Evening star., 1941-07-06

prominent American induStriaItSt tpho
pas steel administrator and MEM
Der OF the War Industries Board dur
ing the World War.
Most Americans will agree that our
three principal objectives in these criti-
cal days, should be:
First-Adequate defense of the United
States and its possessions at the earliest
possible date.
Second-Immediate and "all-out" aid
to Britain as promised by our President.
Third-And almost equally important
TO create, in these days of false pros
perity, cushion for the postwar pc
riod and thereby prevent millions of our
people, including our draftees after de-
mobilization, from walking our streets
in search of work.
In view of our Presidents declaration
OF unlimited emergency, it seems proper
to ask whether we are pursuing the
right policy to fulfill these important
objectiveS.
We are not!
Well-informed persons believe that our
production of aircraft, ships, tanks and
other vital defense needs should be COM
ing off our assembly lines III at least
double the volume We are producing to-
day. One of the principal executives
of the Office of Production Management
recently stated that You amt seen
nothing yet" to which I believe there
will be general and almost unanimous
agreement.
Committee Scored Failures.
The House Military Affairs Commit
tee, in its report made public few days
ago, stated that series of major failures
and delays had led to serious lack of
strategic materials, particularly alumni
mum, which is delaying our production
of airplanes and other vital defense
needs. They attributed this largely to
absence of a responsible head, with
authority and power, and also to ma
tional preoccupation in recent years with
social reform rather than national Sc
curity' 1t is clear that our defense
organization, while having some very
efficient personnel, is badly disorganized
largely due to there being no clear
division of authority, and some of its
most capable heads recently have re-
signed for this reason.
The approval by the Office of Produc-
ton Management of the St. Lawrence
Seaway project, which would cost about
$500, 100000 and could not be completed
for probably five years, in the mean
time taking vital materials and man
power from our urgent defense program,
is striking example of their lack Of
appreciation of the job in hand. A re-
sponsible head to our defense organiza-
ton is a critical and immediate need.
He must have absolute authority, such
as was conveyed by President Wilson to
Bernard M Baruch on March 4. 1918.
1t would be logical to assume We should
have learned something from World War
days, but apparently such is not the case.
Then, as now, we were very reluctant to
subordinate our civilian wants to war
necessities, but had this not been done,
our World War record would have been
most disastrous and might easily have
resulted in Germany's winning the war.
The automobile manufacturers at first
objected to the curtailment of their op-
erations, but when they saw the imme-
diate and serious demands of the war
program, they promptly and patriotically
acquiesced.
People Still Patriotic Today.
1t would be humiliating to believe that
our people today are not just as patriotic
and willing to accept some restrictions in
the interest of national welfare. If this
be true, why not give right of way to our
defense program by curtailing the pro-
duction of non-war necessities, thereby
creating cushion for the postwar pc
riod, so necessary to prevent a recurrence
of our unemployment problem? With
the long work week, low wage rates and
deprecated currency of postwar Europe,
1t will be extremely difficult for our in
dustries, with our short work-week and
high wages, to compete. Our national