The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-05-22
n THE SCENES IN
AMERICAN BUSINESS"
By John Croddock

10 De eXact-freSldent Roosevelt TOLD Con-
gress of how the turn of world affairs had
made the speedy armament of the nation a
prime necessity for its continued existence in
a chaotic world. Obviously it's not in the
nations interest, in many cases, to detail ac-
tual results of this year of defense driving;
and no one denies that some nefficiencies
disputes, and even Obstinacies, have kept
that IL months from being 100 per cent as
productive as it might have been yet,
all in all, the record indicates that no other
nation has ever done so much in SO short IA
time. Furthermore, most of the year has
been devoted to getting ready to produce,
and the actual production pace will be step
ping up vastly faster from here on, as more
and more assembly lines swing into action.
EVEN so, the high spots show: A year
ago, military aircraft production was $50
planes a month; last month the industry set
a new record of 1,427, and by October the
output is expected to be around $500 month
ly. This year 115 merchant ships will
be delivered, against SO in 1910. More
significant is growth of facilities: Year ago,
there were only 83 privately-owned ship
ways in the country, and 81 others which
could be readily rehabilitated; now there
are ga available or well under construc-
ton, and SO more planned, and Navy yards
and shipbuilding companies are at work on
q total of $5,000,00O, 900 worth of fight
ing ships, cargo vessels, tankers and other
merchantmen Tank builders are keeping
abreast of a tough schedule, with 12-tonners
already at assembly-line stage and three
companies having finished their pilot yer.
sions Of the 28-ton job And the general
report on guns and ammunition of all types
is "ahead of schedule"
CONSERvATION-The speed with
which aluminium has "gone off to defend it's
country" has required real ingenuity of many
civilian users to adjust their operations to
a supply of civilian metal greatly diminished
by priorities. In thrifty New England,
though, the problem seems in one way to
solve itself. Michael A. Common. motor
vehicle commissioner Of Connecticut, which
adopted permanent aluminium license plates
in 1889, says the 220, 900 pounds of the
metal in the places of the states 4OO, 900
cars actually conserve metal. He points out
that the generally tight metals situation
makes it highly unlikely that the state, even
if it wished, could change over now to steel
tags, for these would require 450, 900 pounds
of steel each year. Only a little more than
$4,000 pounds of aluminium will be needed
for new license tags this year. Steel plates
Connecticut formerly used cost II cents il
1886. Aluminu mplates cost % cents in
1887, but most of them are still in use.
AXIS POLITICAL ARM-The charge
that German and Italian-dominated airlines
in Latin America are an arm of the axis air
force on political missions in this Hemis-
phere is made by C. V. Whitney, chairman
of the board of Pan American Always. He
has learned, he says, that every Fascist
pilot is committed to spread axis political
gospel, and says it is an open commercial
secret that many of the axis airlines are high
ly Improbable enterprises, kept afloat only
by subsidies from Berlin and Rome. Mr..
Whitney, one of the founders of Pan Ameri-
can, says that up to the beginning of 1941,
nine axis-controlled airlines were still operat-
ing without hindrance over strategic routes
of South America. These planes, he adds.
fly a total of 81 1852 miles and are linked
directly with Berlin and Rome by the It.
allan transatlantic airline, LATI, which re-
gularly crosses the South Atlantic to the
Coast of Brazil.
NOT COMPLACENT-Most strongly
worded warning yet given public as to need
for being ready and willing to crimp on
standard of living in order to help defense
is that of W.. l.. Bait, deputy director of pro-
duction division of OPM. He stated very
simply" his opinion that 1--WE cannot pro4
duce the vast quantities of fighting equip
ment that must be produced, and at the
same time preserve our standard of living in
terms of automobiles and electric conven-
fences and leisure hours" He pleaded for
hustiing ahead on all fronts-managerial,
labor, governmental-to get things done, let
wage, tax, jurisdictional and all other adj
JuStTHeHtS De worked out so
that quibbling over them wouldn't DELAY de-
tense work. Finally he said we must be
ware of self-congratulation, and we must
avoid the complacent notion that all is going
WE'LL"
BIT O'BUSlNESS - Nations depart
ment store sales still up and up. l6 per
cent ahead of last year for last four weeks