The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-06-05

s of Knudsen's Of- fec of Production Management and of the advisory authority which OPM business men have over tho contract-letting of tho armed scr- vices.
 OpM dollar.a-year men, on the other hand, are supposed to b0 sniping ct the Army and Navy be- cause they are bottlonccks, holding up tho awards Of contrasts neces. sary to putting the defense produc. ton machinery In high gear.
 New Dealers are yapping at opM men supposed to be reluctant to scrap their "business as usual' be. llcfs and increase the productive plant of the country 50 that ali-out, 24-hour, Scven-day defense can get going.
 And Army, Navy, oPM and oil the manufacturers In the lard charge tho New Dealers arc cood. ding labor, patronizlng strikes, com. promising with economy for the benefit Of a bunch of no-account rellefers while Labor counter -ctarg. es that OPM and the business men are using national defense as q vc. hicle to recoup profits and once more grow fat and sassy at the OK. pcnse of the working peopulS,
 Tn tho meantime, the President sits back with too many reing in his hands to do an effective Job from tho drivers seat.
 PLENTY or
 SELF. CRITICISM
 If this were indeed the true pic. tiire Of Washington today the best procedure would seem to be giving up completely and asking Germany for terms, and just how much ot South America would she like, please. But looking at this mural without either intent to whitowash or sr11oar with tho double cross Of red or brown paint, the sense K in no sense the blindfoldod. battle royal free-for.all slugging and bcak-stab. ping brawl previously portrayed. If some of these self-appointed critics, knowltalls and boiiyacherS were given tho job to step in and show how the defense effort should be run, then you would seo confus. ion.
 The truth Is that no ono element of national defense iS satisfied with It's own efforts.
 Army and Navy procurement and supply officers are extremely critical Of what they have done 50 far. The Army points Justifably to what happens when you put on too much speed, let contracts too fast and without examination or inspection In cases of that kind, where Army contract officers have been told to shoot the works and never mind tho cost, they got national diSgracea like Camp Blanding built in c swamp, Fort Meade built on the wrong site to save . golf course at q cost Of $i0 million too much, or Fort Leonard Wood, which Is ona of the sorricst jobs Of land gouging in public records. With those ex- ainples before you, If you were an army contract officer, would you sign a Si00 million order for \ new munitions plant with your eyes Shut2
 Similarly, no outfit In Washington has subjected itself to criticism and Internal rows more than oPM. Don. aid Nelson, head of purchases and William L. Batt, deputy director oi production, have been two of tho most vociferous exponents Of doing a real Job on defense, forgetting normal business for the duration.
 Labor leaders nave had to admit their inability to keep rank and flo unions in line on defense jobs Labor itself Is split right down the middle.
 THERE COMES
 A TIME
 So without apologlzing for the mistakes made, it is entirely reaSon- able to say that all this criticism is q healthy sign. When q trainer is conditioning q fighter for his big battle, there comes a time when the fighters nerves are oil on edge, He crabs at tho food, murders his sparring partners, snaps at his pappy and fires his manager every day. Maybe we're in that process.
 Navy claims 1t is ahead oi schedule on all defense work.
 As to the Ariny's record in con- tracing for it's tremendous expan- sion, o4 per cent of all the money appropriated to 1t has been placed on contract and the remainder is under negotiation. For the year end- ing June 90, Congress has author lzed money for the Army in an orig inal and Ave supplemental appro- priation bills. On the original bill and the first three supplemental bills, totaling $8.6 billions, 90 per cent of the contracts have been let.