Evening star., 1942-01-14

themselves doing any dlnerent Joo
they are concerned primarily with
chasing production to the fulfill
ment point once contracts are
awarded. Mr.. Nelson's task will be
to decide how to put first things
first. Hitherto various bureaus and
agencies. various Army and Navy
officials have all set time schedules.
They want their particular part OF
the work done as quickly as pos
sible Nobody has seen the overall
picture 50 that decision concern
ing priorities could be made in a
broad sense.
From now on it will be the duty
of the War and Navy Department
chieftains to say what weapons they
want and in what quantities and
80 far as possible to say also when
and where they want those weapons
used.
1t will be Mr.. Nelson's task to
decide just what raw materials, what
parts and accessories shall be
speeded on the production line and
what can wait, so that the whole
production job can be synchronized
to meet the Army and Nays de-
sires and needs.
Given Ample Authority.
The priority problem has been
perplexing. 1t developed all sorts
of complications and has been
turned into a problem of ALLEGATION
of available supplies. But when 1t
came to deciding what should be
put ahead or behind something else
that was earmarked for the military,
naval or aerial establishment, no.
body had the authority heretofore
to issue the final ruling except the
President OF the United States, and
he's q busy man.
Mr.. Roosevelt now has delegated
ample authority to Mr.. Nelson. 1t
Is true that there will still be
production board but it will be
largely advisory. The so-called s.
P. A. B. mechanism will be Mr.. Mel
sons auxiliary staff. 1t is group
of advisers which reaches into all
sorts Of problems but, as was pointed
out when 1t was created, some one
has to have the power to make de-
cisions Councils are all right to
advise but one-man decisions are
needed as well as one-man RESPONSE
bility for those decisions.
The ALLEGATION and award of con-
tracts will doubtless continue as
heretofore. A man like William
Knudsen will continue to do his
utmost to stimulate production and
to help business and industry by re-
moving obstacles that they encounter
in fulfilling the contracts under
which they are working. Mr.. Nelson
cannot give attention to the detail
Of the production job. But If con-
flict arises between steel needed for
tanks and steel needed for ships and
between rubber needed for planes
and for trucks, Mr.. Nelson will make
the decision. This is the sort Of
thing with which Mr.. Knudsen was
not empowered to deal heretofore
and which really wasn't decided by
anybody. In a number Of instances,
War and Navy Department officials
asked for everything they needed
and put Immediate" on the order.
Yet some of the things requested
would have to wait anyway till other
articles could be manufactured.
Improvement in Organization.
To bring order and systematic
priority out of this sort of confusion,
it was necessary for the President to
reorganize the whole wartime
establishment. He is doing now
what President Wilson did when he
formed the War Industries Board
and put Bernard M. Baruch at the
head of it. This didn't mean that
Mr.. Baruch handled production
problems himself. He had re-
markably able set of aides and that
is what Mr.. Nelson will gradually
acquire.
- The whole war pattern for the
Washington scene begins now to
take on better look from an organ
ization standpoint. The once OF
Price Control and Civilian Supply is
really a military agency but
1t will be working in close co-opera-
tfon with Mr. Nelson's office. The
o. P. M. will continue as heretofore
u do the job it did but perhaps
under a different setup of sections
and bureaus. The new War Labor
Board will endeavor to handle labor
disputes.
Mr.. Nelson's emergence as the
Baruch OF this war is a salutary de-