The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1946-03-22
GoDiaIressiona
oideLiqhfs
@ 49,
Congressman Vim. N. Colmer

POSTWAR PRODUCTION
During the war most Ameri-
cans, both civilian and those in
the armed forces, looked forward
eagerly to the end of the war
when they could again enjoy all
| of the necessities and some of
| the luxuries of life. They en-
! visioned q speedy reconversion
OF our wartime economy back to
a peacetime production. Many a
| civilian, forced to travel in an
automobile of the 1895 to 1910
vintage, looked forward to the
time when he could get a new
| model car for which there was
| ample money in his pockets. The
doughbov in the foxhole and the
| sailor on the high seas day dream
ed of getting a new automobile
when they returned home so that
they could travel about and see
their friends and enjoy the lux
ury that only American citizens
can enjoy of. a shining new EAR.
Most of. them, too, had saved
their money for just such an oc-
! casion. Then there was the house.
/ wife who wanted a new washing
( machine, a new radio, and other
new conveniences about the
! house.
More than six months have
now elapsed since the end of
| hostilities and many of the boys
have returned home, but few vet
Grams or civilians or housewives
have been able to realize their
dreams. While there is no ques-
ton but that in the next few
years there will be more of ev-
| erything than there was during
the prewar period, the fact still
remains that there is a shortage
of almost everything. The veter-
an is not able to get his new au-
tomobile; the housewife cannot
get her new stove.
It is interesting to note some
figures on the prewar and the
present monthly production rate
of some Of these items. For in
stance, prior to the Japanese
! sneak attack this country was
! producing well over 100000 a
dios per month, today that pro-
duction is only 100000. Automo-
biles were being produced at the
rate of 100000 a month then;
while now only 10000 are being
turned out. On such necessary
items as mems shirts the produc-
ton was 10000 900 prior to the
war and at present we have only
been able to bring this up to H.
! 600 1000. In only one outstanding
item has production caught up
with the prewar production fig
ure and that is automobile tires.
This exception, of course, is due
to the fact that no radical change
was necessary in the production
of these tires. Our wartime ma
chinery was geared up for this
| article as a necessary adjunct to
our war effort.
There are q number of contrib
uting factors to this condition.
First and foremost is the fact
that while industry was convert
ing its tools to the production of
peaeetime goods seized this OPP
| portunity to demand substantial
ly higher wages. This resulted
in many instances in deadlocks
between capital and labor which
extended over a period of many
months. Another contributing
factor was the Price Control Act.
Industry found that it could pro-
| duce certain articles under the
| OPA regulations at a profit while
| under other OPA regulations 9th
! or articles, mainly low-cost ar
ticles, had to be produced at a
loss. The result was that indus
try, looking to profits, in many
instances refused to produce
those articles on which they could
not make a profit and produced
only those articles on which prof
its under the regulations could
be realized. And still another
factor was the fact that in many
instances industry found it quite
difficult to change their wartime
machinery over to the necessary
machinery to produce civilian
goods.
IRRESPONSIBLE coLUMNIST
There is much information and
much transformation that goes
out of Washington; some through
| ignorance and other through mall
ice. Recently a notorious coll
umnist, writing from Washington,
enormously attacked certain
members of Congress, including
ourself, as unfriendly to veterans
ests and in farm woodlots, thus
adding additional manpower to
the total now employed in woods