The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-10-13

rWN4ET1 VI RAOEOoOA AO6 the shortages and surpluses. Every WING subcommittee has its own ideas and congressional committees have their ideas, too. It all makes interesting material for discussion and more discussion, but it hasn't much more importance or authority than that. For example
 Jesse Irwin, formerly chief press agent for Gov. Paul V. McNutt's many activities, including the Man power Commission, quit his job the other day and went to work for a Washington newspaper.
 First day on his new job, Jess broke the exclusive story purport- ing to give the draft of the new manpower law and a detailed ac- count of why organized labor was against it. The story was major sensation around Manpower head quarters, and minor sensation in other Washington centers, but it didn't mean a thing. The draft was apparently one of the dozens that have been drawn up and passed through the hands of Bernard c. Gavit, Manpower Commissions gen. eral counsel who, like McNutt, is an ex-dean of Indiana University Law School. But the draft expose had not been approved by anyone.
 IT'S DEEP STUFF
 Most of the double doomed, deep dish thinking, writing and speaking that has been done on the subject of manpower has dealt with it as a national problem. It is, to the eX- tent that it concerns every part of the country, but when you get it down to the fundamentals, this big national problem spells out as a number of local problems. To con- tribute just one more piece of pa per to be raked up and burned at the curb in the October bonfire, these local problems shake down like this:
 According to Dr. William Haber, ex- University of Michigan and U. s. Bureau of the Budget economist, wso is now chief of the Planning Division of War Manpower Com mission, there are BIT Tabor mar kets" in the United States today areas where there is concentrated /, and active hiring For instance, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Detroit, Toledo are each active labor mar kets in one chain.
 Of the 317 labor market areas, l the Manpower Commission reports indicate that 35 have surplus labor, 50 have shortages now, and 90 more anticipate shortages within the next six months. The remaining 142- nearly half of the total though not necessarily representing half of the total labor force-are for the time being adequately supplied. The im- portant point here is that the man. power shortage problem does not cover the entire United States like a blanket.
 In adding up the reports from all these labor market areas you can get totals on what the manpower requirements will be by the end of 1943, and a good many experts have their own figures on the items mak- ing up those totals - many of the estimates varying. Dr. Haber's es- inmates are that by the end of 194a the total manpower requirements for Army, agriculture, war produc- ton, essential civilian occupations will te 63,00000o workers. The available supply he estimates at ST. 500,000. making an apparent short age of from to million. That looks easy, but all such figures in- clude a number of variables which must not be overlooked.
 DEMAND AND RESERVE
 The labor demand is concentrated The reserve is dispersed The 63,- coo O00 figure assumes the fullest possible conversion of industry tc war production, the concentration of civilian industry in plants that cannot be converted. It assumes a smooth flow of materials to all plants and a removal of all bottle necks which now cause work stop pages. If this smooth flow of ma terials were in effect now the pres ent working force of the country might be producing 25 per cent more goods than it is, which would be equivalent to increasing manpowe1 25 per cent.
 Solving the manpower situation however, involves not just numbers It involves getting the needed num- bers of people of the needed age and the needed skill at the needed place and at the needed time. It is a job not just of migration, but a job of training It is a job that can be done on a labor market area basis. It is job that can be done locally if every locality will marshal its own resources to the fullest, per- suade labor unions to overcome their prejudices, persuade employers to stop pirating and stop hoarding