Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-01-08
u. S. CAUGHT
As Germany
Had Planned
Behind inv All Materials,
We Must End Talk
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

are wasting time, breath. ink
and good white paper arguing a
proposition that Is no NOR solu-
bic than how-hlgh-iS-up and
equally bootleSS
What difference docs II make
now whether maladministraton
IN Washington. industrial eff
cheney. economic caution or hon.
est fear OF a SoclaliStIC COuD in
the motor industry or what COM
blnation of all these factors
caused the enormous and ire
trievable waste of materials and
loss Of time in the conversion OF
the motor factories 10 war pro-
duCtion
The grim fact is that the stuff
and time did slip through our
fingers and the lowdown. dirty
truth is that we were caught
Just as Hitler figured we would
be caught divided on the issue
of war and hardly even half
willing to make a war effort
until Japan made war official.
NATURALLY. the motor COM
~ panleS were slow TO aban-
don their regular trade and go
into tho war business. because
war Is business without
future and. they were thinking
OF time when the war would
be over perhaps without our
ever having entered the fight.
and they would be left with a
lot Of expensive plant which
would be useless for any other
trade
Moreover it can't be for
gotten surely that As recently
aS the first year Of the New
Deal the induStrlali>tS who
had turned out the tools and
soldier suits and canned goods
for the -laSl-lHar Mere being de-
nounCed a. bloody handed mon
>terS who had practically kicked
up the whole CHASTITY business
IN cold premcdltatIon So that
they could get rich on the war
And We have 10 remember
that within the same Go.
which Is nov making politics
Of this tragic bunglc. and high
IN IT'S councils. too there were
q number OF men who fought
by subtle means and open. 10
>narl our war program then
called tho defense program be-
cause lIItlor and stain were
partners and the Wai Va, t..n
an mpcrlahNtIc war and no
proper business of ours
No QUESTION about IL We
' We're caught IN Jam.
mostly OF our own making and
Hitler who always was the 80.
| enemy had studied our habits
and our condition and calcu-
lated the advantage, which this
gave him
was m Washington when the
Go presented tho practical.
simple plan for utilizing and
adapting the available machinery
IN the automobile industry for
plane production which Is men
toned IN the current political
advertisement Of this orcanl-
Zatlon
Possibly the magnafe, made
a mistake in re iocti1g ~ As a
>c"ialIstlc scheme intended 70
"rcN' the industry out OF tho
hands of the owners who. incl
dcntallN are legion and 81 no
builders and executives and
deliver Il 20 the unonccrS for
ever
Tho industry is sure 10 10
SoClallZed now and no one
knows who VIII get d, when the
war is over bur the odds are
that y VIII never be turned
back 10 the stockholders aS
private property 50 maybe they
might better have lust relaxed
then and saved a years time
But A. capitalists and be-
levers IN private property their
reaction Was the only one that
could have been expected OF
them
THEY had no reason 10 trust
Il the men who had fought
them 80 short a time before or
10 accept the CLOS profession
OF patriotic motives. and. any,
way We weren't AZ war millions
OF Americans thought we could
escape war and the big opera
tors quietly scanned the plan
and brushed It of for reasons
which they VIII defend as long
as they live
The situation is that this
enormous wad Of American IN
du>trlal muscle must be put 10
lighting purposes and granted
good will and good faith on both
sides, viii be
II IS simply pathetic that such
might which Hitler and tho
laps admire, envy and fear isn't
lighting today but that great
loss of effort and what-it-takes
cant be retrieved and the Go
contributes nothing TO unity and
the great effort by wranglinC
now.
The most practical and
courageous stroke in the whole
sad mess was the sudden. brutal
abolition Of the passenger car
trade and the sale of tires.
That hurt. but IN our geo.
graphical position. so far from
the suffering and noise of war.