<論説>第一次大戦期アメリカの産業動員 : 鉄道庁創設の意義をめぐって

Abstract

本稿では、第一次大戦中のアメリカで行われた産業動員、なかでも研究の蓄積が他の産業より少ない鉄道産業の動員を検討した。鉄道産業は一九一七年末に公式に動員され、鉄道庁が創設されている。同年四月の参戦直後から鉄道産業の運営統合を試みたのは、民間組織の鉄道戦時委員会(RWB) であった。しかし、他省庁の千渉などさまざまな統合障害が働き、鉄道産業は約半年で崩壊に瀕する。これらの障害の克服にRWBが結局失敗する一方で、「鉄道国営化」論が一二月から政界で台頭し、大統領を説得して鉄道庁の創設に成功した。この結末は一見国家統制主義的だが、本稿は別の見解を取る。RWBも直面した統合障害の解消を目指す鉄道庁で、元RWBのメンバーが再び活躍していたからである。そこで本稿では、運営統合の名目を国家(鉄道庁) が、その実質を民間(RWB) が、それぞれ分担したと考えて「自発的協力の相互補償」が生れたという仮説を導き出した。

It is well known that the United States of America mobilized all kinds of industries in World War I. For example, the War Industries Board (WIB), the Fuel Administration, the Food Administration, and the Railroad Administration were established in 1917. Today, the WIB is the most famous agency among them. But, past studies dealing with the industrial mobilization have not paid enough attention to the distribution industry. This paper rectifies this by examining the creation of the Railroad Administration at the end of 1917. The first chapter depicts the situation of American railroads up to and including 1917. Soon after the U.S. entered into the war, a private agency called the Railroads' War Board (RWB) was created to formulate an operation policy of all railroads. The RWB succeeded in meeting an increase of freight traffic from April to September. But the RWB was faced with the difficult problems of operating and financing the railroads from October. The former was largely due to the excessive and conflicting "priority" orders of government war agencies such as the Food and Fuel administration. The latter was due to the denial of rate increase by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and so on. In addition, the laws of the country such as the Sherman Anti-trust Act interfered with the RWB's activity. As a result, the ICC sent to Congress a special report on December 5, 1917, which argued in favor of unified railroad operation. In the second chapter, the author examines the discussion on government operation of the railroads until President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the creation of the Railroad Administration on December 26. The ICC report recommended the unified railroad operation, but did not settle on a way of accomplishing this. High government officials recommended government operation of the railroads instead of private operation like the RWB. For example, the Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo advised the President to take control of the railroads as a war necessity. But Wilson hesitated to take over the railroads mainly because of the legal and financial problems associated with it. As a result, Wilson pondered the question for 3 weeks despite the chaotic condition of the transportation system. The third chapter discusses the voluntary effort by the RWB in the chaotic condition. The traditional railroad magazine, Railway Age Gazette (RAG), described how the rate increase and the repeal of the Anti-trust Acts were required by the railroad industry from November. But these requirements would not be realized as usual. Then, the RWB formed the Committee of Vice Presidents (CVP), on November 24, to relieve congestion. All facilities on all railroads east of Chicago would be pooled and operated under the CVP. The CVP issued various orders such as the traffic diversion to the south and the embargo on all export steel. Encouraged by these activities, RAG articles again recommended private operation of the railroads despite the ICC report. However, it was regrettable to the industry that the infant CVP could not remove the interventions of other agencies. The concluding chapter evaluates the creation of the Railroad Administration. Wilson was finally persuaded by officials to take control of the railroads, and appointed McAdoo as the Director-General of the railroads. This move by Wilson seems to be one step toward statism. But the Railroad Administration gradually met the requirements of the industry. Any orders made by McAdoo would have paramount authority over the Anti-trust Acts and the ICC rate regulation. By stationing representatives in the government agencies, he overrode their priorities. As a result, most of the Railroad Administration staff consisted of the RWB staff. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show how the mutual compensation of voluntary cooperation can benefit unified railroad operation.