The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1945-08-10

Washington, y. C.-Large- scale un-
employment creating business paraly-
sis will hit America should the war
against Japan end soon and suddenly,
the Senate War Investigating Com
mittee warned the nation in it's annual
report.
The report was highly critical of the
governments lack of preparation to
meet postwar domestic problems and
particularly condemned the slow pace
of reconversion.
The committees warning of whole
sale unemployment ensuing after VI
Day sounded especially omnious to
labor because of the failure of Con-
gress, itself, to take any action on
President Truman's recommendations
for emergency increases in unemploy-
ment compensation.
Highlights of the committee report,
made public by Chairman James Mead,
follow:
Although progress is being made,
reconversion has not proceeded as
swiftly as it should have following the
cessation of hostilities in Europe. Re-
tarding factors include delay in plan
ming, delay in announcing and making
cutbacks, lack of both raw and semi
finished materials and tools, insuffi-
cient information available for in
dustry to make plans far enough in
advance, and lack of manpower in
some key places.
"There has not been sufficient help
from the government to industries and
business desiring to reconvert.
"The fact that we have escaped Sc
rious unemployment up to this time
should not mislead us into the belief
that all is well.
"Should the war in the Pacific end
soon, it will find us largely unprepared
to overcome our domestic problems.
Reconversion will not have progressed
far enough to absorb the manpower
which will suddenly be released. Gov
ernment work programs will not have
been established. Unemployment on a
large scale will ensue. Once this oc-
ours, it creates an inertia which is
very difficult to overcome and will Sc
riously interfere with achieving pros
perity.
"The anticipated schedule of cut
backs in war production programs to
be put in effect at the end of the war
were announced late and too close to
the end of the war in Europe. They
have been slow in being consummated
with the resultant delay in releasing
facilities and materials.
"We must now utilize and divert
into peacetime channels our productive
capacity that is not needed for our
military production. Our first respon-
sibility is the winning of the war as
soon and completely as possible. For
that reason there should be no diver
sion of production capacity of man.
power that would conflict with this
program. On the other hand, the war
production and military manpower
needs should be reviewed with the ut
most care from the point of view of the
earliest possible relief of bottlenecks
in the reconversion of industry to
peacetime purposes. There should be
the most careful consideration given
to, and the coordinated efforts of all
war agencies concentrated on, the re-
lease now from the armed forces of a
limited number Of men whose services
are essential to early reconversion Of
industry. Small numbers of men re-
leased now for this purpose will make
possible sooner the employment OF
much larger numbers of workers who
will be released from war production.
Among the principal industries need
ing workers in this category are lum-
bering, transportation, coal mining,
cotton textiles, and, to a limited but
important extent, steel. War produc-
tion programs should be cut back as
soon as possible, with more advance
notice to industry than in the past.
sIn order to direct workers to the
places where jobs will be available
and to provide the types of workers
needed where industry is short of la
Dor, accurate information must be
gathered and made available to work.
ers and employers throughout the
country.