Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-11-26
Good Enough
Civil Defense
Plan Is Not
by Bradford V. Carter
LPA COlumnist

released last week the report
of the Office of Civil Defense
Planning, a survey of Amer
ica's civil defense require
ments. This new OCDP is
skeleton organization, set up
by Forrestal himself. Its full
time staff is cadre of reg
ular army officers. They are
supplemented by a part time
collection industrialists, doc
tors, police and fire chiefs, en-
gineers and assorted experts.
It's cheerie to pick up a 800
page volume about what sort
of things we'd have to do if
America g e It's into another
war, cleaning up the rubble
that air raids will make of our
cities and factories, and organ
izing medical services to cope
with wars terrible destruction
of human life. But in a world
still not at peace it is better
to face the problems of ma
tional security than to pretend
that they don't exist.
The report does not deal
with a number of the most i'm
portant aspects of the problem
it sets out to solve. Startling
is its failure to recognize the
importance of voluntary or
ganizations of citizens in the
actual mobilization of the 10
million part time civil de-
fense workers the report esti-
mates will be needed.
Full use should, of course,
be made of civic, fraternal,
social, terans and other
community organizations, in
cluding women's groups, or
ganizations of boys and girls,
business, a b r, agricultural
and professional associations
and the like" the report says.
But OCDP has given no real
thought to the role that some
of these groups could play.
The "of course" is a dead give
away, as is this Jumping to-
gether of unions and the Girl
Scouts.
Even in the section devoted
to the protection of industrial
plants, no mention is made of
the role of the unions. 1t is
assumed that in time of crisis
the plans of management will
be good enough, that labor
need not be consulted, and
that the workers will blindly
respond to whatever directions
are given them by the COM
pany.
Frequent references occur
to the success of Britains civil
defense program during the
Nazi air raids. But there is at
least one phase of the British
experience that Mr.. Forrestals
friends haven't studied.
Thruout Britain's war eff
fort the Trades Union Con-
gress was consulted on every
important phase of home de-
fense. Regular machinery was
set up for channeling national,
industry-wide, and local union
suggestions thru TO the respon-
sible authorities. Numerous
improvements made in the
system as air raids intensified
were proposed by the unions.
Two TUG nominees and
several Labor party leaders,
men close to the union move
ment, sat with government Of
ficials, technieians and busi-
nessmen on the top program
commission. Not one labor
representative is on Mr.. For
reStals OCDP board.
In September 1940, at the
height of the blitz, Winston
Churchill, no champion of
trade unionism, said that if in
dustry was to continue in
operation the whole problem
of plant protection, and con-
tinued work during times of
danger would have to be re-
solved at the plant level.
Plant plans must be the re-
suit of discussion" between
management and labor, Chur-
chill said, and praised the in
genuity that kers had
already shown in tackling dis
aster problems. No such at
titude as this shines thru the
pages of OCDP's report. But,
Mr.. Forrestal, 1t was consulta-
tion and cooperation that sus-
tanned England - not orders
from on high.