Evening star., 1941-10-05
American Production
Held inadequate
By Queen L. Scott.

One point now is being demonstrated to
the satisfaction of nearly everybody.
This point is that American industry is
not now able and will not be able for
one year and more probably two years,
to supply both large American Army
and the armies of nations that have been
promised American aid.
Out of that situation is flowing the
following conclusion:
1t is going to be necessary to slow up,
and in some cases even to stop, the
delivery of weapons to the American
Army in order that those weapons may
be placed in the hands of armies that
are prepared to use them in actual COM
bat This, In turn, means that plans Of
Army officers for an expansion in the
size of the present Army probably will
be placed on ice for the time being.
The apparent decision TO divert a
greater portion Of arms, production to
the armies of Great Britain and Russia
and China and Turkey is based upon
several reasons They are:
/. The obvious reason that tanks and
planes and guns and other Army equip
ment tend rapidly to become obsolete in
time Of war. 1t is preferable to get
equipment into the hands of soldiers
who now are fighting and who need
that equipment than to pile 1t up un-
used in the hands of an Army that is
not now fighting and that would want
the very latest equipment if it did fight
2. The selfish reason that if British
soldiers and Russian soldiers and Chi
nese soldiers can stop Hitler and Japan
with American weapons, then it is gain
for this country to let them have what
ever weapons there are for the job which
thereby is spared American soldiers.
3. The political reason that if Ameri-
can weapons are going abroad and there
is a slowing down in the creation of a
large American Army. those who insist
that an army of 100000 or 1O0OOoo
Is being prepared to land on the CONT
nent of Europe will be answered. 1t won't
be easy to prove that this country is
building vast eXpeditionary force when
the arms are going to others.
The situation that gives rise to the
proposal for larger diversion of the
output of American arms factories is
this:
Until now. Just about half of every
thing but aircraft was assigned for ship
ment to Great Britain. The idea was
to divide up vast production from
American industry. 1t turns out, how
of tanks and other equipment is pitt
fully small. In fact. except for aircraft
which the British bought and paid for
with cash on the barrel head long be-
fore there was a lend-lease plan the
arms production of the United States
is grotesquely small.
To divide by half the trickle of actual
fighting equipment that is coming from
American factories, and then to divide
| the half for export among British, Rus
! slams, Chinese and Dutch obviously is
| absurd The result, until now, has been
| that the British received just about
| everything that was turned out and not
| assigned to the American Army.
| Now. however. the demand for Ameri-
:
! situation confronting the different ma
! tionS is this:
! The British: Still inadeQuately pre-
/ pared at home. with a shortage of tanks
and other kinds of mechanical equip
ment needed to balk invasion. But. more
! important than that right now, the
! British face the need for vast amounts
! of ~ -
| Middle East. Hitler is heading in that
| direction and if he is to be stopped it
| probably will have to be with American
| equipment in the hands of British and
! Australian and, possibly, Turkish SOL
| diers.
The Russians: Gradually losing the
| heart of their industry in the Leningrad
area and in the Ukraine Despite all re-
| ports to the contrary. the Russians are
/ not able to support mass armies with
all Of the equipment they need from the
| Russian industries east OF the Ural
| Mountains. Those armies will have to
| depend on American and British equip
ment that is drawn from other areas.
The Chinese Up against a very diff
cult situation because of a shortage of
every kind of equipment except rifles
| China is taking terrible punishment from
bombing against which it has no de-
| fense. It's armies are suffering new de-
feats because they lack even the most
basic equipment. Until now this coun-
try has sent to China largely asphalt
and trucks-the necessities of transport
! 1t has sent and is sending only the most
meager volume of actual fighting equip
ment.
All of this means that if Hitler is to
be stopped by the armies against which
he is fighting and if Japan is to be
checked in China so that she will have
no stomach for war with the United
States, then this country needs to do
something more than talk about de-
livering vast quantities of arms. When
lend-lease operation gets out of the con-
versation stage. it comes down to the
need for diverting American production
from the American Army for use by
armies that now are fighting.