The daily monitor. (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1940-1942, 1942-02-25
~ PETER EDISON
Dolly Monitor Washington
Correspondent

A big Spring Production
Drive" is I. be launched soor
by Donald M. Nelson's 1912
model streomIined War Pro.
duction Boord.
Coming, too, is Nelson:
first Up reduction Com.
munique" which will show jus,
how much progress hos beer
made in ormin9 the country
The report will not tell how
many planes and tanks ono
guns have been manufactured
but by q series Of index num-
bers bosed en- the war produo-
ton for December, l94l
which will be put at 100, the
percentage Of increase in wal
production will be indicated
The ideo, Of course, is to tell
the general public just what is
being done without revealing
detailed military production
secrets.
This spring production drive.
coupled with the first produc.
ton report since Pearl Horbor
will give the reel indication
Of how effective Nelson's one
man control and responsible.
ty for administration Of wal
production has been going. II
is Just q month since Nelson
announced his reorganization
Thot isn't much time in which
to convert the oountry's econ
omics from defense to offense,
but it is possible even now tc
point out definite WPB &C.
complishments.
!. Most tangible is the foci
that five major industries are
being converted from civilian
to war production - quito
mobiles, radios, refrieerotors
typewriters and washing mo-
chimes. The program in the
auto industry calls for complete
conversion and civilian produc-
tion here hos been stopped
Severe limitations have been
put on civilian production in
all the others, and WPB is
working with War Department
to assign these industries de-
finite war production tosks. In
refrigerotors and rodios, dates
have been set for complete
conversion in April.
z. Nelson has completed his
reorganization Of the old OPN
and has shown that the new
WPB is not just q shift Of
names with the same old faces
running the show under new
billing. There is q different
attitude and q new approach
to the war production job. This
is perhaps intangible, but il
can be pointed out thot under
the old OPM organization the
bross hots we're always trying
to olibi inability to get any,
thing done because their or
eonizotion was fouIty, or be-
couse they didn't have the ou-
thority to do the job, or be-
cause too many divisions
shared or didn't know their
responsibility. Nelson has
changed all that. He has Civ
en- the outfit q different tone.
popped it up, improved morale.
The word he passes on to his
principal assistants now is thot
if the organization goes sour
from here on, no one is to be
blamed but the WPB bosses
themselves.
3. Procedure h as b e e n
speeded up and this has been
passed on to other oeencies OF
the government cooperating
with the WPB. Just recently.
Nelson decided to put in q new
l2OO-ton blast furnace for pig
iron production on the west
coost, owordir3 the contract
to the Henry J. Kaiser inter
ests. The controct was cleared
through the Defense Plant
corporation in 48 hours, q rec
ord that beot post perform
onces not by days, but by
weeks. Contracts for q new
steel mill to use this pig iron
ore hot on the heels Of the
bIost furnace job. Thot is typi-
col. It marks q definite break
with the old ideo thot present
steel production copOcity is