New York State Defense Council

The State Defense Council was created by Chapter 369 of the Laws of 1917. Its responsibilities included making "all investigations and plans for efficient coordination and cooperation of the military, industrial, agricultural and commercial resources of the state in time of war". It was charged with the "creation of relations which render possible immediate concentration and utilization of state resources for military purposes". Preparedness meant the organization and coordination of the civilian as well as military population, and encompassed transportation systems, hospital and medical services, industry, volunteer organizations, and the supervision of aliens. Persons employed by the council were deemed to be in the military service of the state.

The council controlled expenditures made from appropriations voted in 1917 for general mobilization of the state's resources (Chapter 3), for a food supply commission (Chapter 205), and for a military census (Chapter 103). Detailed plans for taking a military census and mobilizing the state's resources were worked out by the Adjutant General's Office through divisions within a Resource Mobilization Bureau. Governor Charles S. Whitman was chairman, W.A. Orr was secretary, and Joseph H. Wilson was auditor of the council. Other members appointed in May of 1917 included Frank M. Williams, the State Engineer and Surveyor; William W. Wotherspoon, the Superintendent of Public Works, Charles S. Wilson, the Commissioner of Agriculture; and Charles H. Sherrill, who became Adjutant General in September of 1917 upon the resignation of Louis W. Stotesbury.

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