Evening star., 1942-01-10

Dealers and left WlngerS In WASH
ington, was taken under advisement
by the Roosevelt administration.
Though temporarily blocked, the is
sue is being kept alive by the New
Dealers.
The first line of attack is against
William Knudsen, co-chairman of
the o. P. NJ. who while not a poll
tician or a parlor strategist or a
bureaucrat who coddles this or that
group. has done remarkable job
OF getting industry started on
planes, tanks and guns.
Now the head of the auto workers
wants Mr.. Knudsen's scalp. The
reason is that Mr.. KnudSen re-
fused to bow to the C. I. o. demand
and disrupt the auto industry to
meet the labor union demands.
Special Blame for Knudsen.
President r. j. Thomas of the
c. I. o. Auto Workers Union has
told the press that the decision
made by both Sidney Hillman and
Mr.. Knudsen to let Government
agency-the 0. P. M-determine
plans for conversion of facilities
was already a failure though 1t
may take two months or so be-
fore those in control of the situa-
ton realize it." This is q slap at
both Mr.. Knudsen and Mr.. Hillman,
but the c. I. o. leader, Mr.. Thomas,
singles out Mr.. Knudsen for spe-
cial blame thus:
I'm not sure whether Knudsen
IS representing the people OF the
country or General Motors. Knudsen
admittedly is great production
man. But he isn't necessarily the
best. The Ford Motor Car Co. is
the farthest advanced OF any of
the large manufacturers of the war
program. There's no doubt in my
mind that Charles Sorenson of the
Ford company is better production
man than Knudsen."
This form of sniping, carried on
for the most part heretofore under
cover against Mr.. Knudsen, has
come out at last. Mr.. Knudsen has
never pretended to be minister of
economic supply, ranging into vari-
Gus other fields of defense activity,
but ne has done the specific job of
production stimulus given him by
the President. His personality has
been inspiring and he has gotten
results from industry, which is the
main reason he was appointed.
What the c. T. o. wants is to dis
credit the o. P. M. so that in a new
setup the c. I. o. actually will make
management policies. This is what
c. E. Wilson, president of General
Motors, denounced in a press con-
ference on Wednesday as "socializa-
ton of industry. Now it appears
Mr.. Knudsen is being attacked be-
cause he agreed with Mr.. Wilson.
Attack Could Be Halted.
Few men have made as big a
sacrifice as did Mr. Knudsen in COM
ing here. He severed all connection
with General Motors and gave up
an income of hundreds of thousands
OF dollars year in salary and bonus
to serve his Government. But now
his motives are being questioned.
That's a favorite pastime in Wash
ington and it's one reason why the
national administration is in a tur-
MOL. The President allows the left
wingers to attack the businessmen.
He could squelch that kind of petit
ness in a single phrase at his press
conferences if he cared to give the
support to Mr.. Knudsen that the
latter deserves.
The c. I. o. wants the manage
ment of the auto indupstry to be
conducted by a debating society
composed of equal representatives
OF labor and of industry and it
expects industry to spend its time
educating labor union politicians in
the details and responsibilities of
managing big industry. After the
war is over, such socialistic or COM
munistic schemes can be debated
and argued about, but to inject such
Q plan now is to impede production
and impair industrial morale. 1t is
bad enough to see the administra-
tion placing in key positions the men
who have shown themselves to be
the enemies of business and indus
try for eight years or more. 1t is
verse to see the administration let
ting this issue of production control
arise without publicly denouncing
It, especially when American SOL
G;ers and sailors are being defeated
in the Pacific for lack of weapons
to defend themselves.
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