Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1940-12-24
Murray Plan
Similar to
War Board
Auto In d ustry as Unit
Would Mesh Control
(The opinions expressed by
General johnson are not neees-
soriiys those of The Detroit
Times.)
BY HUGH S. JOHNSON

DN hCohh 10 VOAsA'
DILL MURRAY'S plan for in
L creased plane production
may be wrong in places, but 1t
has at least germ of the right
idea in il.
Boiled down to its bones. what
he proposes is to make a single
great production unit out of the
whole automobile industry, in
stead of a cluster of competing
companies
That idea was also at the
center of his earlier plan TO
speed production by creating
control board for each industry.
That also is the idea of treat
ing such industry as a unit and
so mobilizing each separately
and then marshaling all these
great units in one combined
economic regiment for defense
production
THAT is exactly the essence
l. of what was done in the war
industries board in 1918. II is
exactly what is not being done
in the KnudSen four-man pro-
duction office.
What the war industries board
did was TO request each great
industry To appoint a, war serV-
ice committee. which could
speak and receive the govern
ments instructions for the whole
industry.
Then there were organized IN
the board commodity commit
tees one for each OF more in
duStrieS.
Ii never became necessary 10
make this alignment and method
too formal or sticky. but 1t was
an arrangement that enabled the
organization of the government
overhead to mesh with the over
head control within each indus
try like the interlined fingers OF
your two claSped hands.
LIVERY production problem
II was broken down by indus
tries and considered in joint
meeting Of these committees or
their representatives. II is the
only quick way TO explore the
productive facilities of each in
dustry. 10 prevent overlapping.
confusion and waste to deter
mine the merits of vexed ques-
tions of priority. relative effort
and hottleneCkS.
II created a kind Of piano
keyboard upon which federal
industrial control can produce.
or try to produce. all the har-
monies and effects of which our
economic music box is capable.
Indeed if you don't have that.
/ in view of the immense volume
of material and the vast COM
pick of American Industry. you
are simply fumblins in jungle
of obscuritieS. CROSS purposes
and divided interests. with never
enough facts 10 decide wisely or
we'll and with not enough con-
trolls to act with full effect,
even if you could decide
Back in August. the Washing
ton Post reported with some
severity the President refused
+ "a press conferenceD 10 make
public the industrial mobilization
/ plan. This referred to the plan
/ under study in the war and
Navy departments for many
! years based on the war indus
/ tries board experience. He
asked why he should make II
public any more than publishing
] the plan of the Civil War We
are working in 1940.$he said
sharply adding that nc was not
HlnlEItSIHI III any piu pans
A PPARENTLY not. consider
"A ing that no plan at all APP
peared until four months later
after delay had begun 10
/ threaten disaster. and that when
the 1910 plan did materialize II
consisted simply in setting up a
neW- but not very different "au-
: thority" and at last entrusting
II nUt=wfth plan. but 2
problem still requiring a plan.
OF the technical Shop-practicc
aspect. | don't know whether
Mr.. MurrayS plan is practical
The late, Walter Chrysler told
me years ago. when this column
was seeking to stir up prepara-
ton for mass production of wal
planes. that something like II
was possible for the automobile
industry. On such problems. he
was a genius. So is Mr.. Knud-
sen. If he says that Mr.. Murray's
shop plan has merit. we can be
sure of il.
distributed by United Features syn. Inc
ONE YEAR AGO TODAY