The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-05-29
THE FIRST BIRTHDAY

|MAY, 1910, was an important month In the ms
A'A tory of the modern world. Early in thu
month the German btZkIieg was turned loose l
fury on the Low Countries. An army and al
force which had been the principal topic OF CONVEX
Isation in European chancelOrles for years, bu
(which had never been tested, came into action g
Hast. The much-vaunted defenses Of Belgium an
Holland crumpled like so much paper before tn
greatest war machine the world had ever KNOW no
| The war was on in earnest and Hltlers Ihl1
Reich was away to a commanding lead.
May 16, 1910, was a tremendously lmportan
lday in the history of this country. Presldef
Roosevelt, speaking to the Congress- called for a
|arms production program which would max
American defenses invulnerable, and our securt
absolute. He then asked that slightly more tha
Isl, 600, 100000 be appropriated as starter.
So the rearmament drive is a little more tha
one year old 1t was drive which began in a
atmosphere of intense enthusiasm, tremendou
lconfdence. 1t was drive which shortly ate
begged down to the point where many almost SUI
|cumbed to hopeless despair 1t was drive whlc
then picked up as industry managed to gear itse
to war production after decades of peace. Wha
lare it's fruits today?
Judged by World War 1 standards, we are dc
ing well. We have spent or committed ourselve
Ito spend $4,000, 0,000-our entire expense i
the previous war was S22,O00,O0O,0OO. We al
producing far more planes, tanks and field piece
THAN we produced then. Our training program
for men has gone ahead much faster. But-an
this is an important but indeed-the world ha
learned that World War is a very different mat
ter than World War 1. Hitler has changed tn
lrues and the standards.
Judged by what the best experts think W
|shoud be doing, we are moving far too slowly, to
Iinefficiently, too wastefuly Prime need is TO
|aircraft, which is given priority by gOvernmen
over all other arms. Yet the fact is that ever
|Official estimate of what we would produce has ha
Ito be revsed-and revised downward Only re
tlot, boJp NOT r,oO
for nearly enough big bombers, and an attempt
being made now to remedy that lack At the sam
time, it is also true that plane production has dot
lbled since November
We are woefully short on ordnance, and it
taking much time to effect progress. The arm
has been criticized in this respect for lacking
punch, for being bound with red tape, etc. In re
Iply, the army answers that during the 2O's an
1905 it was given an average of only Sl2,OOOOOO
year to spend for ordnance. Whatever the cause
wherever the fault may lie, we won't have enOug
Iguns and ammunition to really equip our fast-e>
panding army for at least year, and perhap
longer.
In personnel, the army's record looks gOOt
There were 27 complete divisions in May, 1911
There were five in May, 1910 Some progress ha
been made toward developing mechanical and arm
|ored divisions none of which existed year ag'
But again equipment shortages are making it ne'
|eSSary to revise the previous estimates downward
The navy is probably in better shape than eve
in it's history, one reason being that it was give
,much money during peacetlme when the army Wa
|given barely enough for subsistence But it wi
Ibe 1915 or 1916 before we have a powerful tW'
|occan fleet with men and officers trained to hand
it, No one has yet been able to find a way
materially shorten the time it takes to build figh
ling craft.
Summing up, we are going ahead, but we al
not going ahead as fast as the experts think
both necessary and possible. There is crticisl
|Of the President for being indecSlVc, and for II
|fuSing to fire incompetent assistants. There
IcrticiSm of industry for not adapting itself rca(
lily to war basis. There is criticism of labor t,
|Striking in the face of the national emergcnc
There is criticism of the public at large for n,
|realizing how deadly serious our position is in
1world largely dominated by the Axis and produ
ing for the Axis. Almost all who have bee
watching the course Of the defense drive seer
convinced that there must be severe shakc-ups-
and that this country must swiftly turn its amb
)tiouS plans into the actual machines Of warfare
lit is to be secure. In the light of history, there
no excuse for failure. And Hitler has shown
lWhat happens to nations which do too little, az
IdO 1T too late
France vs.. England
France has succumbed almost 100 per cent
Axis demands. That came as Il shock, but not
ia surprise, to London and Washington The d
ImocracieS did everything possible to Stiifcn II
back Of the NlchY government but it WASH
enough. Hitler has his hands around France
meek, and the squeeze is on.
War between British and French troops AZ
fighting ships may now be expected France
England can't stand for that.
!