Norwich bulletin., 1917-06-22
NATIONAL PRIORITY BOARD
State Committe Urges Establishment
 as Soon as Possible.

The Connecticut State Council of De- fense, in a resolution forwarded to President Wilson. Secretary of War Baker and Director Clifford of the ad- vfsory commission of the Council of National Defense, sets forth the es- sentiaI needs of this state and f're- spectfully and very urgently advocates the establishment, as soon as possible, of a national priority board, with full power to determine and take full ac- ytion for the federal government on call questions of priorities Tn the prodUc- ton an transportation required by the government in the prosecution of the war, and, so far as possible, the corresponding priorities of labor re- oufrements involved in such produc- ton"
 The text of the resolution was given out today at the councils offices in the state capitol. Its preamble outlines Connecticut's situation in the matter
 The text of the resolution follows:
 Whereas the considerations herewith submitted are vital to the work of this council and underIie many of the most important questions before it. to wit:
 The chief industry of Connecticut is the production of highly elaborated metal articles. implying great plant investment and peculiarly skilled la bor. Such production will be the main contribution of Connecticut to the war
 The making of metal products of high elaboration requires in an extreme de- gree certain preliminary technical preparation absolutely unavoidable, which involves:
 (a) Long periods of time
 Cb) Great specialized investment.
 Production in war quantities must be by highly specialized automatic machinery. This includes specialized tools, fixtures, gauges and equipment. This SnRCi1I machinery in itS implies time and investment to pro- cure It is not standard, nor is it purchasable on the ordinary market. Tt must be built to order. The offer of unlimited money @ r--j1os the time for creating such nifrH- '-r only by a small fraction of t.er -,tue There will still always r, n.s-:Z absolute physical fnpossibiI.t;ss q further ac- celeTation.
 Furthermore, large investments of capital must be made in these prelim- mary requirements.
 One of the foremost rifle making con- cerns in the country, having taken a foreign order for rifles at the begin ming of the war, and working under forced speed, CD took fourteen months before the first batch Of rifles was de- 1ivered and CD invested SS50 900 in tools, fixtures and gauges for this one job.
 To deliver to the United States the maximum effective strength of Con- nectfcut in production will require @ large shifting of industry here; very great and difficult readjustment of la bor disturbance Of ordinary commer- cfaI activities While recent Iegis1a- ton has given to the governor, certain very drastic powers. which might be theoretically available here, the use of such powers is only in the case of last resort, and even then, of doubtful efficiency. Effective production of the highly elaborated products cannot be secured by conpulsion. The only ef- fective lever, therefore, available to the council. will be an appeal to the pa triotism of both sides in industry, to meet definite demand of their coun-