Evening star., 1941-02-15
Knudsen' S New Unit,
0. P. NJ, Blankets In
Defense Advisers
Complicated Setup
Created os Leadership
Is Boiled Down
BY JAMES FREE.

peen ABSORBED by the Once OF Pro-
duction Management.
This is due, partly, to the fact that
the o. P. M. was assigned the SUI.
premely important task Of mobiliz.
ing the Nations material and in
duStr1al resources; In effect. taking
over these duties from divisions OF
the Defense Commission. But it ha,
resulted, also, from the o. P. M
designation as "the liaison anC
channel of communications between
the Advisory Commission anC
the Departments of War and Navy
with respect to duties imposed upon
the commission. a.
The Defense Commission and the
Council of National Defense, under
which the commission was created
through 1916 act of Congress, still
exist.
William S. Knudsen, director gen.
eral Of the o. p. NJ, retains the title
Of chief of the production division
Of the Defense Commission although
in reality the o. P. M head has
shifted responsibility for this part
of the program to John D. Biggers,
director of the o. P. MS division of
production.
Creates Double Titles.
Sidney Hillman. o. P. M. associ-
ate director general is still chief of
the commission labor division. And
other double title-bearers are Ed
ward r. Stettinius, jr., director of
the o. P M. division of priorities
and head of the commissions in
dustrial materiels section, and DON
aid M Nelson. o. P. M. director of
the division of purchases and the
commissions co-ordinator of ma
tional defense purchasers.
It's bit confusing, but the
functions of these men as COM
mission members obviously have
been subordinated to their activi-
ties with the o. P. M.
Another matter that is not al
together clear, except to a relatively
few insiders, is the exact status
of such persons as Paul v. McNutt,
co-ordinator of Health, Welfare and
Related Defense Activities, and
Nelson Rockefeller, co-ordinator of
Commercial and Cultural Relations
Between the American Republics.
Their organiza tions were created on
recommendation of the Council of
National Defense, but neither Mr..
McNutt nor Mr.. Rockefeller is a
member of the Defense Commission.
And the same is true of several
other division heads whose work
is associated" with the commission
and the o. P. M.
Formation Recalled.
To simplify the puzzling parts of
this interorganizational picture.
perhaps it would be best to go back
TO the manner of their formation.
In May, 1910, President Roose-
welt set up the Council of National
Defense under authority of
statute passed by Congress in 1916
This statute directed the President
to appoint such a council, which,
In turn, would nominate for the
Chief Executives approval an Ad-
viSory Commission. The council was
to consist of the Secretaries of War,
Navy, Interior, Agriculture. Com
merce and Labor. And the Ad-
vlsory Commission, it was specified,
was to consist of no more than
seven persons. each of whom shall
have special knowledge of some in
dustry, public utility or the develop
ment of some natural resource, or
be otherwise specifically qualified. in
the opinion of the council ."
In addition to Messrs. Knudsen,
Stettinius and Hillman, the COM
is composed of Ralph Budd,
Chester Davis, agri-
culture; Miss Harriet Elliott, con-
sumner protection, and Leon Hen
derson, price Stabilization.
Since these constituted the legal
limit of seven members, subsequent
and their activities had
to be associated" Besides Messrs.
and McNutt, they in
clude Frank Bane, State and local
Robert w. Horton, in
formation; Stacy May, research and
statistics, and William H. Mercy
nolds, commission secretary.
Leadership Boiled Down."
When the o. P. M. was created
by an executive order of the Presi-
dent on January 7, 194l, it, in eff
feet, boiled down leadership of the
Council of National Defense as we'll
as the councils Advisory Commits
sion to the four-man o. P. M:
Messrs. Knudsen and Hillman, rep
resenting industry and labor, and
the Secretaries of War and Navy.
Formation of the o. P. M. was,
according to the Presidents execu-
tive order, was by virtue of the
vested in me by the Con-
Stitution and the statutes and in
order to define further the func-
tions and duties of the Office of
Emergency Management with re-
spect to the national emergency as
declared by the President to exist
on September 8, 1899 ="
So far, all defense activities have
been accounted for, more or less, ex-
cept two.
Defense Housing. under Co-ordi-
nator Charles F. Palmer, formerly
under the Defense Commission, has
oeen made an independent agency
TO the President. This |.
was done, it was said, because of the
many unusual problems that it is
confronted with and because it has
70 work in close cooperation with |
such outside agencies as the Federal |.
Housing Administration and the
Federal Works Agency.
Export Control Separate.
And the administrator of Export !
Control, 1t. Col Russell L. Maswell. |
heads military detail answerable
TO the President.
1t is interesting to note, however,
hat while both these latter units
nave public relations facilities of
their own, they clear their releases
ike all the divisions of the Defense |
CommisSion-through the informa-
ion division of the o. P. M, which
1as taken over everything but the
name of the information division
u the Defense Commission.