The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-08-10

Korea and trouble continues Il
simmer elsewhere, the American
people are beginning to wonder
what happened to the money their
elected representatives, so layishly
appropriated between June 1916
and midsummer 1850.
According to official sources, the
taxpayer, in 4 years of socalled
peace, shelled out a record 80 bill
ion dollars for military defense. AL
though so billion 10000 million
smackers is an astronomical fig
ure and should apparently be suf-
ficient to take care of all and
everything the human mind may
desire, it has not been enough to
provide for the minor war, or pO-
lice action as Mr.. Truman prefers
to call it, which the United States
is fighting on the periphery Of
Asia.
What, then, has this tremendous
amount of money purchased in
terms of military preparedness and
defense against totalitarian ag-
gression? The answer is disap-
pointing, so disappointing, in fact,
that Congress might consider it
well worth its time TO dig deeply
into the use of these untold millions
of dollars.
If my information is correct
and it is the information available
to every American citizen intent on
finding out the truth-only Isl
billion dollars, or considerably less
than one-third of the staggering
total, has been spent directly on
defense purposes, that is, arms,
planes, ammunition, fuel, equip
ment, and other goods for machines
and men. $35 billion ($34, 300, ,00O,-
900, to be exact) went for military
housekeeping and administration
that is, salaries for both service
men and civilian employees of the
armed forces, travel expenses,
freight costs, telephone and tele-
graph services, rents, housing,
pensions, and unspecified services
whatever the latter may mean.
With about 70 percent of every
postwar defense dollar spent for
housekeeping, what actually has
been bought with the rest of the
taxpayers shekels To be specific,
more than z billion dollars paid for
aircraft, arms, and other combat
material, which, besides trucks,
automobiles, machinery, ETC., in
cluded furniture, typewriters and
other office equipment. Eight more
billion dollars accounted for am
uniforms, fuel, food and
other supplies.
Well, IL billion dollars for arms
alone is quite slice of money, you
might say. Not when you consider
it in the light of what has happen
ed to the nations military estab-
lishment during the 4 years underl
survey. Actual spending on COM
bat equipment was less than en-
Ough to replace worn-out items.
Again specifically: military and
naval aircraft worn out or scrapp-
ed during postwar years exceeded
by far the billion dollars spent on |
new bombers and fighter planes. |
No new tanks have been bought; |
only a few left over from World |
War ii have been remodeled. |
Everything else is more or less in
he planning or testing stage. Even
production, though far
ahead of the rest, is reported to be
1900 planes a year, or less than
lalf the production of 1910.
1t might be easy to delve fur
her into the morass of figures and
make the Administration and Con-
yress more uncomfortable, but
what's the use? The facts speak
or themselves. Suffice it to say
hat Notwithstanding military ex-
amounting to more than
vice the 4-year cost of World
Var / it will take industry at least
"A months to lift military aircraft
production to desired levels, and
lose to year and a half to turn
ut tanks in quantity.
j. !. =
Precisely for the reason that so
title is at hand, additional un-
ounted billions of dollars will have
o be provided if real strength,
9th in equipment and in military
is to be bought. And
that about the equipment and sup
ort of our overseas allies to whom
ye have committed ourselves? K
The production picture is dismal :
nough to arouse serious concern
yer the nations readiness to de-
ermine and carry out the action {
'hich military blabber-mouths have
DR. years been shouting from the I