The Wilmington morning star., 1940-12-29
Bruce Cations
In Washington
The Star-News' Washington
Correspondent

WASHINGTON.-When people complain thai
the defense program is tagging because there
has been no one presiding genius to get things
co-ordinated, they are usually thinking abou'
things like this:
Defense Commissioner KnudSen begins ne
gotiating with a manufacturer for some ma
chine tools. Before the negotiations get very
far Knudsen learns that at the same moment
a Wal Department procurement officer is ne
g~otiating with the same manufacturer for an
other allotment of machine tools. The manu-
facturer can't take both orders, as either one
would be a capacity job for him, and he has
no way of knowing which one he ought to take.
Meanwhile, no one has been steering things te
see that the two bids didn't head into the
same shop, and there is no one with authority
to say which of the two should get the right
of way.
That is just one sample of the programs
lack of direction. There follow a few more.
PUT IN ENGINES,
TAKE THEM OUT
One of the biggest airplane manufacturer
on the west coast has expanded his plant,
taken on a flock of new workers, and set his
production line humming. Airplanes are roll.
ing off the line in gratifying quantities-but
after they come off the line they sit there
idle, because neither the engines nor certain
items of cockpit equipment have been fin.
ished.
This manufacturer has a contract with the
government at a fixed price per plane. In
figuring his costs, he of course included the
prices he would pay sub-contractors for the
motors and other equipment. The manufac-
turers with whom he contracted for these
items in turn had based their bids on the *
pectation that they would be operating on a
normal work week. Now, with his OWL pro-
duction running ahead of schedule, this manu-
~facturer cannot tell his suppliers to 60 on an
overtime basis so that their output can keep
pace with his own . nor is anyone in Wash
ington in a position to step in an put the
whole system on a rational speeded- up basis.
Rather similar is the case of another big
plane manufacturer AS his planes are fin
ished he has them flown to the nearest mill
tary receiving depot. There the engines are
taken out and returned to his factory, so that
the next lot of finished planes may be flown
to the delivery site.
Two lacks of coordination are reflected
here. Production of planes wasn't tied in
with production of motors and accessories,
and there is no central authority now to iron
out the kinks.
LITTLE SHIPS,
BIG SHIPS
There's the case of a shipyard in New Eng
land, which last spring was engaged in the
construction of small harbor craft. British
purchasing agents offered a large contract
for ocean-going ships. The yard officials con-
suited the Navy Department about it. Navy
replied that it didn't yet know what its own
program was going to be (this was last spr-
ing, remember, before the huge defense APP.
propriations) and that the yard might as well
go ahead and take the British order.
The yard did so. Now, with the two-ocean
navy program calling for every resource, the
Navy Department is pressing this same ship,
builder to take a navy contract. Having
signed up with the British, however. he can't,
as all his facilities are engaged. !