Evening star., 1942-09-04
Press Of u. ). 10 Back
Scrap Metal Drive
AT Nelson S Request
Steel Mills Have Only
2-Week Supply, Salvage
Group Leader Reveals

Representatives of the Nations
newspaper publishers today &C
cepted an assignment to under
take a gigantic scrap salvage
campaign, spurred by a state
ment from WPB Chairman DON
aid M. Nelson that we're not
doing a very good job of winning
this war;
Mr.. Nelson's appeal for the cam
paign, voiced at meeting of 200
publishers and editors, was backed
by the declaration of r. w. Wolcott,
president of Lukens Steel Co., that
there are only two weeks supply
of steel scrap in the country in the
hands of steel mills"
Mills Called I'm Bad Shape"
Unless miracle happens, two
furnaces are going down over the
week end in Chicago" Mr.. Wolcott
chairman of the American Indus
tries Salvage Committee. told the
group. San Francisco is in bad
shape, Pittsburgh and Youngstown
are in horrible shape.
The American people have a
sufficient amount of scrap on hand
to keep the mills operating at full
capacity" he said" but it will take
the most superhuman effort in his
tory to get results. We are faced
with a big sales job. You pub
fishers have got big selling job.
Tomorrow is the day to start; not
next week"
Mr.. Wolcott also said that the
scrap in the homes of the people of
this country is of no particular
value to them, but it is gold to the
industry"
Mr.. Nelson told the publishers
that in his opinion there vas no
such thing as civilian requirements
In the productive battle, but the
whole country must be placed on a
war economy.
He pointed out that Japan had
been preparing for war actively for
II years and Germany for eight or
nine years, while America was just
beginning to take the steps to de-
feat these enemies.
Press Aid Called Potent.
Production alone will not win
the war" Mr.. Nelson declared. Men
will win it. But we should leave no
stone unturned to produce at our
maximum capacity We realize
that in the press We have one of the
potent forces to arouse the people to
give everything they have"
Mr.. Nelson added that the Gov
ernment could go in as a dictator
and demand certain things of the
people, but preferred the methods
of the kind of democracy which this
country was fighting to defend.
Probably no guardians are more
jealous of democracy than you
men," he told the publishers. ANY
thing I can do to help you fight for
free press I certainly will do"
While American production is do
ing a good job, Mr.. Nelson said, it
is only start so far. The job
ahead, he said, is so much bigger
that it challenges the Imagination.
I'VE have to keep Englands pro-
duction going" Mr.. Nelson pointed
out. I'VE have to keep Russia go
ing. We have to supply things to
Australia, India, China. The South
American economy has to be kept
on a going basis.
Too Big for One Man.
''We get into periods of confusion
when it looks like we don't know
where we are going. assure you
we do know exactly where we are
going. But the problem is too big
for any one man or group of men"
Mr.. Nelson described as the one
basic fact that stood out above all
others the question of obtaining
enough materials to produce the
necessities of war. First, he said,
I'VE must see to the proper dis
tribution of the materials we have.
We haven't done that. But we will
and we think we know how we are
going to do it.
Next, we must bring into this
war economy every bit of material
from every source we have. This
means billions in the case of alumni
mum, and hundreds of millions in
the case of copper, zinc and other
materials"
Mr.. Nelson stressed the value of
collecting scrap material every
(See PUBLISHERS, Page A-18D