| Show PI preparedness M oj of US u S industry regarded as key to se security carity strategic product shortage draws attention of military men by JOSEPH W labine the pence peace of munich and the undeclared war in china reflect a general ferment of unrest in europe and asia which may momentarily hare flare up into a greater world war this is the situation which has stimulated american efforts to assure both territorial and economic security while the balance of power in europe as well as in asia appears to make the contingency of territorial aggression against the united states remote both army and navy have advocated a program of reasonable expansion in their departments and the extent of this expansion will be a major subject of debate at this session of congress less spectacular but even more basic is the need for adjusting the capacity of american industry to war materials production and accumulation of raw material supplies which might be cut oft off from us in the event of a european or asiatic conflagration industry has to a limited extent prepared itself but has a long way to go yet there are according to the assistant secretary of war approximately 55 items needed in war time which are so difficult of production to eo different from ordinary peacetime needs that industry will not be able to go into production of them without some education and the last congress provided funds tor for the purpose of giving educational orders for the manufacture of only six of these items the average voter does not realize that mobilization applies not only to men and battleships but to plants and machines skilled labor power transportation raw materials and financing preparation for peace it is significant that for th the e first simein time in the history of the united states the war department Is through h preparation of an educational orders program anticipating war well in advance of the unpleasant tact fact this does not mean the united states is preparing to go to war ward I 1 on the contrary c arary it is preparing to kc keep ep out of war it if possible so doing it is merely following cautiously in inthe the footsteps of those dictator nations which tor for a decade have bent nearly all economic effort to the furtherance of one ultimate alm aim the efficient functioning of an army inthe field plants and machines cannot be N a az STARCH FOR STE STEEL EL manganese Kang anese for american Inte rican sled conics comes principally from froin jar far away places but bill cuban deposits similar to those eliose found in the llie united slates have been developed this picture stoics the vital 1 I 1 steel making material being loaded at a santiago dock immediately turned to production of war materials in the event of an emergency america has excellent machines and excellent mechanics torun to run them but an army tank cannot be ordered one day and secured the next special skills are required tor for munitions manufacture the man who does the work of checking the breach end of a 75 mm howitzer with a concentricity thread ring gage which measures down to one ten thousandths ol of an inch for example needs five years of special training other special jobs require training periods of between one and four years america has no extensive munitions industry at the present time today the army manufactures most of its munitions in its seven ars arsenals which supply little more more than 5 per cent of wartime needs and there is a great lack of skilled labor during the depression few apprentices were trained manufacturers today faced with the prospect of munitions orders say they are unable even to secure men to manufacture the necessary tools an essential part of the tremendous naval building program must be a program of in service training to provide skilled shipbuilders ship builders the number of civil employees of I 1 pv N v R m 16 Z an 0 I 1 NO ENEMIES yett YET A three inch antiaircraft anti aircraft gun is pointed skyward in philadel chias roy reyburn burn plaza lacing facing the city hall as part of the file aircraft vs v antiaircraft anti n aircraft r I 1 demonstration on O featuring aig a antio national 1 guard association con convention antion the navy department it Is estimated must be increased from the present level of to by 1042 1942 in order to keep pace with building there Is today a definite shortage in technical specialized shipbuilding ship building trades of naval arch architects marine engineers mold lofts men coppersmiths and so on from toys to bombs initial investigation of about factories which has been carried out by the government constitutes only the beginning of a gigantic task which will prepare america tor for production of those war materials which it lacks and which it may have to produce in a hurry bomb sights for planes canisters tor for gas masks demolition bombs and fuses 37 mm guns more and heavier tanks semiautomatic semi automatic rifles light machine guris guns trench mortars gas masks there are only eight gas masks for or every hundred men in the national guard today mm how 8 inch howitzers howit motor cars motor trucks and so on locomotive fac factories must prepare to produce mm shells and makers of toy trains must be trained to manufacture gas mask parts factories all over the nation must make artillery shells instead of plumbing fixtures leather leggings instead of baby shoes shell fuses instead of radios haversacks haver sacks instead of handbags bombs instead of toys submarine mines instead ot of steel safes airplane metal stamp ings instead of bf pots and pans cartridges instead of washing machines in order to educate industry lor for these necessary changes congress at the last session author izeda five year program ot of educational orders extension of this program Is regarded by the war department part ment as essential the very foundation of a edness program Is the supply of raw materials upon which the country must depend for production of all kinds of articles from gas masks to rifles more mor ethan than ever be foreIn the history 0 the world the problem of national defense Is an industrial problem and raw material Is the keystone of industry arms budget increased current publicity has familiarized the man in the street with trends in rearmament index of the program Is seen in unofficial estimates which place the national defense budget for the coming fiscal year beginning july 1 1939 at about or an increase of about over the preceding year the building program is at least outlined the new congress may authorize plans of the army general staff for increasing the army personnel by men and providing equipment for an initial war force ol of officers and men tho the united states is building six new ton battleships largest ever used by this country a new aircraft carrier a new heavy cruiser three light cruisers 16 submarines 40 destroyers and other auxiliary craft these are arc to be finished products but the ramifications of pre pa redness are infinite materials are basic requirements tor for war industries dus tries asfor as tor any other industry it is generally assumed that the united states is so rich in natural resources that it can supply Us its own industry with no great trouble that we are prepared in fact tor for any supply emergency this assumption Js is no more correct than the public belief belie that the army although small is wen well furnished with modern modem weapons and equipment or that industry is prepared to supply immediately med fately the additional weapons and equipment which would be required in an emergency As a matter ot of fact tile the war department part ar ment has listed 21 strategic war materials for which the united states today depends wholly or partly upon foreign imports and in the event of a general european war these imports might well be cut off even trade lines between the united states and our so south u th american neighbors might be s severed ev what was the cyclops fite fate this danger is no mere theory but well supported by fact there was during the world war the classic case of the collier cyclops which set out from brazil onedas one day with tons of manganese bound for the united states that boat never reached its destination and neither it nor any ot of its passengers were ever heard from again perhaps it encountered a german U boatner boat perhaps a mine no one knows with certainty and manganese is listed by the war department as strategic material number one 14 pounds ot of this material are essential for the manufacture of every ton of steel and there is no known substitute today the united states produces domestically less than 5 per cent of its it s manganese i requirements more than a third thir dof of the manganese imports to this country come from nu russia asla other sources are british india the gold coast of africa and brazil when and it if war bomes comes the se aswill sea SiWill no longer be free the russian and indian sources of manganese would almost immediately be cut oft off from us and the gold cold coast is miles away the brazilian source wa was once cut off as we have seen lind and may be again while the united states has manganese ore resources in 20 states they are largely undeveloped under the stimulus of war from 1914 to 1918 domestic output jumped from 2635 tons to tons but production fell off again in 1919 and has remained almost negligible ever since processing methods have since been developed one of the most effective of which has been applied to the production of ore from the cuban deposits of the cuban ameri can manganese company the army sees the cuban ores as an important reserve since shipments td from that country would not be subject too to interruption in an emergency miller case rian plan up both army and navy are strongly behind a plan to build up a tock stock pile of a million tons of processed mang manganese anese ore and opinion is growing for the removal of manganese from the list of commodities on which tariffs were reduced by reciprocal cipro cal trade agreements with foreign nations this plan is ern embodied bodied ed in the miller bill introduced at the last jast congress and tho the miller case concurrent resolution it is anticipated that the plan will be presented again a aln to congress at the session lust just starting important point in the preparedness program so far initiated is the plan to provide reserves of strategic war materi materials ils and doubtless congress will recon reconsider as part ot of a general industrial mobilization plan legislation which was first introduced trod last spring seeking author for toe the army and navy to acquire over a four year period worth of essential minerals and providing that domestic producers be favored in these purchases if this plan is reconsidered and adopted in its present oi or an amend ed form an important step will have been taken in assuring for the united states continued supplies of materials on the list of which manganese is only one others are chromium mica quinine tungsten aluminum antimony many coconut shells used for carbon filters in gas gal masks tin wool coffee silk hides sisal nickel opium mercury to dine optical glass manila fiber and rubber spectacular non objective of this plan as explained by sen elbert D thomas of utah chairman of the senate military affairs committee is to obtain a sounder type of raw materials insurance than can be attained by simple stockpiling stock piling foreign purchaser purchase of oresa procedure which would not solve the tha problem in the event of a protracted emergency 0 western newspaper union umon |
