The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1943-12-02

rOliOWlnB Is al instructive dTllCIe
on the gasoline problem, put on
by the Office of Price Administra
ton. 1t explains number of things
that have confused the user of gas,
oline for some tine 1t follows:
Less than two years ago there
was no limit whatsoever on the
amount of gasoline a person coulo
buy, other than the money in his
pocketbook.
Today the average citizen is
counting each quart of gasoline
He must figure very closely the
amount of gasoline every little trip
will take, and this determines both
the number Of trips he takes and the
distances and places he goes.
For years this has been a nation
that runs on automobiles. There
were 70 million of them at the be-
ginning of the war, about "a mil
lion of them now. Drastically cur
failing the use of those automobiles
might appear to some people as the
violation OF a fundamental liberty,
particularly if they don't realize the
seriousness of the gasoline situa-
ton. But the restriction of individ-
ual gasoline usage is not a denial
of liberty. 1t is caused by the abb
solute necessity of sharing a neces-
sary limited amount of gasoline. It
IS Just one of the consequences of
total war.
Why is this gasoline SO limited?
Why Is rationing Of gasoline neces-
sary2 How is the ALLEGATION and
distribution of gasoline determined?
What can we expect, as to gasoline
supply in the future2
These and other questions are
being asked by the public, the peo-
pie whose daily activities have been
drastically affected by the neces-
sity Of rationing gasoline.
The Facts
In 1941, civilians used about H.
100000 gallons of gasoline a day.
based on state gasoline tax figures.
Today our daily production of all
types of gasoline, both for civilian
and military use, totals about u.s.
100000 gallons, while at the same
time our stocks have been falling
The armed forces and Lend
Lease are using approximately U.s.
100000 gallons of that daily total
Deducting the military consumption
we have remaining 50,400,0O0 gal
Ions for all other uses, which IS a
drop Of 2l,000,000 gallons day for
CIVILIAN use, compared with 194I.
mus, when we converted from
peace to war, unlimited peacetime
gasoline consumption ran into the
absolutely essential and steadily in
creasing demands of our war ma
chine. Obviously, the gasoline need
cd for war combat and shipping
could not be sacrificed. AS these
needs increased it became clear that
point would be reached where
some uses of gasoline would have to
De cut. The sacrifices had to be
made by the civilian.
Transportation of military gaso-
line to shipping points has placed
tremendous strain upon equipment
that Is also needed more urgently
than ever before for hauling thou
SANDS OF other essential war COM
modltles, plus the handling of heavy
troop travel.
We must keep war industry sun
pied with gasoline. We must be
certain that there is always enough
available for essential farm uses
for crops don't wait. A certain min
lmum amount of civilian usage
while not necessarily applied to war
production, is essential to the basic
maintenance and minimum we'll
beng of the civilian himself
Perhaps the biggest and most
complex single conversion lob Of
the war was the change-over of
gasoline and its transportation ia
cilltles from unlimited civilian use
10 emergency war use.
The consumption of gasoline for
military purposes is at the average
rate of approximately 212 gallons
a day for each man in our armed
forces. That is our essential and
unavoidable military ration" 1t
supplies the power for planes, tanks.
jeeps, and many types of water
craft. 1t IS used in army kitchens
and medical stations. In factfgaso-
line is our standard war fuel. Our
fighting machine has been geared
to it.
The heaviest war drains on our
national gasoline stocks to date have
been in the regions east of the
Rocky Mountains, because of their
accessibility to Gulf and Atlantic
ports.
1t is difficult to determine the
quantities of military gasoline that
future developments may require.
The demands upon our stocks will
De largely in proportion to the /
amount of motorized equipment and
aircraft that we can send abroad. |
and it is generally recognized by
everyone that primary war aim Is
to get as much of this fighting