Break in the Levee

Just when Franklin Roosevelt's silence (he had canceled two press conferences, cut a third to three minutes) was beginning to remind newsmen of the sinister quiet of Old Man River, rolling with many an audible swish and chuckle along the levee, he burst his banks. He revealed one important accomplishment of Winston Churchill's visit to the U.S.

From the White House this week came an order setting up three new boards, jointly with Great Britain, which in effect will pool: 1) the raw materials, 2) munitions, 3) shipping facilities of Britain and the U.S. At the same moment, the same news was issued in London.

Each board will have one head named by the President to represent the U.S., one named by Mr. Churchill representing Britain. The Combined Raw Materials Board and the Munitions Assignment Board will actually deal with their stocks as part of "a common pool." Under the Combined Shipping Adjustment Board, said the President, "owing to the military and physical facts of the situation around the British Isles," Britain and the U.S. will each direct ship movements in its own waters. But, in principle, "the shipping resources of the two countries will be deemed to be pooled."

The U.S. and Britain will direct the pool, but board members will work with representatives of Russia, China and the other United Nations to allocate war materials as they are needed for "the most effective utilization of the joint resources of the United Nations."

Observers hoped that this new breach in the levee, which has until now channeled the entire U.S. war effort through the narrow banks of the President's office, would be as wide and effective as the break which put Donald Nelson in charge of war production at home. By superseding the host of obscure agencies and purchasing commissions which have been handling aid to the Allies, the President's three new boards may be able to swell Lend-Lease to a torrent, send it roaring down to engulf the Axis.

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