Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

210 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
space was “zoned” by the Civil Aeronautics Board to “facilitate
the movement of military aircraft.” On August 3, to conserve
gasoline, nighttime sales (7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) were banned
to motorists on the eastern seaboard, and on August 15 gasoline
deliveries to 17 eastern states were cut 10 percent. On August 9,
steel was placed under 100 percent priority control by the Offi ce
of Production Management. On August 11, by executive order,
installment credit for consumers’ durable goods was curbed. On
August 16 the president signed a bill extending from one to two
and a half years the period of military duty required of draftees
under the Selective Service Act and of members of the Army and
National Guard. 17 Th en on August 28 the Supply Priorities and
Allocations Board (SPAB) was set up, with Donald M. Nelson,
then on leave from Sears, Roebuck & Co., as executive director,
to handle procurement and to coordinate national-defense
purchases. 18
Top Washington Officials
Consider War Imminent
Early in the fi rst week in December, Roosevelt called Nelson
to his offi ce to talk about a priorities meeting. Th eir discussion had
hardly begun when the president’s appointment secretary, “Pa”
Watson, “came into the room and said, ‘Mr. President, Secretary
Hull is outside with the two Japs’.” FDR then told Nelson, “Don,
I think we shall have to postpone this discussion; I am very anxious
to conclude the discussions with Nomura and Kurusu.” As
Nelson got up to leave, he asked, “How does it look?” FDR “shook
his head gravely and replied, ‘Don, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if
we were at war with Japan by Th ursday [December 4]’.”
17E. Eastman Irving, ed., Th e World Almanac (New York: New York World-
Telegram, 1942), p. 71.
18 Donald M. Nelson, Arsenal of Democracy: Th e Story of American War Production
(New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1946), p. 156.