WPB M-Day

Out of WPB last week, Donald Marr Nelson fired one of his Vice Chairmen--square-jawed Ferdinand Eberstadt, spunky champion of the Army's theory that WPB must stick to materials control, thus indirectly control production. To another Vice Chairman, hornyhanded, hard-working Charles E. Wilson, chief advocate of the right of civilian review of all war production, Nelson virtually relinquished full powers.

Then Donald Nelson sat back, puffed at a sputtering briar, watched half of Washington rage at his most decisive action in 13 months. The rift spread wider between the nation's armed forces and the one civilian agency which supplies them with arms. The military cried aloud for Nelson's resignation, for appointment of the man who saw the job and did it in World War I--grey old Bernard Mannes Baruch.

Now Franklin Roosevelt was faced with a dilemma. Like Donald Nelson he had sat by while a clash of personalities built up into a major conflict. Some day soon he might have to choose--between Nelson and the Army point of view, between sweeping reorganization of WPB or creation of yet another agency.

Anatomy of Conflict. From the Army & Navy Munitions Board Nelson had taken Ferdinand Eberstadt, former investment banker, friend of Bernard Baruch, firm believer in the doctrine that fighting men best know fighting needs. In a few short weeks, Vice Chairman Eberstadt worked out a master plan to get scarce materials to the right war factories in the right quantities at the right time. Army & Navy were solidly behind him.

But Nelson had called in another stout assistant, who tackled what was, in effect, the same job from a different angle. General Electric Co.'s President Charles Wilson is one of the country's outstanding production engineers. In WPB he concentrated on production schedules. In a few short weeks he had cut in on Eberstadt, cut in on the military. The armed forces protested, told WPB it should stick to the stuff that guns are made of.

Palace Coup. Behind Charley Wilson stood a Palace Guard. A small but potent group of original New Dealers, they looked with alarm on any upsurge of military influence. They called Ferd Eberstadt a front for the services, set out to get his scalp. In other days they would have called Wilson a front for big business, but now they rallied round him.

It was a well-entrenched guard. On its general staff were New Deal intellectuals like Milton Katz, just another member of the WPB legal staff, actually Nelson's chief legal adviser; there was Economist Mordecai Ezekiel, Planner Bob Nathan, Statistician Simon Kuznetz, and at least one former businessman, Vice Chairman William L. Batt. Behind the scenes they campaigned and politicked to throw Eberstadt out, put Wilson on top.

When M-day came to WPB last week, Donald Nelson faced a dilemma of his own making. Month ago he could have bumped the heads of his fractious assistants. Last week Palace Guard shenanigans had gone too far to make this any longer possible. In sacrifice of top-flight ability, his indecision had cost the U.S. dearly.

Asked the New York Herald Tribune:

"Will this latest shake-up prevent a recurrence of these costly disturbances? One can only guess regretfully 'no'--regretfully, because their source, one can't help feeling, will not be removed until Mr. Nelson himself steps down."

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