The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-09-14
. NATIONAL
 SPOTLIGHT
New Deal BEW
 MaStermindS War Behind The War
(Peter EdsOn is on vacation, dur- ing which time his column is being written by Robert Ruarlk.l
BY ROBERT RUARK Waterbury Democrat Washington
 COrresIondent

WebSEWuky DeMOCE4s WssMBVYaA
 Correspondent
 About the only concrete fact the average newspaper reader knows about the Board of Economic War; fare is that 8 n10usy little member of the organization once got the heave because he had written Q couple of books on nudisn. Apart from its nudist-expulsion policy, BEW might otherwise have passed its time in 8 spirited crap game, for all the common folks knew.
 But Vice-President Henry Wall lace, writing for Army and Navy Journal, has done an admirable job of presenting the why's and where flores of BEW. Mir. Wallace calls his piece "Economic Warfare-The War Behind the War;" and by the time he gets done even 8 congressman should have a pretty good idea of the boards functions.
 BEW's prime tenets, MT. Wallace says, are to help intensity the ef- forts of the United Nations, to dam age the enemy's economy, and to strengthen relations with friendly neutral nations. It is quite a large assignment.
 The board is peopled by the secre- taries of War, State, Navy, Com merce, Treasury and Agriculture, the Co-ordinator of Inter- American Affairs, the Attorney General, the Lend-Lease administrator and the head of the War Production Board. MT. Wallace is chairman.
 BEW is cut up into three divi- sions: the Ofice of Exports, Oface of Imports and Ofice of Economic Warfare Analysis.
 Exports looks after the funneling of domestic materials into other countries, handling an average T. 900 export licenses daily. One of the top problems Is to allocate scarce war material in such fashion that maximum strenkth may be given all allied nations without weakening the source nation. Exports also reuuisition supplies in the U. s. to which foreign nations hold title. TOUGH PROBLEMS
 Import, as you may have guessed, keeps its eyes cooked on the bring ing in of essential war supplies which are available only in foreign fields. And today that constitutes a problem to drive any economist halmy.
 For instance: When the Japs col- Jared most of the Far East, the allies kissed of most of their sources for rubber, hemp, tin, sisal tungsten, palm oil, chrome and a flock of other wartime necessities. So BEW's import division has to figure out new sources of supply.
 BEW now Is opening up new mines, supplying laborers for for eign areas where there is a labor shortage, buying up supplies in countries which might conceivably fall into enemy hands, and aiding foreign manufacture as much as possible, to cut down shipping neces- , sity.
 Now suppose that Army and Navy have their eye on a certain wild hunk of the world, with a view to immediate occupation. They must know what supplies are apt to be available, say, in the Solomoals, and to what extent they must depend on materials that must be shipped from America. The Board of Eco- homie Warfare Analysis is supposed to provide accurate information to the military, in order to conserve vital shipping space.
 Analysis also is looking forward to the time when the allies will be taking over territory now held by the axis, and is massing data or operation of industries, feeding the delivered peoples, supporting the country's currency and generally rehabiiitating its economic organ ization.
 HAMMER AT AXIS
 A very important function oi analysis is to keep up with the enemy's economic stresses anc strains, and to heave a monkey wrench into the machinery when ever possible. Protecting Soutf Americas economics is one of it: top assignments.
 Information assembled by Analysis also is vital to actual Army anC Navy expeditions, especially in tht mapping of bomb-raid objective! and the planning of overseas oper. ations. BEW ought to be able tt paint such graphic picture of vita enemy manufacturing and critica material areas that a bombing flight should smack the objective or the nose.
 MT. Wallace says he hopes, wher the war is done, that BEW's nams can be changed to Board of Eco homie Welfare"