The Washington times., 1923-03-12
DANCER #
INDUSTRY
DIES
AiFplane Industry Now Prac-
ticaIIy Extinct, Says Re-
/ port 70 Weeks.

International News service.
Expenditure Of $25, 900, 900 =.
year during the next five years
Tor Army Air Service alone is
vital to the safety Of the United
States, j. Mayhem Wainwright,
retiring Assistant Secretary of
War, declared today in his final
report to Secretary Weeks.
Industry Almost Extinct.
Within two years, wainwright
4 asserted, the Air Service win have
on hand less than one-half the num-
Der OF aircraft necessary for normal
peace-time work, and with, the air
plane industry virtually extin.
guished, it would require year to
duce material sufficient to meet an
emergency.
This situation is not only serious,
but is actually alarming" Vain.
right continued AS an economic
measure and likewise in the inter-
est of national preparedness, the
aeronautical industry in this coun-
try should be maintained in such
condition that 1t can supply our
peace-ine needs and be prepared
to expand adequately to meet q
wartime demand.
Stressing the importance OF air
craft in war. Wainwright said the
service should be strong enough to
might have against us. And when
this Is attained. he earnestly recon-.
mends to Congress and to the Sec
reary Of War, he service should
have "a definite procurement pro-
gram which would insure its proper
equipment, requirements, and a re-
serve supply Of aircraft for use In
m emergency, and until wartime
requirements could be met by In.
creased production"
SIS, OO0, 900 is Needed.
Such q program, he said. calls
for an average expenditure OF SIS
900 900 q year for the next five
years, and an additional operating
expenditure OF $4,000 900. This ex-
panditure IL necessary, he declared.
e we are to be prepared to meet
q wartime emergency and ct the
came time keep alive the aircraft
Industry, ready to respond not
the demand Tor commercial air
craft certain to come within a few
years.
Not alone in aircraft is the
United States deficient, Secretary
Wainwright asserted. She also is
lacking an adequate volume Of
munitions Of war and certain
strategic materials.
without them the outbreak Of
q major emergency would find Va
net only unprepared but unable
TO prepare" he continued 1T ii,
Of course, fartbest from my inten-
ton or desire to appear peHsineistic,
but what / really mean to say is
that, in default of adequate pro-
vision having been made for the
necessary elements above referred
to--that Is, without having the
necessary airplanes and reserves OF
munitions and certain strategic ma.
terials, such as nitrates. tin, Ger.
tain metal alloys and medicines,
and the like-we shall never be
really prepared successfully to
meet the task imposed upon us by .
great war"
Defense Called Uns0uHad.
Referring to the role of the navy
IN event Of war, Wainwright said:
"As a nation we are apparently
content to assume that we shall
keep control of the sea to the ex-
tent necessary to import these
strategic raw materials. A plan for
national defense prepared on such
assumption is unsound, unless n
time of peace the navy il main.
tanned on a basis that will enable
It to keep control Of the sea and 30
justify this assumption. In the ac.
emulation through a period of
peace of the vital equipment of mu-
nitions, we accomplish a second pur.
pose, equally important, possibly
more important in that we keep
alive the art Of manufacture Of war
munitions, which, once permitted to
Atrophy, cannot be revived easily or
quickly"
Wainwright's sensational state.
ment is made as a result of
months of study of the problem of
Industrial mobilization in time OF
peace as a preparedness for war.
AS Assistant Secretary of War he
was charged with the duty of