Evening star., 1941-04-15

were approved by the chief of the
supply service.
Furthermore, he added, approval
of Donald Nelson of the Once of
Production Management, was re-
quired on all contracts in excess Of
$500 900.
He said the fixed fee could not
exceed 6 per cent of the estimated
cost and that 1t remained the same
whether costs rose or fell below the
estimates. In large contracts, he
said, the fee ran as low as per
cent.
After praising the Army General
Staff for the paper plans it had
ready when Congress began ap-
propriating billions for defense last
summer, Secretary Stimson added:
But while the Army can place
orders, it does not fill them. The
Army makes, in it's own establish
ments, only a relatively small frac-
ton of the arms and equipment
which it uses. The actual produc-
tlon of by far the greater portion of
our munitions is the responsibility
of the private industries of the
country which receive the orders.
Thus far the department has
imposed its military program on top
OF the normal commercial opera
tions of the country and to date the
Government has done little to
subordinate the civilian needs of the
country to its military program.
Officers Efficiency Praised.
Possibly, we can improve our
rates of production if we cut into
those needs. But the speed with
which our rearmament program has
gotten under way and the great
improvements over our record in
this respect in the last war is due,
in the main, to the energy and
efficiency of the officers and per-
sonnel of the general staff and of
the supply arms and branches of
the War Department"
Referring to the problem of aiding
Britain, Mr.. Stimson declared:
In addition, the Department has
recently been given the responsibility
OF instituting vast new program
to cover needs of those other nations
whose integrity we feel is vital to our
defense. 1T will proceed with that
program, firmly believe, with even
greater speed than marked the pro-
grams which were instituted last
Summer and last Fall"
Secretary Stimson began his state
ment by pointing out that this
country's defense effort began only
last June, when the battle of Flan-
ders. and the fall of France first
aroused our people to their danger" !"
After detailed account of all
that has been done since that time,
the Secretary closed with this state
ment:
With the magnitude of the task
and the speed and pressure under
which it was performed, it is in
evitable that some mistakes have
been made, but, when the work of
this committee is completed, I am
confident that it will be found that
the total of those mistakes will ap-
pear quite insignificant when set
against the value of the time saved
and the size of the task performed" :"
Advance Preparations.
Emphasizing that the character
of modern warfare has its effect on
the procurement of arms. the Sec
| retary estimated that to plan for
war today nation should COM
mence its preparations. at least,
three to five year in advance"
Some seven years ago. he con-
tinued, Germany began to concen-
trate on its preparations for war.
1t evolved new technique of diplo-
macy, a new form of propaganda,
and, finally, new tactical methods
based on new weapons. The thought
and energies of the entire country
were devoted to preparation for war.
In spite of repeated warnings, the
democracies preferred not to COM
! pete with that preparation. AS a
result, in 1889, Germany was ready
to move toward its objective, first
without force, and, then, at the first
show OF opposition to her plans, with
terrific violence. Germany disclosed
to the world quantity and variety
of modern weapons and, second. a
method of employing them which
have thus far achieved ar-reaching
results
Last year, the Secretary pointed
out. the War Department was faced
with tho pepeSSitv of oconiyinr ~,
short time munitions adequate to
meet the munitions which Germany
had spent seven years in producing.
Competition between ordnance
manufacturers and the aircraft in
duStry for machine tools is one re-
tarding factor today that was not
present in 1917, Mr.. Stimson said.
Conflicting Demands Arise.
with the metalization of air.
planes and airplane parts, and with
the greatly increased emphasis on
the Importance of aircraft gener-
ally" he testified, 1T has been
found that conflicting demands for
machine tools have arisen and all
ordnance items, except aircraft arm
ament, have been sharply subordi-
mated In their priority to aircraft
needs, as well as to the needs of the
Navy. But in spite of these delays,
unless the priorities or ordnance
items are further modified, the ord
nance program should proceed in
accordance with the above outlines.