240 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



mittee continued to assign precedence listings which were promulgated 

 throughout the electronic industry through its subsidiary organization, the 

 Electronics Production List Agency. 



In general it may be said that research and development on war weapons 

 fared well under the priorities system; but this was true only because of the 

 intensive work of a small group who were constandy fighting the battle on 

 behalf of research. Without a system of priorities, research could not have 

 competed with production; within the priority system, it maintained its 

 position through constant attention and vigorous action. 



Property 



In general a contractor was free to purchase any item of personal property 

 that he or the Scientific Officer considered necessary for the work called for 

 by the contract without the specific approval of the Contracting Officer. An 

 exception was motor vehicles, the purchase of which required prior approval. 

 Alterations and construction work which cost in excess of $500 on the con- 

 tractor's owned or leased premises was permitted only with the specific 

 approval of the Contracting Officer. The acquisition of real property by 

 purchase or lease likewise required the approval of the Contracting Officer. 



The sense of urgency which OSRD brought to its task made it impera- 

 tive that research work not be delayed while the necessity for the purchase 

 of a particular piece of equipment was debated. The risk that a contractor 

 might purchase in excess of his requirements was less serious than the risk 

 of delayed results if an elaborate system of controls were imposed. As a 

 matter of fact, the character of OSRD contractors was in itself a consid- 

 erable guarantee against reckless spending, and the difl&culty of making 

 purchases as the supplies of materials and equipment grew tighter operated 

 as an automatic control on purchases. 



The responsibility of the contractor for property in his possession is dis- 

 cussed in the chapter on fiscal aspects of OSRD operations. The rules 

 governing its disposition were covered in Article 3 of the standard contract 

 form (See Appendix 2). 



Property developed or constructed under the terms of a contract was 

 controlled by Article i(a) which provided that models, devices, or proto- 

 types developed or constructed under the contract were to be delivered as 

 directed by the Contracting Officer or his authorized representative (later 

 changed to the Scientific Officer or Scientific Assistant). 



Provision for handling property accounting and the disposition of prop- 

 erty and improvements became necessary as the first OSRD contracts termi- 

 nated. In July 1942, a group to handle property matters was attached to the 

 group working on priorities. As long as the war lasted, both groups were 

 working essentially on procurement, the priorities unit expediting the deliv- 



