The aims of the Surplus Property Act were not limited to distributing surplus property; they also included re-establishing free independent enterprise, strengthening the competitive position of new and small businesspersons and family farmers, and putting government property to widespread, nonmonopolistic use [REF].
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's economic advisor, Bernard Baruch, originally recommended that the U.S. dispose of surplus war goods through an agency run by a single administrator (and assisted by a policy board), and with general statutory authority [REF].