Evening star., 1942-05-30

z
is no clear-cut sSssss a
expression from
the Government So s@ -
as to the out David Lawrence.
look for rubber substitutes. Until
this doubt is resolved, the political
pressure from the Middle West and
South against gas rationing may
be expected to increase instead Of
diminish.
The main trouble is that the
public doesn't know what to eX-
pect from the synthetic rubber pro-
gram or from our stock pile OF crude
and reclaimed rubber. 1t has been
repeatedly stated that military uses
will gobble up all these sources OF
supply and that unless some ex-
pansion is undertaken by the Gov
ernment strictly for civilian pur-
poses, or unless some process is
found that will expedite the making
of synthetic rubber, it may be a
couple of years before rubber for
civilian consumption can be OBJ
tanned. The President hopes other
wise, but it's only hope thus far.
The Senate committee headed by
Senator Truman, Democrat, OF Mis-
souri, has made about the most eX-
haustive study yet published on the
subject of rubber. This committee
says there still is no unified re-
sponslbility and makes this startling
statement:
The fact that today-two years
after the fall of France-not one
of those synthetic rubber plants is
in operation is inescapable evidence
not only of the admittedly difficult
technical problems but also of the
failure on the part of the officials
in Government to provide in time
for one of the most fundamental
needs of this country"
Cites Lack of Responsibility.
Some idea of the confusion which
prevails is given in the committees
report, which points out that in the
summer of 1910 the Rubber Com
mittee Of the National Defense Ad-
visory Council made a recommended
ton for the building of 100,000-ton
capacity Of synthetic rubber pro-
duction and that in September, 1910,
this was cut to 50,000-ton capacity
after a conference between Presl-
dent Roosevelt and Jesse Jones Of
the R. F. G.. The committee points
out that in October, 1910, the re-
sponsibility for rubber was turned
over to Mr.. Jones. The committee
says, however, that Mr.. Jones con-
tinued ito rely heavily on the vacil-
lating memoranda of the National
Defense Advisory Council and the
Office of Production Management
and that lack of unified RESPONSE
bility resulted in failure to insti-
tute an integrated program
After Pearl Harbor, the committee
was promised that the War Produc-
ton Board would assume full re-
sponsibility. The committee finds
that there still is confusion and
divided authority over various as
poets of the program.
The committee adds: There has
been considerable opinion from pri-
vate and official sources that the
organization set up by Mr.. Nelson
has not as yet functioned as the
strong centralized setup which the
committee had contemplated. How
ever. Mr.. Nelson has assured the
committee that he has directed MI.
Newhall to make certain that there
Is to be a strong centralized control
over the rubber program, and Mr..
Nelson has informed the committee
that he is personally devoting con-
siderable portion of his time to the
examination of the program. This
should greatly assist the rubber pro-
gram. But to achieve Mr.. Nelson's
objective of centralizing authority
will be difficult because of the great
number of agencies which are par
ticipating in the program.
Variety of Agencies.
'Tn order to ascertain from the
responsible sources how the rubber
program is proceeding, the COM
mittee up to the present time has
had to go to the War Production
Board, the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation, the Office of Petroleum
Co-ordinator the Office of Co-or-
dinator of Defense Transportation,
the Price Administrator, the Board
of Economic Warfare and the De-
partment of Agriculture. The COM
mittee believes that some one per-
son should exercise full response
bility, and accordingly, full power
to take all necessary action to pro-
vide such rubber as is necessary to
the war program, subject only to
responsibility to Mr.. Nelson"
Wasn't it last December when the
headlines were filled with glowing
assurances from Washington that
war production at last had been
placed under single head? And
wasn't there some doubt expressed
in these dispatches whether the
executive order meant all that
the headlines said it did? Small
wonder there is confusion about
rubber production and the outlook
for tires. Presumably, someone in
the Government is the co-ordinator
of all these things and when they
go wrong, can correct them
promptly. But nobody seems to
know who that some one is, though
1t has been rumored that the Chief
Executive really has ample power
to do all the CO. ordinating necessary