For War Planners

"An alert nation, militarily and industrially prepared against a national emergency, has an excellent chance of avoiding such an emergency." With these words of dubious comfort, the Munitions Board last week issued a booklet entitled Military Procurement, a comprehensive pocket guide to war planning by U.S. industry.

The booklet illustrates the Defense Department's new "single-procurement" system (in which one branch of the service will do all the buying for all three branches in certain specified items), gives the address and telephone number of every procurement office in the country. No mere blueprint, it tells manufacturers what they should do--now--to avoid getting caught with their overalls down. With a reminder of items that were short in World War II (paper, asbestos, industrial diamonds, etc.), it lists what would be needed first in another war: bearings, generators, rubber-working machinery, etc.

The nub of the booklet is a catechism of preparedness which the board wants every manufacturer to answer, at least to his own satisfaction. It covers everything from contract negotiations to plans for the "emergency housing for the new workers you'll need." Sample questions: "What measures could you take to protect your personnel during work hours in an air attack? What provisions have been made to detect the existence of subversive elements on your payroll?"

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.