Why politicians resisted cancelling Clemson orders

Why were so many private-yard Clemson-class orders allowed to continue after the First World War?

Politicians feared the employment and constituency consequences of cancellation more than the direct financial loss alone.

Private-yard Clemson cancellations carried a political cost beyond their contractual price. Cancelling ships meant cancelling jobs during the volatile boom-and-bust conditions of the early 1920s. Employment geography and constituency politics could keep a naval production program alive after its original strategic urgency had faded. The orders therefore survived for reasons that extended beyond fleet requirements.