Evening star., 1942-12-03
War Goods Contracts
Given 10 Favorites,
Senate Group Hears
Ordnance OfficiuIs Soy
Army FoiIs to Use Full
Available Foetoryc Capacity
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

Officlals of the New York Armv
ordnance District admitted TODAY
before the Senate Small Business
committee that they had been re-
CURED to make contracts with spe-
cifled firms for items that could
nave been manufactured elsewhere
ana, In some instances, spread
among number of concerns.
frederick Tomkins,- civilian CO.
ordinator of purchases for the New
YORK ordnance area, identified cor
respondence directing his office to
order 9.7o4 tank starters from Eclipse
AVIATION Co., Bendix factory in
New Jersey. This company, the
witness said, was specified as the
sole source" of the items.
Gould that contract have been
broken down into component parts
and fabricated in various plants?"
asked Arthur G. Silverman, attor-
ney for the committee.
Other Sources Cited.
Some could have been made in
other places" Mr.. Tomkins replied.
But this would have taken weeks
according to ordnance engineers
and the item was marked urgent.
Mr.. Tomkins and others from the
New York area testified that speed
1nvarlobly is essential where the
chief of ordnance had named spe-
ciflc contractor. 1t would have
taken weeks to survey smaller
plants and find out whether thev
could have made portions of the
equipment ordered, they added.
The committee counsel read an
intra-offlce memorandum of the
New York district ordnance Office
reporting Bendix would welcome"
the development of a new source
to make a type of generators which
Washington had ordered it to man.
ufacture. This. the memorandum
explained, was because Bendix had
all the orders it could fill.
Didn't the BendiX people" Mr..
Sllverman questioned, ''ask whether
you wanted some of these items for
this war or the next one?"
Mr.. Tomkins laughed and said he
understood they had.
Full Capacity Unused.
Mr.. Tomkins admitted, in response
to questions, that only a portion of
the capacity of the many plants.
most of them small, in and around
New York City, were being used by
Army Ordnance. The witnesses con-
ceeded that out of 5000 such fac
tories containing tools and machines
of various types, only 81 employed
500 or more persons each.
Asked why the smaller plants
didn't get more Army business, Mr.
Tomkins replied: The most basic
reason is obvious-We don't have
enough business to use them ALL
The witness explained that some
of these plants we're making such
things as metal coverings for equip
ment boxes and that such items
could be produced in vast quanti-
ties all over the country. He added |
however, there were other reasons
for lack of full production among
those plants, including policy" He
referred, he explained, to the policy |
of the Ordnance Bureau in Wash |
tngton. I
Failure of the New York district |
to receive as many orders as these |
plants could fill, Mr.. Tomkins said, |
does not mean that the items are |
not being produced in small plants .
elsewhere. We don't know"
Contracts Earmarked.
In reopening hearings today after
p lapse Of several weeks, Chairman
Murray commented that at the last
hearings ross-examination of Col
Robert w. johnson, chief of ord
nance in the New York district, had
brought out that 70 to IS per cent
of the ordnance contracts were ear
marked for specific manufacturers.
without any real attempt to find
out whether other manufacturers
could produce the needed material
in greater volume or in less time"
Senator Murray explained that
the present line of inquiry had
been developed during the recess by
investigators which the committee
sent to New York.
Our recent hearings" the chair
man added, brought to public at
tention the fact that an extremely /
large percentage of War Depart
ment contracts are earmarked in
Washington to be given specific |
firms. irrespective of the abilities of
small plants to do the job and ire
Spective of the judgment of local .
procurement officers who are located .
on the spot and know the capacities /
Of the plants in their areas for bet
ter than procurement officers in
Washington