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.ÿþproponents of academic classicism 231of peculation, and no matter what the individual s views of thepork-barrel may be, no one can claim that the Corps of Engineershas not been well-conducted and economically administered.108The formation of the Department of Public Works fell victim tothe general effort to reorganize the entire federal government.Theproposed general reorganization would have materially changedmany departments, the sweeping character of which precipitated agreat deal of opposition.The aia felt that its only interest in the re-organization studies lay with the location of public architecturewithin the department that ultimately resulted, and that the directorof the public architecture program be placed at a level high enoughto deal directly with Congress and with other department heads.By1925, the prospect of a major reorganization of the federal architec-ture program appeared likely, because major legislation was beingconsidered in Congress to provide funds for new public buildings inWashington, D.C., as well as the rest of the country.One version ofthe legislation provided for the employment of private architects un-der the direction of the Supervising Architect s Office.In the end,however, when major public buildings legislation was passed in 1926,no new agency or department was created to handle the work andonly discretary authority was provided for the employment of pri-vate architects on these projects.World War I and Return to PeaceThe effect of World War I on the work of the Supervising Architect sOffice was to bring its programs to a virtual standstill.The demandsof the war placed a strain on the financial, industrial, and trans-portation resources of the country such that Secretary of theTreasury William McAdoo directed the postponement of publicbuilding construction except in cases where the public interestwould suffer. 109 Work went forward on marine hospitals and quar-antine and immigration stations required for wartime use.Buildingsalready under construction were completed.The low level of con-struction left the staff of the Supervising Architect s Office with aminimal level of work.It was suggested that the employees of theOffice be farmed out to other agencies for the duration of the war.However, McAdoo did not want the organization to break up or dis-sipate because of the level of work and directed Wetmore to outline
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