The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1940-12-05


cial communicates have referred to
a deal Of damage done by Herr
Hitler's raiders over John Bulls
isle. but they generally pooh
pooled the idea, until recently.
that they were putting a danger
Gus crimp into the ISLANDERS arms
output.
SIR Walter C'tri.e is n a posi-
ton TO know what he's speaking
Of; He occupies post in the Brit
ish Trades Union congress COM
parable TO William Green's presi-
dency OF the A. F. of l.. His APP
peal TO Yankee workingmen was &c
speed up production here to offset
the partial Gripping of factories IN
his home country.
1t may seem as II Britain's fly
ers should have smashed into Ger
many's activities as formidable as
the Germans have done into Brit
aims. but there's reason for the
belief that such isn't the case.
German Foresight
Englands arms making plants
are centralized in few spots. Ger
manys are widely scattered. They
total a vast capacity, Lvt no single
one of them is very large. Knock
ing Just few Of their number into
cooked hats doesn't signify greatly
10 the Reich. The others quickly
take up the slack.
The Nazis had the foresight to
adopt their policy of scatteration
quite a while ago. Our state de-
partment Investigated it rather
more than six years back, and con-
siderable progress had been made
with the plan even then. I'm sure
of 1t because I'm well acquainted
with one Of our consular represen.
tatives, at that juncture in Nazi-
and, who took a prominent part in
the inquiry.
His account is that Herr Hitler
not only was distributing his
plants far and wide; he was sub
dividing individual industries into
little peewees, located here, there
and everywhere. That is to say, a
good many different parts enter
into the composition of an airplane.
for instance. Adolfs system was
to have several factories engaged
in turning out each of these parts,
in as many jerkwater small towns
places too inconsequential for an
aerial raiding party to deem it
worth while to bother with. The
parts being ready, the notion was
to have them shipped into various
centers "a plurality Of them, so as
to have none overly concentrated)
to be assembled into integrated
planes.
My consular informant's opinion
was and Is that II was a program
practically impossible to counter
act except by the complete de-
struction Of Germanys transporta-
ton facilities.
presume the British were
aware, too.
1t May Be Too Late
Nevertheless, the British did
nothing toward similar de-
concentration on their issand-not
until well after the war started and
German air raids began. At pres
ent they're trying to de-concen-
trate. but it's pretty late in the
day.
Here in the United States, our
national defense commission is dis
cussing the same thing. It's sug-
gested that our Industries might
desirably be sprinkled over the
west instead Of being punched
solidly together In places like
Pittsburgh. Cleveland and East
Chicago. True, these burgs would
not be as easy for the Nazis to
bomb as Birmingham and Man.
chester are. stu, there's the ar
gument that they're economically
too big, anyway.
That a municipality Of little fac
tories, sprinkled all over our ma
tional landscape. would be better
for our workingmen and their fam
lies than keeping them herded to-
gether under big city conditions
has been contended b. sociologists
for lCrg time. Some Of them say
aerial warfare may prove to be
blessing In disguise Though a lot
Of disguised If 1t results in spread
ing our population out. as theyv,
been advocating all along.