Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-04-01
Wilson Says Output
May Permit Ending
OF Controls in Year

Charles E. Wilson, former de-
tense mobilization director, be-
lieves the rapidly rising produc-
ton of goods may make it pos
sible to drop price and wage con-
trolls within a year.
However, Mr.. Wilson, who re-
signed from the Government be-
cause of disagreement with Pres
ident Truman over ways Of set
ting the steel dispute. said that
price-wage ceilings should be kept
'by all means as long as they
are needed for the defense job"
He said controls authority,
which expires June 80. should be
extended. Congress for some time
has been considering legislation
to extend that authority.
Going on Television Tonight.
Mr.. wilson's final quarterly re-
port on progress of the defense
effort is due late today. He also
will keep a previously arranged
television date tonight at tbs
over NBC. He left the Federal
payroll officially last night.
Mr.. Wilson told a farewell news
conference yesterday something of
the progress of the military pro-
duction program. 1t was an OPP
timistic report.
II believe we are fast overtaking
Russia in quantity of production of
war materials" he said. land in
the quality of production it is my
opinion that we have passed
Russia"
This has been done, he pointed
out. from a standing start" after
the war in Korea began.
1--WE and our allies, because of
the production rally in the United
States, now have the balance of
power" Mr.. Wilson continued.
OubpuI MuItlplIc0.
II believe in the (past) Isl
months gigantic mobilization eff
fort has been achieved in this
country" he declared. II believe
military production is really roll
ing and rolling pretty we'll. Not
perfectly, because it never will be
perfect, but it is rolling"
Mr.. Wilson said military output
is five times that of the first quar-
ter year after Korea. The United
States has tripled it's strength
since then.
I'VE are two-thirds up the
scale OF military production" Mr..
Wilson said. "two-thirds of the
way to the plateau or peak the
military have established for
themselves"
In the past three months, he
said the output of hard goods
aircraft, tanks, guns-was 80 per
cent greater than in the last three
months Of 1851. Jet aircraft pro-
duction for this quarter will be
one-third higher than in the final
quarter Of last year, and jet pro-
duction in 1852 will double that
Of 1851.
COntradicts Commentator.
Mr.. Wilson said a news COM
mentator had said that the United
States is producing only Is jet
engines a month as compared to
o 800 a month minimum by the
Russians.
He declared this statement was
80 false that he had to. prove that
it could not be correct. One COM
pany alone, Mr.. Wilson said, pro-
duced 400 jet engines in March,
and it was one of many COM
panies making jet engines.
Mr.. Wilson said that a 30-day
steel strike Zone is scheduled for
next Tuesday, would set produc-
ton back about so days.
He made it clear he still does
not agree with President Truman
that the 1712-cent hourly wage
increase for steel workers recon-
mended by the Wage Sterilization
Board is not unstabilizing.
Plans to Go Fishing.
Last week Mr.. Wilson called the
recommendation "a serious threat
to our ar-long effort to stabilize |
the economy" and yesterday he
said: Il haven't changed my
mind q bit"
But he refused to be drawn into
further discussion of his differ
ences with the President.
His only plans for the future,
he said, are to do some fishing.
Another resignation growing
out Of the steel wage dispute was
announced last night. Col. Alex
Ander r. Heron, San Francisco
industrialist, said he was quitting
as an industry member of the
panel, effective today, because
WSB was being used to arbitrate
o labor dispute and this is "di-
rectly antagonistic to the function
Of sterilization"