Imperial Valley press., 1944-02-11

All the recent reviews OF the
first two years of the war since
Fearl Harbor pay glowing and des-
erved tribute to the victories and
the things that have been done
right, without considering the mis-
takes. Not the tactical mistakes,
but those on the home frOnt-mis-
takes of bad management in pro-
curement fer war supply. These
are important because men learn
only by making mistakes, and
there's still enough Of the war left
to profit by those Of the first
years.
They make a rather imposing
list. and they're of additional int
crest now as Congress gives con-
sideraticn to new appropriation
bills, new tax bills, and listens to
the demands for economy, economy
and still more ecCnomy-the cleo
ton being just around the corner
The procurement services of the
war agencies keep one eye on this
demand from Congress, too, man
ifesting a ccmmendable being-good
iust-before- Christmas spirit.
The Army has volunteered in
formation that it will save some
| S13 600 100000 on its budget, while
! the Navy will cut back some S4,0O0-
600 COO. Budget Director Harold
Smith questions the accuracy OF
these estimates, but they are never
theless imposing sums and testl-
mcnialS to a desire, some place IN
the hierarchy to run the war with
a semblance of efficiency and re-
gard for the public purse.
But the records Of one Senate
committee, the Truman committee
investigating the war effort, point
to the scores CT cases where, in the
aggregate, equal sums might have
been saved. These are the mis-
takes to paste in the hat, not a;
a lot of second guessing, but as
examples to profit by during what's
left of the war:
Camp Cost Nearly Doubled
It begins with the camp ccn-
struction program, the building Of
scme 229 separate establishment
for housing troops. The cost was
to have been s515,0O0,000. In May
1941. when nearly all the projects
were finished, the cost was found tt
be s823. 900. COO In addition, an
other s236,0O0,OOO was required fol
extra facilities, SO the total cos
was over a billion, or nearly double
the original estimate.
Parallel with this was the build
ing CT war plants. Throughout 1T
activities. the Truman Committee
having only limited staff, ha'
delved into only the more glarlnt
cases of waste and inetficiency Il
point up the warning of Let
have no more of this!" 1t wculc
be close to an accounting imposs-
ibility to add up all the mistake;
in the war plant program.
One horrible example which the
committee revealed was the Wolf
Creek shell-lcading plant at Milan
Tenn, where a S20,000,000 facilit.
came out with cost OF So 100000
There were bad procurement pro.
iects, such as the Canal Oil deyel-
opment in the Northwest Territory
of Canada, which started out tC
cost modest S25 100000, and L
ending up at a cost of S134, 900, 900
There was the now famous Pent-
agon building across the Potomac
from Washington, which started
out to cost S35, 5,000 900 and ended
up costing S63 100000, plus another
81 900 600 for special installation
for roads and water supply. From
these bigger items the scandals
run down TO comparatively mincl
items in the war housing projects
such as that at Winfield Park, N
j., which was intended to cost only
$4,000, 900 but did cost $5,coo0OO.
There are blots on the escutcheor
in shipbuilding, in spite CT the fact
that all records for shipbuildinG
have been broken { ne after time
and costs cut again and again
Picking out one Of the worst per
formers for the Maritime Commits
sion. Truman investigators probet
the records of the South Portland
(MeD Shipbuilding Corporation
where the first Liberty Ships took
a million-and- half man-hours
and cost S1,60O0O0 each. against
averages of less than 100000 man
hours and 100000 at other yard
Profit Triples Investment
For the Navy. an investigation