Evening star., 1945-04-02

teIS, WIN an III
creasing tenden- Frank r. Kent.
cy to leave them to his aides. Warn.
ings have come from these but theil
voices do not carry far and lack
conviction.
So the prospect is that con-
siderable part Of the population
expecting the pressure to be light
ened by the German collapse will
be disagreeably surprised to find 1t
increased.
Not the Full Story.
Ofdcials unite in explaining that
the shortages are due to the wal
exigencies. They present convincing
arguments why the demand for sup
plies abroad will be greater after
the German occupation than be-
fore. For one thing. there will be
the immensely accelerated flow OF
material and men toward Japan. For
another, there will be the great job
of feeding and equipping the liber-
ated nations of Europe, which can
only recover their economic health
through our help.
This is all true, but 1t Isn't the
full story. It accounts for most OF
the shortages, but not all.
The truth is that the shortages
are aggravated by maladministra-
ton within the Government itself.
There is overlapping authority, con-
fiicting interests, unhealthy COM
petition and direction from the top,
both weak and confused.
This sort of mess has been char
acteristic Of the domestic war ma
chinery since the start. In more
than three years the basic faults
have not been cured. Co-ordinators
do not coordinate. Real authority
is withheld, and competency among
the higher officials is the exception,
not the rule. There isn't a wel-in-
formed man in Washington who
does not know this. Many agency
heads privately admit it.
Yet nothing can be done about 1t.
Only Mr.. Roosevelt can straighten
things UP and institute the needed
reforms. And he will not act, partly
for the reasons given above but
mainly because he is one man who
does not concede incompetency
anywhere in his administration.
Clearly, he cannot make any such
concession without indicting him
self, because upon him rests not
only responsibility for the system
but for the men who man 1t. Nat
urally, his position is that they are
all competent, which Is too absurd
to discuss.
AS things are today, three or four
of the big agencies are in a daily
tussle to get what they think is their
proper share of food and clothes.
Bitterness All Around.
They pull and haul each other
Charges and countercharges are
made and there is considerable bit
terness all around. The Army, as
it should, has first call, gets the
bulk of both food and clothes. II
is In position to dominate-anc
does. But, lend-lease, the UNRRA
and the VIA scramble actively fol
the rest. The net result is unduly
to obscure home civilian needs.
The real danger is that the civilian
machine, unable to get repairs ane
renewals, will slow down 70 point
where production will fall below
minimum requirements. Skill, judg-
ment, full authority and real ability
are badly needed at the top to cope
with this situation-also the power
of quick decision. Unfortunately
these qualities are nowhere lodged
in one directing head.
Forecasting the shortages, soon te
become acute, both military and ad-
ministration chiefs urge the people
to make sacrifices" for the sake oi
the armed forces in cooperative
spirit. There is little doubt that the
vast majority will do just that.
Nevertheless, it would be big help
if the President could bring himself
TO do two things:
Cd simply and clearly. by direct
address, present the true situation
to the people along with the rea-
sons therefore and the prospects;
Cd recognize that there is an ad.
ministratiye mess and take the
necessary steps to straighten it out
These things would help, but they
are not likely to be done.
The basic trouble today, as from
the start, is that, in period wher
competency is vital, the most com.
petent men in the country are not ir
the administration. Too many lame
duck politicians and political friend,
have been put into key posts by the