The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-03-16


This Is perhaps no more than you
might expect, but 1t is reassuring to
find even one note Of sense In all
the confusion. Says the Truman
committee In Its second annual re-
port:
although we can and will oh.
tain several millions Of new workers,
the principal means by which we
can alleviate the manp0wer short
nge IL by Increasing the productive
ity Of our present labor force :.
ITO obtain that efficiency, we must
perfect our system Of allOcatlng
raw materials and Of scheduling
production 30 that all the necessary
materials will flow into the factories
at such times and In such quantities
a to enable them 10 operate TO the
utmost extent that their men and
machines are capable Of
IF we can increase the operating
efficiency the excuse for labor
boarding will cease TO exist.
Thousands Of workers from whose
services no present benefit Is being
obtained will then be utilized
absenteeism without cause would
tend 10 decrease . :.
"A man who would not brave q
snOwstOrm to reach plant where
he would lean on machine tor
lack Of material would hesitate 70
stay home when he knew that q d.
rect result Of his absence would be
less production Of an article I'm
pOrtant 10 the soldiers ut the
front"
PRACTICAL ANALYSIS
There you have In few we'll
chosen words which anyone should
be able to understand as practical
an analysis of aG this rnanpower
muddle as has yet been offered. In
the same breath, II Is by far the
most difficult solution yet offered,
but that Is perhaps the best COM
mentary on the inadequacy OF all
diagnosis and prescriptions on rec
ord.
Every solution To manpower thus
for offered has been IN the nature
Of O panacea presented by partisans
But no one-shot sure.cure remedy
Is going to cure shortage Of man.
power, any more than snake oil Will
rectify rupture, rheumatism and re.
store loss OF manhood.
Cutting the size Of the army by
two million men won't Ak things,
and neither will drafting everybody
now outside the army.
Issuing O lot Of directives won't
do II. and neither will reshuffling a
lot Of government bureaus nor ap-
pointing O car.
CONGRESS- IDEA
Nobody has yet licked absentee
ism and chances ore nobody will, II
anything, absenteeism Is likely to
increase as more and NOR marginal
workers are brought into industry
The same goes for boarding man
power by employers who want to DO
sure Of an adequate working force,
Deferring oil farm workers won't
work because O lot OF farm workers
would rather work In war plants
and because O lot Of farm workers
don't want TO be deferred. Farm
boys would rather get In there and
fight. The $50 q month offered them
by the army Is better money than
they can earn behind plow or
under q COW, and army life Is O lot
more fun. Incidentally. " should be
remembered that this $50 q month
pay was the idea OF Congress. Army
brass hats opposed II, 30 the farm
bloc congressman thus have only
themselves 10 blame for some OF the
farm labor shortage.
But no one thing Is going TO make
more manpower and so, as the TIL
man report points out. the only way
10 remedy the situation Is TO see
that what mAnpower we have Is
fully and most efilcienctly employ
ed. II Henry J. Kasier can turn out
Liberty ships in $4,000 man-hours
and that Is 10000 man-hours less
than other shipyards, other yards
should be brought up to the Kaiser
efficiency to save manpower. And
the same principle should be en-
ployed to every other war produce
ton industry, right down the line.
| As for the Austin Wadsworth ma
tional service act, now openly sup.
ported by Secretary Of War Henry
l.. Stimson and touted by many as
the eventual solution, the Truman
report has this pertinent comments
The administrative problems
which would be encountered In try.
Ing to determine the occupation for
which millions Of people would be
best suited are immense, to say
nothing Of the difficulties which EN-.
ployers would encounter In attempt
Ing TO get useful work from employ.
ees drafted for jobs they do not
want"
That last part Is almost unan-
swerable, particularly when coupled
with the demand for greater eff.
cheney In labor we have, not less eff
ficiency In labor we don't have.