Baruch-Hancock Report

The Baruch-Hancock Report of February 1944 led to drastic reforms in the field of property disposal no less than in contract termination. The first result was establishment of a Surplus Property Administration in the Office of War Mobilization. The Surplus Property Administration arranged for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to act as a disposal agency in addition to the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation handled general purpose equipment, machine tools, and chemicals, while the Procurement Division, Treasury Department, was restricted to consumer-type property. 

Another important outcome of the Baruch-Hancock Report was the enactment of the Surplus Property Act of 3 October 1S>44. This act created a Surplus Property Board of three members. Appointments to the new board were completed in January 1945 and the board s regvdations were made available to the ASF in April. In September the board was abolished and a single administrator appointed. ... 

The War Department was but one of six major procurement agencies in the government consequently there was need for developing uniform termination procedures for all these agencies. At the request of the President, Bernard Baruch and John Hancock made a study of contract settlement and property disposal matters, which they embodied in their Report on War and Post-War Adjustment Policies (15 February 1944). Congress was meanwhile studying the need for new legislation and passed the Contract Settlement Act of 1944. This act, which pointed out the need for speed, equity, and finality in the settlement of terminated contracts, created an Office of Contraa Setdement with a director empowered to prescribe policies, procedures, and standards on contract settlements. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , ]

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