The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-06-12

VelC at tnc nlBH leVel Of prOduCs ton the auto industry iS being allowed to maintain. He stated that B.ltain long ago geared pri- vato auto output to defense needs. STEEL PRIoRITIEs
 Proposed solution of this bottle. neck Is mandatory steel TIlorities, now possible under the newly en- acted Prioriteis Act The auto industry would get only e pro- portional share of the metal left over after allocationS had been made for all defense needs.
 Defense orders would not have to wait their turn. Instead, steel output would be apportioned ar- bitrarily on the basis of defense requirements first; the rest divided among consumer industries. 1n- cidentaliy, this last allocation would be 'in the hands of Hender- son, no lover of the auto makers.
 Under such controls It is pos
 Sible that auto output would be slaShcd by aS much as 7B per cent. There are some defense
 chiefs who contend that if a cut
 of this size had been made three
 months ago, there would be no
 steel shortage now.
 CAPITAL CHAFT
 Naval officers are casting q covetous eye at Vincent AStor's luxury yacht, the Nourmahal, upon which Roosevelt used to take fish- ing cruises. They would add 1t to the Atlantic fleet, replacing the battleShip Wyoming, which is to become an airplane carrier New radio broadcast on health sponsored weekly by the Woinan's National Emergency Committee will feature such speakers as La- 0uardia, Paul McNutt and pr. Thomas Parran. At 10:30 every Friday night. 1t will emphasize the lesson the British learned, that proper food and health arc even more important in wartime {. The White House Is elated over a test poll showing Representative Lyndon Johnson, New Deal can- didate ii the Texas speciali Senate election, leading the field by c de- cisiVe margin. He led Governor Pass the biscuits" O,Daniel by 2 to 1, even il the rural districts where O,Daniei Is strongest with Rep. Martin Dies trailing 6 poor fourth.
 FRENCH SHIPS IN U. S.
 It is not supposed 10 be known, but the State Department recently OK'd a proposal from the Vichy government to send several French ships now in American waters carrying U. s. supplies to the French.
 The state Department figured that if the ships were sent, 1t might win over General Weygand and secure aid for the British. The British also OKd the deal, pro- viding the French sent an equal number of bottoms back ito the U. s. A. "
 However, the Maritime Com
 mission put its foot down. It absolutely refused to permit French ships to leave American waters. They are still here.
 The Maritime Commission is made lip of sailors and business men. but perhaps they had watched State Department dip- iomacy with Vichy Perhaps they remembered Cuonei Bill Donovan's useless trip to woo General Weygand; the shiploads of food sent to woo Vichy; the fact that French military supplies in Syria were sent to help the Germans against the British in IraQ.
 NOTE = Even some state De- partment officials now admit that the worst mistake the United States made was ever to recog- nize the Vichy government Of Marshal Petain.
 MERRY-GO-ROUND
 Charles Kellogg, head of the Edison Electric Institute, is get- ting the axe as One Dollar Man charged with finding ssirpsus pow- CT for defense industries. Kellogg vigorously opposed Rooseyeit's many power projects. but more