6. Any property which comes into the hands of the procuring agency in connection with contract termination which is not disposed of as hereinbefore provided and which has been determined by the procuring agency to be surplus to its needs should be reported to the central agency for disposition. Upon receipt of such report the central agency shall with reasonable promptness take possession accountability, and full responsibility for any further maintenance or utilization removal, protection, storage, sale, or other disposition of the property. The central agency shall consult with the procuring agency as to the disposition of any property of special military significance. The procuring agency shall have the right to remove and store for the account and at the risk of the central agency any property so reported, pending action by the central agency. 7. The procuring agency shall render all reasonable assistance to the central agency in performing its obligations under paragraph 6. The central agency shall be authorized to use any existing storage or other facilities which the procuring agency finds it practicable to make available to it. 8. Transfers to the central agency shall be made without values, but the central agency shall make periodic reports to the procuring agency as to the aggregate estimated value of items transferred, valuations to be based on disposal values at the time of transfer to the central agency, as estimated by the central agency. 9. Any disposition of property by the procuring agencies or the central agency shall be made subject to such regulations as the particular agency may prescribe but only in conformity with policies or determinations of the Board and under applicable rulings of the War Production Board, the Office of Price Administration, or any other duly authorized agency. At the request of any procuring agency or the central agency or on its own initiative, the Board may establish or approve pricing formulas under which any article or class of articles may be sold by a procuring agency, may designate the appropriate agency to sell any article or class of articles, and may prohibit or condition the sale of any article or class of articles by a procuring agency. 10. The foregoing provisions relate solely to property in the hands of prime contractors. In order to carry out the basic policies of speedy adjustment of contracts and prompt clearance of plants, the same principles should be applied to property in the hands of subcontractors of any level where the subcontractor submits lists of such property prepared in accordance with paragraph 1, with the certificate of the prime contractor that the items listed are believed to be properly allocable to the prime contract, or any other satisfactory evidence of that fact. APPENDIX 3 Role of Major War Agencies. The reconversion of industry from war to peace often is spoken of as if it were one job. Actually, many jobs are involved, all of which must be done together. Eight major steps in industrial reconversion can be listed in the order of their sequence: 1. As the war changes, the production of certain weapons and war supplies is cut. Minor adjustments already are taking place; with the defeat of the Nazis, major cuts would come. 2. After the decision as to what is to be cut is made, the next step is to decide which producers of these munitions and supplies are to be cancelled out and which left in production. 8. On all war contracts that are terminated, the Government will owe the manufacturers money. Step three is to determine what the Government owes and to pay manufacturers promptly so they will have ready working capital with which to take on new business. This is called the settlement of terminated war contracts. 4. Simultaneously, the plants of these manufacturers are cleared physically of Government-owned inventories, raw materials, equipment, semifinished parts-this to make room for new equipment and new materials to start up peacetime production. 5. Any materials, inventories, equipment, and other properties coming into the possession of the Government are redistributed among other war producers as far as practicable to stimulate war production. 6. As plants, manpower, and materials are freed from war production, such resources are shifted first to other war work as far as such war work is needed. 7. With war needs satisfied, these resources of manpower, materials, and plants are shifted to increase production and employment for civilians. 8. As war needs slacken, wartime controls are modified or removed. All One Program. While these steps are listed in sequence, all the programs are to be carried through concurrently since adjustments already are taking place and will continue through the end of the war. The entire program must always be kept in balance. The subject index lists the references to what the various war agencies are to do in carrying out the recommendations of our report. Because of their importance, there follows a brief summary of the more important aspects of the roles of the War Production Board and the Armed Services; also, a brief summary of the legislative action requested by the report. Armed Services: To decide what weapons and war supplies should be cut as the war changes, informing the War Production Board as soon as such cuts are thought of; to work with the WPB and other civilian agencies, including War Manpower Commission on the choices of which contracts are to be cancelled; to negotiate settlements of what the Government owes on terminated war contracts after cancellation; to assist the Surplus Property Administrator in promptly clearing Government property from war plants; to work with him and the WPB on redistributing surplus property to stimulate war production; to be prepared to shift contracts to make use of plants and manpower freed by cancellations; to work with the WPB in the preparation of an "X Day" reconversion plan; to work with the "Work Director" on the demobilization of the Armed Forces when that becomes possible. War Production Board: To keep the program of production for war and civilians in constant balance; to lay down the policies to guide the choices for cancelling contracts of war goods no longer needed; to work with the Armed Services and other procurement agencies and with the War Manpower Commission and other civilian agencies in making the actual choices of which producers are to be cancelled and which left in war production; to guide the shifting of contracts to make use of facilities or manpower freed from war production; to decide what civilian production and employment is to be resumed as war needs slacken; to work with the Surplus Administrator and Armed Services on the disposal of surplus Government property so as to stimulate both war production and resumption of civilian employment; to keep all war controls under constant review so that they can be promptly modified; to review worthwhile local projects, deferred during the war, and which may be cleared as war needs slacken. Legislation: "Congress should lay down whatever policies it feels wise and desirable to guide the existing agencies in their handling of demobilization problems"; the Work Director to work with Congress on a combined program of legislation and operations for the entire human side of demobilization; legislation requested for the settling of terminated war contracts; the Surplus Administrator to report to Congress as soon as possible on legislation needed for surplus (overnment prop erty; extension of price control law, the priorities and allocations powers on which the functioning of WPB rests and the requisitioning power of the President; extension of Smaller War Plants Corporation's lending authority to permit changeover assistance; liberalization of Federal Reserve's authority to make industrial loans; post-war tax law on the shelf; Congress consider funds for engineering public works shelf. Office of War Mobilization-- 1, 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 30, 32-34, 86, 40, 51, 54, 62, 69, 70 Reconstruction Finance Corporation__ Smaller War Plants Corporation__. State Department--- Treasury Department--- U. S. Employment Service__. War Production Board___. Agriculture Air Bases_ Airlines. Capital Goods, Disposal-- Contract Termination.. Human Problems_ Lending Powers of RFC.. Price Controls_. Priorities. Public Works__. Real Property. Requisitioning. 12-14, 29, 34, 40, 57 22, 25, 38, 46, 53 12-14, 34, 40, 57 18 13, 14, 34, 57 17,37 13, 16, 17, 19, 25, 28, 33, 36, 37, 39, 57, 59, 60, 69, 71, 72 Smaller War Plants Corporation--- Stand-by Program___ Surplus Taxes__ Congress, Reports to---- Consumer Goods, Disposal_-. Contract Cancellation: Advance Planning of Cancellations_ Informing the Public--- 30 29 29 14, 34, 58 21, 35, 37, 59, 73, 75 2, 6, 7, 15, 18-20, 37, 38, 56, 71 14, 18, 27, 35, 59, 73 11, 34, 51, 53 12, 33, 34, 45, 51, 52 10, 38 20, 87, 74 27, 28 23, 35, 65 38, 46 14-16, 34, 61, 62 2, 13, 27, 38 5, 6, 12, 14-16, 21, 22, 34, 54, 61 14, 34, 57 17-19, 25, 36, 37, 71, 74 16-19, 25, 37, 38 17-20, 36, 37 |