Evening star., 1940-06-11
Allies Agents Seek
List Of War Material
Available in j. ).
British Representative,
Cheered by Roosevelt
Offer, Sees Moreenthou
By the Associated Press.

Allied purchasing agents followed
up President Roosevelt's pledge of
material resources" today by i'm
mediately asking detailed lists of
war materials they may buy here.
Arthur B. Purvis. British repre-
sentative, said the Presidents offer
was most encouraging" and prom
ised to ''f1ll the gap" between now
and the time new weapons, for which
the Allies have contracted, can be
had
Mr.. Purvis said he and Frederic
Bloch-Laine, French representative
called on Secretary Morgenthau for
general discussion of what ma
terials might be declared surplus
by the United States Government. p"
He indicated that some specific
answers were promised for tomor-
row.
Old Destroyers Wanted.
Meanwhile, reports that Germany
was turning out submarines on a
Semi-masS production basis stirred
Allied interest in the possibility OF
obtaining destroyers from the United
States.
Naval circles heard that the Ger
mans were concentrating on the
construction of small submarines OF
$50 tons. which carry six torpedoes
and have a cruising range of only
900 miles
Authorities believe the produc-
tion rate is IL to 20 a month. Many
OF the U-boats are understood to
have been built piece-meal in the
interior of Germany and assembled
at coastal points.
Canada and Britain Interested.
IN view Of this construction and
British destroyer losses. it vas
learned. the British government
wants to buy any destroyers that
the United States Navy believes il
can spare. Well-informed sources
estimate that 25 to 35 British de-
stroyers have been sunk and that
more have been put out of action.
Canada. too. is known TO be in
terested in naval equipment. if not
complete destroyers.
The United States Navy has 81
World War destroyers which have
been out of active service since the
middle l920s. officials estimate that
1t would require an average of two
months TO get them ready for use
Funds TO bring them up TO par are
included in the emergency defense
program
Present law provides that naval
vessels cannot be sold until they
have been stricken from the Navy
list of useful ships. Congress. how
ever, could authorize direct sale OF
any naval craft to the Allies.
There has been talk in official cir
cles Of trading in old destroyers to
private navy yards. which would al
low the Government the amount OF
their value as down payment on
new ships. The turned-in Destroy
ers could be sold by the private
shipbuilders to the Allies. Whether
new legislation would be needed to
permit such a transaction is a mat
ter of conjecture.
81 Under Construction.
The Navy now has q destroyers
under construction Twelve are in
private yards which might accept
trade-ins of old vessels as partial
payments. In addition, the Navy
has 10 new destroyers. 1l6 old ones
in active service and the IS old ones
out of commission. The regular
building program for the next fiscal
year provides for eight destroyers
and the emergency building pro-
gram for 80
Reliable sources said that further
trade-ins of American warplanes ia
manufacturers who could sell them
to England and France. were even
more imminent than the possible
destroyer deal The Army. they
said. is considering turning in 15C
combat training planes in manner
similar to that by which so Naval
Reserve planes already are reaching
the Allies.