The Wilmington morning star., 1945-12-22
The Doctor Says
AUSTRALIAN llMS
TO PUT NEVILLE
IN UNRRA SRVlCE
BY DOUGLAS LAsrv

nerve-shattering bate Of q.
bodies"
Chief aggressor in te tr.r
the Australian hero Msh,
Comdr. R. G. A. Jacbon Now,
UNRRA's Senior Deputy Directo,
General. Battle of the odie,Y :.
Jackson's own term for HATS ~
ing on.
He has recently taken YER bsr.
to put new life into tn organi
cation. And that's just Mat be',
doing.
No longer is the bulk Of I'm.
RRA's world saving goingon owe,
coffee in the cafeteria ofthe NJ
Pont Circle building whic houses
most of headquarters. N lopger
do officials stroll to wor late IN
the morning. No longer are n.
ficials oblivious to what ne man
in the next office is dom.
Commander Jackson umkly mn
an end to all that wher he ar.
rived to run things for Director
General Herbert H. Lehman. H.
had just finished putting ne Lon.
don headquarters on an Efficient
basis.
Promptly at nine in the morn.
ing all the top officials a;sl nbl.
in Jackson's unadorned corfeence
room. Roll is called. The m efn,
resembles a briefing fer tiers,
Absences have to have a m hty
good reason.
Each official reports what y &C.
complished yesterday and what he
plans to do today. Policy prob.
lens are discussed. Questiok are
answered then and there byJack.
son.
Jackson calls these ma itching
orders for the day" Thel once
week he meets with all IL sec,
ond-level officials. This is 0 see
that lesser officials know what is
going on and to check tina they
are heading the right way,
He keeps his afternoons ffe for
debating, reading or unscf duled
conferences. At the end of 1e day
he meets with Mr.. Lehman 10 re.
port on progress, and they liscuss
policy.
After dinner at night he teums
to his office and work. Until
sleepy. which is usually petty
late. He kept a bed in his dice
in London which he used frequnt-
" when business got urgent.He
describes his own methods;
"It's really very simple. fH
there is a job to do. Then you It
money to do It. Then you asseme
a staff. Getting the people on e
staff to do the job in the mt
efficient manner is what call +
battle of the bodies. It's citing
UNRRA to operate like the mii'
tary."
It takes a few minutes fol Com
mander Jackson to say whit the
average man gets across an
hour. He talks in rapid-fire lrstS
but with amazing clarity an Or
ganization of thought. His lere
presence bespeaks bounding nef'
gy. He's 80, tall, lean, andhas
sandy nair.
The reputation he earned gems
things done on Malta duringtne
blitz and as head of the Midle
East Supply Center is legenory,
Typical of his Accomplishment
is how he solved the potato sor''
age on Malta. Shipping was es'
perately short. The German IDS
were taking serious toll. 1t vas
getting harder all the time toge'
food to the tiny island.
In the midst Of it Jackson ls-
ured out that if he could &c a
convoy of seed potatoes shlpe'
in it would be more valuable IN
the long run than five times az
many potatoes. 1
Somehow he talked British y
DIV officials into assembling u
convoy and loading the ships W.
the seeds. 1t was under cons1l.
attack but finally arrived alnp''
intact. -
The day after its arrival ev y
able-bodied person on the lsll, I.
was planting potatoes. The rean u.
ing crop proved one OF the Es
factors in keeping the 1Slanfn
fed during the trying time " p'D
followed. ~.
In addition to putting ne" in !.
into UNRRA here and getunl =,
m an efficient basis, JacFM
worked hard to sell UNRRA 10 ". ~.
American Congress in order to ~
another $3.50, 100000 apprq H,,
alton. Already he knows par .s.
mentary procedure and me, the w Y ~, al
ings of Congress better thaN w.
Congressman. III,
AS a lobbyist he couIo p oD't I,t
make fortune in Washlhsron' H.,
the Congressman love it. 1 For 1,
first time they are seeing UNn IT,.
as fast moving organi alton. ., r.
solons who have met and ' aa4'o
with the Australian like his SeS y
and fire and are more lmprs ~ :,
bv what UNRRA is ooi"s
ever before. win
The untxpected spee ! T tbs
which the Senate authorize 69o Nh !.
second appropriation O. ST. ' % Wv.
ooo for UNRRA is regarded 1'ri.
as an indication that the .' VI m
| az IN ctatuIe w