The Wilmington morning star., 1940-10-13
Industry, Finance, Govern.
ment Strive To Break
1929 Records
BY A MacMILLEN

! NEW YORK, oct. WIN
tension growing in the Far East
and Europe's war apparently
spreading in the Balkans, govern
.ment, industry and Wall tt e e t
Joined this week in the most de-
termined assault yet made on the
bottle necks which have impeded
the smooth flow of the National
Defense effort.
While industry paused for the
first ;breather in a 13-week drive
spurred by the SIP, 600, 900, 900
arms program, plans went forward
which appeared to make doubly
sure that production marks even
Of the boom year of 1929 would
shortly be challenged.
Wheels Turn Faster -.
In the fields of aircraft. ship
building, tin smelling, aluminium
production, artificial fabrics, and
in the greasing of the credit gears
to help along these and other de-
tense lines, steps were taken tc
make the wheels turn faster. Some
of these were:
1. A $3.50, 600, 900 plant expansion
program by the Aluminium co. of
America, motivated in large part
by defense needs, and a state
ment by the National Defense com.
mission that aluminium ingot pro.
duction would be doubled in 1912.
2. An appeal by the government
to aircraft manufacturers for gen.
eral adoption of 24-hour a day
operation without waiting for the
$3.50, 900, 900 of new plants being
constructed by the industry.
3. Award of $97, 600, 900 to 7 Ship
building and 4 steel companies by
the government to construct spe-
cialized ABILITIES for defense
needs.
4. Announcement of a $50, 900, 900
expansion program for the next
Is months by General Electric CO.
Coupled with revelation that tur-
bine orders for 1910 promise to
reach 500, 900, 900 exceeding t h e
combined totals of 1917 and 1918,
best previous years. Both the Navy
and private utilities use this ma
chimney.
Tin Negotiations
S. Word from Warren Lee Pier
son, head of the Export-Import
bank, now at La Paz, Bolivia,
that he was negotiating to secure
supplies of strategically important
tin for smelling in the United
States. Most of present supplies
originate in the Far East, are
smelted in Great Britain.
6. Plans for construction of a
new $11, 600, 900 plant by the Du
Pont Company, doubling the out
put of Nylon. While peace-time,
needs apparently justified the con-
struction, Nylon could be an i'm
portant substitute for silk for de-
tense needs in case supplies were
cut off from Japan.
7. Signing by the president of
legislation permitting holders to
assign their contracts as security
for bank loans.
The latter step, bankers said,
should result in an Immediate,
though probably moderate, step
ping up in the flow of bank lend
ing funds into the defense pro-
gram.
Some loans, especially in the air
craft industry, Wall Street bankers
reported, had already been made
in anticipation of the legislation.
Many of the largest producers
of steel and other war materials
however, have large supplies OF
cash, and most bankers were not
expecting a stampede of borrow
ers. Later, when the defense effort
has reached flood-tide, these
sources said, this legislation may
be of vital Importance.
That tight spots still remained
in industry's supply situation for
defense, however, "a made clear
when William S. Knudsen defense
commissioner, told the Army Ord
nance association that d f e n S e
needs will absorb "the entire out
put Of the machine tool industry
in 1941, and that only the most
pressing call for tools in other
quarters could be considered.
What this meant in terms of new
automobile models for 1912, and in
other lines where annual re-styl-
ing (and therefore re-tool1ng) has
been customary, was not :mmedi.
ately clear.
BUTT appeared that in this di-
rection some of the first effects
of the arms drive on consumer
expectation might be felt.