The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-01-19

mum of confusion in three places and break up efficient mass pro- , duction techniques. The smart thing would be to cancel two of the contracts, keeping the third plant going.
 MULTIFOLD OBJECTIONS
 All right, which two? Question Which of the three items does the civilian economy need worst? Ans wer Washing machines. But there's a shortage of fractional horsepower electric motors and washing machines need electric motors so that's out.
 How about the typewriter fac tory? Well, if they let this one plant get back into civilian produc- ton it will have the jump on all the other typewriter manufacturers who are now making fire control instruments, shells, heavy machine guns, radio sets and all manner of munitions which are still needed in quantity by the armed services Even letting the one company make a nameless victory" model typewriter for all the others is ob- jected to because that puts this one company back in the typewriter business, where it can perfect post war models and get a trade posi- ton advantage over its competitors. The same objection applies to the auto plant. No one auto maker can be permitted to get back in pro duction ahead of the others. So what do you do, MT. Bones. in pre- dicamentS like these?
 Look at the problem from an- other angle. Which plants could be cut back with a minimum disturb ance to working forces? The type writer and washing machine fac tories, as such, would employ only a fraction of the people they are now employing on expanded pro- duction of light machine guns. Cancelling out their war contracts might cause a lot of unemploy- ment. Question How many of the people discharged could be employed immediately in other nearby war plants having labor shortages?
 If there were a ball bearing plant near the typewriter factory, if there were a radio equipment fac tory near the washing machine plant, surplus labor forces of any kind could be absorbed with the loss of scarcely more than a weeks work. In the case of the auto plant, if the working force there could be shifted to neighboring works with 8 fat but thrilled aircraft contract, the auto plants light machine gun contract could be cancelled and it's factory closed dowr until such time as materials could be allocated to resume manufacture of auto mobiles.
 MANY SUCH CASES
 Now all these cases, though dis guised and over-Simplifled to em- phasize the points, are none the less real and they are case histories which will be repeated thousands of times before readjustment and reconversion are achieved with anything approaching maintenance of full employment.
 These problems are by no means confined to manufacturing indus tries. The whole pattern of peace time civilian economy is similarly affected. Take metals:
 There are now surpluses af alum mum. One of the more beautiful postwar industrial dreams that has been blown about in war time has been that the world was head ing into new, revolutionary era of light metals, in which aluminium and magnesium might replace steel and copper for many uses.
 Supplies of steel and copper are now greater than demand. though there are not the surpluses such as in aluminium. But do you suppose it would be possible to give this light metals revolution a head start by resuming the production of ice boxes, stoves and such consumers durable goods, making them out of aluminium instead of steel? Only over the dead bodies of all the steel magnates and their sales men.