Evening star., 1940-06-16
America Capable of
Great War Effort
By OWen L. Scott.

| chinery of government, is expected to
| break records in arming this Nation.
Reasons for this expectation are sew
eral, One is that the productive capac-
ity of American industry, once taxed, is
greater than that of all of Europe put
together. Another is that an important
part of industrys productive capacity
today is idle. A third is that the United
States possesses an abundance of labor,
much of it now idle and yet capable of
| quick absorption. Still another reason
| for expecting quick results is found in
| the superabundance of natural resources
food and flbers and minerals-all at
hand and waiting to be used. A fourth
| is found in the vast store of idle money.
In fact, this Nation devoting less than 20
| per cent of the national effort to war
can be more powerful than Germany
devoting so per cent of her energy
Symbols of depression that have de-
fed removal in recent years become
positive sign of strength at time like
this. Idle machines, idle men, idle re-
sources and idle money can be put
to work much more easily than busy ma
chimes busy men, scant resources, and
busy money can be shifted from peace
time occupations to war preparation oc-
cupations.
The need is for organizing ability
plenty Of money and plenty of power.
Men selected by President Roosevelt
to prepare this Nation against an ap-
proach of trouble have or will have an
ample supply of each. Mr.. Roosevelt is
confident that they will get maximum
results in one-half the time required in
19l7-18 to get comparable results In
that period maximum production of war
materials was reached about 13 months
after the United States entered war
This time comparable goal is expected
to be reached in about six months.
The machinery of today differs from
that of 19l7-l8. In that period, set
of control machinery was created out
side the regular organization of govern
ment. This time the machinery of con-
troll largely has been created In depres-
sion years and needs only to be geared
to war preparation. In both instances,
however the power for action will come
from a defense act passed in 1916, an
act that gives broad powers to the Presi-
dent whenever war is imminent
1t is against this background that the
race against time starts.
The first job of getting results devolves
upon William Knudsen and E. r. Stet-
tinius. Both hail from big business and
both have drawn into Government sery-
ice businessmen who have sat on the
sidelines and watched the New Deal 60
by ever since N. R. A. days Today Gov
ernment and business are pulling in
harness again for the task of arming.
Both Mr. Knudsen and Mr. Stettinius
are assured of all of the authority pos
sessed by the President in their fields.
They hope and expect, however, to get
results from industry by cooperation
rather than by compulsion.
** ~x
If it is money that is needed for ac-
ton, there will be Jesse Jones-with his
experience in getting results, and with
the resources Of the r. F. c. at hand. If
1t appears that antitrust laws are stand
ing in the way of concerted action, there
is assurance from Thurman Arnold that
those laws can be stretched in the name
of national defense. If some industries
find themselves jammed with more Or
ders than they can fila probability if
war continues in Europe-then Mr.
Roosevelt, either by recognizing an i'm
minence of war or by asking Congress
for bit more power. can give Mr. Knud-
sen authority to order any industry to
give priority to Government orders.
Prices may be more of a problem.
The task of watching prices is given to
Leon Henderson, S. E. c. commissioner
and the brains behind the T N E c.
Mr.. Henderson has a job without the
implements for performing that job.
Existing law does not give Government
authority to police this vital field in the
economic system. But Mr.. Henderson
has broad experience in this field, ex-
tending back to N. r. A. days, and is
believer in the effectiveness of moral
and intellectual persuasion in getting
results. His weapon, if persuasion fails,
may be the antitrust laws.
The job faced by Chester Davis in
preparing agriculture for its part in the
defense preparation is that of the other
national defense commissioners in re-
verse. He must see that the farm ma
chine is toned up and capable of per-
forming its function, while agricul-
ture is forced into the doldrums as a
first victim of the war abroad. Of
course, in this task Mr.. Davis depends
upon the highly efficient machinery of
the A. A. A. that he and Secretary WAL
lace constructed and upon the personnel
of the Department of Agriculture, which
knows better than any other department
how to get results.
In Europe, except in Germany, bar
rier to rapid defense preparation devel-
oped in the field of labor. Neither the
British nor the French in The first and
vital stages of their preparation had the
full cooperation of their workers In
this country vast supply of unem-
ployed makes the labor problem less
acute. But c. I. O.'s Sidney Hillman
may face a job in convincing American
workers that their best interests lie in
going along with plans for increasing
production rather than with plans for
limiting the amount of work performed
At this point there enters key prin-
ciple that is likely to govern the de-
fenSe 0rOprano 0f the American C,0v-