The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1940-12-12
Very Costly DELAY

Eo one begrudges the President a
lation, and everybody hopes his
l.weell cruise in Southern waters
lae battleship will be of great ben
lto him. Nevertheless, there is real
lqss among those who best know
situation that he did not see fit to
lgrtain things before he left.
Ine of these, of course, is action to
Idnate the airplane industry. To-
the industry is utterly uncoordi-
III and its production is far below
lapacity. Men in possession of the
are a unit in asserting that had
lMdinator been named four months
the present production could have
doubled. Literally, there is moth
Emite as important in the world
" as the production of American
Lanes for Great Britain. 1t isn't
volume that is vital, but speed
or late a coordinator for this in
Ay will have to be named here as
done in England. Soon or late
industry which contributes to
Aefense program will have to be
Minated, as was the case in the
wal-that is, if anything like
Amum production for defense pur-
is to be achieved.
###
mief, it is agreed that ultimately
IheSident will have to change and
gthen the present defense setup.
lisheartening thing is the pre-
time that is being lost and the
which delay involves. Efforts to
Ihe President to act before he left
singularly futile. 1t was reported
The agreed the changes had to be
but could not bring himself to
them. Partly this was because
lToup Of his advisers is violently
ISed to any action that will give
1 businessmen more power in the
Be movement. Partly it was be-
~ the suggestions for a rearrange-
h Of Defense Commission person
and power came from his oppo-
HIS, and he has a strong distaste
following any suggestions which
mot originate within the admins
Itive circle. Partly, too, there was
Eiifficulty Of finding the right men
the new posts. In any event, he
l no steps before he left on his
I and, Of course, now none can be
len until his return, which will mott
earlier than the seventeenth.
##M
lIms more weeks are wasted
p, labor and money are wasted.
1nwhile the Defense Commission
t:tiOns as best it can, but no one on
Imd no observer of it, thinks that it
fmctioning as well as it should. No
believes that the present setup
continue as it is-or should con-
be- Everybody knows the changes
ld be made, but nobody can do
tthng about it. The whole business
II to wait on Mr.. Roosevelt's will
Mr.. Roosevelt has gone on anoth-
tSpection trip. When enc considers
great need of England and what
Il tmal disaster to that embattled
on would mean to US, delays of
SOrt seem really terrible, and this
pot being patiently borne by those
Nm it most affects here. The simple
IlS that the entire national defense
DEMONSTRATION of airplanes,
+, ammunition and battleships-is
tlmg behind schedule. And the rea-
It is running behind is that it has
impossible to get the President
EaOthe the men he has asked to do
Elob with power to do it. He has not
tfed the decks for them and he has
made the decisions which only he
fmake.
was expected that he would act
sOOn as the election was over. On
Of the month that has elapsed,
L more weeks are now to be added
Fore anything can be done to cor
flthe defects in the defense machin-
L which have been manifest from
Estart. 1t does seem an unfortunate
II for him to take a sea voyage.
Ictly why he is doing so is some
y OF a mystery. Every report is
his health is perfect, and to those
saw him before he left he exhib-
no signs of fatigue or worry. One
0n advanced is his desire to see
fhmself the new naval and air
which we are building. One
adly commentator suggests that
has gone away to "think things
fagh" and CLARITY his mind"
Oh might, of course, turn out to be
pod thing. An unfriendly columnist
fts that he has gone away to avoid
tmg Mr.. Willkie, whom he dis
5 at the Gridiron dinner. What
i the reason, it has put off the in
pable decisions about the defense
Hp for at least two weeks, which is
HgOura DINO