Evening star., 1946-09-08

VIC duVoSoIC Vi IllC WcdpOl- -plOuuCl
hungry armed forces, Mr.. Nelson is
story.
The book has sufficient light
gossip and enough food for profoul
those who guide us in peace or wal
II this Nation is ever embroilet
Nelson's opus will serve as an inval.
liable guide to those charged with
directing our efforts. In the book he
indelibly points out the many mis-.
takes attending out early efforts tt
arm ourselves and our allies in 1910
le41 and 1912. He clearly charts a
course around the pitfalls, one that
must be followed closely to avert
disaster if we are ever called upon
to fight for our lives.
On the subject of another war, Mr.
Nelson sounds this solemn warning
Our form of government could not
survive World War III, win, lose OF
draw. The war just ended cost us
about three hundred billion dollars;
the next would cost us more than
twice as much. Capitalism under
democracy could not possibly exist
after such war. In other words, the
United States of America as we have
known and loved it would be
through"
AS to reasons for war with Russia
he says: II can see no more reason
why we should get into a fight with
Russia than with the planet Mars.
We have no fundamentally conflict
ing interests. We have no fundamen-
single life"
He Pulled Some Punches.
The author undoubtedly pulled his
punches with regard to the Short
comings Of some of the men who di-
rected the war effort. particularly
of those in power in the days of
Illustration in the early 1940s when
our armed forces and those of our
allies were frantically calling for
planes and guns with little idea as
to the types needed. He mentions
the errors, both of omission and
commission, but does not tie the
mistakes to the responsible person.
alltles. He warns against letting de-
tense preparations run as low as
they were in 1910. We, the great
est nation in the world, must always
be ready to fight for the possession
Which made us great: our liberty"
1nevitability of our active involve
ment in war runs through the early
part of the book, beginning with Mr..
Nelson's first Washington assign
ments with Treasury Department
procurement and the old National
Defense Advisory Commission in
May and June 1910. He said that
FDR sensed early that shooting
war" was certain and that the Pres
ldent told him on the Tuesday be-
lore Pearl Harbor: Don, I wouldn't
be surprised if we were at war with
Japan by Thursday" Vice President
wallace made about the same pre-
diction.
Mr. Nelson speaks almost rev.
erently OF President Roosevelt, with
whom he was very close all during
the war. He does say that the
President acted too late in setting
up the War Production Board
January, l942-placing war effort
responsibility in one place. Before
WPB, there were two years of
fumbling under NDAC, Office of
Production Management and the
Supply. Priorities and ALLEGATIONS
Board.
The Wartime Cars.
Perhaps the authors greatest
quality was his proven ability to
compromise conflicting views of the
strong men of industry and Govern
ment brought here during the war
the many wartime "czars"-the
Jefers, the Knudsens. Ickes, Hem
dersons, Eberstadts, Baruchs. He
was involved continually in conflicts
and frequently was caught in the
middle.
While Mr.. Nelson is, perhaps, too
kind to some of his contemporaries
OF the defense and war agencies, he
pulls no punches in his criticism of
the Army, or at least that part
represented by 1t Gen. Brehon
Somervell, in charge of Army sup
plies, and Secretary of War Patter-
son, who at the time was Under
secretary. His criticism is not di-
rected at Gen. George C. Marshall,
our fighting generals or the Navy
He is highly complimentary of the
ability of Charles E. Wilson, the
General Electric president, along
with whom Mr. Nelson faded out
of the production picture in a death
grapple over reconversion policy in
August, 1914.
Mr.. Nelson says that Army forces,
led by Gen. Somervell and Mr.
Patterson, tried throughout the war
to gain control of our national
economy" virtually succeeded in
1914 and thereby caused some of
our many reconversion problems.
so wa a1Ob IlldL SliC wal
ment henceforth will be "one of the
most important and influential
branches of our Government, and
the question of military control will
confront us not only in war but in
peace"
THE lesson taught by these re-
cent years of war is clear: Our
whole economic and social system
will be in peril if it is controlled
by the military men," he writes.
A False Scare.
The production crisis" described
by the Army In the wars final
stages. he says, was false scare
which failed to solve any produc-
ton problems, and only tended to
drive wedge between soldiers and
civilians" and to divert attention
from the Army's own miscalcula-
tions."
Mr.. Nelson revealed that Secre-
tary of War StimSon. Secretary of