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Show Bruckart's Washington Digest Afterma th of World War II To Present Serious Problems Economic Depression, Threats of Other Conflicts, Large U. S. Standing Army, Are Among Grave Situations to Be Faced With Arrival of 'Peace.' By WILLIAM BRUCKART fl'NU Service, National Press Bid?., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. It may be somewhat some-what early to talk about what will happen after the second World war, but I believe it is time to look in that direction. With that rov.-? hell-hole that is Eu- "3 rope still far from s giving us and the J rest of the world an ,1 answer as to wheth- P 1 er Hitler's murder- f J ous philosophy or a jg the reasonable type t' of freedom shall be I the governing force, t J there are neverthe- I less many things to "Ba,1i come as an after- Wm. Bruckart being told emphatically to get going go-ing and produce and produce and expand and expand. It is a part of the hysteria that grips the national capital. With respect to the situation in which the manufacturers find themselves, them-selves, the story is simple. It is merely a repetition of 1917 and 1918. The nation's industrial structure was urged and threatened and cajoled ca-joled into the greatest speed possi-, possi-, ble. "Make war materials" was the cry. Industry did. But in the end, industry that went overboard, headlong head-long into the manufacture of war materials went broke. Its expenditures expendi-tures for plant expansion and for general increased facilities bled it white. When the tax bill was paid, war industry had nothing left. It will be the same this time, unless common sense prevails. There can be war preparation without hysteria; hyste-ria; there can be war preparation without the destruction of business firms, but I am afraid it will be the same story as evolved from the first World war. To bring this phase to a specific basis, it is necessary only to call attention at-tention to the tremendous losses that were sustained by individuals who had savings invested in stocks or bonds of great corporations. Whenever When-ever those losses occur, there naturally nat-urally follows destruction of the whole economy of a family's life. math. We may wish to avoid thinking think-ing of those things, but I repeat we j will gain nothing by failing to look to the future. For one thing, if the first World war was the cause, direct or indirect, in-direct, of the depression that has now gone 10 years, then there is another an-other one due after several years of wintry blasts and burning summer I suns have destroyed the stains of blood on Europe's battlefields. My inquiries of men who study the field of economics have brought little more solid information than that we must expect another cycle of torn business and personal relations. As It is fatal. But it will be so again, I am afraid. We are told that we must have a gigantic army. There is need of it. We do not know now what may emerge from the secret .that belongs to Mexico. Nor can we be sure of South American countries at least some of them. There is a decision to be faced in that direction. It is far as I am personally able to figure out, the depression that has been with us for 10 years may prove to be only a rehearsal for the real worldwide depression that is to come. I cannot see how it can be avoided. Another thing that gives the life perspective a blue-black appearance is the certainty that whoever wins the gigantic martian explosions of the current war, there will remain thereafter hatred and threats of new wars. The hatred is certain. Who will not hate another people by whom hundreds of thousands of husbands, hus-bands, brothers, sons and sweethearts sweet-hearts were destroyed? The hatred will obtain whether Hitler dominates all of Europe or whether, as any sane person hopes, he is destroyed and his followers subjugated. Constant Threat of War Will Remain a Long Time The threats of war are bound to come, likewise. If Hitler wins, obviously ob-viously every. Frenchman, Englishman, English-man, Pole, Finn, Dane, Norwegian or any other member of an oppressed op-pressed people will h fino onrl -,v. I a decision which will require the United States, as a matter of national na-tional policy, to let the world know whether we are ready to defend all of South America or whether we shall withdraw within our' own boundaries boun-daries and dare somebody to come get us. But we need an army to meet such eventualities. Nobody J knows what they may be. Large Standing Army Presents New Problems And these observations about the army they are true, also, of the navy bring another problem. It has been true all through history that a great standing army has served to give that army or some of its outstanding out-standing leaders undue importance in determining national noli r fear it may be a case in which history is going to repeat itself. Of course, there can be patriotic army leaders who will look first to the nation's general welfare. There can be another kind, too. It is a thing to which the current and next generation must look with an eye of caution. Indeed, it is entirely possible pos-sible that we, as a race of people, could be converted into a warlike nation. I am thinking, too, of the losses that are coming many of them already al-ready recognizable in the ways of science. Scientists work for years to accomplish whatever advances are made in the direction of better living. It is too obvious to need a reference here that all of the great scientific developments that have come from Germany are lost to the world of the future. That is to say there will be none of consequence-except consequence-except war machines-coming out of Germany, because the inrlimo. for liberation. And liberation can come only through fighting for that liberty, especially when the force of government be vested in the hands of a beast. The threat of war will be with us, and the current generation genera-tion of our people will have to live with it. That is the tragedy. The current generation will know no real peace Children of today and tomorrow will grow up, hearing rumbles of thunder thun-der from the god of war. They can know only of large armies and great navies. They must learn to look to the future of war plans, fantastic fan-tastic plans, weapons of mystery life underground if the warclouds roU nearer. I repeat, there is so little hope for a final adjustment of the hatred in Europe upon a sane basis that the current generations in the United States will know no real peace. Then, there is the cost to which we, as Americans, must ib- course, it is only infinitesimal compared com-pared to the price the fighting nations na-tions of Europe are paying. But that is their war. It is not our war The price that we must be prepared pre-pared to pay is for keeping us out of their troubles by keeping them away from our shores. It promises to be a terrific price in cold cash and so there will be taxes a-plenty.' They are starting now. Congress is giving taxes quick consideration and there is every probability that toe nation's tax bill will be a billion or a billion and a half hh to invent and discover is being driven driv-en out of the hearts and the minds of men and women in the war-torn continent. In our country, there are losses being sustained in that direction. Not as much, it is true, as has been noted not-ed m Europe, but there are losses because brains and imagination will be directed towards the evolvement of machine, and programs to mee any attack. The world will be armed and we must know what others are doing. So our scientists will be de-voting de-voting fertile brains to the produc-Hon produc-Hon of terrible machines of death and there will be praise for S who produce the most horrible types of death-dealing apparatus P It is indulging in jdie imagination Perhaps, but I contend that even in our peace-loving country, those with a life of 30 years more may yet w t ness great terminals of railroads derground; great artificial reser voirs of food established in safe Places, new types of defences not now envisioned. All nf th -ay come because twa e go.ng to continue to roll and United States must sit with lu m aircraft guns tra er than ever before in history, it has to be. For seven years there has been a terrific waste, and the Public debt of the United States now is around $45,000,000,000 We have no cushion upon which to lean? The tax bill for preparation mus be met from scratch. It will gTon Country's Industrialists ' Are a Bit Dissatisfied tureheaandaii0 f disem- ure and dissatisfaction among the mdustrialists of the country. They are being appealed to-ye!. they are AFTERMATH Although he believes it might be : , . bit early to be discufg correspondenrheTrosents some very interesting angles ' wJred fr one after the last accept the idPa tcs milst tion than it ever h"srehtC; P'"0teC' be prepared m ' nd " which is to sav , Pay f0r taxes arecg.'TmuTt" Adjustment in .J'S.'." em-there Preparation 2 '11" thought out. S m,t |