The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-27

labor and other shortages have irl- creasingly curtailed non-defense production.
 Drastically needed is a sur
 gical reorganization of the whole
 defense contracting system,
 making little business an in-
 tegral part of defense produc-
 tion instead of stepchild to
 whom g few scraps are thrown
 occasionally when its yelling be-
 comes annoying.
 The big complaint against od- lum is that instead of tackling this basic difficulty immediately, he built up an elaborate admin istrative organization that looked grandioSe on paper but did not keep the wolf from the door of small business. Time is of the essence these fast-moving days Scores of little planes are shut ting down daily. Good intentions, no matter how good, won't keep them going
 Odlum was too polite, too anxious to get along with people, was too stepped in Wall Street salye. He talked about joining the Army and trying to do his job as a commissioned officer. What he needed to do was get up and squawk until he got something for little business.
 The only thing he got was ul-
 cerS = for himself.
 JOHN L. LEWIS
 EVIL OLD MANI
 It was along time since Jack Garner and the late Senator Joe Robinson of Arkansas went to see the President of the United States about John L. Lewis. But the ex-Vice President, sitting in his stocking feet on his front porch in Uvalde these days, still remembers it.
 As Mir. Garner tells the story, he was bit worried for fear he would not have the nerve to speak his mind fully to the Presi- dent, so he slipped a pint bottle of rye into his pockat. And. when he got to the White House he went into a washroom and took a couple of healthy swigs.
 Then I stepped in," re- counts Garner, land I said,
 Franklin, this man Lewis will sink you. You may not realize
 it now, but if you let him stay in the same boat with you, he'll sink you in the end'.'
 Garner says that he spoke his piece with considerable vigor but he feared it made little impress Sion--at least at the time.
 NOTE : It was some time later that Lewis called Garner "an evil, whiskey drinking, poker playing old man."
 SLOW MEXICAN RELATIONS
 The new agreement with Mexico Is one of the most important re- cent contributions to our Good Neighbor policy. But the inside fact is that the President and his advisers required a long time to sell 1t to Secretary cs State Hull. He didn't seem to like 1t at all.
 Actually the Mexican agree nient was negotiated on Septe1n- Der I. Although the President approved 1t almost immediately, COrdell Hull held it up for two months and 19 days.
 The agreement provides for the Etahilization of the Mexican peso in the same way we have helped to peg the pound sterling; for a Mexican road building program upderwritten by, the United EtateS; also q trade treaty; and 9 cash payment by Mexico on claims of American citize1s. Fin ally, it lays the ground for con- ciliatton of the oil dispute which has disrupted Amefiean-M Mexican relations for several years.
 1t was this oil proposal which apparently got in Cordell HuIlsS eraw.
 However October 1 Was fin- ally set for the signing of the agreement, and the MEexicams ,brouslf their AEihfsle 9 Flnaile, Eduardo SatlteR. d6 from Mexico City Ef sud ei1 ils hnR and tlE Il