Evening star., 1942-09-11

eral con fusion
would be the S. %3 -
same. David Lawrence.
What has been demonstrated in
a convincing way by the Baruch re-
port is that a ma jor mistake was
made in setting up the present war
organization without taking into
account the commodity division
principle that made the War In
dustries Board, of which Mr. Ba-
ruch was chairman in the last war,
such an outstanding success.
DR.. James B. Conant of Harvard
and DR.. Karl Compton of the Mas
sachusetts Institute of Technology,
who, together with Chairman Ba-
ruch, composed the committee that
investigated the rubber situation,
have the respect and confidence of
the country. What they say will be
accepted as the advice of disinter-
ested men who fearlessly dare to
criticize what has happened and
who do not hesitate to point the
course that must be followed.
One sentence in the report will
bear repetition often: mo plan Of
organization can bolster up a weak
man sufficiently to meet the diff
cult problems he must face"
Strong Man" Recommended.
This advice was given with respect
10 the future administrator of the
new agency which is to be set up
to handle rubber as a part of the
War Production Board. The report
adds:
The most important feature of
these administrative changes is the
type of man who is appointed as
administrator. He should be a man
of unusual capacity, a thoroughly
competent operating and manufac-
turing executive, preferably with
experience In the rubber industry"
This runs counter to the danger
Gus tendency nurtured by New
Dealers that anybody who has had
experience in a given industry must
therefore be disqualified from sit
ting in any position in the Gov
ernment even during wartime, when
patriotism and loyalty should not
be difficult to assume In SO cases
out of 100.
The sniping against experienced
administrators which has been per-
mitted by political and class in
terests In Washington has done as
much as any single factor to retard
the war production effort. 1t has
lead to an open declaration by
Donald Nelson, chairman of WPB,
that this sniping makes it difficult
for him to persuade experienced
men of industry to come to Wash
ington TO take posts OF RESPONSE
bility.
Forestalls Alibis.
The Baruch report tells very little
that has not been known about the
rubber problem statistically and it
does not really tell anything new to
ofi1cial Washington. But it does
what the administration has hesi-
tated up to now to do-to call things
clearly and by their right names so
that there can be no more alibi-
making or shifting of responsibility
The whole report, Of course, is a
reflection on the management of
the war to date, but it is under
standable that in such complicated
subject as synthetic rubber and in
such delicate matter as Nation
wide gasoline rationing, the public
would not have much confidence in
the conflicting and confusing state
ments issuing from Washington.
I'm none of the Government agen-
cies," says the report, has there
been clearly recognizable group OF
independent experts to make the
technical decisions. Reliance has
been placed on one part-time tech
nical adviser, aided by committees
drawn from industry This tech
nical adviser has testified that on
more than one occasion he requested
the appointment of an adequate
technical staff but in vain.
Hits Policy on Materials.
The committee has found many
evidences Of procedures bordering or
the chaotic in which non-technica
men have made decisions without
consulting with subordinates nomi.
nally in the positions of response.
bility"
This indictment of wartime Wash.
ington is only one of the thing.
that the Baruch report reveals. Tn,
paragraph on general shortages o
critical materials is significant;
In large part, this has been dut
to permitting materials to be uset
for purposes not essential TO tn,
conduct of the war; to the lack o
vigorous policy of conservation, In
ventory control and finding of sub
stitutes; and most of all, to th
changing, complicated and ineffec
tive methods that have been usec
to distribute materials and to con
troll priorities."
If the report is only read by oficia
Washington as a lesson in wartim
administration, victories over NOR
than the rubber shortage alone vii
have been achieved.
IRnnrndmctinn RIGHTS RnServehN