The first organized means for the protection and conservation
of home forces and utilities was the Council of Defense.
This idea was early worked out in Wisconsin, our state having
the first completed State Council of Defense, whose efficient
organization and methods of work were copied widely throughout
the Union.
In May, 1917, the Green County Council of Defense was organized
at a Mass Meeting called for that purpose at the
Court House in Monroe. Some of the problems which were to
be considered being:
I. Organizing the entire County so that aid might be given
in the activities of every vicinity toward preparedness.
II. The supply of such seed as wheat and beans, which were
not abundant here, that they might be had by those who
wished to put in a patch of either.
III. The releasing of boys from High Schools for work on
the farms.
IV. The general supply of labor and stock to farmers.
Brodhead was ably represented on the Council by a number
of representative citizens and it was through their efforts
that most of the subsequent war work was done. Too much credit
cannot be given them for the generous use of their time and their
efficient and untiring methods of managing the various war activities
and drives.