Evening star., 1943-09-06
He Got Results

iiS SOt NGSu1tS
There have been few dull moments
in the life of William M. Jeffers
since he came to Washington as
rubber car little less than year
ago. An old hand at the gentle art
of raising hell" to use one of his
own expressions, Mr.. Jeffers soon
demonstrated that he was perfectly
capable of holding his own in the
official jungleland of this wartime
Capital.
He arrived in Washington at
time when certain critical materials
were scarce. And he found himself
thrown into competition with other
administrators who were in the habit
OF getting what they wanted for
their own programs. But Mr.. JEFF
fers had not risen from call boy to
president of the Union Pacific Rail-
road by turning the other cheek. He
could be pleasant and agreeable
enough when things we're going
smoothly, but he also could be as
tough as they come when occasion
demanded, and this was soon to be
demonstrated.
The records will show that Mr..
Jeffers came to grips with some of
the most aggressive men in Wash
lngton, and if he lost decision to
any of them it is not recorded in
the books. He even told off" the
Senate Agriculture Committee and
got away with it. But now that Mr..
Jeffers has resigned as rubber di-
rector to go back to his railroad, it
would be mistake to remember
him only as a tWo-flsted battler for
what he believed to be right. 1t is
more appropriate, and more con-
structive. to think of him as a man
who has demonstrated that it is
possible to get things done on sched-
ule in Washington.
Mr.. Jeffers was brought here to
administer the rubber program
mapped out in the Baruch report.
At the time this was regarded as the
most urgent of all war jobs. But Mr..
Jeffers knew what had to be done,
there was no division of responsible
ity, and he was given all the power
that he needed by the President.
Starting from this sound foundation,
he simply pulled" the rubber pro-
gram through, and because the job
was planned right and done right,
the fear of disastrous rubber short
age is gone.
In this process Mr.. Jeffers stepped
on a good many toes. But this aspect
of his year in Washington is also
worthy of little critical examina-
ton. When Mr.. Jeffers was using
the powers that the President had
given him to get what he needed to
do his job-something that many
administrators have been afraid to
do-there were loud outcries 1t was
said that if Mr.. Jeffers got the criti-
cal materials that were needed to
build synthetic rubber plants there
would not be enough Of these items
left to make escort vessels and .high-
octane gas and military planes But
it has not worked out that way. If
we are running behind schedule in
any of these categories today, it is
not due to any shortage of critical
materials. And it is a good thing
for the country that Mr. Jeffers was
not the type Of man to be overaWed
by these well-intentioned but mis-
guided prophecies of disaster, for
his rubber program is over the hump
and the other programs have not
fallen by the wayside. But if Mr.
Jeffers had not stood his ground, and
if he had not been supported when
he needed support, there could easily
have been another story.
A year or so from now, when there
is plenty of rubber, there probably
will be few to remember that a man
named Bill JefferS turned the
trick. But that will not concern him
greatly. There is reward enough for
him in knowing that he came to
Washington to get results, and that
he got them.