Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-04-27
BY PAUL MALLON

Z
limitation seems justified.
THE institute figures. show
L stocks were but little under
last year, and. instead OF de-
clining in the last three weeks,
have been increasing.
Barrels Of gas =on hand in the
critical area the last available
weeks to April IL: (These are
two weeks behind because one
week is held up by the censorD
This year Last year
April II 1893 goo GOO 20 20 's sss GOO GOO
April 1888 900 70, 322, 900
March % $4,000 2o,4s5.oo0
This may be CROUCH TO justify
rationing, but certainly not the
kind the OPA official was talk
ing about.
FURTHERMORE, after all the
l. talk that has gone on for
weeks and weeks about revers-
ing those three Pennsylvania
pipelines so as to push fuel oil
into eastern states, little has
been accomplished. Two of the
lines are still carrying gasoline
west.
The Susquehanna line is still
running west to Altoona and
the Tuscarora from Bayonne to
Midland and not much has been
done about changing them.
The third line from Philadel-
phia to Pittsburgh is in the
process of being changed over.
but the operation has not been
completed.
THE seaboard usually gets
Il around 100000 barrels a
day of all kinds of oil including
gasoline, light and heavy fuel.
OF this amount about 100000 is
coming in tank cars, and $780,
600 by pipelines other than the
three mentioned.
The rationing question, there
fore, rests with what has been
done to our tankers by Hitler
and what might be done with
the tankers still afloat by
authorities here.
If any considerable number of
them should be or have been
diverted to other purposes. the
rationing figures would decrease
accordingly. If they had to be
taken off entirely for any pur-
pose, drastic rationing might be
necessary.
MIR. ROOSEVELT has created
w a White House cast of fic-
tional characters which he in
terviews in private, with results
given to the public by him.
The last two have been de-
scribed only as sweet young
things but there was "a bust
ness man" before them and IAN
economist" and so on back into
New Deal years.
The tales of them are always
told by FDR at his press con-
ferences. They are always the
straight men in the conversa-
ton. They always ask him the
darnest questions and he de-
vastateS them with his replies.
The President often asks the
newspapers TO name the author
ity for their statements, but he
has adopted a contrary policy
for his growing gallery of
verbal straw men and young
women (who so far have been
both young and sweet.
II the gallery gets any larger,
someone is going TO ask him to
fill in the other half of the
program with the names.
biggest hearted thing Mr..
- Roosevelt ever did for bust
ness in his life was the thing
he has been most criticized for
locally-the construction at
cost of 100000 of an informa-
ton center. facetiously known in
the Washington Post as MEL
let's Madhouse" in honor of
FDR's information adviser.
The President did not want
the poor business men running
around Washington wearing out
shoes. He wanted TO give him
centrally located place to go
and ask questions.
1t develops that this favor,
W n ich was not specifically
authorized by Congress, came
/ from a suggestion dropped by
one of those unidentified bust
ness men who came in to see
him 10 complain of aching feet.
The trouble is the structure
Is just being completed, shoes
may be rationed, and practically
all the war contracts are let,
or should be.
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