The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1943-02-12

: supplied with cheap blackstrap mt
I|lasses, brought in through milan
waterways from outside the country
: However, some of our surplus graf
: areas are not near any navigabl
+ streams, so grain will have to b
hauled considerable distances. w
could have avoided this transportatiol
, waste if the plants could be place.
, where the grain is. This is about tn
, only instance of which | am awar
, in which the postwar use of nev
war plant has been allowed to inter
fere with getting it placed where /
can be best used now.
HANDSCHIN: Quite few month!
have gone by since the Baruch com
mittee made its report, Senator, ant
your subcommittee in the senate is
again holding hearings on the prog
ress of the rubber program. What
have you found so far with regard tc
the new grain alcohol plants?
SEN. GILLETTE: Again, the deep
seated prejudice of industry as repre-
scented in the war production board
has held back the expansion of the
alcohol program. Three and one-half
months after the Baruch decision we
found that contracts for less than half
of these plants have been placed, and
those contracts were authorized only
a short time before we called the re-
sponsible officials before our subcom-
mittee. Valuable months have been
lost. 1t appears that Mr.. LETTERS, the
rubber director, has been stymied just
as our senate committee has been
stymied.
HANDSCHIN: Some farmer coop
eratives have been very much inter-
ested in building some of these new
plants. Senator, weren't they just
about the first to push this idea of
rubber from farm products?
SEN. GILLETTE: AS I recall, there
have been farmers co-operatives seek
ing permission to build alcohol plants
in the middlewest ever since our COM
mittee started hearings last March.
| HANDSCHIN: Senator, the fore
cast has been that we shall reach a
low point in our rubber supplies about
next September, and that thereafter
! it is hoped that our new rubber plants
will begin to improve the situation.
This of course, assumes that the re-
quirements of our armed forces and
the Allied Nations do not unexpect-
eddy increase in the meantime. | I'M
derstand shipments to the Allied Ma
lions have been heavy during this
past year.
SEN. GILLETTE: Yes, our commit
tee just this week received official
information regarding those ship
ments We found that they were
about 10 per cent of our peacetime
consumption. However, they con-
sisted almost entirely of tires and
other equipment for military trucks,
guns, tanks, and other weapons. We
found also that. sizeable amounts of
tires are being sent to most of the
ada. These tires are about 900 for
trucks hauling strategic metals from
mines or other important raw mate
rails we are getting from those coun-
tries. Our committee felt that it was
only proper for all these countries to
put into effect rubber restrictions as
strict as our own, and we were as
sured that it will be done. The Ca
nadians are already operating under
system similar to ours. This will put
an end to the rumors which last year
swept the country that tires were
plentiful in Canada and Mexico. It
was true that a small number of tires
were available then, but the number
was so trivial as to be unimportant
for our total needs.
HANDSCHIN: Senator, do you be-
lieve we face the danger of a civilian
and military breakdown unless this
grain alcohol program is speeded up?
SEN. GILLETTE: Well the pro-
gram proposed by the Baruch commit
tee is now behind schedule and ap-
pears to be in worse condition than
ever. | believe it will fall farther and |
farther behind schedule since the rub
ber-from-oil process completes for ma
terials with such highly important |
as aviation gas and escort |
ships. Our committee foresaw that |
last May. On the other hand, our |
committee found that rubber-from-al-
cohol takes only small fraction as |
much steel and other critical metals,
and is so much simpler that plants
could be built much faster. The rub
ber-from -alcohol method is an abso-
utely proven method. There is still
line to change the program and have
he rubber as soon or even sooner,
md without waste of critical materi-
lis. Certainly if rubber is not forth
coming our civilian economy will
Freak down and that might lead to
military defeats of great seriousness.
HANDSCHIN: Then it does now ap-
year that we may have to revise the
3aruch report and perhaps find new
to carry out the proper
,lans?
SEN. GILLETTE: believe we will
re forced to change the program
ooner or later. 1t is only matter
f time, but that time is ever so pre-
ious Already year has been al
most completely lost. We may have
o present another bill to the senate
o get action, and we may even have