Imperial Valley press., 1942-12-21
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

The No l military man whom the
civilian war agencies of the gov
eminent have picked ont to concen-
tlate their attack on is Lieut.-Gen.
RIehon Somervell commanding the
Services Of Supply. So successful
have been WhlpperS-up OF the So
caled .euj between the Amy and
tee Wan Production Board that
t.cy Tie. would have you believe
u.err Is 10 hmit 10 this mans am
baton ana grasp for power. They
.d. You NOT only TO Watch SOM
elNell!9 tus To Watch oat for
Sumewell!'
But somehow Someryell doesn't
quite fill the bill of whai ii takes
10 be a military dict tor, OF else
there IL sOmeth ne powerfully dis
aiming about his rather slight
figure, his gray ing hair. his ready
smile. his quick sense of humor.
his tue eyes. lie is tough, but
he can take il as well aS dish il
out. He laughs about all the
things his opponents say OF him
-SomeivCH is out 10 wreck
NPB. Somervcil wants to take
over f1iJ power, SOmerVell has
plans 10 TAX. over rau0ninS,
Somerveil wants TO run civilian
economy.
To many b;Weaucrats and some
congressman, Scmervell IS the
ARMY When they Sa. they are
afraid OF the Army the mean they
are afraid OF SomerVell. This might
Et flattclirg II IL we're not also
embarrassing Gen. George c. Mar
shall IS chief Of staff OF the Army
ana SomerVell's boss, but somehow
he one ever picks on General Mar
shall
The reason General Somewell is
picked out for all the hate IS that
as commander of the Services and
Supply he heads up that part OF
the Army which has most direct
dealings with the civilian economy
and the other agencies Of the gov
eminent. In the REORGANIZATION OF
the Army general staff, all OF the
routine procurement functions were
taken away from General Marshall
in order to leave him free for pure
" tactical duties planning the
lighting of the war The job OF
procurement of everything the
Army uses except airplanes was
given to General SOmervell, and
that makes him the front man.
THEY'LL PROBE HIM
General SomerVeu will probably
be investigated when the war is
over, if not before. 1t would be
Impossible for anyone to be head OF
Z supply organization spending the
billions Of dollars for which he is
responsible without being inveSti-
gated. But thoughts Of investlgat-
ing General SomerVell revive men,
cries Of Gen. Charles G. Hell-and-
Maria Dawes being investigated by
Congress after has administration
OF SOS. in France following the
last war. General Somerven Will
be in there pitching, too.
He comes from Arkansas, he is
30 wears old, West Pointer. an
engineer, lieutenant colonel in
the last war with two and half
years service overseas, holder of
DISC and DSM, and he still loves
fight.
The reason ne fights now IS that
the responsibility is his 10 see that
this biggest US. Army ever raised
has all the guns, food, clothing and
eauirment it needs for the toughest
war it ever fought General SOM
erveu recalls constantly the scam
dals of the Civil War-embalmcd
beef. civilian plcveyorS TO the Army
waxing fat and rich on war con-
tracts out Of which the soldiers who
I'D the fighting got little or MOTH
ing. Knows by actual experience
the supply scandals of the last
war. He saws his aim in this war
is to see that those mistakes are
not repeated.
He fights other government
:eeneies. true. When the Depart
ment of Agriculture experts who
buy food for Lend-LeaSe express
desire to bay the foods for the
Army. he fights ii.
H. has fought the War FrOduc-
ton Board and its various prede-
cessors since the beginning OF the
defense effort He fought the prl-
critics system which simply gave
rival manufacturers a hunting
license t. 20 out privateerlng Tor
materials. and he saw that system
Unkcd.
STILL PITCHING
He fought WIPES successor to
the Dricrities system, the Pfoduc-
ton and Requirements Plan, known
Is "PURP" until it was abandoned.
He fought to put in effect what Is
now the Controlled Materials Plan.
Now that GIMP is in effect, Som
eIvell is fighting to keep the sched-
ullng Of materials for Army pro-
clrement contracts in Army hands.
Thollh there are only $4,000 man
ufacturers in the United States to-
daY. the Army has l,075,O 900 Sepa-
rate contracts. Requirements Tor
materials on those contracts IN
Amy hands now. that is, they are
in the hands Of civilians in uniform
now. and Somervell is fighting to
Keep them there and not have them
transferred TO WIPE or any Other
Government agency. The battle is
Just beginning, for the current
agreement is merely an armistice
As General Someryell sees it, he
is fighting to keep civilian agencies
from taking over the Army-not
tho other VaV round