The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-09-03
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National and International Problems
Inseparable from Local Welfare

i Detroit has long been the living,
vital symbol of American genius for
production. The automobile and kin
Idred industries made it so. There, for
generations, men worked and pioneered
land made an ever-improving product
at an ever-decreasing cost. There,
record after record was broken. Skep-
Itics said this dream or that was i'm
|possible-and the production men made
'lthem eat their words So. when war
began, the eyes of the United Nations
were largely focused on Detroit. Swift
i |ly and efficiently, great industry after
great industry abandoned production
for peace and turned to production for
Iwar. Detroit was to be the very heart
IOf the arsenal of democracy. But the
harsh fact is that Detroit has not
lived up to what was expected of it,
In recent issue, Life said this ::
I''The news from Detroit is bad this
summer. Few people across the coun-
,ltry realize how bad it is. Wildcat
|strikes and sitdowns, material short
ages and poor planning at the top have
cut into Detroits production of war
weapons. Detroit's workers . seem
Ito hate and suspect their bosses more
THAN ever. Detroit's manufacturers,
'lwhO are the worlds best producers,
have made failure of their labor
Irelati0nS. And the government, which
lis asking Detroit to produce more and
I,,,,n I;,,;I hn,
Ito get the most production That
indictment was endorsed, in effect
|by a man who is an unquestiOned
IeXpert on war prOductiOn-Lieutenant
General Brehon Somervell, the Army's
chief of supply. The General recently
made a tour of Michigan factories, and
then said that not Il man, machine
|or plant is yet producing at full capa-
lefty a striking example of that is
found in Henry F0rd's great Willow
Run bomber plant BY now, according
Ito original plans, it should be pro-
l|ducing tremendous numbers of big
|bombers. Instead, it is working at part
lcapacity on Sub-aSsemblieS for other
|factories-and not one plane has been
completed on its miles of assembly
lines.
i The basic reason for Detroit S
troubles can be expressed in two words
hate, distrust The labor leaders
flight management and management has
no faith in the labor leaders. There is
!; Ia constant clash Of races and religions.
Faction battles faction, irrespective of
what happens to the war effort as a
result The politicians peddle hot air,
land, Willingly or otherwise, put votes
ahead of an honest, all-out war effort.
And so the battle of production is 60
ling badly i'm the city and the territory
which has led the world for decades in
industrial achievement. There are
many good men in Detroit There are
great engineers, fine managers, able
and skilled workers. But they aren't
pulling together.
What is true in Detroit is true in
many other industrial areas. This coun-
try has made spectacular progress in
certain kinds of production. Such in
dustries as the West Coast shipbuild-
erS and aircraft manufacturers have
actually exceeded the goals laid down
for them, by wide margins. But in
other equally vital fields, production
schedules are not being met-and it
does the nation no service to headline
the Succe ceSSeS and SOft-pedal the
failures. AS Elmer Davis Office of
War Information said in recent re-
lease the United States is not yet
Igeared by long shot to the demands
of ruthless total war.
+ 1t is clear that the government it
self must carry much of the blame. 1t
has coddled labor, and permitted it to
demand and receive wage increa ses
which make workable price control
impossible. II has permitted incompe-
been inadequate and inefficient control
lof the production and flow of basic
Imaterials-Wilh the result that some
plants have more supplies on hand
: than they can Use. The bureaucrat's $
and the red-tape artists are still Il ire
l''N'! w
Congress, in the opinion of many IA
commentator, has been disgrace to
itself and 10 the country With the
thought of the November elections in
I, mind, il has Side-stepped and straddled
issues of the very first Importance. 1t
has minimuizcd the gravest dangers,
land sought to pass the buck. And ii
, has kept the public wondering and per
lpleNed.
l just what the cure for all this is,
| mo one knows But almost every man
who understands this war does know
THAT Il cure must be fOund-and found
soon. The AXIS marches on, and CON
lsolidates its victories. The Axis can
not be beaten until real unity is achiev
led in this Country-until self interest
lis made impotent--and until the Amer
lican genius for building things is COM
Ipletely organized and put to work.
4 X 4
= Some of the brightest and braveSt
aIpageS in the history of this war are
,lbeing written in the Ra alkanS. Hitler's
IDrutDl lpTionS have oyerrJlp tho littlp