Evening star., 1940-12-22
More Working Hours
To Speed Defense
Urged by Byrd
Sweep Out the Red Tope,
Senator Advises, Citing
Delays in Reormine
BY ]. A. O'LEARY.

4OA AooV 4AASAt ny 0CAdtOA oyAA ",
Democrat, of Virginia as one step
to speed up the defense program,
which he charged has begged down
to such an extent as to constitute q
menace to our own national secur-
ity and seriously interfere with our
effective aid to Great Britain"
The Virginian gave his analysis
of what is needed to accelerate de-
tense machinery in a statement
voicing approval of the Presidents
appointment of William S. Knudsen
as director of the new four-man
Office for production management.
In referring to Mr.. Knudsen, Sen
ator Byrd said the action taken
Friday will be hailed with univer-
sal approval"
''It is tragic" he added, "that this
action was not taken many months
ago."
CriticizeS Bureaucracy.
Declaring that red tape should be
cut. the Senator said also I'VE must
remove the barriers that now exist
to efficient management by the
control of autocratic Government
bureaus"
"As a Nation" he continued, I'VE
must work longer hours during the
present emergency. We must sweep
out red tape"
The Senator contended these steps
cannot be accomplished unless there
is a full realization by the Ameri-
can people of what he termed "our
present woefully inadequate progress
of preparedness, which involves,
likewise, our aid to Great Britain
in the immediate months to come,
which may we'll be the period of her
greatest need"
To this end he urged that the
people be made fully aware OF the
status of defense equipment.
Wants Facts Made Public.
IT, of course, would not advocate
making public military secrets" he
continued, but the American peo-
pie today are entitled to know the
basic facts regarding their mech
dll4LIQ lIllAIdIy
number of fighting airplanes suit
able for front-line combat on hand
today: the number of such planes to
be delivered in the months ahead:
the number of tanks, anti-aircraft
and other equipment.
"We should not delude ourselves
in the thought that Germany, Japan
and Italy have not already these
facts, which are being kept secret
and withheld from our own people.
The ambassadors. agents and diplo-
mats OF these governments are to-
day free residents in America. In
the effort to keep these facts secret
we are merely deceiving ourselves
and denying the people of America
information of vital importance to
their security.
"The people of France were not
informed as to the military pre-
paredness of that nation; neither
were the people Of Great Britain,
and we today see the consequences
OF such unwise action"
Recalls August Statement.
Earlier, the Virginia Senator called
attention to his statement of last
August that only 343 combat planes
had been ordered by the Army and
Navy combined in the 100 days fol-
lowing the assurance given to the
Nation on May Is by the President
OF the United States that this Ma
tion would have $4,000 military
planes"
II then said that immediate and
drastic steps should be taken to re-
organize the entire defense pro-
gram Senator Byrd added. "The
delay in placing contracts for heavy
fighting planes is of enormous sig
nif1cance, as orders placed after
September l, last, will not be avail
able until the late fall of 1941 or
early winter of 1912.
Our situation is critical in the
extreme, and the American people
should know it. We need adequate
defense ourselves. We should aid
England, without delay, in her des-
perate hour"
The Senator argued that demo-
cratic forces are never fully opera
tive unless the people are acquainted
with the facts. Before urging longer
hours and the removal of barriers
to efficient management, the Sena-
tor said the American people must
make sacrifices. and that industry
must cooperate ''in the fullest
measure"
He made the statement, he said,
as one who has supported all de-
tense measures from the beginning
and who believes in this day of
brutal force that all nations must
be prepared, and who has been Deep
ly concerned as to the Ineffective
ness OF our defense program for
many months; and, also, as one who
is opposed to the United States be-
coming a participant in the Euro
pean conflict"
He charged that 1--WE have been
f1oundering along in haphazard
fashion during the critical days
when the map of Europe was re-
shaped by Hitler's conquests. And
only now, Is months after the be-
ginning OF the European war, we
appear to have awakened to the
fact that, Notwithstanding the enor-
nous appropriations made by Con-
gress, our production of essential
military equipment is in very mea-
ger amounts
The Virginian's statement came
a few days after Senator johnson,
Democrat, of Colorado addressed a
letter to Chairman Sheppard of the
Senate Military Committee, suggest
ing joint inquiry by the Military
and Naval Committees to ascertain
the status of the defense program.