The evening herald., 1917-03-01
WHAT UNITED STATES CAN DO.


viii not be necessary - resort 70
force of arms In order TO maintain our
rights. nevertheless the situation Is
hanging ~ very aiender thread
which may SNAP any minute. The
United states is rapidly preparing for
war. Preparations for quickly mobIi-
islna all of cur resources. indaHsisl
and military. on plans previously
made. are going forward. They pro-
vide for quick action and team work
on the part Of railways. manufactur-
cts and merchants II war comes.
The United states is equipped In
private industry as never before for
furnishing 70 She army and navy al
most everything that might be need
81 IN time Of war.
Figures giving the exports OF the
United States during the last year. as
issued by the department OF conn
merce. give comprehensive idea Of
the vast resources Of the United
States.
The great significance Of these fig-
ures is that they represent en- output
IN excess Ct our own requirements.
Whereas In 1914 we sold boots and
shoes worth IS million dollars IN 1916
We sent. mainly % Europe. a. million
dollars worth. Il is even more later
csting to know that In 1915 VIC sold
abroad footwear for 90 million pairs
Of feet.
Hut We are prepared for the turning
on, of huge quantities OF rifles and
hand grenadcs as well. The merger OF
the Remington Arms company and
the United Metallic Cartridge COM
pnny at bridgeport. Conn. makes Il
possible for one concern alone to put
out more amaii arms than formerly all
the American plants combined could
make.
The Dn Pont Powder company en-
larEed all its plantA II took little
plant south OF the Potomac which had
been employing $50 men. and trans
formed IL into an Industrial city with
10000 on the pay roll.
The Westinghouse company EN-.
pioys 5000 in lie Springfield ana
chicopee factories In tho manufae-
ture Of small arms alone.
There has been no development
more thrilling than that OF the Beth.
ishem steel company. which now ;ias
n capacity far greater than that OF
the Krupps works at Essen. hitherto.
the great ordnance factories OF the
world.
While in tonnage the American
navy ranks little below second place
Il has the worlds best line OF warships
OF heavy gun power. According 90 the
latest record, the American navy to-
tails 1.os2.5os tons displacement. taxi
Ing into account both ships bull; and
building.
This tonnage compares with the
following for tho great powers on
July /. 1914:
Great Britain. 2.7is.7ss; Germany.
i.3o4.ef0; France. sss.sis; Japan,
ess.sls; Russia, 7s1,25s; Italy. is7.-
SIS. and Ausiria-H Hungary. 372.oos.
Available organized land forces Of
the United States today amount,
roughly. 10 2sb.O00 officers and men.
made up Of 1860 regulars and i50,-
600 National Guardsmen. including
those still In the federal service and
those under state control
In serious emergency nearly IS
million men are available for military
service IN the United States. according
20 an estimate Of the executive COM
mlttee Of the committee on national
defense appointed by Mayor Mitchell,
OF New York. There are now physic-
ally ~ for service Ia the field u was
said. lo.535.ss0 men between the aEes
Of IS and IS.
If the unorganized manhood
strength OF the United States b. inn
posing. the industrial capacity OF ,hs
nation ls even more impressive.
With less than one-tenth Of the
worlds population, we make nearly
one-third OF all the thinss produced
In iron and steel. tr instsnes. ~S
turn out more than Great Britain aud
Germany. the two next largest pro
dncers. do together.
somo observers have estimated ihf
present industrial capacity Of the
United states at as much as all ihs
rest Of the world put together. While
this is pcrhsps an overestimaSe. large
scale production has been earrl'd To-
sneh a fine point here that no nation
can approach us in the total produced
per worker.
Tks sssf Sc American produces
more per hour % labor Than the clti-
zena of any other nation. Wa rely ON