In the background is shown the start of a defense worker's home, in the outskirts of Detroit. Until he can finish the building in his spare time, his family must live in the tent.

The build-it-yourself system of real-estate operations is flourishing in the vicinity of the Chrysler tank

plant in Warren Township.

Open water ditches menace the health of Warren Township. Sewage flows along roads which boys and

A green-scum-covered ditch in the southern part of Royal Oak Township receives the overflow from septic tanks. Alongside runs Eleven Mile Road, a main highway, and paths for the school children. (See p. 7694.)

Mr. OSMERS. Is there any hope for those people? I am thinking now of the fellow who is in the position that the automobile manufacturer was in-that is, he had his tools and his shop geared up for a certain operation, and he hasn't the financial strength to convert it into a defense industry.

Mr. CARLTON. Of course, there are some people who just never will get any business because they haven't any equipment which is adaptable to the defense program. There are others who will get business as the defense program percolates, by subcontracting and by the present efforts of O. P. M. in establishing offices locally.

They have placed a lot of business recently with small manufacturers.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Carlton, the time factor has exerted an influence throughout these procedures, has it not?

Mr. CARLTON. Personally I don't believe it could have been done any better than it has been done.

The CHAIRMAN. There was a time element there which represented the pressure.

Mr. CARLTON. Yes.

Mr. OSMERS. Do you feel, Mr. Carlton, that the prospective cut in automobile production is too large at 50 percent?

Mr. CARLTON. I certainly don't want to stick my neck out and try to answer that question. I would like to amplify what Mr. Wilson said. I have stood in the offices of O. P. M. and heard representatives of the Army and Navy come in, demanding material under priorities, and I have heard them admit that they don't need the material until 1942.

SHORTAGE OF PLATES

The subject of plates is one of my pet peeves. There is a shortage of plates today, and there are places where there are plenty of plates stacked up that won't be used until the last of next year, and some not until 1942, and because of that the automotive industry is greatly hampered and cut at the present time.

That was a matter of timing and managing and planning, and I am told that no one executive had the authority to step into the Army or Navy and tell them how they must schedule their material, until the last Executive order creating S. P. A. B.,' and in that Executive order, Mr. Nelson is given the definite power to schedule not only civilian but also defense production.

When he starts doing that, I think there will be more steel available and more opportunities to build civilian articles than there are now. Mr. OSMERS. I gather, from your panel and from the union panel this morning, that the fault has not been at the point of manufacture. The fault has been in Washington. I have learned that you men in your capacities have stood ready to do your job, and labor apparently was ready to do its job; but orders were not forthcoming from Washington.

NO HOARDING OF AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Mr. CARLTON. That is right; and I am willing to go on record in saying that there has been no hoarding of any materials by the automotive industry as a whole. The hoarding has been done by the Army and Navy.

Mr. OSMERS. Now, as a general question for all of the panel: I believe that all, or at least several, of your companies have undertaken the construction of new plants for defense. When these are completed and in operation, what proportion of your defense capacity will be represented by these plants?

Mr. CARLTON (Motor Wheel Corporation). I can't answer that question because we built no new plants. We used our old plants.

Mr. CONDER (Chrysler). I can't answer that, but I can tell you how many of our people will be employed on defense, and I can tell you how many of those people will be employed on our present facilities that are used for automobile construction, and the number who will be employed in these new plants.

Mr. OSMERS. Would you give us those figures, Mr. Conder?

Mr. CONDER. I have the number of employees in defense jobs that we now have, and I have the number of employees by plants. Do you want it both ways?

Mr. OSMERS. The question that we are interested in at the moment is the one of plant capacity—that is, new plant capacity-as compared with the old plant, and the percentage of your defense work that will be done in the new plants and the percentage in the old existing plants.

Mr. CONDER. I haven't it worked out that way. As I say, I can give you the number of employees by plants. If I had some time I could work it out for you;

The CHAIRMAN. We will give you the time, because our record will not be closed for a couple of weeks. If you forward the information to Washington, we will insert it as part of this hearing. Mr. CONDER. Then I will work it out for you.'

1 The following letter from Mr. Conder was received subsequent to the hearing:

Mr. HAROLD D. CULLEN,

Associate Editor, House Committee Investigating Defense Migration,

CHRYSLER CORPORATION,
Detroit, Mich., October 21, 1941.

Washington, D. C.

DEAR MR. CULLEN: I have your letter of October 16, 1941. While testifying before the House Committee Investigating National Defense Migration, I was asked in substance how much floor space in our established plants was being devoted to defense work as compared to the floor space used in new plants for defense work. I stated at the time that I did not think I could give this information, but suggested that I might be able to advise how many employees were working on defense work in the automobile plants and how many were working on defense work in new buildings. In checking into this matter I found that the situation changes so rapidly that any figures given would be interesting only as of the date covered and could not be taken as any indication of what the situation would be at any time in the future.

As the defense work develops and as new defense work is taken on, different or additional manufacturing equipment is required. We are trying to use whatever facilities are best adaptable to the completion in the proper way of our defense work. Under the circumstances, no detailed figures covering any particular date will be furnished for the record.

Yours very truly,

(Signed) ROBERT W. CONDER, Director of Labor Relations.