Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-11-25
FAIR X
BY Westbrook1
PeeIer

= New Orleans produced two
shocks.
First Gen. Marshall. chief Of
staff of the army. and 1t. Gen.
Somervell revealed that Amer.
e lean soldiers fighting the Ger
mans have been handicapped by
shortages of ammunition. tanks,
trucks, tires, wire and other
equipment.
Second. they both buttered
with undeserved political praise
an auxiliary of President Roose-
velt's party which, contrary to
their tributes, has had abso-
lutely nothing to do with the
produce ion which. in Gen.
Marshall's words, enabled the
Americans Ito wrest the initia-
tive from the enemy in every
theater of war" Such hooking
nonsense might have been ex-
pectable from Somervell.
But Marshall always hitherto
has been above politics and he
cannot but know that unions
of the ALL have used the war
as an opportunity TO shake
down the workers and the gov.
eminent for hundreds of mil.
lions of dollars and have been
guilty of innumerable strikes,
many of them for trivial causes
and all of them inexcusable and
in violation of the Wanted no
strike pledge.
IT SIMPLY is not true that
L the AFL helped make 1t pos.
sibie TO seize the initiative and
If Gen. Marshall really believes
that il did contribute in thu
slightest degree TO this achieve.S
ment then he has been deceived.
10 an extent which seems inn
possible in man Of his intclli-
gence and Judgment.
The workers did this job, such
as il has been 10 date, which
now seems 10 have been mex.
cuSably short OF requirements.
The fact that most are union
people under compulsion OF the
Roosevelt machine and. in count
less cases, have been compelled
10 pay the union racketeers in
itiation fees of $50 and up even
for the privilege of working at
pick-and- shovel jobs. reflects no
credit on the AF'L. They would
have done the same work as
free men and women and prob
ably would have built and pro-
duced faster.
ND, even in projects and in.
"A dustries where there have
been no strikes. the AFL has
been no more than an employ.
ment agency and always serving
its own interests first and those
OF the fighting men thereafter
and only incidentally.
II has been crawling with
racketeers, especially in the
construction trades which COLI
lected tribute from practically
all the jobs in the war building
program.
But il is the more alarming
that these high army officers,
timing their revelations until
after election. should now tell
the country that production OF
arms and equipment needed by
our troops is tagging on 40 per
cent OF the program.
"Two-thirds Of this 40 per
cent are the critical items des-
perateiy wanted on the fighting
fronts" Somervell said. an an<
nouncement that would havn
come more appropriately an
with better faith from Wash
ington and by itself than mingled
with undersigned compliments
10 a partisan political group in
New Orleans
THIS shortage, whether due
Il TO miscalculation and con-
sentative planning or 10 strikes
and man-wasting union rules,
surely cannot have developed
suddenly in the three weeks
since election and must have
been known TO Marshall and
Somervell when. on the night OF
Oct. %, Roosevelt boasted in his
Philadelphia speech of his own
magnificent job Of furnishing
the fighters down to the last
cartridge" and getting it all 10
them at the right place at the
right moment"
When he impressed the people
10 whom he was appealing for
votes with such figures as three
million long tons month. re-
curing SIT cargo ships" and the
movement OF more than IA mil.
lion barrels Of oil and gasoline
a month, requiring 1856 tanker
sailings" we're Marshall and
Somervell unaware that these
statistics represented not sue
cess but shortage? And IL the
news is not restricted informal
ton now and helpful to the
enemy, why was il withheld
then?
specifically We need now,
~ . matter Of the utmost ur.
gency moro artillery and mosv
tar ammunition, moro tanks,
moro heavy trucks and tires,
moro field and assault wire,
more tentage and moro radaP
equipment" Gen. Marshall said
In his message to the AFL.
NTIy toII that 90 81. ACY