The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-03-05


 Among other things the com- mittee will ask whether it is true (1) that Goodyear, Goodrich, Fire stone and U. s. Rubber were per- mitted to draw 26 per cent more rubber than normally during the past year; f2) whether Mont gomery Ward stocked up with $60,- 100000 worth of tires; (3) whether big trucking firms have stocked up with three years supply of tires. ct was, of course, the privilege oAany individual or corporation to stock up with strong reserves prior to Pearl Harbor and the ration ing of rubber, but the committee is interested in locating the big sources of supply for the war ef- fort.)
 The Truman Committee received information from the Tariff Com mission regarding the above ques- tions and asked Leon Henderson and Jesse Jones about them in closed door session. The two de- fense moguls did not seem to know the answers. Jesse Jones passed the buck on to Henderson, who, he said. was in charge of consumer matters.
 QUESTION OF STORAGE
 When the Truman Committee asWed Henderson whether the Big Four rubber companies had been permitted to draw a much greater supply of rubber than usual through the Rubber Reserve Cor poration in 1s41, he replied that the question of storage is in- vOlved." In otiler words, we rushed into this country 10000 extra tons of rubber last year and it had to be stored some place. However, Henderson Gid not make it clear whether the Big Four, by storing the rubber, could keep it perman- ently.
 NOTE: In addition to drawing 26 per cent more rubber last year, the Big Four also got 90,000 tons of rubber out of the 145,000 tons imported since Pearl Harbor. The Truman Committee wants to as- certain whether this went strictly for war orders.
 "IF THE JAPANESE
 TAKE CEYLON"
 When Leon Henderson and Bill Bait of the War Production Board came before the Truman Committee recently they gave esti- mates of all the rubber they ex- pected to scare together from dif- ferent parts Of the world until such time as Jesse Jones' slow-moving Syntheteic rubber program could swing into action.
 Included i'll these estimates were 100000 tons of rubber from Cey- lon.
 "What!" acclaimed Senator
 Brewster of Maine who has been
 the chief senatorial crusader on
 the rubber shortage. Do you
 still carry that on your books?
 Haven't you read the morning
 papers?"
 Boiling down all the rubber tes- timony, the Truman Committee found that if the Japanese take Ceylon, as they are expected to do, the U. s. A. will be 500,000 tons of rubber short in 1943 for military purposes. And this does not allow Q single ton of rubber for civilian use. It does not even allow rubber. for the tires of defense workers. some of whom will be living in new defense hous- ing projects built ten miles from factories because the air is bet ter"
 JESSE JONES' SYNTHETIC
 Also the Truman Committee finds there IS grave doubt regard ing the accuracy of Jesse Jones estimates on synthetic rubber. Real fact is that Jesse has given three different sets of figures. At first he grandiloquently announced he would have 100000 tons of rubber "prOductlOn" by June 1943. Then appearing privately before the Truman Committee, he was much more modest and merely promised 100000 tohs by December, 1943-