The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-08-22

possessed by many of the present
 day opponents of his foreign policy.
 AEr. Rooseveitss defense of the armament program was detailed and vigorous, although he explained that because of War Department secrecy he could not he as detailed as lie would have liked.
 The War department, lae said, in- sists that Byrd most unfortunately was completely inaccurate in all his figures except alrpIane production. The conclusion, the president said with a smile, is simply that scnle- body sold the senator down the river on his figures.
 Byrd had charged that the pro- duction e1Ort was begging down dis- astrously, and had demanded that the president centralize control of the defense program under single, all-powerful head. Mir. Roosevelt did not discuss the centraiazation idea, but, item by item, he cited War department figures challenging Byrd's accuracy.
 Actual Facts
 The presidents break down fol- lows:
 Tanks Byrd said not a single tank had gone to England, he said. Ac- tually hundreds fatnks have been turned over to the Britisla-Ameri- can tanks of modern design which have been produced within the last year in this country. He added that some of these tanks have been in service in Egypt and that newspaper reports have indicated their general excellence in actual combat condi- tions.
 Anti-aircraft guns Byrd charged that the program calls for average monthly delivery of only four 60 NM anti-aircraft guns, he said. Ac- tually, he continued, the program for this year calls for an average de- livery of 6l such guns monthly, and the war department believes that quota will be achieved. 1 37 NM anti-tank guns - Byrd charged that only IS such guns were produced monthly, he said. Actually, he said, in July of this year 72 such guns were delivered. In August a6O will be delivered; in September 20O will be delivered and in October 32O will be delivered. There is a certain obvious discrepancy between Byrd's figure of 15 and the War department figures, he said.
 81 nm. mortars- Byrd charged that only 15 such guns are to he delivered monthly in the forth coming months, he said. Actually, he said, 221 such guns were de- livered in July and production will be $40 this month. Production and deliveries for September and Oc- tober will be even over 34O, he con- tinued.
 Atrplane production - Byrd,s charges were not strictly true, the president said. The point he chal- lenged was what he said was Byrd,s assertion that production of mili- tary JlaneS declined materially dur ing May, June and July of this year. The actual, situation, said the pres ident, was that production of train- ing planes increased during this period while military plane produce ton held steady at its level. This situation for military planes was caused by the. fact that factories were changing designs on the basis Of knowledge gained in actual com bat conditions in which American made planes had been tried out. The president said he was quoting from memory and was not exactly certain of his figures on airplane production. But he said he believed that the estimate was for 1.50O planes per month by July l, and that the ofice of production man. agement on that date said that act- ual production had rache6 1,46S Der month.
 Foreign Policy Y Mir. Roosevelt was led into dis. cussion of his foreign policy oppo- nents' information by question about the recent Philadelphia speech of his own conRressnan Representative Hamilton Fish. R.. N. Y. He was informed that in tiais address, Fish had told an "Anerica First" rally that defeat of Germany would seriously hurt American trade In world markets.
 The president expressed amaze -