New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1921-07-06
K'RUPP'S SCRAP
MUNITI0N PLANT ! |
Month After hmistice Army Of
IL $4,000 Employees Was
/. Reduced to 10000.
take. UP PURSUITS OF PEACE
Nowhere Else, in Self-contained
Works, Has the Process OF Turn
t.. ina Swords Into Plowshares
-. Been on So Vast Scale.

tia
A feature Of Krupp's works at Els
sen at the present time which struck
Walter Meakin, writing in the London
Daily News, is the scropping Of the
huge extra equipment required for
Hindenburg's munition program, which
raised the number Of employees from
$4,000 to 115,0OO.
The whole Of the works, with no less
than 500 acres or nearly a square mile
of covered floor space, was concentrate
ed entirely on production for the war,
when, at the signing Of the armistice,
the vast organization Of labor for de-
structive purposes suddenly collapsed.
The social portents in the Ruhr were
sinister. Revolution was in the blood
Of the workers, and no one could fore
cast the development Of the upheaval.
Partly as precautionary measure,
partly to hurry on the task of adapt
ing the works to new, conditions, the
staff was reduced to the $4,000 prewar
strength within a month Of the ar
mistice. The additional workers, in
Guiding all the women, were paid four
weeks wages and sent to their homes
throughout. Germany. g,.e s.s,5 IA,
The position at this time was ex-
planned by one Of the chief officials.
Although before the. war;, he said,
1--WE manufactured other things, rail-
way and shipping material, motor car
parts, high-grade tool steels and so on,
the production Of guns, munitions and
war vessels was the mainstay Of the
works. All that was irrevocably end
ed"
In the intervening two years, the
task Of converting the arsenal to peace
production has proceeded increasingly,
and still goes on Nowhere else, in
self-centained works, has the process
Of turning swords into plowshares been
carried out on so vast scale. a" +.
Titanic Transformation Spectacle.
Under the supervision of the allied
control commission the whole Of the
new shell and gun equipment in the
mammoth buildings Of the Hindenburg
program has been made useless and
thrown to the scrap heap. The most
complete and spectacular TRANSFORMED
tion has taken place in one of these
buildings. Within twelve months it
was re-equipped with machinery for
the mass production of locomotive
goods and engines for the state rail-
ways.
From balcony one looks down i'm
mense avenues of roaring machinery,
and the whole scene, with hundreds
of workmen busy at forge or lathe, or
crowded about the assembling stands,
is one Of titanic enterprise. From the
bays on the side come the plates and
other heavy parts. From the other
side flows stream of machined parts,
and In wide central bay they come
together at thirty-iye assembling
stands.
The normal rate Of production with
= each engine and tender on the stand
for nineteen days, would give. roughly,
daily output Of one completed engine,
but while the artisans are underfed
and domestic troubles foster political
discomfort normal work is impossible.
Nevertheless this engine shop present
ed the most impressive picture Of in
dustrial activity seen in Germany.
T. Make Costly Experiments.
In the famous cannon halls Of pre-
vious years and in other parts Of the
works elaborate and costly experiments
in the 1nanufa cture Of textile and agri.
cultural machinery, tractors and motor
vehicles are being carried out, in the
belief that the home market, which has
been almost monopolized by America
In the past, can be supplied by mass
production methods. 5,s.
This intense reorganization effort is
only possible to a firm with a prewar
capital Of sec. 0OO,O OO and enormous re.
serves built up during the war. No
dividend is being taken by the four
or five holders of the capital.
Thousands Of old employees, for
whom there is little work, are kept or
at full wages. :. AL the resources are
'OSAAE1 SLohSN IL LIZ oLlCAApL " carly
the concern through the uncertain
years which lie Immediately ahead.
IL we 60 slack now" the officials
say -athere must. be a crash It may
not be possible to avert it ultimately
Our workers have settled down more
contentedly for the, present, but II
their priyations continue a breaking
point must be reached sooner or later
"Also, If coal difficulties, high prices
and the disastrous fluctuations Of the
exchange cannot be overcome a return
to q healthy state Of industry is i'm.
possible. 1npoverishment must in
crease and productive effort will de
cline, even if the country is spared ar
extremist uprising. The whole situa
ton lis uncertain, artificial and I'M
stable. We are simply going forward
In the hope that final collapse may
be avoided"
s. Shock for an Undertaken,
Hartford City; Ind.-Will Baxter
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