Evening star., 1943-02-22
Competence
At AtTopHe|d
.WPB Need
Nelson's Mistakes
Are Traced Largely to
VociIlotine in Crises
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


unless President Roosevelt wants tc
take full responsibility himself fol
tragic period of failure and incom.
petence in the WPB.
The Washington tendency tc
cover up and camouf1age and not to
hurt the feelings of officials sur
rounds the f1asCo. The Truman
Committee of the Senate has all the
facts and the American people are
entitled to them. Secrecy was never
intended to cover up incompetence
Mr. Nelson's failures are in the
unpublished record. A studied eff
fort has been made to keep the
truth from the American people by
CLOSING over Mr.. Nelson's mistakes.
Congress, as the protector of the
interests of the people in war as
well as in peace, can disclose all
the facts.
Mistake No. ] was the failure of
Mr.. Nelson to put into effect a con-
trolled materials plan. The request
for such a plan came from the Army
and Navy in March, 1912. The plan
was bitterly opposed inside WPB
and the record of repeated requests
from the Army and Navy for action
Is available to Congress.
Yielded Later.
Only in September, 1912, did Mr..
Nelson yield and permit the con-
trolled materials plan to be put into
effect. Now in February, 1943, he
has put. back into Office the same
personnel who brought chaos and
confusion into the raw material sit
nation and who half-heartedly ac-
cepted the controlled materials plan
last September only because they
we're compelled by a threatening
crisis in raw material distribution.
Mistake No. 2 was the failure of
Mr.. Nelson to decide promptly the
synthetic rubber situation. The
Baruch Rubber Committee. after
ecathing denunciation of WPB.
pointed out the course that had to
be followed Mr.. Nelson procrasti-
mated until William Jeffers, rubber
administrator, had to appeal des-
perately to public opinion to get the
action that finally after many
months of delay came to him.
Mistake No. was the New Eng
land oil catastrophe. To Mr.. Nelson
was assigned the power under the
Presidents directive of January 16,
1912, to handle the production and
distribution of raw materials. Mr..
Nelson failed to decide as between
Leon Henderson and Harold Ickes,
procrastinating on the matter of
delegation of authority as early as
last summer, when the winter
shortage was known and clearly
foreseen.
Failure on Food.
Mistake No. i was the food pro-
gram. Mr.. Nelson failed to set the
agricultural equipment program, al
though he had under him the juris-
diction and the authority for the
of the equipment without
which food production could not be
carried on to satisfy the needs Of
the Army and Navy and the. people.
The issue is really not civilian
versus military, but competence
versus incompetence. After one
years experience with the Nelson
of the War Produc-
ton Board. the high officials of the
Army and Navy are disheartened
and discouraged. They are entitled
to better support on the Washing
ton front. for 1943 is the critical
year of the war.
While giant strides have been
made recently in production, they
were accomplished in the last quar-
ter because the Army and Navy
and the WPB did work out system
that brought confidence. Another
debacle in materials such as oc-
CURED In June, 1912, must not be
permitted now.
No Time to Experiment.
The time has come not to take
chances or experiment any more
with the group inside the WPB who
have made failure, but to put
into control new men selected by
the Army and Navy and the Presi-
dent to win the war. ANY other
conSlderation-even the protection
OF civilian feelings or politics-must
give way TO the greater objective.
The issue can, of course, easily
become political Mr.. Nelson's rec
ord, when revealed to the public
eye by congressional investigating
committees, will not make pleasant
reading. If Mr.. Roosevelt wants a
fourth term on the ground that
he has been a good manager of
the war program, it will be asked
why he has allowed procraStination
and incompetence to flourish which
can only result in a proongation
OF the war-an unnecessary loss of
tens Of thousands of American lives
because adequate equipment does
not arrive on time.
How can the President expect the
morale Of the Army and Navy com
mand to continue high if he allows
their plans as well as their authority
to be punctured by petty squabbles
IN the WPB? 1t is plain that what
the WPB needs is a competent TOP
man and not vacillating individual
who has the title and authority and
who exercises it waveringly through
quarrellng subordinates, whose abil-
lty is conceded to be greater thar
his own.