Show america prepares qu P ares for fateful M day 1 I 1 waal with ta prayer HP that ahat it may TH never TT come 0 I 1 v industrial and military mobilization plans ham being 1 perfected Perfect cd against day bay of invasion by JOSEPH W labine it cant happen here here but then again it might in 1938 uncle sam casts a suspecting glance across the waters that separate him from europe and asia just wondering will another world war break out will the united states be asked to defend south america from invasion indeed will the united states herself be invaded unpleasant thoughts all of them but the peace treaty of munich and japans successful conquest of the far east have convinced most americans that the boy scout motto be prepared is a good national motto since e october 1 the government has inaugurated augu rated a far flung program for military and economic mobilization protection against what the army chiefs call IM M day As early as last winter congress appropriated funds tor for expanding our army partly the result of gen matin malin craigs insistence that national defenses be repaired before he retires next year from his post as chief of staff this is the third year of record army expenditures the 1038 outlay being next years program will cost an estimated plus high a appropriations P likely for navy and air expansion economic and civilian defense guard against uprising M day may never come and surely the army cannot predict what part martof of the nation it would be called upon to defend listed in order of their probability the four causes of american mobilization are 1 civil uprising on the mainland of the united states 2 war provoked in south america by fascist expansion 3 any y war in europe orasia into which the united states might be drawn and 4 invasion of the untied united states mainland though most M day preparations are naturally secret it is known that the nation is divided into a larie large number of possible battle zones with highways airplane landing fields and fighting equipment already freaa designated in advance depending on which of the four above emergencies the army and navy might be called upon to meet planes fleet and all branches of the A 4 I 1 I 1 0 s Z GUARDING invading enemy planes would probably bomb cities like neto york first testing its delei ses tha army scans shies over times square army are being trained to coordt co nate their movements one of general craigs ambitions Is to increase our standing army but not much over the present troops more important to him is a well trained well equipped reserve army thus almost overnight it is hoped to mobilize men in an emergency these would include the standing army national reservists and the national guard though small this force could repel an ah invader tour lour months while an additional million men were being trained behind the trenches 1 air corps powerful the army air corpino corps now d has 1250 planes with 1050 on order and an additional 2320 slated for completion before 1940 this will place the united states in an enviable air power position since our bombing planes are already superior to those of most nations on the infantry side the army hopes to increase tank regiments and modernize fighting tactics only 2 of the 14 cavalry regiments are now mechanized and field artillery equipment is deficient clent but with sufficient time and large appropriations the cavalry and field artillery handicaps can be overcome M day preparations place heavy emphasis on industrial mobilization directed by louis A Zohn johnson son assistant secretary of war the army has located factory owners who will turn over their plants to manufacture war necessities at a moments notice with a appropriation the army is now placing educational orders with alth these factories and perfecting dies and machinery which will be supplied to processors in the event of emergency for example ty typewriter factories would begin making rifle sights and beer can machinery would make bomb cases I 1 secretary johnson johnsonis Is also alio directing plans tor for mobilization ot of elec fri elty re recently e nily announced Is a expansion plan for private utility companies guaranteeing that the nation will vill have sufficient reserve power on M day there th ere is s some talk of connecting all the nations electric lines plan rail defenses since railroads would be a vital it factor on M day the government is encouraging carriers canlers to expand their lines this problem was was recently re brought to a head by the cirri carriers ers plea for a 15 per cent i deduc tion although the request was de nied it is likely that next winters congress will fofe vot e subsidies to help railroads lay new track and build more powerful equipment less noticeable are M day plans to train substitute workers who will replace regular factory workers called to the front trenches the government would also regulate prices to prevent profiteering control wages and hours and take other steps to keep the country running smoothly behind its fighting army such preparations require money and although abnormally large army and navy budgets have heretofore been met out of regular govern ment in income coine it is just possible that special steps will be taken to meet the new requirements bernard ba ruch financier and cha chairman irmah ol of the old war industries board of 1917 made news a afew few weeks ago by speaking emphatically about the united states responsibility for western hemisphere integrity advocating vo a huge rearmament program he suggested that it might have to be financed ced with a one shot tax this would be a bitter pill not only tor for the public but for congress dongress aswell as well yet mr baruch claims we need a two ocean pavy navy I 1 a stand standing briny army of 01 men and a greatly increased air force Hecl he cites tes figures to show our inferiority to german and italian military dry pre preparations arat igns and the fhe amazing result Is 13 that ahat most of Anle america rica agrees with him whereas five years ago this suggestion Y would uld have been condemned the recent developments in asia and europe are making america da de fens bense conscious clous incidentally it is hoped that such larger rearmament expenditures will absorb a large part of the nations unemployed thereby reducing relief rolls and encouraging cou raging economic recovery perhaps M day cant happen here but talk to a londoner or parisian who shuddered through the ger man czech crisis and the possibility becomes becomes starkly realistic while no american wishes to be a war mon ger we cannot help consider on sider the awful consequences of a combined iolian german geman japanese invasion into the western hemisphere sphere so long as this unwelcome possibility exists it would be comforting to know that america is prepared against it it 0 newspaper uon union |