Although new priorities orders are still issued every week, the priorities system, as a master pattern for U.S. defense, is through.
Donald Nelson, who inherited the priorities tangle a month ago, was convinced last week that the tangle was beyond straightening. Before a House Committee, he disclosed that priorities soon would be replaced by outright allocation.
No manufacturer, said Nelson, can operate efficiently unless he knows how much of what material he can buy and when. Priority ratings do not tell him, because too many manufacturers in the same business have the same rating. The reaction of many a businessman, in...