Evening star., 1941-07-17

administra- a
duction cur David Lawrence.
tailed. Presumably, too, the work.
ers are to find jobs on defense work.
Actually there has been no planning
and no effective arrangements for
the absorption of the labor made
Idle.
The public--if it knew all the
facts-would doubtless deem incred-
ible the true status of the automobile
problem. The o. P. M and the
O. p. A. c. S.-two Government
agencies, each claiming power over
materials and prices-have had au-
tomotive executives here for con-
ference this past several days.
Confusion is the dominant charac-
teristic.
Shortages OF materials are still on
paper. Nobody is able to explain
what the materials will be used for
or when they will be needed. All
that the industry is told is that steel
and other commodities used in
making cars will be needed for
defense. The automobile company
representatives express their desire
to cooperate but they are stunned
by the lack of information as to
what they should do and when they
should do it.
Labor Restive.
Meanwhile, labor has become res
tive. The workers seeing curtail-
ment ahead are protesting that car
making plants should be kept operat-
ing till defense plants are ready to
absorb the labor. No such scientific
transition has been worked out and
doubtless none will be.
At first the automobile manufac-
turers were told that there would be
20 per cent cut and possibly
another 20 per cent cut later on.
Then they were told to forget both
cuts and to figure on plan Of
irregular ALLEGATIONS of production
by the Government itself. Now till
some plan is decided on, the word
Is that the industry should plan on
a cut based on 20 per cent reduction
Of what was produced on the l94l
models. This means in some in
stances 80 per cent cut because the
quotas allocated were for the whole
wear and recent weeks have seen
an increase in rate Of production
over the earlier weeks Of the 194l
car year.
When production Is curtailed,
therefore, as much as 80 per cent
beginning the first couple weeks in
August, some of the major producers
will be laying of tens of thousands
of men. This sort of lay-off has
happened before when tooling over
between old and new models, but
this time the auto companies when
resuming operations will not re-
employ their customary working
forces.
So the workers who are laid off
will not know when or where they
will be employed. If some wait for
their accustomed jobs they may find
themselves disappointed.
Materials Could Be Rationed.
What is most wasteful about the
procedure is that the administra-
ton does not know when 1t will
need the materials it is withhold
ing. Lots of cars will be produced
out Of existing materials already on
hand and shortages of particular
commodities will delay completion
of these vehicles. If the Govern
ment knew when it would need the
materials and in what quantities,
there could be an intelligent ra-
tioning of existing supplies. But un-
fortunately the defense officials
EcilIeSS lllcy uU IlOl hILOW NildO OilC
1912 needs will be and they are play
ing it safe.
Perhaps the most cruel aspect of
the lack of planning and failure to |
coordinate is the generalization of
dealer organizations throughout the
auto industry. While there is at
present big demand for cars, any
breakdown in the distribution sys-
TEN is likely to result in permanent
damage to the auto industry.
All this could have been avoided
X the administration had asked the
industry to sit down and work out
ALLEGATION problems long ago.
The situation is somewhat analo-
sous to that which is happening in
the steel industry, where on paper