Evening star., 1941-12-02

the consumption Of lead for military
purposes through 1941 and 1912 In
stead of balancing the current needs
OF civilian and defense industry.
Face Financial Ruin.
The immediate effect, however,
upon labor is that approximately
1,600 Of the oldest employees of one
manufacturer will be suddenly
thrown out OF work. These are men
skilled and trained in a particular
business. They own their own
homes in the communities in which,
they work. The effect of the order
will be to deprive them of their
means Of livelihood and to compel
them to seek new employment, per-
haps as unskilled workers or as mi
grant laborers.
The same results will be felt in
every little business and every little
community which is disturbed by
the withdrawal of the materials es-
sential to the maintenance OF ci-
villain business. 1t must be remem-
bered that the owners of little busi-
nesses frequently operate upon small
capital or upon borrowed money and
that when they cannot produce the
commodity upon which their busi-
ness is based they face financial
ruin. 1t must be remembered that
the worker, in many instances, has
reached period of life when it is
impossible for him to begin over
again, to learn a new trade or to
move to a new community. These
are the values in the American social
system which must be conserved.
To cripple an industry of the kind
L have mentioned in such circum-
stances is a sin against our free
economy and against the very OBJ
Jectives for which our foreign policy
has been adopted.
1t was never the intention of
President Roosevelt to cripple civil
ian industry; quite the contrary.
Only last April he set up the Office
of Price Administrator and Civilian
Supply for the express purpose of
balancing civilian industry and the
defense effort in such a Wav as to
maintain civilian morale. Leon Hen
derson, who was selected bv the
President as the administrator of
this agency, specifically declared
that I'VE in Washington have a re-
sponslblllty to see that civilian
morale and civilian industry are not
harmed unnecessarily. This" he
went on, means that minimum sup
plies OF scarce materials must be
preserved for civilian uses" This is
the policy wisely outlined by the
President which I seek to preserve
by the bill IS. l847, now before the
Committee on Naval Affairs.
1t is OF the utmost Importance that
action should be taken because to-
day there is going into effect in the
Office Of Production MANAGEMENT
the most revolutionary economic
proposal ever advanced in this coun-
try. Under administrative order No. /
29, issued under the signature of
William S. Knudsen, applications
from business for raw materials are
hereafter to be handled upon an
industry basis rather than an indi-
vidual basis. Under this order each
industrial branch in the o. P. M.
has been instructed to develop a
program for the industry manufac-
turing the products for which it is
responsible. Beginning today, all
applications for materials are to be
handled under this industrial pro-
gram
Monopolistic Concentration.
1t means that the staff OF o. P. M.
is today at work upon plan Of
forcing the American industrial sys-
tenn of free economy into the pat
tern Of European cartels- 1t means
not only that ALLEGATIONS of raw
materials will be made to civilian
business by the central authority, |
but that these branches in o. P. M. |
the number and nature of which, I |
venture to say, cannot be recited by
any major executive of O. P. NJ. are |
going to undertake to tell civilian !