Imperial Valley press., 1943-05-30
THE BIGGEST NEWS
OF THE YEAR ?

Mnen december 81 arrives, IL IL pOS-
sible that we will look back and realize
that the most important national news
of the year was not the capture of Attu,
nor the maximum heights attained by pro-
duction, but the appointment Of James
F. Byrnes as head of the newly created
Office of War Mobilization.
On the other hand, it is possible we
may look back and find that it was the
least important.
Whether its effect upon this country's
history will prove to be great or small
remains to be seen, and no one at this
early hour can forsee the outcome.
Placement of one man at the head of
the internal war effort will be universal
ly welcomed. 1t corrects fault long
recognized by good executives, namely,
the absence of correlation between power
full agencies of government. 1t there
fore holds the possibility Of balancing
control powers of eliminating overlap
ping jurisdiction, of tuning contradlc-
tory programs into accord with the uni
fled whole.
The power, responsibility, and poten-
tial effectiveness of the position Is al
most unlimited Whether any man can
effectively execute the task satisfactorily
is unknown. And whether Mr.. Byrnes,
primarily legislative politician and le-
gal authority will prove better than some
proven industrial administrator is also
a matter of conjecture.
While we wish him we'll and hope for
his success, we must confess doubt that
he is the man for the job. Since he as
sumed the position of director OF econ
omic stabiliZation, we fail to see any
material improvement resulting from his
efforts-or anybody else's efforts, for
that matter AS protector OF civilian eco
nomy, no achievement is discernable AS
controller Of the OPA, that organization
has continued to deteriorate. As super
visor over job and wage stabilizatlon,
that important program has been mlser-
ably and idiotically handled.
II is possible that this poor record has
resulted from Mr.. Byrne's lack of control
over other agencies whose programs have
thwarted success of those over which he
has held jurisdiction. 1t is also possible
and even probable that the. past months
have served to reveal to Mr.. Byrnes the
fallacies and the hopelessness of trying
to operate the countless agencies indie
pendently each of the other.
If so, he should by this time have some
carefully studied plans for properly CO.
ordinating our whole war program. We
fervently hope that this is the case and
yearn for the chance to be among the
first to applaud successful effort.
Goodness knows conditions fairly beg
for Improvement. Like tOttering struc-
ture the old scheme of every theory-pro-
noting bureau standing apart from its
neighbors in isolationist exclusiveness
seems to waver and threaten collapse,
the underpinning cut away by some other
bureaus authority.
OPA appears wobbly essential pro-
duction clashes with draft and manpower
commission; semi-essential service is
spongy from the termites of farcical
wage controls ana tissue-paper job sta
bilization programs. From chaotic and
unexplained gasoline rationing program
through red tape, lost motion, wasted
time, squandered money and harried man
power, clear down to the puzzles of gov
ernment regulation and the confusion OF
draft eligibility, the whole mess of in
ternal control and economy needs
Strengthening out
1t seems to have remained erect on
scraggly legs as long as it possibly can
At this eleventh hour, we hope that Mr..
Byrnes can save the day, remodel the
old building and give us an efficient and
effective economy factory in which we
can give each unforgiving minute, sixty
seconds worth of production instead OF