Evening star., 1947-11-02

1erreO, ana WHICH car DC dppllcu
against the stockpile objectives, will
approximate SITE, 100000 in value
at prices equal to those at which it
is believed that purchases will be
made for the balance.
ut cannot be assumed, however.
that this represents the acquisition
of between 10 and IS per cent of
the objectives of stockpiling," the
board added. THE stockpiles are
badly out of balance, primarily as
a result of the unbalanced nature
= the surpluses."
The Munitions Board arrives at
determination of needs from the
military experts in respective fields
of munitions and from experts from
all phases of the civilian and in
dustrial elements of the Nation and
Government. Coupled with this is
the knowledge derived from certain
civilian industry advisory commit
tees composed of top-tier indus
trial and business leaders. There
are 27 such committees at present
and Is are. planned in virtually
every field of business and industry.
Amounts are estimated from ex-
perience and from thoroughly con-
sidered analyses of possible future
requirements in a war of indeter-
inmate length. ..
Orders Are Secret
Purchases are made If the cost Is
not excessive and if such a purchase
will not interfere with the Nations
economic recovery from the strain
of the last war This latter factor
is not as important today as it was
six months ago.
There is nothing mysterious or
glamorous about the actual pur-
chasing except for the fact that the
orders are top secret. There are
no cloak and dagger commercial
agents spying on the sources of sup
ply of the desired materials, no
commercial attaches at our en-
bassies arranging deals as has been
pictured by some.
Indeed, the purchasing follows
along the conventional lines of nor
NAL Government procurement and
may not be any more unusual than,
say, the placing of an order for
thousands of twpewriters.
The lists of materials declared
strategic and critical are known.
Spectators, however, are culled out
as persons and companies the world
over capable of providing the United
States with these materials are in
vestigated. Contracts are awarded
to the lowest bidder. A buy Amer
ican" clause in the purchasing law
provides that material found in the
United States will be purchased az
home insofar as practicable.
Once purchased. the goods be-
come "stockpile" in Government
parlance. The size of the stock
piles are kept secret for, obvious
reasons. When stocks of certain
materials become obsolete for ons
reason or another and are no longer
needed the board cannot dump them
on the market indiscriminately
Notice must be filed with Congress
and six months must pass before
sales can be made. Reports to Con-
gress on the progress of the pro-
gram are required every six months.
Materials Rotated
A system of rotation is used
so that materials may be renewed
before deterioration.
In addition to the group of ma
terials for which stockpiling Is
deemed the only feasible means of
insuring an adequate supply in
case of emergency, the board has
set up two additional categories.
The first, group B, lists materials
THE stockpiling of which Is prec-
ticable.' Included in this grouping
is aluminium ingot, chalk, emery,
jewel bearings and wool. There are
% materials listed in, this group.
The board has made up a third
group of 19 materials (Which are
not now recommended for per-
manent stockpiling because in each
case difficulties of storage are suf-
ficient to outweigh the advantages
gained by this means of insuring
adequate future supply" It in
cludes pig and hog bristles, burlap,
jute, cork, optical glass, iron ore,
leather, mahogany, petroleum and
petroleum products, radium and the
much publicized uranium.
Many materials were omitted from
the procurement list, because of the
relative large quantities already in
the stockpile, or anticipated, as a
result either of transfers of surplus
property or Of stock purchased with
funds appropriated prior to World
War II and remaining on hand, the
board stated.
Stored at Service Depots
Once the materials are purchased
they are stored or stockpiled in
Army and Navy depots and in Gov
ernment leased and owned ware
houses and reservations.
To accomplish this objective a
storage plan for each material has
been developed and materials re-
ceived are allocated to storage
depots in accordance with the plan.
AS of last July IS different mill
tary reservations were being used
for stockpiling.
The materials cannot be used ex-
cept in the case of a declared ma
tional emergency.
This Nation proved in the last
war that its industries COULD out
produce the world, but to produce
you must have raw and basic ma
terfals," Mr.. Hargave said. Tn