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Commissioner was created; this Office has been delegated authority to
will be placed in all Federal Loan Agency offices, Reconstruction
dispose of all goods in foreign countries except merchant ships.
Finance Corporation disposal centers, etc.
Other Surplus Property Board regulations provide for :
The Surplus Property Act, when passed, presented many difficult
Granting of priorities to Government agencies and State or local
questions of interpretation. Many of these have been resolved by the
governments;
orders and regulations that have been issued during the last 3 months.
Assurances of a flow of surplus goods to farmers and rural areas;
By and large, it is becoming increasingly evident that adherence to
Disposal of surplus aircraft at nominal prices to educational in-
the spirit-and even the letter-of the Surplus Property Act does not
stitutions for nonflight use;
/
present insurmountable obstacles.
Arrangements whereby veterans can obtain surplus goods through
Although considerable progress has been made, especially in recent
the Smaller War Plants Corporation;
weeks, the Surplus Property Board has merely approached the tro-
Implementation of the priorities system established in the Surplus
mendous task of surplus disposal. Many problems remain to be
solved, many new ones will be coming up. But as the personnel of the
Property Act for disposing of nonindustrial real property.
Board and its disposal agencies expand, as more studies are made, as
Two other regulations recently issued are designed specifically to
further experience is gained, techniques will be developed which will
put surpluses to work in reconversion. One of these regulations en-
reduce the task to manageable proportions. In the meantime, the
ables contractors to purchase promptly Government-owned inventories
Board is studying ways and means:
in contractors' plants; the other enables contractors to purchase Gov-
To avoid glutting civilian markets and to prevent speculators
ernment-owned machine tools and equipment located in their plants.
from siphoning goods out of normal disposal channels;
The orderly execution of both these regulations will speed industry's
To scrap largely unsaleable property promptly SO as to clear
transition to peacetime production and employment.
plants, prevent the pyramiding of storage and maintenance
costs, and reduce paper work.
To Avoid Delays
To speed surplus declarations and to obtain advance notice so
In taking this action, the Board had in mind the delays that would
that warehousing, handling methods, and sales can be planned
result if a sizeable portion of Government-owned inventories, machine
even before property actually comes up for disposal.
tools, and plant equipment had to be taken out of contractors' plants
To make the best use of existing stocks-both at home and
and offered in the open market. The Board felt that the need for
abroad-so that the Army, Navy, and other governmental agen-
expediting reconversion outweighed the possibility that granting a
cies inadvertently do not purchase anew what is already on
preference to contractors in possession would give them an advantage
hand.
in reconversion. Such inventories and equipment are presumably
These are not all of our major problems, but they do suggest the
diffused among large and small companies throughout industry. It
magnitude and complexity of the task we face.
is therefore believed that no industry or company will get a monopo-
listic advantage and that small business will not be hurt. Neverthe-
less, the Board is watching the operation of these two measures closely
and is prepared to institute such safeguards as may. be necessary.
Disposal agencies have tried various sales procedures. Farm equip-
ment and supplies have been sold by auction; materials and light
planes by sealed bid; general-purpose tools at a specified price; trans-
port planes and certain plants by negotiation. The Reconstruction
Finance Corporation has advertised surplus plants, and has circulated
brief descriptions among firms and individuals who might be inter-
ested. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation now plans to make
available comprehensive engineering surveys covering war plants and
equipment owned by its Defense Plant Corporation subsidiary these
32
33
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Document data
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- document
DTO data
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Context sent to Scholar
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Page context
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"ocrText": "Commissioner was created; this Office has been delegated authority to\nwill be placed in all Federal Loan Agency offices, Reconstruction\ndispose of all goods in foreign countries except merchant ships.\nFinance Corporation disposal centers, etc.\nOther Surplus Property Board regulations provide for :\nThe Surplus Property Act, when passed, presented many difficult\nGranting of priorities to Government agencies and State or local\nquestions of interpretation. Many of these have been resolved by the\ngovernments;\norders and regulations that have been issued during the last 3 months.\nAssurances of a flow of surplus goods to farmers and rural areas;\nBy and large, it is becoming increasingly evident that adherence to\nDisposal of surplus aircraft at nominal prices to educational in-\nthe spirit-and even the letter-of the Surplus Property Act does not\nstitutions for nonflight use;\n/\npresent insurmountable obstacles.\nArrangements whereby veterans can obtain surplus goods through\nAlthough considerable progress has been made, especially in recent\nthe Smaller War Plants Corporation;\nweeks, the Surplus Property Board has merely approached the tro-\nImplementation of the priorities system established in the Surplus\nmendous task of surplus disposal. Many problems remain to be\nsolved, many new ones will be coming up. But as the personnel of the\nProperty Act for disposing of nonindustrial real property.\nBoard and its disposal agencies expand, as more studies are made, as\nTwo other regulations recently issued are designed specifically to\nfurther experience is gained, techniques will be developed which will\nput surpluses to work in reconversion. One of these regulations en-\nreduce the task to manageable proportions. In the meantime, the\nables contractors to purchase promptly Government-owned inventories\nBoard is studying ways and means:\nin contractors' plants; the other enables contractors to purchase Gov-\nTo avoid glutting civilian markets and to prevent speculators\nernment-owned machine tools and equipment located in their plants.\nfrom siphoning goods out of normal disposal channels;\nThe orderly execution of both these regulations will speed industry's\nTo scrap largely unsaleable property promptly SO as to clear\ntransition to peacetime production and employment.\nplants, prevent the pyramiding of storage and maintenance\ncosts, and reduce paper work.\nTo Avoid Delays\nTo speed surplus declarations and to obtain advance notice so\nIn taking this action, the Board had in mind the delays that would\nthat warehousing, handling methods, and sales can be planned\nresult if a sizeable portion of Government-owned inventories, machine\neven before property actually comes up for disposal.\ntools, and plant equipment had to be taken out of contractors' plants\nTo make the best use of existing stocks-both at home and\nand offered in the open market. The Board felt that the need for\nabroad-so that the Army, Navy, and other governmental agen-\nexpediting reconversion outweighed the possibility that granting a\ncies inadvertently do not purchase anew what is already on\npreference to contractors in possession would give them an advantage\nhand.\nin reconversion. Such inventories and equipment are presumably\nThese are not all of our major problems, but they do suggest the\ndiffused among large and small companies throughout industry. It\nmagnitude and complexity of the task we face.\nis therefore believed that no industry or company will get a monopo-\nlistic advantage and that small business will not be hurt. Neverthe-\nless, the Board is watching the operation of these two measures closely\nand is prepared to institute such safeguards as may. be necessary.\nDisposal agencies have tried various sales procedures. Farm equip-\nment and supplies have been sold by auction; materials and light\nplanes by sealed bid; general-purpose tools at a specified price; trans-\nport planes and certain plants by negotiation. The Reconstruction\nFinance Corporation has advertised surplus plants, and has circulated\nbrief descriptions among firms and individuals who might be inter-\nested. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation now plans to make\navailable comprehensive engineering surveys covering war plants and\nequipment owned by its Defense Plant Corporation subsidiary these\n32\n33"
}