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Show lii Some reliable facts are begin-jng begin-jng iu be available about the Jr0ress of the Nation's rearm-Leut rearm-Leut program, concerning which ,l,ere lias lately been much contradictory con-tradictory and sometimes malicious malic-ious gossip in circulation. It is true enough that the United Unit-ed States is trying to do in two vears what Germany took seven vears to do; that is, to equip and train the greatest fighting force ,l,e world has ever dreamed of. 0u land, on t,he sea and ill the air. But the members of the National Na-tional Defense Commission, the liish officers of the Army and the Navy and llle "big W'SS" o tne air forces are now satisfied that it can be done and that the job lias sot off to a fast start. "About the only thing we're not sure of," said one of the men connected with the working out of the defense program a few days ae0, "is who we are geting ready to fight, and when." Tlie air preparations are considered con-sidered the most immediately important, im-portant, particularly as one of the major objectives is to furnish more aid to Britain as speedily as possible, and that can best be done by augmenting the British air force. Production of Army airplanes is not yet up to the announced schedule, but it is gaining. The program for October called for 1,133 Army planes, and only 900 were produced. How many of those are combat planes and how many training planes are items which are regarded as military secrets. Training Planes Needed It is certain that a high proportion propor-tion of all military planes must be for training purposes, for the plans call for the training of at least 12,000 additional pilots annually, an-nually, and that will take a lot of airplanes. How many of the Present output of planes are to no to England is another point on which there is official silence-but silence-but it is apparent that allowing tor everything, the Army is beginning be-ginning to get planeg faster than ever before, and the Navy is getting get-ting its share. A year ago the total of military Planes of all kinds being produced per month was 120; now it is above 900 and increasing. From 700 airplane engines a month the manufacturers have already stepped step-ped up production to 2 000 a month, and great new plants are under way to treble that output in a year or less. There has been a great deal of criticism of the delay in producing produc-ing the new semi-automatic Gar-and Gar-and rifles. So long as there seemed seem-ed to be no hurry, the Government Govern-ment arsenals at Springfield and Kock Island ambled along, turning turn-ing out 500 a month of the new weapons. Now the production in Government plants is close to 3 -000 rifles a week, and private manufacturers are about to begin making the same type of guns. The defense Commission has given out a partial list of the contracts con-tracts which have been let. Among them is one for the building of the world's first and only plant for the mass production of those mobile forts on caterpillar treads which the British introduced in the World War under the name of "tanks" and which in Hitler's hands have proved the most destructive de-structive of land armaments. Two smokeless powder plants have been contracted for, two plants for making high explosives, five shell-loading plants and several complete new plants for making machine guns. All of those are privately owned and operated plants. Production Schedule Airplane contracts thus far are for slightly more than 20,000 planes. The production schedule, which may be stepped up, is for 1,250 planes a month for early 1941, 2,000 a month from July 1 onward, and 3,000 a month beginning be-ginning in 19 42. Production of light tanks is going ahead at the rate of 100 a month, with heavy tank production planned to begin early next year. Besides tanks, the Army is buying trucks, expecting ex-pecting to have 2 5,000 delivered by the end 'of this year. Besides the more than 200 naval na-val craft of all types, from battleships battle-ships down to harbor tugs, for which the Government has let contracts since the beginning of 1940, the Navy has begun to purchase pur-chase auxiliary vessels in the open market. Since July 1, more than 110 such craft have been acquired, at prices ranging from ?1 for seagoing sea-going yachts whose owners have shown their patriotism by giving all auxiliary naval craft is the oil-tanker, and some of the largest and fastest tankers afloat have been bought by the Navy from the big oil companies. Several modern cargo ships constructed under the orders of the Maritime Commission Com-mission for private owners, have their ships to the nation's service, ser-vice, to as high as $7,000,000 for some of the passenger liners which are to be used as transports, and in one or two instances, converted into airplane carriers. One of the most important of "Iroquois" brought some of the first loads of refugees from the war zone across the Atlantic last year. Now she is being equipped with operating rooms, laboratories and nurses' quarters to make her into the finest hospital ship afloat. There is little for Congress to do, and little is likely to be done on Capitol Hill, before the new 77th Congress meets in January. Many members are taking the vacations va-cations which they didn't dare to take before election; many others are beginning to pack up and get ready to go back home to stay. also been bought by the Navy to serve as carriers of ammunition and supplies. Bought the 'Iroquois' One of the Navy's recent purchases pur-chases is of the speedy passenger liner "Iroquois," originally built for the New York-Miami run. The |