like to have your opinion as to the administrative side of it, the need for a provision-I refer to this section 6, bringing into this act certain sections of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940. I want | to invite your attention to and have your opinion upon this. Section 6 provides that a new section, 108, shall be written in, and it will then make available to certain workers the benefits of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act, mostly moratorium on mortgages and things of that sort, but you will notice in line 6 it makes it available to a person volunteering for or ordered to employment pursuant to section 5N4. It does not make it available to those under 5N2, who would be people frozen in, and therefore, as I understand, in our industrial system there is a moratorium on mortgages for those volunteering or ordered in, but the frozen in do not have any protection. I just wondered whether that discrimination was worth putting into the act at all. Secretary PATTERSON. I do not know the reason for it. My attention has never been directed to that. I presume the draftsman supposed those who were frozen in had already made the arrangements, and so were living at home. Senator JOHNSON. That is not the answer. Secretary PATTERSON. Whereas, a man might be obliged under this bill to go and live in some other place, and he might still be stuck for rent in the place he lived and therefore needed a moratorium. Senator BURTON. Let us concede that to be a distinction in this act, but you freeze a man in his plant and he gets no moratorium, and you move a man over across the town from his plant and he gets a moratorium Secretary PATTERSON. He does not need it in that case. Secretary PATTERSON. The only moratorium he has is to get paid Senator BURTON. If you make it available to the men frozen in, then, it seems to me you discriminate against the rest of the country that is not frozen in. As I see this whole section here, they are now left out. These men are not going into the Army at lower pay, they are still in industry, and yet they are under the Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Act, when they are not soldiers or sailors. Secretary PATTERSON. Some of them might be persuaded, but I fear it will be few. I do not believe in this instance you would get many from voluntary cooperation, because they wont take jobs in another plant where the pay is not as good. Senator BURTON. Is this the remedy? There is no stronger argument in the world than that against discrimination. If we pass this bill and discriminate in favor of everybody who volunteers or gets ordered to work, and he gets a moratorium, and gets the benefits of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Act you will have applications to amend the law in favor of those who get frozen in. When you get it amended for those who are frozen in, you will get applications to amend the law in favor of war workers in other areas who are not frozen in; the whole thing is in great difficulty. Senator JOHNSON. On page 13, Senator Burton, it says: For the purpose of this section, the period during which the relief and benefits provided in section 106 shall be in effect, shall in no event extend beyond 30 days from the date of making application for employment. I know this is section 108, and section 108 is a new section that is being inserted here. It is not clear to me, at least, just how comprehensive that qualification up there in section 106 is. Senator BURTON. I think I know what that qualification means. It relates to section 106, and 106 refers to the period between the time you are ordered to be inducted and the time you are actually inducted into military service. It provides that this period shall not be recognized for more than 30 days. Applying this to the present bill it means that between the time you are ordered to go to work and the time when you do go to work, shall not be recognized for more than 30 days. Senator JOHNSON. You are suggesting this whole thing be eliminated and my suggestion is perhaps, could you place some kind of a limitation on 108? Senator BURTON. I doubt it. Senator JOHNSON. It is a transition period; 108 takes care of the transition period; 108 is inserted in here. Senator BURTON. It affects a little more than the transition period when you give him a moratorium on rent and mortgages and these things. Senator JOHNSON. When they are taken from their homes in Ohio and moved out to Colorado to work, they ought to have some protection. Senator BURTON. Some of them are not going to move that far; they are going to be moved across town. The CHAIRMAN. Just one question, which is primarily for the record, because we will be asked. You have mentioned things just to encourage voluntary employment and things of that kind merely affecting those people who would volunteer to go into war jobs. Now, when selective service was set up we provided that the voluntary system would still be continued. Now, the very first act in the administration of the selective service was to cut the voluntary system off. Now is there any danger that some administrator might decide that the proper way to move men is by the compulsory way and not by the voluntary way, and not let the men go of their own volition? Secretary PATTERSON. I don't believe there is, but there is reason in that, Senator. I know, too, that the bill itself provides that the request shall be made before any direction or order is given. The CHAIRMAN. Of course, we were able to overcome that but we had to take some time and confusion, I understand, and the first induction was extremely great, as you probably remember, members of the committee. May I read a communication which has just been handed me, so that it will be in the record? It is addressed to me and it is signed by very many Congressmen and Congresswomen, so I think it ought to be in the record. (The letter referred to is as follows:) Hon. ELBERT D. THOMAS, CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, Chairman, Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR THOMAS: It is with the deepest respect that we Members of the House of Representatives address ourselves to you and the members of the Senate Military Affairs Committee. We wish to express to you our pleasure at the reports in the press that your committee is considering the Office of War Mobilization or the War Manpower Commission as the administrative agency under any manpower legislation. We voted for the May bill out of our deep concern for the interests of the war and the Nation and because of the great emphasis placed upon the need for such legislation by our Commander in Chief and the Chiefs of Staff. However, we also supported amendments which would have allowed the agencies now responsible for civilian manpower to maintain that responsibility, and we will support again any conference report, following action of the Senate, which accomplishes this important end. We are vitally concerned, too, in protecting the interests of the American working man and woman, whose contribution to this war is second to none. It is in their interest as well as the interest of the war and war production that we urge that the War Manpower Commission continue in its role as mobilizer of the Nation's manpower. It is vital that an agency, which provides a structure whereby both labor and industry can cooperate in solving the manpower problems, should control such problems. Most respectfully, Herman P. Eberharter, Helen Gahagan Douglas, W. R. Thom, This list of names is only a few of the great number of Members who have expressed themselves as being opposed to the administration of the bill by selectiveservice boards. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any other question that anyone wishes to ask? If not, we will stand in adjournment until tomorrow morning at 10:30 o'clock, when the Navy Secretaries and Mr. Paul McNutt will be the three witnesses. (Whereupon, at 4:20 p. m., the committee adjourned to 10:30 a. m., Wednesday, February 7, 1945.) MOBILIZATION OF CIVILIAN MANPOWER WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1945 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C. [EXECUTIVE SESSIONI The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10:30 a. m., in the committee room of the Committee on Military Affairs, United States Capitol, Senator Elbert D. Thomas (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Thomas of Utah, Hill, Chandler, Kilgore, O'Mahoney, Wagner, Maybank, Austin, Gurney, Revercomb, and Burton. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. You can begin anytime you are ready, Mr. Secretary. STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES V. FORRESTAL, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY Secretary FORRESTAL. Mr. Chairman, I am going to edit the prepared remarks because I see no reason for repeating the ground covered by Secretary Stimson. I have also asked Mr. Bard to interject with any comments he would like to make. The CHAIRMAN. And we can also interject? Secretary FORRESTAL. Yes, indeed. I do not propose to make any long dissertation on the question of the use of manpower under this bill or to repeat arguments which you have already heard. I thought it would be preferable to concentrate on what seems to me to be a few essentials. First, I am under no illusion there is any magic formula or magic law that provides or will provide any automatic solution for manpower difficulties because they arrive out of the abnormalities of war, out of the shifting and requirements of the services, the lessening of emphasis on one weapon and the sudden increase of emphasis on another, and the sudden demands that come from the fighting fronts, and particularly in our own case, the unpredictable volume of repair work. That, I suppose, is our critical difficulty at the moment. Second, the manpower legislation which the Army and Navy are now supporting and hope will pass is not aimed only at the relief of presently existing manpower shortages, but more importantly at the critical situations which we think will develop during the coming months as the full impact of the additional drain upon the Nation's manpower to meet Army and Navy requirements is felt. I have had the impression not enough emphasis has been put on that. The CHAIRMAN. Off the record. (Discussion was had outside the record.) Secretary FORRESTAL. May I continue, Senator? Secretary FORRESTAL. This legislation which we are supporting is aimed not merely at the relief of existing shortages but at critical situations which we think will develop during the coming months as the impact of an additional drain, both in terms of what the Army needs for the Army and the additional drain coming out of our new industrial demands is felt throughout the Nation. In other words, we are merely exercising the prudence which I think should be exercised in any business as serious as war. War is business, but it is an awfully serious business because it deals with death. We hope to insure that uninterrupted flow of weapons and supplies, coupled with the valor of our fighting men, has enabled us to achieve victories. The best estimates of the War Production Board and the War Manpower Commission indicate that the shortage in so-called must programs is now on the order of 170,000 men. In the first 6 monthof 1945 we will need about 550,000 more if we are to meet the steppedup demands in certain critical items, most of which are for the Army, with the qualification that three major programs, the production of rockets, the construction of cruisers and carriers, and the repair of ships are under naval cognizance. Those are top priorities so far as the Navy is concerned. Senator GURNEY. May I interrupt, Mr. Secretary? Secretary FORRESTAL. Yes, sir. Senator GURNEY. You quoted figures of 550,000 and 170,000. Suppose the Army is going to take, or Selective Service is going to take, in the Army 500,000 out of industry to go into the actual war effort in training as soldiers or sailors; will that add to the number you have quoted? Secretary FORRESTAL. There is no question it will. I am not trying to be precise about that because it is pretty difficult to be accurate in quoting precise figures as to what the Army takes, but it will add to this; there is no doubt about that. Senator GURNEY. That is a point I wanted to have your say-so on, because generally the word is out we will need 700,000 for industry. But if you take 500,000 men out of industry now and put them into the military forces, then industry will need 1,200,000, roughly. Secretary FORRESTAL. That is right. Senator GURNEY. And then the military forces have to have their 900,000 besides? Secretary FORRESTAL. Yes. Shall I proceed, Senator? Secretary FORRESTAL. Third. The manpower shortage of today is in certain localities and in certain industries. It is not an exceptionally widespread shortage. The principal ones are steel, heavyduty tires-I think it has been said men in Youngstown have been working 16 hours a day in order to fill up certain deficiencies, and obviously there is a limit to the human capacity to continue at that rate. The heavy-duty tire industry, the ammunition and rocket plants, the foundries, the west coast navy yards, to name a few, are shy of the labor necessary to meet their schedules. |