Evening star., 1943-01-09
Rubber
Continued From First Page.)

he continued. it would have been
possible to release materials and
manufacturing facilities used by not
so important jobs.
Responsibility for determining the
size as we'll as scheduling all the now
competing programs, except rubber,
was In the hands of the armed serv-
ices, the official said. Rubber then
was handled BY various agencies. 1t
was placed under one head in Sep
tember when President Roosevelt
issued an executive order setting up
the Office of Rubber Director Will
liam M. Jeffers. Even in the case of
rubber, the services knew we'll its
size, he pointed out.
The official cited the conflict as
another example of the necessity of
having some one outside the services
in power to look over" programs of
the military and civilians alike and
to see to it that programs and avail
able supplies of materials fit the
available supplies and facilities.
Warns of Disaster.
This is an old argument of Chair
man Donald NJ Nelson and his
WPB. Presumably it now is being
done by Vice Chairman Ferdinand
Eberstadt in the field of materials
and by Vice Chairman Charles E..
Wilson in the field of production.
The official said he did not see
how Mr.. Jeffers, even as tough and
as plain-spoken as he is, could "bull
through" as much of the rubber
program as he says is necessary for
the Nation to avoid disaster. Mr..
Jeffers said that unless a green
light" is given at once for equip
ment to complete IS to 10 per cent
OF the synthetic program the coun-
try will face military disaster and
a breakdown of vital transportation.
The Army and Navy are equally as
concerned with the other programs.
In any event, an early White House
decision is expected.
Mr.. Nelson has issued an order
giving Mr.. Jeffers authority to al
locate all supplies of rubber and
rubber products for both military
and civilian uses, it was learned.
A spokesman said the order nearly
sells out" power granted in the
original Jeffers executive order.
Free Hand Refused Jeffers.
Mr.. Nelson, however, made it
plain that Mr.. Jeffers is not to have
the power to obtain materials and
equipment for rubber plants wher-
ever and however he pleases. It was
understood the rubber director had
asked for this free hand" Officials
said that to give such a grant of
authority to anybody, regardless of
the Importance of his field, would
imperl the entire production effort.
There has been tremedous over
building of production for Army
ordnance with consequent loss of
scarce materials and manpower, the
WPB official said. He declared that
lack OF efficient overall planning
was more responsible for the recent
l5 per cent cut back in the 1943 pro-
gram for tanks, guns, ammunition
and vehicles than the shifting war
strategy cited by officials. The move
involves cancellation of billions of
dollars In contracts. As a conse-
quence, he added, some factories
Will be shut down while others will
work only one shift.
With better planning, especially
from a long range point of view we
would not have so many plants
standing idle or operating only part
time, the of1cials said. Around
the-ciock activity in fewer plants
would do the job more efiiciently
and far less expensively, he added.