Evening star., 1942-01-11

found In the Offices Of the econom
have been summoned to Washingto
1910.
70 understand our progress we mus
20 back to the summer of 1910. Prior
to that date we didn't take the war toe
seriously. But since that time we have
made substantial progress. And it may
be said that the United States is better
prepared by far than would have been
the case if an active public opinion had
not insisted on preparedness and lend
and-lease aid
We set for ourselves the task of becom-
ing the arsenal of democracy" and to-
day we are not only that but the arsenal
of defense Of our own territory and pos
sessions.
Spurred by Pearl Harbor.
Whatever was accomplished before De-
cember 7, 1941, when the attack on Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, by the japanese came
out Of a clear sky, cannot be compared
with what has happened in the brief in
terval since. A new spirit of achievement
has been born and many of the frustra-
tions of the past are now definitely re-
moved. For in wartime We have ma
tional unity and there is less pickering
about rationing. priorities and the COM
parative necessities of civilian and mill
4tary supply. In fact, as William Knud-
sen, co-chairman Of the o. P. M, said
the other day: Il used to plead with
men to come down here to help me, but
now I order them-and they come
Unless one has broad conception Of
the magnitude of the production job we
have set for ourselves, there can be little
understanding of the inevitable delays,
friction and inefficiencies that have al
most unavoidably come into the scene.
We are not totalitarian state and can
not do things as rapidly as in Germany.
but on the other hand, we have an ad-
vantage in the fact that we have bet
ter spirit of cooperation when we do
get going on a basis of voluntary organ
ization.
The job of organization has proceeded
fitfully because the program has often
had to be changed Plans have had to be
revised as contract requirements have
been raised again and again before the
first plans could possibly be executed.
Generally speaking. American indus
try has done great job, considering all
the handicaps, not the least of which was
that the military side had not known
till December 7 what its true oblectlves
of defense really were and probably does
not know yet exactly what all the goals
on the offensive SIDE are to be.
s15O,00O, 600, 900 Program.
But we have a program that will cost
about $150,O0O, 100000 unless the war
stops abruptly. That's an enormous sum
to contemplate and it will take long
time to spend it. The war, of course,
cannot be won by paper plans or by dol
lars. 1t requires production and co-ordl-
mating OF all materials and facilities and
then proper distribution by system OF
greatly expanded transportation to carry
the weapons and supplies to the theaters
of war.
Detailed figures are not permitted to
be published now as was the case before
December 7, but certain figures released
before that date, and those supplied by
the President in his message to Congress,
can give an idea of where we are and
where we are going on the whole war
program.
This is a war of planes, warships and
tanks and guns. Given enough
planes, we can fight off invasion and
carry the war to the enemy's territory
by bombers. Given a good transport
system, we can carry men and tanks to
KEY points in North Africa or the Far
East and later, perhaps, to continental
Europe.
Stated briefly. our program is to build
more of everything than ANYBODY else.
Our program on paper is such that only
the United States could ever produce
anything like it. GERMANY and all her
occupied areas can never equal the
amount of planes, ships. tanks and guns
we are planning to make. Germany does
not have either the raw materials or the
workers or the plants that are free from
frequent harassment by air attack.
Big Problem Of Time
The big question is whether we can
get our weapons produced in time.
This has been a grave worry from The
beginning. When England begged for
help In the summer OF 1910, there were
many people in America who thought it
was too late-that Hitler would be in
London by autumn. But the British
steadily increased their production in the
confident belief that they would have
time. And the fortunes of war have
given Britain time.
Every single defeat for Britain has
yielded time Hitler is working against
time and the Russian campaign has
done more to upset this timetable than
has any other factor.
So the first and foremost point about
our program is that the best posted offi-
cials feel our program will be in time.
We may suffer reverses in the interim
but, in the end. the Axis powers must
meet the most gigantic production of
weapons Of war the world has ever
known.
Take airplanes. The President in June
1910, said we were making planes of ali
kinds at the rate of $4,000 a year and
H.:e called for q doubling of that figure.
He was a bit optimistic. We we're not
yet at the 1,000-a-month stage and didn't
reach 1t till the end If 1910. We are now
producing at the rate of $500 plans q
month or better, which means nearly
$4,000 planes q year. Our big objective
now Is 10000 planes this year ana l2S,-