The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-02-26

industry operations of WIPE. Within the priorities organization are a
 compliance branch ard the requisit- ioning system which together have
 the responsibility of enforcing all
 priorities orders. Bulk of the job,
 however, is done in the 5O-odd
 priorities field offices scattered throughout the country. These field offices have no real enforcement authority but attached to each field office is an examiner who has the authority to go into factory or warehouse to check books Or actual stocks of materials.
 Priorities Regula ton No. 1 pro- vides that inventories of all mater ials must be kept down to the maxi mum practicable working level, and lit is in keeping with this regulation that enforcement orders are issued against hoarders. In general, the experience has been that the chise- lers against priorities regulations have been the smaller firms, unless the larger companies have better methods of corcealing their sur Ipluses.
 PUBLICITY PUNCHES THEM
 Action which the government can take in enforcing priorities regula- 1 tionS may fellow several lines Simplest is the use of publicity statements saying that A & Co. has violated priorities regulation No M Mo 1,, words, A 6o Co. is branded as a public louse and that is supposed to make A &J Co. reform.
 If that doesn't work, the govern ment can go to court and obtain a cease and desist order or, if false statements have been made to the government, fines up to $lO,OOO ard imprisonment up to 10 years may be imposed.
 More direct is the issuance of priorities "S' order-an order "Sus- pending" company from dealing in or using any materials in which it has violated a priorities regula- tion.
 To date, only 12 suspension orders have been issued. One was for viola tion on brass and copper, one on cotton linters, three on silk and rayon, one on washing machines and six on aluminium. The companies involved in each case sold or manu- factured materiols or products over their quotas. The action in each case was simply to prohibit the firm from dealing in it's commodity for periods up to six months. ing the darkness.
 ALUMINIUM POLICE
 The aluminium S-orders were all issued as the result of a thorough job of inventory policing organized by the priorities section. A hundred or more inspectors of the Labor Departments wage and hour divis- ion were brought into the old OPM last October and given a short course in priorities. Being traired auditors and business investigators, these men were sent out to the hun dredS of small aluminium foundries throughout the country and with prepared forms checked up on ob- servance of priorities allocatiors. These reports were turned in to the compliance section, which then is- sued it's S-orders against violators.
 Two smiilar surveys have been made by Federal Trade Commission examiners loaned to WIPE. One checkup covers the 90 primary fabri- Icators of copper, the other some 30 principal irCn ard steel companies and some 200 smaller iron and steel fabricators. Action under these in- vestigations has not been complet- ed.
 Use of feredal requisitioning au- thority made possible under new Legislation and presidential orders of only three months ago, has thus far been confined to seizure of materials held in warehouses or aboard ship for foreign purchasers. Enormous stocks of steel, rubber, copper, tin, steel rail, hemp, lockwood and other supplies, Including complete INT plant, have been taken for war pro- duction under this drastic action.
 Payment is made by the govern ment for all such seizures and a regular legal procedure has been established for negotiating fair price with the owner. Seizures for the government by this inventory requisitioning formula are to be made only after other means for acquiring war materials have been exhausted.