Evening star., 1942-08-10
Civil Officials
Are Blamed for
War Failures
ToIun Committee
Asks Reorganization
Of Setup Here
By BLAIR BOLLES.

The United States consistent
failure to realize the dimensions
of our production task" was
blamed today equally with the
enemy's long head start in war
production for our military re-
verses by the special House Com
mittee on National Defense Mi
grafton.
mo co-ordinated plan for all-out
use of our productive capacity yet
exists in Washington, the commit
tee told Congress in report SUBJ
mitted by Chairman Tolan. The re-
port said:
THE authorities charged with the
responsibility for developing such
program for co-ordinated produce
tom have been transferring their
responsibility and hence any oppor-
tunity for direct supervision of these
operations to the already overbur-
dened armed forces"
Administration Blamed.
The report is notable in that it
fixes responsibility on the admin
istration in Washington and not on
the people of the country for what
the committee considers shortcom-
ings in our industrial and manpow-
er preparation for war. The report
added:
THE committee believes that the
War Production Board must i'm
mediaJely and drastically revise its
thinking not along lines mainly of
statistical progress over past out
put, but rather in keeping with pres
ent urgent military requirements.
ut will no longer suffice to predi-
cate planning upon goals which
originally were scheduled to provi-
sion us for large-scale land war
fare in 1943. Only by a funda-
mental reorganization in our war
program can We bring about the
necessary expansion in time to meet
the changed military situation"
Representative Curtis, Republican,
of Nebraska refrained from signing
the report. which~was submitted in
the name of all the other committee
members-Chairman Tolan and
Representatives Sparkman, Demo-
crat, OF Alabama: Arnold, Democrat,
of Illinois, and Bender, Republican.
of Ohio.
Realignment Recommended.
After remarking that there has
been nowhere evidenced any inten-
ton on the part of responsible Of
flcials, civilian or military, to regard
it as their job to demand maximum
output or to move heaven and earth
to get it," the report called for q
realignment of the Nations war
manpower program.
To-day, as bad news rolls in," the
report said, "the need for enrolling
all of our people and all of our re-
sources for this fight on their own
behalf becomes even more press
ing
THE job ahead calls for a detailed
knowledge of the total demand for
labor in war production, the prepa-
ration of schedules for the flow Of
such labor to the expanding jobs as
contracts are undertaken and the
training and upgrading of that
labor to keep pace with expansion.
"As an example Of current prac-
tices which have long required a
change of approach by those In
charge of manpower mobilization,
and also as an example of the fall
ure of those officials to understand
their problems, the committee points
to the matter of pirating.
Pirating of Labor Cited.
"Pirating of labor, now very much
condemned, reflects the business as
usual approach of war contractors
who indulge in it. The continued
hiring away of workers indicates q
failure on the part of officials to In
stitute an adequate control of labor
demand including a definite sched-
ule of the numbers of skilled work.
ers required to accomplish given
contract, and an efficient plan for
spreading these skilled workers
among a stated number of semi
skilled workers.
I'm the absence of such program
it is understandable that the en-
ployer should operate on an indi-
vidual basis.
The job calls for the location Of
available untapped labor supplies
and overall planning for their
training and placement. Without
question we are today poorly pre-
pared to face these problems. These
are, however, the problems with
which reorganized United States
Employment Service and strength
ened manpower commission must
deal"
The committee recommended Gre
alton of a group of officials to be
known as labor utilization inspec-
tors operating through the War
Manpower Commission and the War
Production Board in cooperation
with labor management committees
in each plant and community. The
report forecast that 1t may be neces-
sary soon to seek blanket draft de-
ferment by occupational categories
'as way station toward a revised
form of individual deferment."
The report criticized the current
Washington practice among official
agencies of issuing "directives, on
the ground that directives fail to
accomplish their purpose, which Is
to prod one agency into performing
task that will further the work Of