The Wilmington morning star., 1940-06-08
S., FORD JOIN
In MOVE FOR MASS
PLANE PRODUCTION
Continued From Page One)

parent interest IN cOIIpulS'uy
training created an immediate oil
vision of sentiment in congress,
and much debate was expected, es.
pecially if Mr.. Roosevelt should
propose legislation to draft tn e
sons of thousands of households
for military training.
His remark on military service
awsmadnierdlu etao eta st ct
was made in an offha.ld fashion at
his regular Friday press confer
ence. Blu. it came SO unhesitating-
ly in reply to the question which
prompted it and was SO unequivo-
cal that many wero drawn ines
capably to the conclusion that the
chief executive had been studying
the possibilities of such a course
of action.
Likes Editorial
Mr.. Roosevelt was asked f r
comment on an editorial appear
ng today in the New York Times
emphatically urging compulsory
Ill1llId1y u dll1llS. LID d11oWO4 was
that he had read the first para
graph and likel it very much. The
paragraph in question follows:
The time has come when in
the interest of self-protection, the
American people should at once
adopt a national system of uni
versal compulsory military train
ing. We say this as G newspaper
which has never believed in the
" sdom of such a policy in time
of peace. We say i because the
logic Of events drives us remorse-
lessly to this conclusion"
Late in the day, the war depart
m ent announced that, at Ford's
re .uest, a pursu-t plane of the
latest type would be flown to the
Ford airport on Monday, with an
engineer to explain it to Ford and
It men of his own engineering
department.
Ford recently s that if free
from governmental interference he
could produce 1000 planes of stand
arc type daily, in about six months.
This he followed up with a re.
quest to the war department that
it send him e plane of the type
most needed. He also sent assur
ances of his suppo~' for the ma
tional defense program.
Asks Authority
Following up yesterdays disclosr
ure that so nava' planes would be
turned back to their manufacture
with the latter free ID sell them
{ once to the Allies-Mr. Roose
v, 1t today ssked for authority Il
turn back leftover World w a ]
stocks of guns.
Legal power already exists tt
follow such a coursc with plane:
AID ammunition, M Roosevelt
said. guns are in a differen'
status. Under the existing statutes
he said, the money lized by thu
government on the guns would
have to he turned INTO the genera
fund + the treasury.
By contrast, it is the president:
plan to have these sum- left a:
credit on the books of the manu-
facturer to whorc they are sold
this credit be a rlied later tc
purchases of up-to-date equipment
replacing tt 1ateria sold. Once
in the treasury, the money coulc
be made available for replacement
purpose only by a congressional
appropriation.
For many years, the president
ing it's old equipmel I -~henever II
S id, the % 1ernment IS been sell.
world conditions, h. added, a de.
mand has developed for material
which has been deteriorating but
which is still serviceable.
That the war supplies in ques-
tio-. are still considered useful is
attested by the fact that, accord.
ing to an announcement by Secre.
tary Morgenthau, the Allied pur.
chasing commission has asked il
it cannot buy the equipment re.
ferred to.
Perhaps of prime l Importance
among the g"rs which might find
their way to the Allies are 300 sew
enty-five-millimeter field guns,
similar tn the famous French 75's,
which have proved invaluable to
the Allies in beating back tank at
focLc I