The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1942-11-06
Strategic materials
from Other Americas
BY Duncan Altman

n vast .non-combatant army of mil
lions is carrying on the war against
| the AXIS Ill the western hemisphere
| Its recruits come from 20 nations. Ii
| is composed OF women as we'll as men
On its muster roll are forest Indians,
huge hOrdes of farm and plantation
workers, villagers living just under
the SNOW line near the peaks of the
Andes, as well as factory workers and
city jewellers.
Day and night, month after month.
) i'll the American republics below the
Rio Grande, this army is producing
metals and minerals. timbers and
plastics, chemicals, foOdstuffs, lubri-
eating oils, fibers, medicines, TO keep
the armies and navies Of the United
Nations supplied TO the hilt with their
fighting needs: To keep Allied guns,
ships, warplane&. and factories, on the
job.
The raw materials the all-American
| army produces are a main source of
supply for the munitions assembly
lines Of the war industry plants in the
United States and in Great Britain
AS a cOunter-Offensive against the
Axis program Of total war, countries
of the American continents have Gre
ated, in fact, in the comparatively few
months since Pear lHarbOr, the great
est voluntary, ernatiOnally cOoDers-
tive production effort in human his
tory.
Fortunately for the United Nations,
practically every raw material needed
for war exists in the western hemi-
sphere Consequently, with the loss OF
the Philippines and the British and
Dutch Far Eastern colonies as O
source or supply, scores of American
products have become many times as
important as they were during the
peace times or in any previous wars.
The United Nations must now look
to the Americas for the bulk of their
supplies OF copper, tin, rubber, oil, al
10y and tempering minerals, hard me
tails for machine tools, as well as rope
and Irvine fibers, coffee, and sugar. To
get the picture Of what is going on Is
the all-American effort requires, then,
a little catalOguing of materials.
Copper, for instance, is now being
produced in recOrdbreaking quaint
ties. 1t is essential in the manufacture
of munitions and, for many uses, no
1 Pla(lINdl SUBSTITUTE HES
yet been developed. Previously, on the
basis OF pre-war statistics, the other
Americas produced between % and q
per cent Of all the new copper mined
in the world, with Chile, Mexico, Peru,
Cuba, and Bolivia ranking. in that or
der, as the leading producers.
In steel production, there must be
manganese TO remove oxygen and sui
phur. The United Nations are getting
it, mainly from Brazil and Cuba. Vital,
too, in producing steel, are tungsten.
used TO harden metal, which comes
chiefly from Bolivia and Argentina
titanium, steel alloy from Brazil,
and vanadium, added to molten steel,
from Peru.
In the armament and ammunition
producing plants Of the United Ma
tons, there is a continuous and in
creasing need for such strategic ma
terials as lead. zinc. bauxite (for
aluminum), and chromium ore. These
materials are being supplied by the
other Americas. with, frequently,
enough remaining to aid in the vast
construction needs Of war-new fac
tories. ships, machinery. and other es-
sential equipment.
Production of all these vital mater
ials-and still many others La going
ahead in the other American countries
and ii is going ahead at q Quickening
pace. But that production is not sim
ply matter Of putting additional
workers into the fields or the mines.
1t is cooperation among the techRi-
clans OF all the Americas, so that all
may share in each others knowledge
and skills: cooperation among the
technicians and the workers: cooper
alton among the producers and the
health and sanitation and food supply
experts Of the various American gov
ernments so that the workers may
have decent living conditions. Ii is
pattern Of cooperation by which free
peoples may work and live together
with a common goal Of peace in free
dom.
More information an Latin Ameri-
cas- role i'm the war Is given in the
following books. which may be secured
at the public library:
Duncan Altman, The All-American
Front
John Gunther. Inside Latin Americs.
Alice X. Hsger, Wings Over the
Americas.
Dana q. Munro The Latin America
| L