Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1945-11-30

explain, one OF the most curl
Gus aspects of what you col
omnists call the current
Washington scene is a fight
that is NOT going on-the
battle to increase civilian pro-
duction. You will remember
that Mr.. Krug willed this
problem to the WPB's sue
cessor agency, Civilian Pro-
duction Administration, at the
WPB burial rites. l think
your readers will be interested
in what has happened since.
Before the peace hit Mr..
Krug below the belt, there had
been great deal of heavy
thinking going on at WPB
about how to prepare for re-
sumption of civilian produc-
ton. In fact, different plans
were laid out for reconVersion
on the basis of three separate
assumptions: that the war
would end in September,
1945, that it would end early
in 1916, and that it would end
late in 1916. Labor's advice to
begin civilian production on a
limited basis was not followed,
largely on the theory that such
action would give unfair ad-
vantages to some companies as
against others.
Some poorly-laid eggs were
found where Well-laid plans
were expected.
FEAR PUBLIC
Fearing that the public
would arrive at some of the
correct conclusions, Mr.. Krug
at first tried to throw the ball
back to the White House by
recommending that the WPB
be abolished, and that all con-
trolls on production be lifted
Immediately so as to permit
free enterprise to get back to
1889, or maybe even 1929, as
quickly as possible. The Presi-
dent was just a mie too clever
for WPB Chairman Krug,
however, and he managed to
meet the situation in a novel
manner-he set up new
agency!
Let's see how this has
worked out. Needless to say,
there has not been a fraction
of the return to civilian pro-
duction that was predicted by
those who were willing to al
low business to go back to
normal as quickly as possible.
But why is the CPA doing
nothing about this?
EXAMPLES
Let's take as examples of
what | mean the two largest
industries now holding back
on resumption of needed pro-
duction, low-cost clothing and
automobiles. In regard to the
first of these, the CPA is
spending its efforts - while
abolishing the controls making
it possible to direct the flow
of materials-in distributing
rayon, for instance, on an
equitable basis to all manufac-
turers. But this need not be
done at all. Why not allocate
scarce rayon to those produc-
ers who would agree to make
the low-priced clothing that
the government states is
needed most? Instead, CPA
gives each manufacturer his
share and then tries--not too
hard-to wheedle him into
producing the clothing we
need.
In the automobile industry
much the same situation eX-
lists. The current strike is
caused by the unWillingneSS
on the part of the largest man.
ufacturer to absorb wage in
creaseS out of the profits al
ready guaranteed him by the
governments lenient financial
policy. The government is
helping to prolong the strike
in two ways. First, the new
tax policy makes it profitable
to delay resumption of produc-
tion until next year. Second,
the manufacturer knows that
his supply of scarce materials
Especially rubber tires) is
waiting for him, no matter
how long it takes for him to
get into production. Some inn
aginative action on the part of
CPA might halt the strike and
get production started imme-
diately. Why not take tire al
lotments away from manufac-
turers for each day they are
not using them, and divide
those tires among the other
manufacturers, to supply their
cars with spares?
OF course this is more than
just a lack of imagination on
CPA's part-it is lack of de-
sire. The CPA is merely re-
flecting the governments gen
eral lack of interest, now that
it is no longer the largest in
dustrial customer. But the
average worker must not toll
crate this disinterested atti-