Evening star., 1943-08-26
Manpower Plan Must
Be Drawn for Long
War, McNutt Says

| Marshalllng evidence to support
the father draft and stricter con-
trolls over the movement of workers,
War Manpower Chief McNutt last
night declared that mo responsible
authority in this country could pos
| sibly afford to act" on the assump-
ton that the war will be over soon.
Like Selective Service Director
Lewis B. Hershey earlier this week,
Mr.. McNutt gave the people a pre-
view of the arguments which Con-
gress will face when it starts de-
batting the father draft next month.
In an address on the National
Radio Forum, sponsored by The
Star, over Station WMAL, Mr.. Nc
Mutt declared:
Some of you may feel that the
drafting of fathers is unnecessary
because you believe the war will
shortly be over-or at least within a
year or so.
Calls Answer simple"
"To that the answer is simple.
No responsible authority In this
country could possibly afford to act
on that assumption"
Il hope and pray" he added, that
peace will come-on our terms-be-
fore 1t is necessary to send this
last contingent of our armed forces
into the actual firing line"
He termed nonsense" the charges
that I'VE are using the draft to
penalize men who are not now con-
tributing to the war effort"
Defending a war work or fight"
policy, Mr.. McNutt declared that
the Government is not penalizing
any free citizens by asking them to
fight for their country or by asking
them to work for their country.
Explains New Standards.
Without mentioning labor draft,
Mr.. McNutt admitted for the first
time that his recently announced
new manpower program went be-
yond voluntary cooperation.
Explaining the new standards
governing the movement of workers,
he declared:
I'VE can no longer exclusively rely |
on the voluntary cooperation of |
workers and management to solve
this problem of labor turnover.
The American people, acting
through their wartime Government,
must begin now to exercise a more
positive control"
He cautioned that If workers and
management fail to abide by the
new regulations, I'VE shall fail to
meet accelerating war production
schedules"
To illustrate the threat to produc-
ton OF manpower shortage, Mr.. Nc
Mutt reported that in Seattle last
month. more Flying Fortresses were
lost than were lost over Hamburg
because schedules were not met,
Some Plants Closing.
In some areas, he said, plants are
actually beginning to shut down be-
cause they can't find men to operate
them. The only method of meeting
the problem, he said, are through
finding more workers and making
sure that workers already in war
industries stay on their jobs.
The new regulations, he explained.
are designed to hold skilled workers
on their jobs, but the problem of
finding more manpower presses at
our heels"
To explain why it is necessary to
hold some single men in industry
while fathers are drafted, Mr.. Nc
Mutt asked:
rs it more important to keep, saw.
an unmarried man of draft age dig
ging ore in Montana copper mine
than 1t is to keep a furniture sales
man out of uniform because he
happens to be father?"
"Crux Of the Problem"
Terming that the "crux of the
problem" Mr.. McNutt asserted that
In total war "a man must accept
the assignment given to him-the
spot where he can best serve the
war effort"
No man is a Stacker, he said, SIM
ply because he is not in uniform.
The only slackers are men-and
women, too-who could get Jobs
which would serve the war effort
and who do not even try to get
them"
He promised that every effort will
be made to see that all men who are
still on the available list are in
Quoted before the Nation wide draft
ing Of fathers begins.
But" he added, when this point
is reached-as 1t will be some time
in October-the fathers will have to
60"