Evening star., 1941-01-08
New Defense AGENCY

Although there may be some mis-
giVings resulting from the Presidents
failure to vest final responsibility for
direction of the defense program in
a single individual, it is clear that he
has endowed his Office of Production
Management, formally set up yeSter-
day by executive order, with far
reaching powers to speed up this Ma
tiOn'S tagging rearmament effort.
The new agency, which will be
known as o. P. NJ, is composed of
William S. Knudsen as director gen.
eral, Sidney Hillman, associate di-
rector general, and Secretaries Stim-
son and Knox of the War and Navy
Departments. Under the terms Of
the executive order the President, in
the final analysis, retains his direct
ing authority as Chief Executive, but
it seems evident that in practice the
control to be exercised by him will be
more nominal than real. Spe-
cifically, the order empowers and di-
rectS the o. P M. to formulate and
execute all measures needful
and appropriate in order to increase,
accelerate and regulate" the produc-
ton and supply of materials, plant
facilities and services for our own
defense, and to survey, analyze and
summarize for purposes of co-ordi-
nation the requirements of our de-
fense agencies and those of for
eign governments. ButtreSsing this
sweeping delegation of authority are
a number of supplementary grants
of power designed to make possible
the achievement of the larger OBJ
jective.
The language of this order, on its
face, removes any possible basis for
the contention that Mr.. Roosevelt is
hampering the defense effort through
unWillingneSs to delegate to others
the authority necessary to ''get things
done" but it remains to be seen
whether his decision to bestoW equal
authority on two men-Mr. KnudSen
and Mr.. Hillman-will be productive
of the desired results.
Undoubtedly, the decision to place
Mr.. Knudsen and Mr. Hillman on an
equal footing is a compromise de-
signed to bridge the gap between
the obvious advantages of lodging
ultimate authority in one individual
and the demands of labor for full
representation on this super defense
agency. If the two men are able to
work in harmony, and they as well
as the President express confidence
that this will be the case, there is
little to lose and much to gain by fol-
lowing this middle course. And if
the future should bring friction in
stead of cooperation, the President
retains authority to step in and make
whatever adjustments may seem
necessary
In the past, Mr.. Hillman has given
some support to union efforts to pre-
vent the award of defense contracts
to firms alleged to be in violation of
the Labor Relations Act and similar
laws, although he has always con-
tended that the interests of the de-
fense program must be the primary
consideration In this connection it
is noteworthy that, following issu-
ance of the new executive order, he
subscribed to an o. P. M. statement
which pointed out that laws now in
effect make secure the principle of
collective bargaining, and warned
labor against any attempt to make
improper use of it's position in the
present worldwide emergency.
This statement was pointed up
with the unqualified assertion that lin
the immediate future everything in
our national life must be subordi-
mated to the necessity for defense" I"
If both Mr.. KnudSen and Mr.. Hill
man are resolved to go forward in
the spirit Of that firm declaration
uney should be able to avoid dis
agreements which would be destruc-
tive of unity.