Evening star., 1946-05-10

futile and confused; that we are
incompetently operating in this mat
ter with no clear sense of direction.
For this miserable condition there
are two reasons, both of which
somehow seem almost inherent de-
fects in our system. One is the
administration lack of a complete,
cohesive, comprehensive plan. The
other is the absence of a single di-
rective head with full power to CO.
ordinate, execute and enforce.
Continue Mistakes.
In some conspicuous instances the
absence of these things slowed us
down during the war. That they
should cripple us after the war is an
illustration of how seldom we profit
by experience, how stupidity we con-
trive to repeat and continue our
proven mistakes.
Rationing during the recent war
never was on an intelligent basis.
We deliberately refused to accept
the formula that worked in the World
War. The man who knew most
about the production, distribution
and control of food-Mr. Hoover
was calculatingly ignored. Chester
Davis, who was the best food man
brought to Washington by Mr..
Roosevelt, resigned because he could
not get what he had been promised
"a free hand and real authority.
The whole business was botched and
bungled; there was vast waste Of
time, effort and money.
The same things can be said
truthfully of our postwar food-con-
troll attempt. EX-GoV. Herbert
Lehman, who until recently was
chief of the UNRRA, is a high
minded man, honest and unselfish.
But the organization he created was
terribly incompetent. Its personnel
was poor Many of those whom it
sent abroad knew little about what
they were supposed to do and still
less about how to do it.
Machine Passed On.
MIR. La Guardia is more ener-
getic and forceful administrator
but he inherited a machine instead
of constructing it and he has not
got by any means the final voice
in the matter of policy.
1t is true that President Truman,
free of the personal vindictivenesS
of his predecessor, two months ago
called Mr.. Hoover to act as homer
ary chairman of his famine emer-
gency committee and sent him
abroad to make survey. But the
overall policy has yet to be formu-
lated. We have yet to make a plan.
For example, the great question
Is yet to be decided as to whether,
without the resources to feed all the
starving people in all the world, we
shall make the attempt to send food
to India and China as well as to
Europe, or whether we shall conflne
our food exports to the hungry
peoples of nations whose economic
and political rehabilitation is most
important to us. In brief, is our
policy going to be one of covering
all the food-needy world inadequate
ly or covering part of it adequately?
Basic Questions.
These, along with one or two
others, are basic questions which
have not yet been fully faced. They
must, in the end, be decided by MI
Truman himself, who, without first
hand information has got to act
upon the best secondhand informa-
ton available.
That is why Mr. Hoover's return
and report are so important. For,
unquestionably, he is today-as he
has been for many years-the out
standing authority in the world on
this subject, with infinitely the
largest experience and a record for
practical relief of the starving dat
ing back to the Boxer Rebellion in
1000 u,ha.a ln kG,rr IIoa,1a,.