The Johnson City comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1916-1917, 1916-09-28
SAFER MUNITIONS PLANTS
(BE- Earl Harrison)

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coast Notifications, the second line;
while the army is characterized as
the third line of defense. All hree
of these are dependent upon ammunl-
ton to insure efficiency.
AT the beginning of the great world
war the United States was manufac-
featuring practically all her small
arms and artillery munitions on the
Atlantic sea coast or within a day5s
easy march of the coast. Even now,
when the great war is two years old
and still raging with increasing tury,|
the United States has failed to remedy
the menace of unsafe munitions
plants.
r. There are two ways of making
thes plants safe, or at least as safe
as it is possible for any such plant
to be in case of war.
The FIRST would be to make our
navy so strong and so fast as to be
able to successfully prevent an enc
my from landing on our shore, while
the coast defense. granting it was ade
ouate. would make a landing impossi-
BILE should perchance any battle
cruisers successfully escape the navy.
This method of securing safety has
two great and vital drawbacks: first
it would take five years to get The
U. S. navy in condition to success
fully combat any of the first class
European powers; and secondly, the
price would be SO enormous congress
would surely shy at the necessary
amount, with the result that only half
adequate appropriations would be
voted.
The other plan, and undoubtedly
the proper one for this country to
pursue, is to move the munition
plants inland. In other words, if tle
mountain cannot be carried to Mo-
hammet, then carry Mohammet to the
mountain. In doing this, the govern
ment would insure safety to its
plants, first by reason of the location;
and secondly by reason ofthexzfhIl
and secondly by the fact that the
workers on thes plants would assay
ninety-eight per cent pure American.
BY pure American, l mean a people
whose ancestors for at least four gem
erations were American born.
The question naturally arises, "lr
what part of our country can this
safety and pure American labor be
found?' There are several places,
for instance, in Eastern Tennessee,
Southwestern North Carolina, West
ern West Virginia, Northern Alabama
and Northern Georgia. In such loca-
tions we would derive safety not only
by means of distance from the coast,
but better still by the mountains
which form a. great and natural barIi-
cade. Remote from attack, still the
great Atlantic ports such as Boston,
philadelphia. Newport, Baltimore,
Norfolk, Charleson, Port Royal and
Savannah are easily reached by rail
roads over which thousands of tons
could dali be transported.
These sections abound in natural
resources-in fact, practically every
thing necessary for making munitions
is found here, copper, iron. zinc. alum
mum and coal.
Whilst the last named is vital to
the munition plants of the Eastern
Seaboard, these sections could ship
their entire output of coal, using the
great water powers for the operating
of their plants.
More than sufficient water power
can be developed in the territory de-
scribed to run all the machinery nee
essary to make Uncle Sans war sup
plies.
There was time, years ago, when
the east offered greater facilities for
the manufacturing of munitions ov-
ing to the concentration of skilled la
Dor, but today this condition no long
er exists, former agricultural and
minig centers are now rivaling the
east in manufacturing.
The various southern universities
are yearly graduating engineers who
are at once engaged by Southern
manufacturers and given the oppor-
tunity which some years ago they
were forced to go east to secure.
Contrary to what one sees on the
east--a motley mixtures of dozen
races working side by side but rarely
in harmony; in the south the hph,n
is practically unknown and seldom an
accent heard other than the soft pleas
ant one peculiar to that section.
OF all places where we givge en-
ployment TO the hyphenated American
of the first or second generation, The
munitions plants offer him the great
est opportunity to serve his country
instead of tn cone of his adoption
Even should he not prove an out-and-
out traitor, he could not reasonably
be expected to serve the United
States wholehartedly If his native