Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 32.djvu/838

802 8o2 HARVARD LAW REVIEW different agencies, were conferred upon the President and thus united in him as a common head.^® Moreover, the commodities or services dealt with by the various agencies were in the main those in which a serious shortage was created by the increased demands due to war conditions, and hence these commodities or services had to be dealt with, in Justice Holmes' phrase, "like short rations in a shipwreck." ^^ It thus became the duty of such agencies as the Fuel and Railroad admin- istrations to distribute the supply of coal and railroad cars in such manner as to give priority to those who would use them for essen- tial purposes. A determination by such a body as the Fuel Ad- ministration that one who was not cooperating with an important government agency in abiding by the rules laid down by it in an endeavor to build the proper industrial foundation for the Army and Navy program was not entitled to such priority would seem to be a proper use of a discretionary power given for war purposes. Conditions were in general such that a mere refusal of priority with regard to fuel, labor, transportation, and the like was practically equivalent to a complete denial of the use of such commodities or services, and hence the fear of such a denial was quite sufficient to make a manufacturer feel that a refusal by him to comply with a priority certificate issued by the War Industries Board was, from a practical business standpoint, impossible. ^^ If the arguments advanced above under IV are sound, such 28 Even where the President was not given originally the right to delegate a par- ticular power conferred upon him to any agency he might choose, this could be done by him after the passage of the Overman Act of May 20, 19 18 [Public — No. 152 — 65th Congress (S. 3771)], authorizing him to make such redistribution of functions among goverimiental agencies as he might believe to be conducive to efifective war making. 27 See Dr. Miles Medical Co. ». John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U. S. 373, 412 (191 1). 28 The following quotation from the Official Bulletin of November 2, 191 8, page 3, although not relating to priority certificates, shows the manner in which War Industries Board regulations were Unked up with the powers given to other agencies. "B. M. Baruch, chairman of the War Industries Board, authorizes the following: Manufacturers are prohibited from making any sales or deliveries [of lumber] except for essential uses. . . . . "Each manufacturer is required to file with the priorities division of the War In- dustries Board a pledge in writing. . . . "Any manufacturer failing within 30 days after date to file the pledge above de- scribed, or to make application as provided, will thereby relinquish his right to the benefit of preferential treatment with respect to labor, or to assistance in obtaining fuel or to the automatic class rating for equipment, supplies and materials."