The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-05

McNuCL seems Ct
emerge unruffl-
ed and immaculate. The hearings
on the hill, he says, have all beer
conducted In the most friendly
manner. Buttering up the congress.
men, the commissioner declares they
are all simply trying to get at the
truth Of the situation.
Buttering-up their boss, McNutt',
aides say he knows so much more
about manpower than most Of his
critics, that when he explains the
situation as he sees It there ISM
anything left to say.
The fact that Senator Truman'I
War Investigation committee callec
OF its plans for full dress hearing
on manpower after listening to Nc.
Mutt outline his views is pointed Il
as evidence in support Of this fiat.
tering idea.
What Mr.. McNutt himself think.
about this Is best summed up In his
own words:
Everyone is looking at Manpowel
Selflshly," he says. IT am the only
one trying to lok at the whole pic
ture."
From that you gather than Agri-
culture Is selfish, that the Army and
Navy are selfish, that every inter-
est wanting more inanpower Is look
ing out for itself, not for the needs
OF the country as o whole. McNutt
sees 1t as his job to reconcile all
the conflicting demands.
TOO BIG AN ARMY
McNutt leans to the view that the
armed services are asking for too
much on what Is purely an emo
tional basis Of Just wanting q big
army for Its own sake. The limiting
factor should be, according to Nc
Mutt not the size Of an army that
can be raised but the size Of an
army that can be transported over
seas.
What happens II any of those ex-
revolutionary forces suffer such
losses that they have TO be entirely
Replaced, or what happens II those
Iexpeditionary forces are defeated
land the United States has to night
q defensive war at home Is ap-
Iparently considered not worth both
ering about. Also overlooked Is the
possible need for large armies OF
Occupation after the war. McNutt
believes that the Army has given
him full information on Its plans,
though 1t has not told him what or
where the forces are to be used.
AS for the farm labor demand,
NGcNutt has simply handed that
PROBLEM over to the Department Of
Agriculture and from here on It Is
presumably Secretary Of Agriculture
Wickard's worry. The Department
of Agriculture Is supposed to know
what Its problems are and where
they are, and should therefore know
how to meet them. The other Nc
Mutt contribution was an order to
Selective Service boards instructing
them not to draft so many essential
farm workers.
This genius Of McNutt's for hand
ing problems over to others Is sup
lpoSedly one of his attributes thai
contributes much to his reputation
as an administrator. But perhaps
some Of the reasons why so many
COMMITTEES want to investigate
manpower is that they find 1t diff.
cult to locate any clear-cut state.
ment on manpower policy.
HE ISN'T WORRIED
This does not seem to worry Com.
missioner McNutt in the least. HI
Is going right ahead, he says. That's
all that can be done under volun.
tary controls now in effect, and Nc.
Mutt feels that Congress and thu
country are not yet ready for legis'
lation putting in compulsory con-
trolls. In other words, there's moth.
ing like a labor draft proposal II
the works. More money will b
needed for handling the farm labol
recruiting and for the Manpowel
Commissions own q. s. Employment
Service.
For the rest, the manpower sup
lply job will be left largely to thu
Joint ACKNOWLEDGEMENT stabilize.
ton committees set up on local arC
regional bases. In the SIT war pro-
iduction labor markets Of the coun'
try, sterilization committees will b
functioning in 100 by the end o
February. and 1t win apparently b
pretty largely up to these local com
mittees TO veal their own woes.
The peak in the demand for man
power will come at the height o
the harvest season this fall. when al
estimated 65 million workers vii
have TO be In the labor force. That
exactly half the population, and !
means that every other man, wo'
man and child in the country vii
have TO be gainfully employed. !
the McNutt setup. going right aheas
on its present line, can skatl
through that crisis. all will be vel
for 1913. McNutt refuses 70 CUES
about 1914.