The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-07-02
Why There Won't Be Any New Tires For Civilian Use This Year Or Next
nY 5. pURToN HEATH

swA Service Stan Correspondent
 Rgew York, July 2.-out of the millions of words printed and spok- sn about this nations rubber short
 $40, one fact stands out as the firm
 oslsensus of those fin best position sc know. Says Robert W. Horton.
 iHo headed the once of Emergency
 Arrangements press bureau until
 i1e recent general reorganization:
 sT caution you not to let words
 e&gemre the basic issue now be-
 f@Fe MS, namely, that we have no rubber of any kind for new civil
 Ian automobile tires.
 We have no prospects of get ling rubber of any kind, crude or
 synthetic, this year or next for
 mew civilian automobile tires"
 Our defeat in the Far East cut slals nation of from 97 per cent of sts raw rubber supplies. When we
 nzt access to the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, we possessed stock pile of 455.000 tons. Our annual consumption called for 100000 tons Tor ourselves alone. In addition, we now are forced to supply all of the United Nations.
 RATTLESHIP USES
 1S,00o POUNDS
 { A 35,000-ton battleship requires iS,000 pounds of rubber. Each me- dium tank calls for 1750 pounds. The bullet-proof tanks of Flying Fortress need 1246 pounds. Even a gas mask (multiplied by the num- Der we shall need for a ten million man army) uses almost two pounds of rubber.
 These and dozens of similar war uses are in addition to rubber for tires, which before Pearl Harbor took thTee-quarters of our total consumption.
 Obviously, the 55,000-ton stock pile couldn't supply our war needs and also make tires, water bags, garden hose, tennis balls, and thous- ands of other items to which we were accustomed.
 This, briefly, Is the common sense answer to those who contend that there Is no rubber shortage.
 But chemists know all about how to make various types of artificial gums which can take the place of rubber, from petroleum, from nat uxal gas, from alcohol.
 Inevitably the question arises: What are we waiting for? Why doesn't the War Production Board build plants and make all the rub Der we need from petroleum, nat urai gas and that grain which has become an economic drug on the market2
 Within bounds, that is what the WIPE is doing.
 The goal of the present drive is for the plants with which to make 7O0OOO tons of rubber year = enough to get Us by moderately well for military and essential civilian uses.
 But such plants can not be tossed together overnight. They take snomtls to build and put into pro- duCtion, particularly when the ma 'teraals must be sneaked out of an already inadequate supply needed for armament, munitions and ships. MONTHS NEEDED
 TO BUILD PLANTS
 Rubber Co-ordinator Arthur B. Mewiaall thinks we may be able to x9a&e 3SO,OO0 tons of artificial rub Der this year. The full capacity of the 700, ,O0O-ton plants will not be operating before the middle of 1943, and naturally can not produce as much as 100000 tons next year. ; So 1t will be 1924 before the sym thesic industry will be ready to start turning out as much rubber as this nation used for itself alone, exclusive of war purposes, before Pearl Har- Dor.
 ' Even then, the output will not provide for normal civilian use, al- though by that time wear and tear will have built up an abnormal de- l1aand for replacement purposes.
 Why is the program limited to TOO, ,0O0- ton plant?
 Because the WIPE believes that steel and copper will win the war more surely in the form of ships, tanks, planes, guns, shells, than in the form of factories with which to make tires for civilians to drive to bridge parties and golf lines.
 Why can't we get all the natural rubber we need from Latin Amer ica, particularly from Brazil? For mssM Yaa snn because wa d0 mt have