Evening star., 1943-04-12


already closing David Lawrence.
down in some localities and that
$4,000 aircraft workers are to be
laid off soon.
TT is an astonishing fact" said
Mr.. Murray in a prepared address
made public over the week end,
that this Nation in its mad desire
to expedite conclusion of the war
has produced more war goods than
the United Nations can use and
more than the United States can
transport
This will be strange news to Gen.
Douglas Macarthur in the South
west Pacific, strange news to the
commanders of our forces in Alaska
and the Aleutians, strange news to
Gen. Eisenhower in North Africa
all Of whom can use more planes
and still stranger news to Hitler
who is now speeding up the ope-
rating tempo Of his more than 300
submarines so as to sink as large
percentage of American cargoes
In the Atlantic.
Are there more arms than We can
use? What Mr. Murray says really
is that We have more weapons and
munitions than we can transport,
for there is no end to what can be
used if the arms can be transported
to the battle fronts.
Shipping Deficiency is Answer.
The answer is that we have not
manufactured enough ships to carry
the cargoes and we haven't manu-
faCtured enough escort vessels to
protect our conveys. Thus airplanes,
especially fighter planes, that must
be transported in ships, cannot be
available far across the Pacific un-
less We can transport repair parts
and fuel in tankers. Troops cannot
be moved to overseas bases unless
we can sustain them with a continu-
Gus flow of food and supplies
Why don't We have the ships?
The simplest answer is that because
the whole overall program is out
of balance and has been from the
very beginning. The man primarily
responsible for putting it out OF
Balance is President Roosevelt, but
under him were the incompetent,
laundering advisers who told him
that materials could be made avail
able for any program no matter how
high he placed the sights.
The American people We're told
hv the President just after Pearl
Harbor that we had as our goal
5000 planes in 1912 and 125 900 in
l943 But We produced less than
$4,000 planes of all types in 1912
and Judging by the January and
February figures of monthly pro-
duction already released we may
not exceed 10000 to $4,000 by the
end of this year.
Tank Output Cut.
Tt will be argued that there has
been a distinct change in speciflca-
tions and that from now on we will
produce more of the heavier bomb
ers and heavier planes generally,
so that the total poundage may be
nearer the goal Of poundage.
We have also cut back now on
tank production. This is change in
emphasis brought about supposedly
by changing needs at the front but
actually it is again related to
available transport, The Russians
can use tanks and we will need
them ourselves when a land in
vasion starts.
The major mistake of the war
was In the failure to concentrate
on cargo and escort ships early
enough to prevent the boarding
of raw materials. The wrong dis
means that now, when changing
emphasis is compelled by changing
strategy or circumstances on the
combat front there is a loss of
manpOWer. a loss of time because
Of an inability to adjust to the
new requirements promptly.
The War Production Board has
been responsible for the failure to
distribute materials properly. That
mistake means unemployment to-
Gay.
Neither Chairman Nelson nor
Executive President Charles F..
Wilson was chosen by American
industry to serve in the War Pro-
ductlon Board. The National As
sociation of Manufacturers and
the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States, which might be
considered representative of Ameri-
can business, had no voice in their
selection and neither did the Amer
lean Federation of Labor nor the
Go
These four organizations repre-
senting American industry may find
themselves blamed now for a
debacle with which they had moth
ing to do. All four of these Or
ganizations should have been Of
ficially recognized and given the
Job of selecting the right men to
manage and advise upon the best
means of carrying out our war
production program.
Instead. political factors and
prejudices and wirepulling have
resulted in a succession of changes
in personnel ever since June, 1910.
with a series of policy fluctuations,
too, that now reveal the great
American industrial mechanism as
having produced too much of
everything but the things needed
moet-transport facilities and pro-
tective ships to carry the weapons
TO our soldiers, sailors and air.
men oVersees