Evening star., 1942-08-16
A Clearer Picture

Those administration officials who
have been under fire for not acting
Immediately to award final contracts
to Henry J. Kaiser for construction
Of feet Of huge cargo planes may
derive some satisfaction from the
knowledge that their refusal to be
stampeded has permitted the as
sembling of facts which shed greater
light on the cargo plane issue.
1t should be emphasized that the
officials in question have not turned
thumbs down on the Kaiser plan,
and any attempt to create contrary
impression rests on a complete dis
tortion of fact. What they have done
is to call upon Mr.. Kaiser for fac
tual showing that he can make good
on his proposal to build cargo planes
without disrupting the present pro-
gram of combat plane construction
They want to know where he is going
to get the raw materials which he has
said are available, but the sources of
which are unknown to the Govern
ment. And they want to know where
he proposes to get the skilled labor
and the engineering talent he will
need-Whether he can supply these
needs without cutting into the stats
of other plants already engaged to
capacity in plane construction. There
is nothing unreasonable or obstruc-
tive about this position. If Mr.. Kaiser
can deliver the goods, as he says he
can, there should be no difficulty in
making a showing to that effect. And
if he cannot deliver, there would be
no justification for awarding con-
tracts to him.
One recent development having an
important bearing on the cargo
plane-merchant ship controversy is
the success which seems to have
been achieved in recent months in
protecting conveys against subna-
rine attack. An article in the New
York Times by Hanson w. Baldwin,
based on trip with the Atlantic
Inshore Patrol, discloses that between
May IA, when we started to convoy
ships from Maine to Florida, and the
end of July, only four ships were sunk
out Of nearly 1900 conveyed. While
many, factors may have entered into
this favorable showing, it is strongly
persuasive evidence that, given ade-
quate protection, merchant ships can
operate successfully In conveys de-
spite the activities of hostile sub
marines. At the least, this perform
ance should give some pause to those
extreme enthusiasts who contend
that we should replace our merchant
marine in whole or substantial part
with flying freighters.
Another development which sheds
some light--for what it may be worth
ON the Kaiser proposal is the opin-
ion expressed recently by ]. H. Kin
delberger, a pioneer plane designer
and president of the North American
Aircraft Corp, which is engaged in
building combat planes. Mr. Kindel-
berger says that the idea of building
200-ton cargo planes-one phase of
the Kaiser proposals. impractical
because, regardless of size, airplanes
require proportionately the same
amount of gasoline to carry a ton of
cargo the same distance. Mr.. Kindel-
berger also cast doubt on Mr.. Kaiser's
ability to build big planes quickly and
in large numbers, pointing to the
difficulties encountered by Henry
Ford-something of production
wizard in his own right-at Willow
Run, and the shortage of materials.
Obviously these considerations
neither confirm nor refute the claims
which Mr.. Kaiser has made But,
taken with other factors tending to
cast doubt on his proposals, they
clearly justify the position of those
war production officials who want
some tangible evidence of Mr.. Kai-
ser's ability to perform before con-
tracts are awarded to him.