Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-02-25

that as much as SO per cent Of
Soviet steel production has gone
for essential needs of its war econ
omy - armament, power plants.
freight cars, airplanes and the
like.
Steel Channeling
In this country, informed
sources say that as of now prob
ably 16 to Is per cent of total
United States output Of steel il
going into (a) direct defense, such
as munitions. military vehicles.
Navy shipbuilding and repair: (b)
indirect defense, like merchant
marine and repair. freight cars.
oil lines, ore boats, and Co essen
tial civilian requirements as pow
er plants. buildings for health and
other facilities needed to main
tain the civilian economy.
Tom Campbell, editor of Iron
Age, trade weekly regarded as an
authoritative publication on the
Woodworking industry, predicts.
by the middle OF this year, so
per cent or more of our total steel
production will be going into such
uses. and this percentage will
climb after that until the major
part of the defense job is done"
He adds, eve won't pass Russia,
in amount Of steel used for de-
Tense and essential purposes, un-
til the third quarter of 1851. Then
we will go so far past that there
will be no comparison" 50.
OF course, since American steel
diverted to defense use has been
of negligible volume in the years
since World War II, we have con-
siderable catching up to do in
this respect even after we exceed
the Soviet consumption rate.
The disclosure that the Govern
ment plans by April to reduce by
Is to 40 per cent the use of basic
metals in automobiles, stoves
and household appliances is evil
dence of the speed with which we
are moving to boost the amounts
of such metals available for essen
tial uses.
Defense demands for steel tend
to center on some of the same
f1at-rolled products used for such
articles. Thus. the percentage Of
specific steel types diverted to de-
tense might climb to IS per cent
or even higher in the next few
months.
The February Review of the Ma
tional City Bank of New York
points to estimates that defense
expenditures for fiscal 1852 will
amount to about II per cent Of
total national production of goods
and services and says:
Views of Fairless
"All groups can work together in
the national effort, bear the taxa
ton and monetary and credit re-
strictions required. share the sac,
rif1ces, do without the compare.
lively few things which 1t will be
necessary to do without, and still
enjoy a living standard and a de-
gree Of prosperity which in COM
parison with most Of the rest Of
the world can only be termed fab
ulous."
Another optimistic note on this
source of Americas strength was
sounded this month by BENJAMIN
F. Fairless, president of the vast
United States Steel Corp, who
said:
Twice in this century, Ameri-
cas- industrial machine has proved
its ability to outproduce-single-
handed-every combination of ag-
gressors that has yet been put to-
gether."
He expressed belief that to Grip
pie this machine effectively would
require more planes and bombs
than exist in the entire world
today. Conceding that It could
be damaged. Mr.. Fairless COM
mented:
you can do q lot Of damage
to hornets nest by poking a hole
in 1t with your finger. That is
you can If you want to. Person.
ally, I don't. And I don't think
Joe Stain does either"
Over the past 10 years, the
United States and Russia have
had nearly equal proportionate
rise in industrial production. A
Soviet estimate places 1850 total
gross industrial production at 70
per cent above prewar 1910. The
United States Federal Reserve In
dustrial Production Index as Of
December, 1850, was 70 per cent
ahead of it's 1910 level.
The Russians during this period
saw part of their industrial facil-
tiles devastated by war. The
United States escaped war damage
but its industry converted to war
OutpuG dIlu GllCll 1CCOIlNCI tSO W
peacetime production.
The very speed of the Soviet
recovery after 1945 has raised
doubts among some American eco
nomic observers as to its ability
to maintain the expansion rate in
some fields.
Some of the Soviet steel capac-
ity for example. they say. has re-
suited from rehabilitating war;
damaged facilities and from use
OF machinery and equipment
seized in Eastern Europe and
Manchuria. Building new capac-
ity from the ground up would not
only be a slower process, but
would require large amounts Of
current steel output.
Latest Moscow figures placed
Soviet steel production at the end
of 1850 at a rate of around SO
million tons Of ingots annually.
It was indicated likely goals for
the future would be A million
tons by 1855 and Sc million tons
by 1860.