Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-10-31
Reds Stopped
Russia From
Getting Aid
Stymied Our Output
in Early Days Of War
BY wEsTBRoOK PEGLER

BY NESIBhOOh HEOLEh
WENDELL WILLKIE said the
w American deliveries of tools
and material Of war 10 Russia
and China were not great to
date. and he should know, but
look:
Those who used TO make the
trip by train between Wash
ington and Boston through an
intermittent but almost con-
tinuous industrial area I'm the
late sos remember that the
factories were dark and their
chimneys and the shipyards de-
serted almost up To the time
that Hitler struck Poland.
Many OF the plants were very
old. anyway, and not worth re-
facilitating for private industry
and there was no government
armament or war program GO
ing then which would put up the
money for new buildings and
equipment and the owners could
not take a chance
MOT long after the fall Of
~ France and the Presidents
address TO the Joint session
which scared a lot of people and
made us all realize that our war
industry consisted Of very little
more than the speculative ac-
tivity undertaken on orders from
Britain and France, one of the
leading citizens OF Bridgeport
Conn. gave very dismal reN
port on the current capacity 81
that great munitions center and
the region around.
He said most OF the old war
plants had been diSmantlad
after World War / or had been
allowed 10 go 10 ruin and that
most Of the people who had
possessed Skills which ran those
plants from 1914 TO 1918 had
died. grown old. moved Away
or lost their knaCk.
ANYWAY there was 20 SkiN~i
staff ready 10 step into the Jobs
and. before new hands could be
trained, il would be necessary 10
convert the factories back 10
war purposes.
THE same could be said of
Il many other industrial cities
for, dopes that the free peoples
are. the Americans had watched
Hitler equipping his army 10 he
last boot latch, without thinking
that would mean anything TO us.
In the summer of 1889. the
army held a big exercise in the
Adriondacks more for the pur-
pose of alarming the people by
the miserable state and pathetic
lack of equipment than Tor any
other.
The tanks. such few az there
were. looked like old WOODBURY.
ing threShing machines by COM
parison with the stuff that Hitler
had ready and. YOU may remem-
Der that the soldiers used laun-
| dry wagons for theoretical
tanks and gaspipe for howitzers
and yelled bang" and DOW TO
simulate the sound Of fire.
The staff work must have
been terrible. too. because good
work in any line calls for ex-
perience and our army had been
starving along. sweeping leave
and spearing cigaret butts on
the posts for many listless years.
! 4 ND. not TO be nasty about
"A anything. but Just 10 be fair
I and factual, between the attack
on Poland and June %. 1871,
when Hitler turned on Russia,
our Communists in this country
4 gave the war effort no help.
They got in the way wherever
/ they could and, inaSmuch as
they always act under orders
from Russia. as Mrs. Roosevelt.
herself. observed only a couple
of months ago. it follows that
one reason why we haven't de-
livercd more TO Russia by now
is that the Commies were mess
ing things up here.
OF course. this is a backward
look and victory lies forward,
and is more 10 be thought OF
than blame-placing and alibis,
but the fact is that this coun-
try has done "A wonderful job. all
things considered, including that
outside interference by Earl
Browder and those who run
with him.
Russia and China would have
more or our stuff on hand today
if the Bolos hadn't interfered.
CHORTAGE is a new expert
~ ence TO Americans.
We are very wasteful by habit
and the United States had put
more than four million men
under arms the last time with
out feeling any pinch, except m
sugar and coal.
Now. within two years. from
I flatfooted start. this nation
has even more men under arms
and. apparently. what is more.
! all armed from our own indus
tries. whereas the last time
Britain and France provided
much of the equipment, and tho
force is growing toward seven
million in the army alone. with
Americans spotted all over the
world outside the enemy nations.
And still, il seems, the effort