Evening star., 1940-09-08
Industrial Inventory
OF Defense Setup
To Be Finished Soon
IS Manufacturers to Be
Covered in Tubulution
By Census Bureau
RY OLIVER MCKEE.


BY OLIVER MCKEE.
BY the end of September, the
National Defense Commission will
have on hand a complete statistical
inventory of the industries which
will supply the Federal Government
with the bulk of the munitions and
materials needed in the prepared
ness program.
At the request of the commission,
the Census Bureau is speeding the
tabulations in the census Of manu-
factures, covering rs industries of
special importance in national de-
fense planning. Reports on several
of these have already gone to the
Defense Commission and Census
Bureau officials said yesterday the
tabulators would finish their work
before the end of the month. thus
providing rounded picture Of the
Nations defense resources and the
concentrations of key industries.
The industries selected for early
priority cover about 43 per cent of
the value of the output of American
manufacturers and employ 81 per
cent of the Nations industrial wage
earners. Each has a place in the
broad pattern of the arms program.
Some, like the aircraft, automobile
shipbuilding and firearms industries,
produce implements of war. Others,
such as machine tools, blast fur
naces, steel works and electrical
equipment plants produce materials
used in the manufacture of NUM-
tions. The list also includes the
meat packing, cane sugar refining
and clothing industries.
Neurological Changes.
The reports on individual indus
tries already completed by the Gen.
sus Bureau emphasize the tech
nological changes which have taken
place in the United States in re-
cent years. Although manufacturers
are increasing the value and vol
ume of their output, the number OF
wage earners in many instances has
declined.
The manufacture of rubber tires
and tubes is a good illustration in
point. In 1899, the industry manu-
factured 8,176,568 pneumatic tires
and castings for trucks and buses, a
half million increase over the 1887
output. American manufacturers
turned out 100000 more auto
mobile tires in 1889 than in 1887.
Last year, according to Census Bur-
r.
In the manufacture of rubber tires
and tubes. Their products were
valued at nearly s581 900 900. an in
crease of $4,000, 900 over 1887. The
number of wage earners, however,
declined from 63,2e0 to 54,l15.
Through the data assembled by
the Census Bureau, the Defense
Commission will soon have a pic
ture of production trends in all the
will reveal the employment trends
for each industry.
Study of Locations.
The Census Bureau has under
way long-range study, also of i'm
portance to national defense, to
show the changes in the locations Of
important industries. This study
will cover historical survey of all
manufactures from 1850 to 1929,
with an analysis of the movements
in 20 selected industries since 1929.
In recent years, many manufactur-
ers have established themselves in
new locations. The boot and shoe
industry. for example, long rooted
in New England, has moved in part
to St. Louis. In addition to the mi
grafton of industry from one section
to another, there has been a trend,
in many areas, toward .decentraliza-
ton. The Census Bureau study, in
which the Bureau of Agricultural
Economics is cooperating, will re-
veal the detailed pattern and the ex-
tent of these shifts in location.
At the request of the Defense
Commission. which will provide the
necessary funds, the Census Bureau
also is surveying migration trends
In IS additional industries. most of
them important contributors to the
rearmament program. One Of the
problems facing the Defense Com
mission is the geographical location
of new munitions plants. The Cen
sus Bureau data are expected TO
prove of value to the Commission
in deciding the best sites for future
defense facilities and plant ex-
pansions.
Census of Housing.
Returns from the 1910 census of
housing, now being tabulated, like
wise, will be of assistance to the
Commission in its long-range ma
tional defense plans. The housing
census will provide information on
the number of dwellings vacant and
for rent, the volume of recent con-
struction, and the areas where hous-
ing shortages exist.
In speeding the reports on de-
Tense industries, the Census Bureau
is using all the employees in the di-
vision Of manufactures, $50 in all,
and about 10 in the machine tabu-
lating division.