The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-12-17
DERN ADMITS
CCC ASSISTS
WAR PLANS
A Aviation Race With
Imperialist Rivals in
Far East Seen
BY Seymour WaIdman
DAILY Worker Washington Bureau)


WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. 16.-
In his annual report to President
Roosevelt, Secretary of War George
H. Dern recommended today that
the war plan formulated last July
by the special Baker Aviation Com
mittee be adopted "as a permanent
program Dern urged that this
program be initiated at once and
completed within the next three
years One may assume that this
program is already under way.
The Baker plan calls for the pur-
chase of more than 600 new war
planes, an addition which, accord
ing to Dern, would bring the total
'serviceable airplaneS of the latest
and best types, exclusive of res
erves' to 1900. Technical war
strength, within the shortest pos
sible time, is obviously the objective
of the War Department.
In describing the activities OF the
: War Department in the Civilian
Conservation Corps, Dern indicated
that the Administration fully re-
Allies the rising anti-war sentiment
OF the workers, poor farmers and
their allies. Avoiding the frank
ness of Assistant Secretary of War
Woodring's description of the war
character of the C.C.C., Dern de-
clared, THE members of the corps
are given no military training, nor
are they subject to military discip-
line. But living in camp under
the friendly guidance of the Army
has greatly improved them physi-
cally and has given them much
better spiritual outlook" Wood
rings January s, 1884 Liberty mag
azine account, which has never been
repudiated by the Administration,
was less Spiritual and more ac-
curate. He said
This achievement-the organiza
ton of over 100000 men in more
than 1900 Civilian Conservation
Corps camps-was the first real test
of the Army's plans for war mob
1lizaiton under the National De-
tense Act as amended in 1920. It
proved both the efficiency of our
plan of defense and the equally
important success of the Military
Procurement Plan-the Army's eco
nomic war plan-which is entrusted
to the Assistant Secretary of War"
Woodring added that if necessary
the Army could organize the C.C.C.
men into system of economic
storm troops"
Plans Aviation Race
Secretary Dern's formal plea for
execution Of the Baker plan, which
advised the War Department that
with more financial support its
Army aviation can be raised to a
world position equal to that held
by our Navy" makes it clear that
the Roosevelt Administration plans
to embark on an aviation race with
it's irnperialist rivals in the Far
East and other war spots that
shortly parallel the intensity of the
present naval contest. In addition,
the report indicates that war man
euvres, such as those held last
August in New Jersey, will become
regular feature of the Administra-
tion's war preparations.
Other recommendations by the
War Secretary include the con-
struction of a new War Department
building; "sizeable concentrations
of troop organizations" in conjunc-
ton with field maneuvers; increased
pay for officers; permanent sup
port for training the National
Guard on the basis of 48 armory
drills and two weeks field exercise
annually" and the adoption of
the policy of training at least 10000
reserve officers annually for period
of two weeks"
In discussing the Baker report,
Derp declared:
THE Air corps still needs large
number of military airplanes of the
most efficient types to enable it to
carry gu the necessary training and
to be in a state of readiness for
immediate and effective service in
an emergency. For these pur-
poses the Board concluded that the
Air Corps should have a minimum
of 1890 serviceable airplanes of the
latest and best types, exclusive of
reserves. This will necessitate the
procurement of more than 600 new
airplanes. I recommend that
program for attaining this mini
mum strength be initiated at once