Show S s farm implement industry will try allocation plan manufacturers of agricultural machinery placed under experimental system for obtaining J necessary raw materials I 1 by BAUKHAGE national farm and rome home hour commentator service 1313 1343 11 street NW washington D C J by the time these words are printed the farmer ordering a tractor or a daliy dairy machine is going to be able to line up at the counter right beside the generals and the admirals making their purchases of tanks and ships this is the interpretation that can be put on the remark made by donald nelson head of the priorities division of the to the effect that he is going to make the agricultural implement industry a guinea pig in an experiment to remove the bottleneck which is preventing industries from getting the the raw materials they need to operate nelson admits that priority lists are not worth the paper they are written on in many cases and that a system of allocation is to be tried out priorities allocation wars always create new words aswell as well as new meanings for old ones in this case the word priorities covers if not a multitude of sins and headaches at least a new meaning when it became evident that there were not enough raw materials to supply defense needs and civilian needs both the priority system was devised Thel The priority division of the office of production management was set up to decide which order for which raw material should be delivered to what manufacturer the materials most essential to defense production were rated with an A and graded in that category cafego ry with numbers according to their importance for example al A l 1 material topped the list the highest rating for civilian defense materials was bl B l 1 while others were fitted into alphabetical classifications and numbered in line with their significance in the defense program this was the priority system but it did not always work for instance the manufacturer of a dairy machine requiring some essential product I 1 like ike aluminum or rubber might hive have the highest civilian rating but when he tried to get delivery for that product he found that an all he had was the letter B and the number 1 on a sheet of paper and you cant make dairy machines out of paper in civilian industries also this was kas happening in many civilian industries it was also happening in defense industries in the latter cases the system was changed so that certain defense manufacture i ers could get certain raw products aluminum copper synthetic rubber etc regardless of priority rating but by allocation in other words the government ordered a specific amount of steel or copper delivered directly to the manufacturer and now the farm implement industry is to get its raw materials ma serials by the same method allocation if the plan being prepared pr pared by the priorities division at this writing is carried out the priorities division explains that this is to be an experiment and that it is being tried so so that esperi ence will be gained for applying the same same method of providing bro viding raw materials for other civilian industries this is of course a vital problem since thousands are being thrown out of work because n non on defense industries dus tries are closing for want of supplies however there is id another story behind the story of the guinea pig it probably began with a terse remark by gov M clifford town townsend send of the office 0 ot agricultural defense relations he said the priority system works as well as writing a check on a bank with no kundsin funds fund sin i in it he was referring to the priority y lists in general but he was thin thinking king specifically about the farm implement industry and lh thinking inking about it in connection with tile the new goals set for farm production for what can the poor farmer do when he is as asked ked to produce more with less labor it if he cant buy the machines he is willing to pay for if the manufacturer fac cant get the essential materials to build those machines donald nelson admitted that priority lists were not worth the paper they were written on before mr nelson made his ad mission dr townsend and a few other officials official sa a few hundred be fore long in the department of f ag ri culture got busy the inter bureau b breau committees made a survey of the mechanical requirements of farm production as set forth in the new new goals in the food for freedom campaign this was in july survey of requirements the department surveyed the needs in packaging and processing machinery machines to take care of the products after they were raised and the county agents went right to the farmer himself and asked him what he would need to take care of the extra production b bearing ing in mind that he would be short of human hands A farmer with sons and hired help in the army or working g in defense industries might make up for foi their loss if he substituted another tractor for a four horse hitch bitch self feeders help too and machines for handling the products like hay bay hoists and since the accent in the farm program is now on dairy products dairy machines are important the latter take a lot of defense precious aluminum steel and rubber the poultry business was not so much concerned for human hands nave have to do almost everything for the hens that the hens wont do for themselves but how to get the machines the manufacturers were all tooled up and ready to go they were at the top of the priority lists but there were no priorities the matter was laid before defense officials next donald nelson in charge of priorities and once cip dependent pendent largely on the farmer for a living he has been loaned to the government by sears roebuck started in to make good that check on a bank with no funds in it he began to plan allocations instead of priorities Washing kols preview of winter win ter for d a while the other day washington ington drew a gray curtain ovar over its bright autumn skies and gave us a preview of winter it started with that thai painful moment which I 1 daresay you too have experienced oft in the ch chilly illy night when after dreaming you were stranded on an ice cake calein in the polar sea in in your shorts or something even shorter you awake to find that the unfaithful blanket has left your bed that happened to me and when I 1 had finally curled up 4 to dream of warmer climes the alarm went off it was still dark so I 1 let the clock buzz and tried to go back to ale sleep ep it ought not to be dark I 1 reasoned it been dark at that hour for months when I 1 reached the te street I 1 ifould found ashick a thick gray sky above there was a chill in hi the air that set even wash ing tons leisurely pedestrians 7 s scurrying currying myself included it did feel like winter and when I 1 had passed my second se cond boardinghouse boarding house cat I 1 was sure these cats take their early outdoor loaf while the basement dining rooms are full I 1 suppose some of the boarders are subject to catalepsy or cat allergy or whatever it is that ma makes kes people squeal and wigg wiggle when a persistent pus pussy sy rubs their leg anyhow these two particular cats are always loafing in the same spot in front fron t of their respective boarding houses as I 1 pass usually they merely look bored thi this s time they looked cold and bored they were hunched up like tight accordions a chall chilly cat always looks as though it were trying to pull its chin into its own fur collar another sign of the false winter was an empty bench in front of the masonic temple usually it is full of girls waiting for the pal who picks them up and takes them to work or at worst a late bus it is a convenient resting place in the summer under the shadow of a great sphinx thi this s time there was only one sitter she may have had something on her mind or elsewhere that warmed her soul and prevented the cold s tone stone from affecting the s shall hall we say situation there was one more sign the evergreens ever greens preened their needles with a look of satisfaction that they cannot muster when they have to com compete with maple and magnolia |