Imperial Valley press., 1942-01-20
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison
MASHINGTON

WASHINGTON Jan. 2O-The
total cost oi the federal govern
meut's share Of civilian defense fer
the next year will be around S237
million If he lob is done as Mayor
"A GuaYd!&'S hOyS and girls have
figured i. ca. That S237 million
fisu.o E.Sua tlaN mentioned very
loudly before. one Of The bills be
ng considered by Congress men
ions Sltl million rs the original
a}aDrOp.ia,iea. bv, ,Nal Will merely
start things L VIII permit the
plaClnG ot tt t"s, orders for the
80 million ea> masks aad the SO
tar uNdiSclosed numbers of FIRE
engines. Gi9balaucg>, fire cXt.a-
lin hats and all the para
3he.E2l!3 hat a Well-organ!zed
civilian defense should have.
Idea of the whole program
is. first. TO see that every city
of 10000 or more population
in what YOU might call the tar
get area of the United States
has what il takes TO care for
civilian population in case of
an air raid bombing. This pO-
fcntial target area iSroughly l.
:. shores and borders. 1t may
be deeper in some areas like
the industrial northeast, and it
may be snallowcr along the
d-Continent Canadian bOrd-
er.
# you have been bothered about
the Office CT Civilian Defense has
been doing since it was created
last May. one of the little tasks
has Seen to tcmp!lc the lists Of all
this civilian material, TO inventory
every town IN the target as to its
equipment and emer-
-ency lUrN-up wagons, then to
compile tie ..StS Of additional fire
rose. dCcCutapain&tOr; and all such
stuff that Will make the area safe.
Tie orders arc I'll written. Army
and Navy procurement offices have
been used to determine where the
contracts can be let, and they'll
be placed Just as soon as Congress
sets around to granting the au-
i ority and appropriating the
money.
No GUNS FOR OCD
Not one cent of these appropria-
tions for civilian defense will 90
for auli-aircraft guns or shooting
irons or ammunition OF any kind.
Mayor La Guaydia feels his OCD
really has an unfortunate name.
Because of tlc "deferse' in the
name, too many communities have
in to ask that half dozen
1r more aNti-Gircraft guns be sent
2iong to them in hurry.
That isn't OGD'a business,
and right here is tie place TO
say that the idea of turning
over TO the Army this civilian
defense job or whatever it
should be called is one of the
silliest ideas ever to get born
in Congress. Fortunately, the
idea died Young. 1t was largely
inspired by a pique against the
mayor ard a desire. to do any3
thing that would get the OCD
direction out of the hands of
La Guardia and Mrs. Roosevelt
But rule No. | for any war is
that the .irmy's job is to fight
the enemy ana thai the civil
ian population rust look out
for itself. In that distinction is
the simplest possible eXpi2na-
tiCn of what civilian dcfe se
really is.
al this $237 mills n Worth If
cd equipment will te bought at
he expense of the federal Govern
ncu. and given free % me cities.
ias masks VIII be Clysa 10 the so
million people in TIE target area
The theory is that these are ma
.IonaI expenditures WhIcs can't be
5addled onto tho local govern
nents Such equipment a is given
will be strictly on tie unitarian,
and not on the ornamental side.
The fire engines Will not be shiny
0r rcd but SIMPLY lght trucks with
4 hose reel Il pump and the nee
.sSart laGdcla
MIST DIG DOWN
Eot all tie expense Of civilian
defense Is to 5e borne - the fed
raj 2o:rrnMont PGban utilities
nave ~ p2lement nor cmer-
Ecnc' rrpaa ere"r aad 'ho shovel
ms. be aimee w..n tools
,lrcadG rauGlac'Vrcd r OCD
yerc 10 20 cut on scmo .Acr scale
If buying nGW plc.:a%o and such,
IS scuc muni"lpal!'ic .3.o advo-
.a.cd. it would take Il ssr iacrablc
chunk c. steel tha' .2sa" be 90
ng 10 Otncr lmplcnc.. D. var.