WAR ASSETS ADMINISTRATION,
Washington 25, D. C., July 31, 1947.
The Honorable THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
The Honorable THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
SIRS: In accordance with Section 24 of the Surplus Property Act,
there is submitted herewith the progress report for the second quarter
of 1947.
I have called this report to the Congress, "War Surplus in the Peace-
time Economy." The extent to which war surpluses have contributed
to industry and to the public welfare is illustrated in the report.
The actions taken in disposing of war surpluses have affected the
welfare of all the people. The benefit will be felt for years to come.
Consumers and the business community have gained. Public bodies-
Federal, State, educational, public health and nonprofit institutions-
have benefited greatly from more than $2 billion of war surplus.
This vast outpouring of surplus measures up to our yardstick, "Is
it for the common good?"
In the past 12 months, during which time I have been Administrator,
disposals of surplus property have totaled $13.6 billion. This is
nearly three times the amount disposed of in the three years prior to
July 1, 1946. Only 15 percent of the total job had been completed
a year ago 55 percent has now been accomplished. The rate of
inventory turnover is now more than double what it was a year ago.
The surplus disposal program has entered the "pre-liquidation"
phase. We shall continue our tried and proved methods of disposal.
But we shall also experiment further with methods that may be used
more broadly to clear out plants and warehouses.
The future disposal task may amount to as much as $15 billion of
surplus property. This includes large acquisitions expected to come
from the owning agencies over the next few months. I hope the final
phase of liquidation for this surplus can begin early in 1948.