| Show demobilization committee completes initial report 4 congressional group provides for action by legislation rather than executive decree small business gets break by BAUKHAGE news analyst and commentator service union trust building washington D C at a recent white house press and radio conference the president in talking of certain measures he had bad recommended to benefit men and women leaving the armed service explained that long before the demobilization bobill z aaion of the fighting g forces actually begins many veterans are de mobilized who for military or other reasons are returned to civil life one million have already been discharged and the process continues while others are being taken into the service to some degree this process Is paralleled by other forms of demobilization bill and congress h has as realized that ta t the machinery for reconverting the american economy to peacetime time e operation must be set up immediately one group a special com committee attee on postwar economic polley policy and planning of w which senator george is the chairman an has finished its it fir first s t report wh which ich deals with ca cancellation nce 11 aaion of war contracts disposition pos and sale 0 of f s surplus property and industrial demobilization and conversion quite aside from the content of the report the do document current Is important for ahr three e a reasons first it provides for action by legislation Js rather than by executive decree and envisions a board whose fir first s t responsibility Is to congress rather than to the chief executive I 1 an important step in returning to the natural processes of democracy interrupted by the war second it has been written with a r realization that in the re shuffling of ind industry astry small business must get a break it is quite probable that senator murray who has taken the troubles of small business under his wings will contribute considerably to the bill which will be introduced to implement the purpose of the report nonpolitical non political bodh ca expert third and very important Is the fact that the report was coordinated and probably largely written by a paid nonpolitical non political expert hired out of the committee funds as its counsel se similar assistance stance is always utilized by the tax committee where highly technical knowledge Is essential and it has long been the feeling of senator george and others that one ona of the great weaknesses of congressional procedure is the lack of expert staff assistance for this type of work the coordinating and correlating of the information brought out in the hearings and the contributions of the various committees and the facts and opinions resulting from the investigations and the special knowledge of the individual members As a small group of 0 us newsmen end and women sat in the committee room and questioned scott russell the counsel we were impressed with his grasp of the subject and the way he separated political opinion from the factual content and the in aaion of the various paragraphs sas as he read them over to us or we questioned him concerning them russell was a former district attorney in georgia and he was also president of one of the largest businesses nesses s in hi the south the bibbs manufacturing fac turing company gray haired but young looking and vigorous with an easy common sense approach russell gave you yon the feeling he knew what he was talking about business and government but regardless of the merits ol of this particular case it seems to me rather significant that the thinking leaders in congress of whom there are always many realize the importance of getting to use a somewhat shopworn expression in its best sense more business into government business in the sense of businesslike and efficient procedure not the bias of any particular bustness business I 1 have gone into some detail in previous columns in regard to the importance of small business in the american economy I 1 will only anly say here that Senator Murray although not a member of this committee was called in tor for consultation and undoubtedly a part of his legislative thinking will be incorporated into the bill which I 1 imagine will be introduced trod before this is printed already the giants are battling efforts are being made by the big today an apple a day keeps the doctor away but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries cocoa was considered the pro proper p er to tonic nac dress fashions for or girls japanese style 1944 are to be streamlined in a new r styling of graceful wartime uniform uni fonn according to the jap education edu catlon ministry what no pin ups manufacturers to assure themselves that when converted war industries resume their peacetime work they will not be thrust into competition with prewar industries which can make the same product the report of this committee recognizes this danger and also the need of handling the sale ot of surpluses in such a manner that they will not flood the market so that the regular producer will have to meet an unnatural competition the report of the committee visualizes the need ol of regulating such conditions and there are many which roust must be foreseen and met I 1 will not go into the details of the report which is a straightforward statement he who runs may read it without encountering the usual where ases and the other impedimenta which many legal documents contain and which makes them quite safe from the danger of perusal by the layman board recommended briefly a board is recommended the president would appoint the administrator subject to confirmation by the senate the administrator would pick his own staff not depre I 1 senta tives of any group but men of special ability fit to represent the united states as a whole men chosen eh 0 for their outstanding qualifications this board would report to congress a congressional committee would keep its eye on the reports report s and its members would sit in at the board meetings the board would not be an operating agency it would be purely administrative making use ol of the existing government agencies it would be called the office of demobilization for the duration it would be a subsidiary of the WP B afterward it would be supreme in its field the importance of this action as tar far as the general public Is concerned is this it represents one of the first steps of 0 congress looking toward taking back its policymaking policy making powers which ol of necessity have been delegated to the administrative branch and does so in a most vital field of endeavor it Is pointed out that these policymaking policy making powers as applied to conversion may affect the economy of the nation for or many years to come for instance as russell put it in the interview congress want any one man or any one agency to decide such vit vital at issues as to whether the government remains in the rubber making business whether we shall have a large merchant marine or a sm small all one important points briefly here are some of the points which the committee recommends 1 that demobilization should be so handled as to preserve free enterprise ter prise 2 that full employment be assured 3 that government owned or controlled tro lied plants be disposed of in a way as not to affect the national economy adversely 4 that disposal of government owned plants should be in line with american foreign policy with the prevention of monopoly with the encouragement coura gement of full competition and small business ano 5 no plants or surpluses disposed of where their existence is vital to the national economy or such disposal affects it adversely or under conditions which would make it impossible for the small business to acquire them and this word of wisdom Is added the shutting down of factories the stoppages of work and the unemployment of workers through delays in contract settlements will cause far greater loss of revenue to the government to say nothing 0 I 1 g general economy than could poso possibly 0 bl y be saved through conventional pre audit of contractors claims in other words the laws delay will be expensive it will be interesting to see it if the lawmakers themselves cause unnecessary delay in this undertaking intelligent tell igent and unselfish consideration and action Is the keyword to a lust just realization of this practical example of planning BRIEFS B R I 1 E F S by baukhage although 1944 tood food production in the united states is expected to be greater than in 1943 military and lend lease requirements in 1844 1944 also will be greater so that the total food supply for or civilians may even be smaller in 1944 than last year ac cording to the department ol of agriculture however civilian stocks may be upped if 11 conditions permit tapping the government reserve |
