‘I was shocked when the Army officials advised the committee that it would take at least 10 days in which to report the number of men in this country who had been in the service for a year or longer, for 2 years, for 3 years, or for over 3 years. They, apparently, do not even know the number of fully trained men they have. But to return to the Byrd report, there would seem to be no reason, in the nature of things, why there should not be a’ drastic curtailment in nonwar agencies. This took place in the last war. Is there any possible excuse, when they talk about drafting fathers, for it not taking place in this war? I understand that when the Byrd committee makes its new report it will recommend that there should be a re- duction of at least 200,000 in the clerical category now employed in the War De- partment. There would seem to be no excuse for the delay in liquidating those agencies which have been ordered to liquidate and whose liquidation would release manpower. ‘The least the Government and the War Department feted before they undertake to draft fathers and break up American homes is to clean their own house. The Baruch report states: In any drive against the hoarding and poor utilization of labor Government- operated plants should set an example. What applies to Government-operated plants applies with greater force to non- essential Government bureaus and the waste of manpower in those bureaus which are essential to the conduct of the war. I pick up a Boston newspaper and note that charges are being made that in the navy yard in that vicinity, there aré several times aS many men as are needed, and some of the great news- papers of that city are calling for an investigation. Mr. REED. Mr. President, will tae Senator yield? Mr. WHEELER. I yield. Mr. REED. At that point, if I may break in upon the Senator from Mon- tana, I wish to read a letter which was received at my office today and brought over to me by my secretary, who knew the Senator from Montana had the - floor, and that from time to time I was interrupting the Senator from Montana for the purpose of illustrating the con- 5541998636 ditions which prevail the country over. The letter is dated Augusta, Kans., Sep- tember 27, 1943, and reads: Just heard a broadcast where the speaker seems in great fear that the Third War Loan drive will not be filled and in’a nice way he considers the home people a bunch of tightwads and slackers. I wonder how many bonds he has and what he received per minute for that talk. He really is no worse than some newspaper writers. In regard to such people, I wonder if in their shriveled one-track minds they can have the intelligence to know that there are very few of us who would not give our last dollar or bite to one of those boys over there but that we are getting d sick and tired of buying bonds and seeing the money go for such things as the Office of War Information, Commodity Credit Corpo- ration, Office of Price Administration, and a hundred other bureaus that the country would he better off withcut. Yes; and money for the radio corporations for fireside chats, Get rid of these bureaus, take the person- nel in them that are of draft age and put them in the Army and stop this draft of fathers not to speak of the saving to the taxpayers. As for the draft, it is nowhere near as bad for Secretary Ickes to lose his secre- tary as for Jim Jones to lose his hired man when he is trying to raise beef for the soldiers. I have a son in the Air Force and am proud of it but I hate to see him fight to protect some rat hiding in 1 Government job, and there are still plenty of sing’e and non- fathers in the defense plants; believe me Iam not quoting hearsay. And the writer underscores the word “hearsay ’— Senator, I hate to bea crab, but take a tip from Senator WHEELER and the more h you can raise about anything that does not pertain directly to the war effort, the more we folks at home are going to back you. I think that letter is quite apropos to the remarks of the Senator from Mon- tana at this point, and, if I may do so, I should like to add that while the writer of the letter makes a rather extreme and impatient statement, yet he reason- ably reflects the attitude and sentiment of $0 percent of the population of the Middle West. Mr. WHEELER. Iagree with the Sen- ator entirely. I have said since I came back from the West that I have never znown so much bitterness and resent- ment on the part of people in my sec- tio. of the country as there are at the present time over the waste, exXtrava- gance, the misuse of manpower, and also