Evening star., 1936-10-25
Europe. Stocks Up for War

lem in any war which finds her
ranged against Britain. Mussolini
may rapidly develop Ethiopian re-
sources in minerals, agriculture and
cattle: but he cannot count on draw
ing from that source unless he can
keep his communication lines open.
And that Is even more doubtful than
.Britain's ability in wartime to restock
with meat. wheat, wool and dairy
products from her Pacific dominions,
or cotton from the Sudan and the
United States, or sugar from any Of
the tropical and sub-tropical sugar
bowls.
The Duce, however, has been CAM
paigning to induce his people to eat
less meat and more home grown vege-
tables and foodstuffs. He has been
squirting on his scientists and en-
couraging industrialists and agricul-
turists. He can count now upon a
synthetic wool made from milk, while
his plants lead the world in volume
of synthetic cotton production. He
has developed an oil field in Albania.
which little kingdom he controls, and
has embarked upon a 500 ,0O0, 900 plan
to build an oil reserve by importing
and storing American crude. He also
has plan for German technicians
to develop an Italian industry for the
extraction Of petrol substitutes from
hydrocarbon. Italy's trouble in syn
thetic oil production Is that she lacks
coal.
In France, the war chiefs are less
worried than most about the war
larder problem. Being inferior in
industrial resources and organization
to their German neighbor, they have
accumulated large stocks of war ma.
chimes and munitions. and are STEP
ping up the production program in
this department. But in food they
are self-sustaining.
The French have an African empire
to draw upon, not to mention other
raw material reservoirs in Asia and
the Pacific, and they can rely on the
British empire resources in wartime.
They are pretty sure Of being able to
keep open the Western Mediterranean
Sea lanes, and they have Atlantic
ports. Behind their new Chinese wall
OF steel and concrete they have plenty
OF coal and iron. Their coastal oil
storage facilities are considerable;
nevertheless. they are developing a
synthetic oil industry.
Soviet Also Active.
The Soviet Union has been taking
in abnormal quantities of rubber, cop-
per and lead and developing their own
wool and cotton resources Japan has
been doing likewise, besides starting
a synthetic oil industry and planning
to make herself independent of for
elgn leadD. The Red war larder prob
lem Is mainly one of stocks and stor>-
age. The war chiefs have to envisage
probably war on two fronts, west and
east, with inadequate rail and road
communications. Hence the energetic
organization which has made-or SO,
at least, the Red war staff calculates
each Of the two zones self-contained.
each with its own larder.
Russia's stocks Of military trans
port machines are probably the largest
OF any power. Barring agricultural
tractor output, the giant mass-pro-
duction automobile plants are used
for nothing else. Even government
grandees cannot get automobiles; they
nave to wait for the next used foreign
car to come on the market, as some
foreigner imports new one or has no
use for his old one.
The development Of aircraft and
the new weapons, aerial bombs and
gas, has imported a third dimension
into war. The revolutionary change
wrought in the technique Of war by
this third dimension is vividly illus
trated by the fact that Britain, guard
ed by her sea moats, and with the
worlds biggest and richest empire to
draw upon for food and raw materials,
has the toughest larder problem of all.
1t was new machine, the under
sea gun and torpedo carrier and mine
layer, moving invisibly through his
moats and under his protecting sea
fleets, which came close to starving
out John Bull in the war of l9l4-l8-
and probably would have starved him
out, owing to the inadequacy of his
old war larder prepara tons, if he had
not been able to draw freely upon
American resources. A newer machine,
the high-speed bombing and gas
spraying airplane, now presents an
even greater menace to his ability to
feed himself and keep his navy on the
gaQS htc air Hanfe in, fhn l.
armies in the field.
Directors Appointed.
In this dilemma John has for a long
time now been doing quietly what
Hitler has been shouting about; and
this year has even appointed a brace
OF war larder lords in the persons of
Sir William Beveridge, famous econo-
mist, now chairman of the cabinet
subcommittee charged to organize sup
plies and food rationing, and Engineer
Vice Admiral Sir Harold Brown,
whose job it is to organize industry
for a quick change-over from a peace
TO a war basis, and also to accumulate
sufficient stores of essential supplies
to meet immediate demands of all the
fighting services.
A glance at the high lights of the
problem these two men confront illu-
inmates the whole war larder phenom-
enon against the background of latter
day war and war strategy and tactics
as they have been changed by the air
machine.
The energetic people crowded in this
small island in the North Atlantic
bring in now, to sustain their life and
trade, $4,000, 900, 900 worth of goods
and commodities annually. This stuff
is carried over 10000 miles of sea-
ways in the 10000 ships which enter
and leave British home ports in the
course Of a. year. Every day these
ships unload $4,000 tons of foodstuffs
and 100000 tons of raw materials and
fabricated or partly fabricated goods.
John Bull is so used to getting these
supplies in when and as he wants
them that normally he carries only
small stocks-with the exception of