilson was able to establish the new Labor Department on a sound footing. The Federal Government, meanwhile, was concerned about its relations with Mexico, and Brigadier General John "Black Jack" Pershing was chasing Pancho Villa along the Rio Grande border. In the Presidential elections of 1916 Woodrow Wilson was reelected largely because "he had kept us out of war." But in spite of the President's efforts, neutrality was shortlived, and in 1917 war against Germany and her allies was declared. Fortunately, the new Labor Department had had 3 years to establish itself, and it was able to move quickly to support the national emergency. "Had the Department of Labor not existed at the beginning of the war, Congress would have been obliged to create such a Department," Secretary Wilson wrote in his 1918 report. (1918:11) But by the time the war began, the Department had experienced several years as an integrated organization, and knew what it could do, and the prewar years during which the United States served as the arsenal of democracy had provided opportunity to develop some of the plans that later were put into action. "Battles," as the Secretary pointed out, “are fought not only between armed men but between the factories, workshops, and mines of the contending nations. . . . The efficiency of industry [is] wholly dependent upon the efficiency of labor. The greatest essential, therefore, for our Government [at that time of crisis] was the adoption of a central labor administration and a consistent labor policy." (1918:11) |