Editorial: To preserve Christmas
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Fatigue causes drop in German production despite Nazi decrees
Workers to get paid only for ‘useful’ labor; weak, sick told to hang on
By Nat A. Barrows
Fifth of a series
Stockholm, Sweden –
Even if they drop in their tracks from ailments, fatigue or simply lack of strength, German factory workers must somehow manage to turn out their quota of production for the Nazis’ badly-battered war machine.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s appeal for more ammunition from America has been matched by a Nazi decree, inside Germany, demanding both increased production and decreased use of raw materials. It is a flat edict with no “ifs” or “buts” commanding all workers to intensify their output capacity.
The new factory schedule alters the wage scale so that the worker gets paid only for “useful work accomplished” and expressly warns the weak and sick that they must hang on, somehow, and do what they can.
This decree from Labor Minister Fritz Sauckel explains the seriou8s difficulties with which the Nazi war industry is confronted today, but it does not mean that Nazi industry is already falling apart. Production has been hit seriously by concentrated bombings against such priority targets as synthetic oil and airplane factories, yet that fabulous group of five men behind the Speer Ministry is still able to keep factory wheels geared to war requirements – at least for the moment.
Reach saturation point
It is a question how much longer Armaments and War Production Minister Albert Speer, and his four all-powerful colleagues on the Speer Ministry’s governing board, can keep up production needs. The saturation point in Nazi industry definitely has been reached. Heavy industry just beyond the Western Front is taking terrific punishment. And the number of available workers decreases after every bomb raid.
The Nazis anticipated some of these problems long ago, as a briefcase alongside the body of that genius, Fritz Todt (killed in an airplane crash in February 1942) gave the outline for developing inside Germany an industrial empire without contrast in history. Todt told the Germans how to achieve maximum efficiency for industrial self-government with a minimum of bureaucracy and red tape.
Implementing Todt’s ideas, the Germans have developed a five-man group with unprecedented control over industry. This group today runs, directly or indirectly, every German factory.
Machines standardized
Long ago, it standardized machines and parts to make them completely interchangeable; long ago, it developed a plan for labor mobility so that factory workers could be moved quickly from one district to another; long ago it fixed working conditions so rigidly that employees were enslaved to benches and machines.
But the genius of Todt, and the fantastic power of the Speer Ministry warlords, could not overcome human fatigue. They have increased the number of rest periods and they have tried various psychological tricks, but industrial efficiency has continued to drop nonetheless.
Longer working hours and extreme simplification of methods have not shown satisfactory compensations. Efficiency has continued to drop.
Causes listed
The basic causes for the declining efficiency are such that the Nazis are able to do little about them:
- Drained-up reserves of foreign workers
- Reduced incentive for good work and absence of competition
- The number of unskilled women employed under the compulsory labor order
- Longer working hours and the heavy strain from worry, bomber raids, fatigue and lack of recreation.
The Speer Ministry, ruling industry with absolute dictatorial powers has dispersed factories fat and wide throughout Germany, many of them underground, safe from even Allied earthquake bombs. What they could not do, what they cannot do, is to make machines run without human strength behind them.
That factor looms directly behind Germany’s declining industrial output. Manpower can be stretched just so far – and not one inch more.
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Touring Chicago with a notebook –
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Gracie Allen Reporting
By Gracie Allen
Well, last night, we stayed over in Chicago getting our reservations straightened out. I was particularly impressed with Chicago’s share-the-taxi plan. Of course, it’s nice for girls, as we usually sit on the lap on some handsome office. In fact, today, I received one of the fastest promotions in the history of the U.S. Navy. While turning a corner on State Street, I went from an ensign to an admiral in about two seconds.
During our stay, I ran into a Republican delegate who has been trying to get home to Maine since the convention. As he had sworn not to shave if Dewey lost, he now had bleached his beard and was working as a Santa Claus at a department store.
It was fascinating to watch him bounce the little boys on his knee and ask if they wanted to be President. Those who answered “yes” were immediately referred to the Republican National Committee as possible future candidates.
Bomb drills deep
Washington –
The new six-ton bomb of the Allies, combining a tremendous penetrating power with a very destructive blast, drills its way deep into its target, then sets off the heaviest possible charge of very powerful explosive. During attacks on Nazi fortifications, the bombs have drilled through 144 inches of concrete, then exploded inside.