Evening star., 1942-07-11

materials a nd David Lawrence.
the curtailment of civilian supplies
AS to the trend toward a unified
command, there is little that can be
told at this time. The possibility is
that as adverse developments in the
theaters of war occur, the movement
to reorganize the high command
will take on more serious aspect.
Meantime, there is much less Sc
crecy but just as much conjecture as
to what happened with respect to
the "realignment," as Donald Nelson
calls it, of the War Production
Board.
When the executive order was is
sued last January making MIR. Nell
son the head of the War Production
Board, this correspondent called at
tention to the fact that it was not
o1e-man setup and that the cry for
a one-man control of war production
had not been fully answered.
Fundamental Issue Unanswered.
But the difficulty is not with the
granting of sufficient authority. The
President has been willing to dele
gate virtually all the power Mr.. Nell
son could use. Nor has anybody
suggested that Mr.. Nelson should in
any way be supplanted. He is liked
by all groups and he is conscien-
tiously striving to do a good Job.
What is unanswered, however, is
the fundamental question of how the
authority should be distributed and
what the real relationship should be
between the civilian and military
authorities. On Capitol Hill, where
knowledge of the inner struggle has
percolated, there is disposition to
hold tight to the civilian side and
not allow the military too much lee
way. But this is really an academic
aspect. The real problem is how to
accomplish, even within the War
Production Board, the fulfllment of
what might be called the military
needs.
The civilian point of view is sub
ject to all sorts of pressures-from
labor groups, from industry, from
politicians. The Army and Navy
men, on the other hand, see only
the paramount task-the winning
OF the war, If somebody's toes
have to be stepped on, if some busi-
nesses have to be lost in the shuttle.
the military viewpoint is that this
is Just too bad but American BOYS
are dying in many partA of the
globe and this is no time to try
to get butter as well as guns.
Mr., Nelson is not facing any new
problem. 1t came up in the last war.
President Wilson solved it by call
Ing in Bernard M. Baruch. who ran
the War Industries Board in such
manner that both military and
civilian viewpoints were given prop
erly balanced consideration. Mr..
Baruch, fortunately for America. is
still available for advice, though too
far advanced in years to handle an
administrative position.
1t is tragic that Mr.. Baruch's ad-
vice has not been taken. He has
been here regularly every week help
ing wherever he could, giving sug-
gestions and ideas to the younger
men who have the administrative
responsibility.
Change Needed.
All that Mr.. Baruch and his as
eociates learned about the problems
of production in war time and the
conflicts between military and ci-
william needs is set forth in books and
memoranda. It would be easy for
anyone who wanted to benefit by
World War experience to follow the
Baruch formula.
Why hasn't it been done? Because
the President has not insisted on
1t and has felt that to select a man
6Ilu icJ iiliIl VI W lcdll ny Vial
and error is just as good way as
any. But Mr. Nelson is not succeed
ing, despite his earnest efforts and
the vast powers granted him, in
solving the basic problems and it
may be that before long large plants
with war contracts may have to cur
tail operations because we have not
been able to overcome the maldis-
tribution of materials.
Sooner or later, Mr.. Nelson will
have to set up three-sided organi-
zation, consisting of industry on the
one hand, the military on the other
and the civilian governmental per-
sonnel in between. All three view
points are needed to achieve the
desired result. Mere reshuff1ing of
administrative officers, inside the
WPB, Just announced. is important
but it does not strike at the root of
the difficulty. and sooner or later
the military viewpoint must be given
greater weight If we are to win the
war on the production front.