Evening star., 1942-06-14
Industry Goes to War
y. S. War Material Output Called Phenomenon

gram really began in the first half of
l94l, after President Roosevelt finally
brought himself to appoint Donald M.
Nelson as war production chief. and
burst into its present pace only six
months ago. following Pearl Harbor. In
consequence. it must be recorded that
the war industrial machine as a whole
is now only in first gear, that 1t should
reach second late this summer and that
it can scarcely go into high before the
beginning of 1943.
considerable river, which should grow
into a torrent by August and by next
January or February into a veritable
Amazon of munitions and implements
of war-a flood so mighty that it bids
fair to prove for time the overmaSter-
ing phenomenon of American life, with
effects still incalculable on the status
of women, the power of trade unionism
and the country's economic and political
structure.
National Assembly Belt.
Brought back from the trip is vision
long and 1000 miles wide, already in OPP
Grafton or being equipped for production.
1t will be devoted almost exclusively to
military manufactures, with output for
non-defense civilian consumption re-
duced to the minimum. Such production
has already vanished, or is at the point
of disappearing, from most plants capa-
BILE of war fabrication. This colossal ma
chine will absorb the country's ablest in
telligence, the toll of tens of millions of
men and women and the last ounce, if
needed, of its material resources.
There is one cloud on the horizon and
it is far larger than mans hand. That
is shortage of certain indispensable
materials and products. The machine
tool industry has an enormous backlog
of orders, though its executives believe
they have already outstripped the Axis.
There will be no aluminium or steel for
civilian use for the duration, but thus far
virtually all military orders for aluminium
ingots and sheets and for basic steel
are declared to have been met.
There is a definite scarcity of alumni
mum castings and forgings and of alloy
steels essential to hundred phases of
war production. The latter is ascribed
to a dearth of electric furnaces and
hardening ingredients, especially nickel.
Pittsburgh is striving to fill the gap with
carbon steels which can be made in OPEN
hearth furnaces and with new light steels
in which one ton does the work of two.
Rubber Is Black Spot.
A large expansion of aluminium out
put is under way, but the Government
has felt compelled to cut proposed steel
expansion of 100000 tons a year by
80 to IS per cent. That is because two
are required to increase annual output
nine million tons. The industry as a
whole is running today at 992 per cent
of capacity. The shortage of steel plate
is such that firm like the Electric Boat
Co, building feet-type submarines near
New London and holding superlatve
priorities, frequently finds itself operat-
ing on a hand-to-mouth basis.
The black spot in the program con-
Germs rubber, without which motorized
and mechanized warfare cannot be
waged, and a failure of which would set
the American military effort back gen.
Grafton The plight of the United Ma
tions in respect to this commodity is
sinister even now and may readily be-
come disastrous. The situation harks
back to the egregious under estimation
of Japan into which President Roosevelt
and Prime Minister Churchill we're mis-
led by their professional advisers.
The truth learned about rubber is not
merely that there will be no fresh sup
plies for civilians until the war Is ended.
Top experts of the industry are convinced
that a grave shortage for military needs
will develop unless the Government
commanders the Nations biggest stock
pile, consisting of 100000 tons of tires
on passenger and commercial cars. Rub
ber officials asked why the administra-
ton does not take this inevitable step
now. instead of waiting perhaps until
after the November elections.
Synthetic Prospects.
IlOopCSCo VI lCoSuC Ny lAeAlCtiS Ao6-
ber were declared to be slight for another
two years or more. The only type
thought feasible for tires is Buna-S, the
raw materials Of which are soap flakes,
butadiene and styrene. The difficulty
lies in finding equipment for making
butadiene, a gas produced by cracking
petroleum. Huge quantities of steel are
required, in the form of 150-ton frac-
tionating columns, 200 feet high and
16 feet in diameter
At Akron specific calculations were
offered which tended to show that the
administration has encouraged the most
extravagant delusions. as to future pro-
duction of synthetic rubber. Federal
Loan Administrator Jesse H. Jones
promised plant capacity of &c., 600 tons
annually by the end of 1943, and Will
liam L. Bait of the War Production
Board pledged an output of 350,O0O tons
during the calendar year 1943. Since
returning to Washington, the writer has
learned that evidence to the following
effect is in possession of the Truman
committee:
The only butadiene now available is a
by-product Of high octane gasoline, and
is sufficient for about $4,000 tons of
Buna-S year. With expansion of the
aviation gasoline program, the figure
may rise to 10000 tons by the end of
1912. 1t will be remarkable if as much
as 10000 tons of artificial tire rubber
becomes available during 1943 BY the
end of 1914 output at rate of perhaps
100000 tons annually may be counted
on, from petroleum sources alone.