Evening star., 1942-01-18
Nelson Expected
Good Job
As Arms Chief
Appointment Regarded
As Most VitoI Step
So Far in Drive
BY PAUL GESNER and
JOHN BECKLEY,
Wide World Business Writers

NEW YUM, Jan. 1(.-xIlQUSJIldl
executives today were viewing the
placing Of sole control Of the Ma.
tons multi.billion dollar arms pro.
gram in the hands Of Donald M.
Nelson as the most vital step thus
far taken In the war effort.
Nelson. q SO, ,000-a-year Sears
Roebuck executive called to the job
Of making the arms program go, was
hailed in business circles here Is
the man who could speed the war
effort towards the goal OF produc-
ton of $4,000 warplanes. 10000
tanks and 18,000, 900 deadweight
tons Of shipping in the two years
just ahead.
Nelson. So years old. born In Ham
nibal, Mo-, and with Sears Roe
buck for ~ years. was house
broken" to the ways of Washing
ton during a term of service In
Gen. Johnson's short-lived NRA.
He has long seen the problem that
lies ahead, with its need for rapid
stepping up Of arms output and an
accompanying famine for civilian
goods lines If progress Of the caliber
the emergency required were At
tanned.
Seeks to End Illusion.
Some three months ago in the role
Of director Of priorities he said:
AS I see my Job It Is to destroy
an illusion. The people Of the United
States have been living under the
comfortable belief that after we had
armed ourselves and supplied the
rest Of the anti-Hitler world with
guns from the arsenal, we could
get along fine with what goods were
left.
The United States was q big
BARREL" he continued, "and when
first the British and the French and
then our own armed services reached
In and dipped out their handfuls,
nobody missed what they took. Now
we're getting near the bottom Of the
barrel. And somebody's got to give
way-either the civilian or the mill
tary."
How prophetic these words were
y seen in the parade Of events dur
the past 80 days. Civilian lines
have been giving way. Regular
peace-time automobile production is
being wound up. Tires are being
rationed. Clothiers are talking about
mems suits without vests and with
out cuffs on the pants, and q black
out" for the double breasted suit
which requires substantially more
cloth than . single breasted model.
Worker Has Responsibility.
One New York industrial executive
today also reminds that this Is no
time for complacency. Nelson, he
says, can cut the red tape and speed
materials to war plants but inside
the plants the real arms job still
Is up to the main in overalls who
operates the machine.
The measure Of progress, in the
last analysis, will be the number OF
planes, tanks, guns and ships de-
nvered on the line" this executive
says.
The talking stage Is over. Dollars
and paper contracts mean nothing
They are merely symbols. Man
hours Of labor and finished products
are what the Nation needs. A dollar
bill won't stop q Jap and q paper
contract won't halt . panzer di-
vision"
Nelson has . way Of speeding
things. He knows how to pick the
right men, the technicians with the
needed skill. Business men still are
talking Of the way he cleaned up
papers, contracts and queries as new
priorities director last September.
Found Desks Cluttered.
o. p. MS desks were cluttered
with unanswered correspondence
Nelson took one look at the mess
then phoned Chicago, summoning
three Sears, Roebuck specialists in
service adjustments, forms and pro-
cedures.
In 10 days these three experts,
who at Sears. Roebuck handled 2O0,-
900 incoming mail orders and other
correspondence daily as a matter OF
routine, had o. p. MS desks cleared
Of mail hanging fire and had set up
orderly, businesslike machinery for
taking care Of the heavy mail In
take in stride.
Through the introduction Of spe-
cial forms, rubber stamps and win
dow envelopes, the latter to make
addressing Of envelopes unnecessary,
they broke an o. p. NJ "bottleneck"
In typists. Through the speed-pro-
ducing, labor saving methods they
put into operation, the stack of typ
ing was cut down to a size where II
was easily handled by o. P. Nj
typewriter battery.
Situation Outlined.
Here's the way American industry
and trade were proceeding as Nelson
took his new powers as executive
In charge Of the whole arms program
this week: Steel mills were run
ming at o7.S per cent Of capacity
compared with 964 per cent last
week. Electric power production at
3.480, ,S44 900 blowatt hours In the
latest period was 15o per cent abovs
last year. Railway freight loadings
at 737.172 cars topped the Ike l94l
week by SO per cent. The Dun b
Bradstreet index Of wholesale food
prices rose to new 12-year high.
Buying at retail stores averaged Is