Evening star., 1943-09-08

plan In advance,
the failure to - ~
maze the selec- David Lawrenes.
tive Service system a mechanism OF
real selection instead Of hodge
podge choosing Of soldiers irrespec-
tive of the real needs of industry,
that one well-informed official was
mov.d to say to this correspondent
todar:
"I really believe that II we took
1 100000 men out of our Army and
nut hem back into production our
whoh war program would go ahead
taste. and we would be much further
aheai toward winning the war than
we are today. We've got to make
up or minds in America whether
we an going to try to be the arsenal
OF democracy and at the same time
furnish more than 10000 900 men
to the armed forces Of the United
NatiorS."
Few Divisions in Field.
This Is not a war of manpower
In the field. Relatively few divisions
are engaged nowadays as compared
with he World War. 1t Is q war
of mschArized weapons and that
means industrial production on an
unprecedented scale. No more i'm
portart task in the war has con-
frontd our Government than the
proper selection and ALLEGATION of
manpswer.
While President Roosevelt is in
q gen,ral way responsible for what
has hippened, the real blame must
rest Oh the War Department, which
has permitted the present situation
to deyelop through an insistence
that he Selective Service System
must lie dominated by the military.
The KY men in the selective service
headquarters, including many State
directors, are military men. These
men ge on the assumption that de-
fermerg means draft dodging or at
least t1at the burden of proof is
on the registrant. So they make it
difncult for the registrant to deter
mine his own relationship to indus
try and they have barred employers
from any right to hearing either
before bcal boards or the appeals
board OF before the selective service
acknowledgements.
Many OF the key men in the ma
tional headquarters of selective serv-
ice are in uniform and of course
are In tie pay and subject to orders
from tn War Department. This
Is contrwy TO the spirit of selectiye
service iecause the Nation was as
sured VIXEN the law was passed by
Congressthat the whole thing would
be handkd on democratic basis as
3 civilian activity which presumably
would be able to pass on the relative
needs Of industry and the needs
OF the Army.
Military Mind Responsible.
The military mind is responsible
for the confusing regulations sent
out TO local draft boards, many of
which boards have been scared away
from defements and many OF which
have ordered single men who are
skilled workers into the Army be-
cause of asbelief they must not call
fathers. When Paul McNutt was
given the craftsmanship OF the War
Manpower Commission it was as
sumed he would not be intimidated
by the military clique In selective
service, but his failure to insist on
the defernent of needed men in
industry is well known. The direc-
tives and memoranda Of the War
Manpower Commission are merely
advisory and there is no authority
back Of them-the boss OF man
power is still the Selective Service
System which now has enabled us
to get . large Army, but at the ex-
pense OF many vital industries.
Another mistake was made re-
Erettably by Donald Nelson of the
War Production Board. The Presi-
dent gave him power over all Gov
ernment agencies. Mr.. Nelson did
not exercise 1t, but let the man
power issue get away from him.
To-day there is an announcement
that the War Production Board and
the War Manpower Commission
have reached an agreement on how
TO handle differences between these
agencies. And this takes place after
the United States has been on n
war basis for more than three years
Mr.. Nelson or the War Production
Board should even now be given full
control OF the manpower problem.
The military men have made 4
failure Of it In their zeal to fill the
Army up In the shortest possible
time.
Today the big bottleneck Is in es-
sential production for civilians who
are absent from their jobs because
necessary civilian services are un-
cotainable or restricted. Likewise
sfrplane production Is hsmpered by
manpower shortages. The quickest
solution, OF course, is an overall
authority to determine where our
nanpower shall be allocated. Mobili-
zAticn Director Byrnes has no bigger
task at the moment than sayins
America from the breakdown in ouI
management of available manpower
Aeproduction Rishu Rsserved.)
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