Preview of a Problem

Once again in the newspapers came a purse-stirring rash of headlines about the beautiful washers, irons, refrigerators and other aids to streamlined living that are just around the corner. But once again the spray of news evaporated. What was left: the citizenry, some time in 1944, will probably get 2,000,000 standardized, $35 electric irons, about one-third of peak production (1941); there may also be a few new refrigerators and washing machines.

Even that little blob of "essential civilian" production was a notable victory for tiny, grey Arthur D. Whiteside, chief of WPB's underprivileged Office of Civilian Requirements. Arthur Whiteside took his job seven months ago with the clear understanding that all he could hope to offer the U.S. civilian would be an occasional scrap from the military's groaning table. For months he battled with the Services just for the privilege of using the scraps. The military can spare the scraps all right, but they feared (and still fear) that U.S. civilians will automatically conclude that the war is about over if production of civilian goods is resumed.

New Battles. Now OCRBoss Whiteside faced a new battle: while zooming war production has surfeited the Services with goods, new obstacles have arisen to civilian goods production.

Whiteside's problem: 1) to find the manpower to use the materials; 2) to find factories willing & able to produce limited quantities of goods really needed.

He must do these things without upsetting the postwar applecart. For example, while consumers' durable goods are now dangerously scarce, their wartime production raises immediate basic questions of trademarks and competitive models.* Last week the leading prewar producers of irons --now leading producers of war goods--took a haughty view of reconverting to limited production. Yet they were also a little nervous about letting any small fry get a possible postwar advantage.

But when items like automobiles can again be produced in limited quantities, the reconversion problem must be faced head on. Sample question, already hissing around Detroit: Must Packard go on making Rolls-Royce airplane engines while Chevrolet--or Ford or Dodge or Nash--begins making cars?

* One reason electric iron production is to be resumed: an OCR survey turned up only 14 new irons for sale throughout the U. S. A later survey found only one.

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