Evening star., 1938-10-02

IN WAR, the United States would pe
more nearly self-sustaining than any
other nation-yet it lacks in whole or
in part 81 materials essential to ma
tional defense
While Army and Navy officials here see
no immediate danger of war for this coun-
. try, the services have been preparing for 20
years the program which would be adopted
If the emergency ever arose.
The highly important job of taking an
Inventory of the Nations commodity re-
uuirements and formulating a plan for
meeting them in time of war is in the hands
of the Commodities Division of the Army
and Navy Munitions Board.
On M-day Che military mems term for
the day of mobilization) the department
would appoint committees of selected civil
' ians to take full control of available sup
plies of those commodities which would
present problem.
The chief concern of the committees
would be 81 materials listed by the Com
modities Division as strategic" because
they are necessary to the national defense,
and most of them are obtained from sources
outside the continental limits Of the United
States If certain sea lanes were blocked, it
might be impossible to get them; or there
might be a shortage Of facilities to process
the raw materials after they were obtained.
Some of Needs Hoarded.
The department keeps on hand at all
times stores of some few commodities to fill
the Armys need in a war of certain dura-
ton. On M-day the department would be-
gin to import vast quantities of these and
other materials to augment their supplies.
Opium is one of the 81 items now in
storage. The supply is obtained from the
seizures of the Narcotics Division Of the
Treasury Department. This substance, es-
sential for the relief Of pain, is not at pres
ent produced in this country to any extent,
although the poppies from which it is OBJ
tanned can be grown here. Opium is not
processed here, so developing methods of
producing it would require time
The War Department. through its "edu-
cational ORDERS made possible by an ap-
preparation provided by the last Congress,
is attempting to meet the general problem
Of lack of processing facilities.
The program is to give small orders to
certain manufacturing firms whose ma
chinery can be so altered as to produce
materials which have war uses. The prac-
tice thus given the manufacturer will enable
him quickly to convert his plant in time
of need.
The question has been asked whether
Secretary Walace's ever-normal granary
program will be of assistance in time of
war War Department officials see only
limited wartime use for it.
The ever-normal granary program will
practically double the normal carry-over
OF the Nations cereals, removing part of a
crop surplus from the market in good years
and impounding it for use in lean years.
Allied Needs Might Be Factor.
Since this countrys prolific supply of
grains makes shortage unlikely, the mill
tary men think the granary program would
be Of Importance in wartime only in case
the United States had allies that needed
grain.
The II strategic materials are:
Aluminium, antimony, chromium, COCO
nut shells, coffee, hides, iodine manganese
ferrograde), manila fiber, mica, nickel,
opium, optical glass, quartz crystal, quick
silver, quinine rubber, silk, tin, tungsten,
WOOL
Coffee is regarded as highly important to
help maintain morale, both in the Army
and at home If there is a shortage-a
highly probable situation since all of this
countrys supply is imported-the civilians
will share the coffee rations with the SOL
diers.
One lesson learned in the last war is
that 1t is fatal to supply the Army and
forget the people at home. Germany tried
starving the civilian population to feed the
army, and the result, military experts saw.
was that she lost the war on the home
front.
Silk and rubber, both indispensable to
an army, are two products for which the
Commodities Division contemplates strict
conservation and distribution control
measures.
Silk Substitutes Unsatisfactory.
Silk substitutes are being improved all
the time, but the Army and Navy have
found only pure silk adequate for such uses
as the making Of parachutes and powder
bags. Synthetic silk parachutes are bulky.
Synthetic silk powder bags-used to con-
tain the powder in big guns-do not burn
as fast as silk, and they leave embers,
making the firing slower and more danger
Gus to the gunners.
Practically all the silk used here comes
from Japan, China, Italy and France A
little Is being produced on a ranch at San
Marcos Calf, but the amount so far is
inconsequential, for the United States uses
more than half the worlds supply.
Synthetic rubber may prove satisfactory
for some uses. the officers say, and guayule
rubber. obtained from bushes which grow
wild In Northern Mexico and Southwestern
United States, may be substituted for rub.