Evening star., 1942-03-18
Loose Talk Of Plane
Output on West Coast
Called Oral Sabotage
Army Air Force Brands
Specific Statements os
Deliberate Untruths
Iy tie Associated Press.

ES tte Associated Press.
LOS ANGELES, March 18.-The
Army Air Force demanded today
that deliberate. oral sabotage" re-
garding aircraft manufacture in
Southern California be silenced.
Col. Charles E. BranShaw, dis
trict supervisor of the Western
Procurement Division of the Army
Air Force, said in a statement after
appearance before the Senate CTru-
NAM Committee investigating war
production:
"Rumors and gosslp-casting re-
fectionS upon the production OF
military aircraft have gained wide
spread circulation in Southern CAL
ifornia recently
There is some evidence that this
Is deliberate, oral sabotage, assisted,
If not created by fifth column ac-
tivity. This activity is aimed to-
ward the accomplishment Of two
results:
Il. Disruption of aircraft pro-
duction by lowering morale through
the creation of jealousy, suspicion
and distrust, and
%. Forcing the War Department
to release valuable information
such as production figures"
A State Senate committee last
Saturday heard witnesses at public
inquiry assert there had been slow
downs in aircraft production and
that in one instance imperfect ma
terial had been used in one plane.
The Truman Committee, diSclaim-
ing any intention of rejecting on
the State probers, announced it
would give little or no information
from its closed hearing.
State Senators Robert w. Kenny
and John Phillips. conducting the
State hearings, accused the Truman
group of adopting "hush-hush
policy" They invited the Truman
probers to take over the entire in
quiry, but demanded that there be
mo punches pulled, no favoritism
no whitewashing"
Col. 3ranshaw's statement con-
tinued:
These false rumors - in some
instances have been repeated by
well meaning but uninforned per-
sons as facts, and even published
in the public press, all of which has
been very harmful to our war efforts
The deliberate untruths which
have gained the most widespread
circulation are.
Il. That aircraft companies have
allowed their employees to deliberate
ly stall and waste material, so that
the companies can make more
money through the operation of
cost-plus contracts
The truth is that the contractors
fee on coSt-plus contract is a fixed
sum and cannot be altered, no mat
ter how much the company spends
In time, labor or material.
q. That plants badly in need of
certain Government furnished
equipment are unable to get this
material from other plants, which
have an excess supply on hand.
In no instance has the War De-
partment ever failed to transfer i'm
mediately materials and parts to
another plant if such materials and
parts could be utilized in the manu-
facture of airplanes. Very close con-
troll of such inventories is exercised
by the War Department.
"3. That inferior material goes
into the manufacture of military
airplanes.
mo inferior material goes into
the manufacture of any military
airplane produced in this country
The War Department has a fool
proof system of inspection, start
ing at the source of the manufac-
turing process and following very
closely through all phases of fabri-
cation. All material used in the
aircraft industry must meet rigid
Army specifications AS a matter
of fact, inferior material is not
available for military aircraft pro-
duction today. 1t is not being
manufactured.
a. That aircraft production in
this area has fallen off.
This statement is absolutely
untrue. Production of aircraft has
been greatly increased and the pro-
duction curve is steadily rising.
There are some bottleneckS, to be
sure. These bottlenecks are due to
the fact that the aircraft manufac-
turer must assemble thousands of
items of equipment produced from
other sources. These bottlenecks
have been caused because aircraft
manufacture has speeded up to
such an extent that it has exceeded
the capacity of some suppliers.
These bottlenecks are being ironed
and will soon be eliminated.
The duty of every man, woman
and child in this country today is
10 stop the flow of any information
which might be of value to the
enemy. The transmission of such
information is prohibited by the
Espionage Act. 1t should also be
prohibited by the good judgment
of all citizens in war in which
their own future is at stake"