Evening star., 1943-11-11
BY the Associated Press.

Paul J. krebs, 32-year-old union
official, today blamed labor hoard
ing, attempted union busting" and
general inefficiency on the part Of
past managements Of the Brewster
Aeronautical Corp. for the COM
pany'S production failures.
Mr.. KrebS. secretary of Local 1865,
United Automotive Workers, testi-
! fled before a House Naval Affairs
Subcommittee that the dominant
cause for loafing' at the plants
was the lack of adequate provision
to insure a proper flow Of materials
for the men to work with A man
cannot assemble airplanes when he
| does not have the parts"
ut would be convenient" Mr..
KrebS added, ito picture American
workers as laying down on the job
shooting dice, smoking in the toilets
and sleeping in the fuSelageS. to
hide the inability of management
to cope with the problem Of ma
terial flow.
Fortunately you now know that
1t was management-not labor-that
was inadequate to the task. When
the workers had the work and the
proper supervision, they produced
the goods"
Van Dusen, Rebel Hit.
Mr.. Krebs directed his criticism
specifically at the managements of
c. A. Van Dusen and of Frederick
Rebel, who preceded Henry J.
Kaiser, West Coast shipbuilder, as
president of Brewster.
The union secretary asserted, I'VE
are happy to reiterate our unquali-
fled pledge OF cooperation with the
Kaiser administration because his
history proves to us that he has the
organization necessary to success
fully operate the Brewster plant.
and because of his ability, and be-
cause he will not find it necessary
to cruelty labor as justification
for managements shortcomings.
Mirandas on Stand.
The MeXican-born Miranda broth
ers, international munitions mer-
chants, yesterday unfolded the story
OF their prewar, worldwide dealings
IN arms and aircraft, but denied
f1atly any violation of the law
legal or moral in sales to Japan.
Alfred and Ignacio Miranda, both
dark-haired and smartly tailored,
underwent day-long cross
ination as the subcommittee dug
into their background and their
connection with the Brewster Corp.
Heavy stockholders in Brewster
and the coporationS former ex-
elusive foreign sales agents, they
denied ever attempting to dictate"
management of the company, which
is under investigation by the COM
mittee for failure to meet production
schedules on Navy planes
But little of yesterdays hearing
centered around BreWsterS affairs.
Instead il focused in general upon
the Mirandas' export business and,
in particular, upon their efforts to
obtain machine guns in 1888 for
installation in 20 Sikorsky planes
which they had sold to Japan.
A. J. Miranda frankly said he
had attempted to buy the guns in
this country, in Mexico, in Eng
land and in Europe and Norway,
but declared that his efforts had
proved unsuccessful.
He denied, however, any knowl-
edge of or any part in what Repre-
sentative Grant, Republican, Of In
diana called "machinations by the
japanese firm of Okura & Co. to
get the guns to Japan by shipping
them to Antwerp and then trans
shipping them to Siam.
The Indiana Representative pro-
duced mass Of photoStatic copies
of letters and kilograms between
the London and New York offices
of Okura to show that such ar
rangements had been made to ship
the guns, but said later that they
never had been carried out. /
Protests Smear"
AS Mr.. Grant hammered away
on the machine gun order, A. J.
Miranda protested what he termed
an attempt to smear and dis
credit" the activities of himself and
his brother, and asserted that their
foreign business had nothing to do
with Brewsters operations.
Stepping into the argument,
Representative Hebert, Democrat,
of Louisiana declared that the
Mirandas and their business asso-
clate, F. William Zelcer, held a big
interest in Brewster, and that the
committee intended to find out
their background
Mr.. Hebert said that the Navy
had forced" the three. along with
James Work, former Brewster
president, to deposit their stock
holdings into voting trust which
will expire next year land we want
to find out just to whom control of
this company will be returned
The Miranda brothers, now nat
uralized American citizens, told of
starting in the export business in
1920, selling automotive parts, auto
mobiles, aircraft and munitions left
over from the last war.
EnoIund Repoirs Homes