Imperial Valley press., 1941-12-10

W 3SHINCI CN. DEC, 10 ---. Oil
ce!s OF the United State Army. and
particularly those charged With the
duty CT buying uppieS, are sitting
right on top of 4 cCnundrum.
And they are agreed that III amy
kind Of weather that's very uncOm-
Portable place.
The puzzle is: when a congress-
nan blasts loose at them with a
rhllippic in which he asserts that by
their excessive and eXtravagant
purchases they are doing the very
thing that brings about intlatIon'
shall they counter-blaSt?
They have not yet decided. Hence
,heir worried look. It's not quite
n equal contest The congreeSmen
nave the upper hand. They not
only set the speeches into the Con-
elesSional record, but can spread
them vide and far in frankcd en-
yeloLes. Moreover, they hold a whip
hand in that they have to pass upon
appropriations foa the Army.
REAL QUANTITY BUYING
Congressman Philip Bennett, Re-
publican from the Sixth Missouri
district, is the latest to give the
War Department a headache. Re
Gently he cited a lot of figures
which. he said, showed that either
the War Department was figuring
on an expeditionary force Of l0,-
coo 900 men or was vastly OVerbuy-
ing. He said most Of his figure
showed purchases from Sept. !,
1910 10 Nov. H. l94l inclusive.
Among them he cited the following
For blankets and bed clothing
$1,000. .......... ... $9O,33O 99l
For raincoatS .... S30,434 269
For 100000 yards of cotton twill
for uniforms ...... S23 1874 474
For 100000 paIrs OF khaki cotton
trousers ..... S 9.5ll320
For 77.807 626 prs of socks Sl5,34O,471
For 100000 prs Of shoes S59,51O075
For 100000 pairs Of drawers
.... s27,0OO0 900
In all, he said, the Army had
Lpent for clothing and personal
comfort items 1858, 1854
SOME OF THE REASONS
No War Department officials
would talk to me for formal quota
ton, but inquiry elected the fCl-
lowing, which may form the basis
OF a counter -blaSt-u one is crcr
issued
|. In the first place, in many
instances, the Office Of Production
Management asked that the Army
place its big orders as promptly as
possible. 50 that manufacturers
could take care Of them without
seriously crippling civilian demands.
For Instance, III the case CT a Iast
order for Army Shoes, these could
lot be bought off the shelf Unlceg
the factories We're given time. The
might haze to make civilians %
short. 1heY might not even hava
needed atCck5 Of leather IN hand.
FGthe!n!cre. when tIgulcs are quot
fd. it does not mean the shoes o.
pants or what not are delivered
within a few weeFs .: months. Parts
! the orders may not be delivered
tlr vca- or more.
2. The stock the Army has to
have for 100000 men means hign
fgures-far more than needed at
Il: Given mC.Aent. In the matter
Of clothing, for instance, there are
'aIl men and small men. fat men
and thin men. That means ta:n all
~ have to he KEEP. on Aand.
:. Clothing, shCc5, etc, do ~0t
At fCarvcr Tic" ".,~r ~ Hasa.
Army Of tGda" and the American
people co not want their Soldier
- "a ra~end and b,ycfoot as "a
1.,'cn. 50. pi'cu N" article =
'"Hn r tte r-'rp., vino win'c~ed
at Valley Eo.p2 ;.jth Dc,rgc VAIN
clothing wear, out the o1ll'o~-
u e. hss 10 he -o-d" - civo ito
soldier . new article tHat fits han.
For lns.fncc when spitIcr is in
dGrtcd INTO &c hImy he ,cts
three pairs Of shoes. It l. also 1fan
aim Of the qlu''rmoetcr to have
five pair II rc."g"c. It is cstimatcd
that two pairs viii be needed log
replacement curing the year.
Moreover, when m:n are dis-
charged from the Army they do
not hand back the moe they arc
wearing They takt the footpcar
with them. Mdltlly this by l500.-
900 men, plus tAo@c leaving the
Army and thO,e ircshI? c,i ...E
and tie Army mon 60 g..