Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-11-12
u. S. Trade
Suicide Seen
In Defense
johnson S avs I4o, 900
Firms Lack Metals
BY HUGH s. JOHNSON

MIR. w. S. KNUDSEN is re-
AVA ported TO have said that
next year So per cent of Ameri-
can industry will be engaged in
defense work. He certainly can
not mean So per cent of the
number of establishments.
A few score of big corpora
tons are getting by far the bulk
of all this business, and about
100000. or by far the bulk of
other Germs, are getting
nothing and are beginning a
process of closing up for want
of materials.
/ have a report from the 1lli-
nois division of the Association
of Small Business Men resulting
from a statewide canvass by
QUESTIONABLE. The results are
shocking.
In the first place only 26 per
cent of these little factories were
adaptable TO defense work, 81
per cent adaptable only in part
and II per cent not adaptable
at all.
Seventy-three per cent of
adaptable plants have applied
for defense work, and y per
cent have had some business.
OF u per cent of the employers
asked how many employees had
been laid off, the answers ranged
from l to Is per cent-and this
process of national economic
suicide has just begun.
UNLESS these little fellows
~ can get defense orders or
raw materials, Ga per cent of
them report that they will have
to go out of business and the
other 80 per cent of answers
were only little less lugubrious.
The principal raw materials
required for them 10 carry on
in As per cent of cases is steel;
20 per cent aluminium; 10 per
cent brass; ID per cent copper:
II per cent zinc; 10 per cent
wire; 8 per cent chemicals, and
u per cent miscellaneous.
On the availability OF steel
the president of the American
Iron and Steel Institute reports
I our ingot steel production will
be 100000 tons and that for
this calendar year defense re-
quirements, including Britain
and Canada. will be $4,000, 900
| tons.
Next year the defense require
ments may be somewhat higher,
but so will ingot production
by 100000 tons. From these
figures il is deduced that 81 600
900 tons will be available for
domestic nondefense production
or. excluding exports TO coun-
tries other than Britain and
Canada, 64,OO0,000 tons.
THIS is more steel than has
ever been used in this coun-
try. Even in 1910 domestic pro-
duction Including defense was
only 55,000,000 tons.
No such figures are available
for copper, but, considering the
tremendous increases in copper
producing capacity, following the
discovery of the vast African
deposits. the accessible and rich
copper deposits in South Amer
lea, and the long depression re-
structions on the use Of copper
il is hard TO deduce an overall
copper shortage.
Especially is this apparent
when it is remembered that
Great Britain and America
which control access to these
great storehouses, are not yet
I in shooting war at anywhere
near the rate of expenditure that
we had in 1917 and l9lS-When.
after just such a Shortage
scare as we are having now--it
was proved that there was no
real shortage at all.
A GOOD deal of evid g n c
"a points 10 slap-dash methods
( in OPM and failure by research
TO find out what supplies are
available, where they are most
needed, and when.
This is a deadly serious bust
ness. 1t is none too early 10
begin jumping up and down and
raising cain about il. This adj
ministration has sofidified It's
political position by giving
people things with lavish hand.
But when "priorities" unem-
ployment and bankruptcies be-
gin to appear more clearly, and
almost confiscatory taxes start
to squeeze, the administration
will be taking more than IL ever
gave and somebody is going 10
catch il when people find out
that much of il is unnecessary.
Distributed by King Features synd., Inc.
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