[Defense : Official Bulletin of the National Defense Advisory Commission. Vol. 2, No. 10]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
DEFENSE
★ OFFICIAL BULLETIN of the NATIONAL DEFENSE ADVISORY COMMISSION Washington, D. C. Issued Weekly
★ MAR. 11,1941 . VOL. 2, NO. 10
Mr. Henderson’s warning that a schedule of maximum prices for scrap iron and steel will be established soon
A warning that a schedule of maximum prices for scrap iron and steel presently will be established at a rate below prices current in the scrap metal market was issued March 7 by Leon Henderson, commissioner of price stabilization, National Defense Advisory Commission.
In response to inquiries from the Pacific coast and other regions, the following statement was issued by Mr. Henderson:
“A set of geographical and grade differentials has been submitted to all interested divisions of the industry, including foundries, scrap dealers, and steel manufacturers, for criticism and discussion.
“After the Division has given due consideration to all of these criticisms and suggestions, there is no doubt that a schedule of maximum prices on grades at various points in the United States, including the Pacific coast, will be established. All of these prices will be below $20 a ton, Pittsburgh.”
INDEX
Page
Price Stabilization_______________ 2
Priorities________________________ 3,4
Purchases________________________ 5, g
State and Local Cooperation______ 8,9
Export Control____________________ 9
Health and Welfare_______________10,11
Consumer Division________________12,13
Housing____________________________ 14
Agriculture________________________ 15
Transportation_____________________ 16
Magnesium, nickel, and Neoprene placed under priority control
Following imposition of formal priorities on aluminum and machine tools February 28, all producers of magnesium were put under a mandatory priority status by the Division of Priorities, Office of Production Management March 3, and all supplies of nickel and Neoprene on March 7.
E. R. Stettinius, Jr., director of priorities, said that the action taken in both nickel and Neoprene was made necessary by defense needs.
The control imposed on nickel will make it possible for the Division and the industry to facilitate the prompt flow of the metal into defense industries working on both British and Canadian orders and orders for the Army and Navy.
Equal treatment
Mr. Stettinius said that, as in the case of machine tools and aluminum, British and Canadian and United States defense orders will be given equal treatment.
All defense orders for nickel, including orders for the British and Canada, are to bear a rating of A-2, except for those orders which may be given a higher rating by the Division. Thus all defense needs will be placed ahead of civilian and nondefense needs. The ratings higher than A-2 will be made available for British and Canadian orders, as well as for Army and Navy orders, when necessary.
The nickel figures show that in the month of March the United States will get approximately 14,500,000 pounds of nickel from Empire sources, representing about 70 percent of the total British Empire production. It is estimated that 15 percent of the 1941 supply sent to the United States will go into nickel steels or other material for Britain and Canada.
The following letter was sent to the International Nickel Co., and a similar order to Brandeis-Goldschmidt Co. A letter to the E. L. du Pont de Nemours Co., producers of Neoprene, followed the same general form as that issued for nickel.
The International Nickel Co., Inc., 67 Wall Street, New York, N. Y.
Dear Sirs: The supply of nickel which has been provided in the United States since October 1940 is at a rate double that for the highest previous year. Available data indicate that the supplies which will flow to this country will be enough to provide for defense needs, with some excess for civilian needs. It also appears, however, that the total demand for nickel, including defense and nondefense needs, is now greater than the total supply.
Although since the inception of the sharply increased demands for nickel in defense channels, the International Nickel Co. has been allocating the available supplies on a voluntary basis, giving preferential treatment to defense needs of the United States and the British Empire, and it is desirable that this general treatment for defense needs be continued, the heavy demands make it advisable that the policy which you have been following should be brought under formal control.
Accordingly I am attaching the following order:
ORDER
Pursuant to the authority conferred on the Office of Production Management and on the Director of the Priorities Division by the Executive Order No. 8269 dated January 7, 1941, and issued pursuant to the act of June 28, 1940, I hereby order in the interests of national defense, that any contracts or orders for nickel and nickel-containing material placed with the International Nickel Co., Inc., which enter, directly or indirectly, into the manufacture of any material for the Army or the Navy (hereinafter called “defense orders”) and which do not bear a higher preference rating shall have a preference rating of A-2. The purpose of this rating is to insure delivery on the required delivery date (viz, in time to permit your customers to meet the delivery dates required on the corresponding orders or contracts to be fulfilled by them) insofar as this can be done without prejudice to contracts placed with you bearing equal or superior ratings. Any contracts or orders placed with suppliers of such material which enter directly or in-
{Continued on page 3)
298333o—41
2
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
DEFENSE
OFFICIAL BULLETIN published weekly by the Division of Information for the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense, and printed at the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Published with the approval of the Bureau of the Budget (Rule 42, J. C. P.). This issue contains announcements made from March 3 to March 10.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES, BY MAIL
75 cents for 52 issues; 25 cents for 13 issues; single copies 5 cents, payable in advance. Remit money order payable directly to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
★
NATIONAL DEFENSE
ADVISORY COMMISSION
Ralph Budd, Transportation.
Chester Davis, Agriculture.
Harriet Elliott, Consumer Protection. Leon Henderson, Price Stabilization. Sidney Hillman, Labor.
William S. Knudsen, Industrial Production.
Edward R. Stettinius, Industrial Materials.
Frank Bane, State and Local Cooperation. Robert W. Horton, Information.
Stacy May, Research and Statistics.
Paul V. McNutt, Coordinator of Health, Welfare and Related Defense Activities.
William H. McReynolds, Secretary of the Commission.
★ ★ ★
Nelson Rockefeller, Coordinator of Commercial and Cultural Relations Between the American Republics.
ARMY DAY, APRIL 7
Since April 6, originally set as Army Day by the Military Order of the World War, falls on Sunday, celebrations this year will be on Monday, April 7, 1941. The Secretary of War has urged all arms and branches of the Army to give cordial and enthusiastic support to the celebration. Cooperation "in tl?te form of reviews, open house celebrations, ground exhibits, and other features, has been suggested to all unit commanders.
PRICE STABILIZATION ...
Establishment of a top price of 11 cents a pound for mixed aluminum scrap sold by manufacturers of airplanes
Eleven cents a pound was established as a top price for mixed aluminum scrap sold by airplane manufacturers, in telegrams sent March 3 to airplane manufacturers and scrap metal dealers by C. A. Bishop, acting head of the Price Section, Division of Price Stabilization, Rational Defense Advisory Commission.
The price will apply to unsegregated aluminum clips (mixed aluminum scrap) which are to be released to the dealers under a recent order by the Division of Priorities, Office of Production Management.
Price schedule soon
A price schedule for all aluminum scrap will be issued by the Price Stabilization Division soon, Mr. Bishop informed the manufacturers and dealers. Exact levels at which “ceiling” prices will be fixed have not yet been determined, he said, but as long as the price of virgin aluminum remains at 17 cents a pound the price of aluminum scrap will probably be less than 11 cents.
The telegram to 17 airplane manufacturers reads as follows:
“You have heretofore been advised by the Division of Priorities, OPM, to release unsegregated aluminum clips from the directions contained in the Division’s letter of February 11. Until such time as a price schedule for aluminum scrap is issued by this Division, we request your cooperation in disposing of such scrap to purchasers who have customarily been buying from you, at a price not to exceed 11 cents per pound.
Price may decrease
“This price may subsequently be decreased but it will not be increased so long as the price of virgin aluminum is established at 17 cents per pound. We are also requesting the cooperation of all dealers and advising them not to bid in excess of this price.”
The telegram to 100 scrap-metal dealers reads:
“Aircraft companies have heretofore been authorized by the Division of Pri
orities, OPM, to dispose of their aluminum clips to the secondary market. We have this day requested these companies to sell such scrap to dealers who have been customarily purchasing from them, at a price not to exceed 11 cents per pound. We request you not to bid in excess of this price.”
On March 5, the Division called on secondary smelters to furnish full information about their inventories and orders for remelted aluminum.
A telegram sent to the secondary smelters by C. A. Bishop, acting head of the Price Section of the Division, reads as follows:
“Please forward to the Price Stabilization Division of the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense before 5 p. m. Thursday, March 6, the following:
“1—Inventory in dollars and pounds of aluminum scrap in hand on January 1, 1941. *
“2—Inventory in dollars and pounds of aluminum scrap in hand on March 1, 1941;
“3—Totals in dollars and pounds of noncancelable unfilled purchase orders for aluminum scrap as of March 1, 1941.
“4—Totals in dollars and pounds of shipments of secondary aluminum for January and February.
“5—Totals in dollars and pounds of firm orders for future shipments of secondary aluminum at prices in excess of 17 cents.
“This information will be kept strictly confidential. Ceiling prices now under consideration. Prompt receipt of above information by this Division is of utmost importance to you.”
★ ★ ★
YELLOW-FEVER VACCINATION
The War Department announced March 7 that regulations providing for vaccination against yellow fever of all United States military personnel now stationed in the tropical regions of the Western Hemisphere, including Panama and Puerto Rico, have been prescribed by the Surgeon General of the Army.
March 11, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
3
PRIORITIES . .
(.Continued from page 1)
directly into the manufacture of any material purchased by Great Britain or Canada which do not bear a higher preference rating, are hereby assigned a preference rating of A—2. It is the policy of the Priorities Division to issue any higher ratings equally to British and Canadian and to domestic defense orders. If necessary, above-mentioned delivery dates are to be met at the expense of any other contracts placed with you for private account or for export, bearing no ratings or lower ratings.
If any person believes that cessation of production of particular articles now in the process of production caused or to be caused by compliance with this order would result in grave hardship, he shall refer such cases to the Division of Priorities for its determination. Where there is doubt as to whether a particular order constitutes a defense order, the matter shall also be referred to the Division of Priorities with all known facts, for its determination. It is further ordered that the sequence of filling orders or contracts having a preference rating of A-2 shall be based on the required delivery dates for such orders and contracts.
It is necessary for the proper administration of the priorities system that you submit to the Priorities Division once each month, at least 1 week in advance of the beginning of the month, a list showing the deliveries of such materials which you propose to make during the following month. The Priorities Division will take appropriate action with respect to such list.
This order shall supersede all previous orders, requests, and communications inconsistent herewith and shall be effective from March 7, 1941, to September 30, 1941, subject to amendment or «modification by the Director of Priorities as the interests of national defense require.
A letter sent out on the subject of magnesium by Mr, Stettinius said that all defense orders not already bearing a higher rating should be assigned a preference rating of A-2, in order to insure delivery of materials on the required delivery date.
Text of letter
Mr. Stettinius wrote:
“As indicated in my letter of February 13, 1941, recent developments with respect to magnesium make it necessary in the interests of national defense requirements for such material to be given preference over civilian requirements. Accordingly, pursuant to the authority conferred on the Office of Production Management, and on the Director of the Priorities Division, by Executive Order No. 8269, dated January 7, 1941, and issued pursuant to the act of June 28, 1940, I hereby order that any contracts or orders for magnesium placed with suppliers of such material which enters directly or indirectly into the manufacture of any material for the Army or the
Navy (hereinafter called “Defense Orders”) and which do not bear a higher preference rating shall have a preference rating of A-2.
"The purpose of this rating is to insure delivery on the required delivery date insofar as this can be done without prejudice to contracts or orders placed with you bearing equal or superior ratings, but if necessary, at the expense of any other contracts or orders placed with you for private account or for export, bearing no ratings or lower ratings. Any contracts or orders placed with suppliers of such material which enter directly or indirectly into the manufacture of any material purchased by Great Britain, which do not bear a higher preference rating, are hereby assigned a preference rating of A-2.
Reference to Division
“If any person believes that cessation of production of particular articles now in the process of production, caused or to be caused by compliance with this order, would result in grave hardship, he shall refer such cases to the Division of Priorities for its determination.
“Where there is doubt as to whether a particular order constitutes a Defense Order, the matter shall also be referred to the Division of Priorities, with all known facts, for its determination. It is further ordered that the sequence of filling Defense Orders bearing an A-2 rating, and other orders or contracts bearing an A-2, shall be based on the delivery dates for such orders and contracts.”
Submitting list
“It is necessary for the proper administration of the priorities system that you submit to the Priorities Division once each month, at least 1 week in advance of the beginning of the month, a list showing the orders or contracts for such material booked by you, deliveries under which are proposed to be made during the following month. The Priorities Division will take appropriate action with respect to such list.
“This order shall supersede all previous orders, requests, and communications inconsistent herewith, shall be effective March 1, 1941, and shall be subject to amendment and modification by the Director of Priorities as the interests of national defense require.”
Restrictions on sale of refrigerator ice trays containing aluminum
Estimating that about 800,000 pounds of aluminum a month can be saved during the next several months by the plan, with other appreciable savings during the rest of the year, E. R. Stettinius, Jr., director of priorities for the Office of Production Management announced March 8 that the mechanical refrigerator industry has been asked to reduce the number of aluminum ice trays furnished domestic users.
The main saving will come during the 4 months immediately ahead, the major sales period for mechanical refrigerators.
Letter to manufacturers
A letter on the subject has been sent by Mr. Stettinius to manufacturers of electric, gas, and other mechanical refrigerators for domestic use, and is also being referred to jobbers and dealers. The letter said:
To implement priority orders issued, and to conserve aluminum for national defense purposes, the sale of ice trays made of or containing aluminum for use in mechanical refrigerators should be restricted as follows:
1. With the sale of new refrigerators, there may be included aluminum ice trays as follows:
Boxes less than 6 cubic feet capacity— one tray, 2-pound capacity.
Boxes 6 cubic feet or more, but less than 10 cubic feet—two trays, approximately 4 pounds total capacity.
Boxes 10 cubic feet or more—four trays, approximately 8 pounds total capacity.
2. Aluminum trays should not be sold separately.
These restrictions do not apply to trays which do not contain aluminum.
In sending out the letter, Mr. Stettinius called attention to the fact that the Consumers Division of the National Defense Advisory Commission, in cooperation with the Bureau of Home Economics of the Department of Agriculture, is engaged in studies on the development of satisfactory substitutes for aluminum in ice trays, including plastics and rubber.
4
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
Action for disposition of large quantities of aluminum scrap held by aircraft manufacturers
Action providing for the disposition of large quantities of high-grade aluminum scrap held by aircraft manufacturers was announced March 6 by E. R. Stettinius, Jr., director of priorities for the Office of Production Management.
Military airplane manufacturers were instructed last month to hold their highgrade scrap for later return to the original source of supply.
In a letter sent to these manufacturers, Mr. Stettinius set forth a detailed formula under which the return is to be made.«
The letter said:
Pursuant to communications from this office dated February 11 and February 28, the following instructions are herewith issued in regard to the segregation of aluminum scrap:
In future—
1. Unpainted and unlacquered strong alloy scrap in the form of sheet clippings and mutilated sheets, tube ends, and mutilated tubing, and extrusion ends and mutilated extrusions shall be segregated as to alloy regardless of temper as follows:
Group (a) ______________ 17S
Group (b) _________________— 17S Alclad
Group (c) ______________ 24S
Group (d) ______________24S Alclad
Group (e) ______________52S
Please note that Alclad products are to be separated as individual alloys.
2. The above segregation by alloy shall be carefully and rigorously carried out so that scrap from the above aluminum alloys is clearly and unquestionably identified without chemical analysis.
3. From the standpoint of the fabricator it is very desirable that all scrap be received for toll fabrication in briquetted form.
4. Aluminum scrap segregated as described above shall be returned for toll fabrication to your suppliers of the original aluminum in approximate proportion to your purchases of the original aluminum from them.
5. Any deviation from the above plan of segregation shall be worked out in detail with the toll fabricator.
Aluminum scrap in forms and alloys other than those named above shall be disposed of as heretofore. Each sale shall be reported promptly in terms of weight, selling price, and buyer to Mr. Frank B. Cliffe, office 4612, Office of Production Management, new Social Security Building, Washington, D. C.
★ ★ ★
INSTRUCTION IN SPANISH
In view of the increased travel by Army Air Corps officers in the Western Hemisphere, the War Department has announced that all Air Corps officers, including those of the Federalized National Guard, should receive instruction in the Spanish language. Pending availability of funds, it is desired that every effort be made to provide such instruction by improvised methods if necessary, the Department said.
Air-line accessory suppliers should fill commercial lines’ orders if it can be done without hampering defense
Because many recent questions have indicated a misunderstanding by suppliers of air-line accessories and maintenance items as to their rights, under the defense program, to furnish these parts to* scheduled commercial air lines, the Priorities Division of the Office of Production Management March 3 announced that orders for such items should be filled promptly when this can be done without interfering with the military aircraft program.
E. R. Stettinius, Jr., director of priorities, said it is the intention of the Division to see to it that there is a free flow of necessary parts and accessories to the air lines, for maintenance and repair purposes. This is in line with the general policy of the Division of aiding the air lines in meeting their reasonable needs.
During recent weeks, Mr. Stettinius said, inquiries have shown that the producers of aircraft parts and accessories were not fully informed about their rights in filling orders from the civilian air lines. Mr. Stettinius and Arthur D. Whiteside, chairman of the commercial aircraft group, joined in a statement which said:
“It should be made clear that there is nothing in the present defense program to prevent manufacturers from filling these commercial contracts for parts and accessories, used for maintenance and repair purposes, so long as this does not impede the execution of the military contracts, and these commercial orders need not be accompanied by preference ratings.”
★ ★ ★
Announcement of a pool plan to take care of the urgent needs for zinc for defense purposes
The priorities division of the Office of Production Management announced March 7 that a plan has been worked out with representatives of the zinc industry to take care of urgent requirements for zinc for defense purposes.
E. R. Stettinius, Jr., director of priorities for the Office of Production Management, said that under the plan the
Priorities Division will instruct each zinc producer month-by-month to set aside a quantity of the metal subject to priority allocation. The allocation will be made by the Division.
Five percent in April
The plan will go into effect on production for the month of April. For that month all producers of slab zinc will set aside 5 percent of their total production. This will create a pool of the metal which can be promptly allocated by the Priorities Division to ease shortages as they may occur in defense industries.
Officials of the Priorities Division believe that the plan, which can be modified from month to month, will make it possible for the zinc industry to meet the present zinc requirements in defense plants.
Tight situation
A tight situation in the supply of zinc developed some weeks ago when manufacturers of military brass, into which zinc enters, experienced difficulty in obtaining sufficient supplies.
This problem was met on a temporary basis through a rearrangement of orders approved by the Priorities Division.
Demands for zinc, from both defense and nondefense industries, continue to be urgent, however, a«id although production of the metal is expected to increase during the latter part of this year, it is apparent that the present situation cannot be entirely met by a rearrangement of shipping schedules.
Because of these factors, the Priorities Division has decided that the priorities system should be applied to a portion of total zinc production. The 5 percent figure is considered adequate for present needs.
★ ★ ★
Contract award for construction of flying school near Macon, Ga.
The War Department announced March 4 the award of a contract, cleared by the Office of Production Management, on a cost-plus-fixed-fee basis, to Mac-Dougald Construction Co., Griffin Construction Co., Inc., and Nonnemaker-Clayton Construction Co., all of Atlanta, Ga., for the construction of Flying School No. 1, near Macon, Ga., at an estimated cost of $2,094,735.
A collateral contract has also been awarded to the J. B. McCrary Engineering Corporation, also of Atlanta, for architectural and engineering services in connection with this project.
March 11, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
5
PURCHASES ...
231 Certificates of Necessity for plant expansion from February 15 to February 28
Applications for 231 Certificates of Necessity for plant expansion were issued to 180 corporations from February 15 to February 28, bringing the total for the month to 324 certificates, issued to 269 corporations, the National Defense Advisory Commission announces.
Approximate cost of facilities covered by the certificates in the last half of the month was $234,271,000, compared with $63,977,000 for the first half of February. The total for the month was $298,248,000, compared with $192,052,000 in January.
Certificates of necessity enable manufacturers to avail themselves of the 60-month income tax amortization of plant cost provided for under section 124 of the Internal Revenue Code. Estimates are subject to audit by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
The list of manufacturers who received certificates from February 16 through February 28 follows:
Adel Precision Products Corporation, Burbank, Calif.; airplane accessories and parts; $289,000.
Aero Supply Manufacturing Co., Inc., Corry, Pa.; aircraft-screw machine and precision parts; $82,000.
The Aetna-Standard Engineering Co., Youngstown, Ohio; gun carriages; $723,000.
African Metals Corporation, New York, N. Y.; cobalt metal and oxide; $570,000.
Air Associates, Inc., Bendix, N. J.; airplane accessories; $322,000.
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Co., Birmingham, Ala.; transportation; $86,000.
Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.; carbon, alloy, silicon, and steel; $1,045,000.
Alloy Steel Products Co., Inc., Linden, N. J.; valves and fittings; $25,000.
Aluminum Co. of America, Pittsburgh, Pa.; pig aluminum, carbon electrodes, and castings; $33,523,000.
Aluminum Ore Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.; alumina, fluorspar, cryolite; $5,086,00.
American Broach & Machine Co., Ann Arbor, Mich.; broaching machine tools; $65,000.
The American Crucible Products Co., Lorain, Ohio; bronze and babbit bearings; $66,000.
American LaFrance Foamite Corporation, Elmira, N. Y.; landing gear parts for airplanes; $40,000.
American Locomotive Co., New York, N. Y.; gun carriages; $961,000.
American Magnesium Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio; magnesium sand castings, powder, die castings; $556,000.
American Optical Co., Southbridge, Mass.; aviation and protection goggles; $455,000.
American Smelting & Refining Co., New York, N. Y.; refined tin and zinc (spelter); $308,000.
American Transformer Co., Newark, N. J.; rectifiers; $144,000.
American Zinc Co. of Illinois, St. Louis, Mo.; slab zinc (spelter); $1,185,000.
Arma Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y.; fire control apparatus and navigation equipment; $454,000.
Armstrong Cork Co., Lancaster, Pa.; shells; $192,000.
The Aro Equipment Corporation, Bryan, Ohio; airplane parts; $175,000.
Aviation Manufacturing Corporation, Williamsport, Pa.; airplane engines; $1,597,000.
The Babcock & Wilcox Co., N. Y., N. Y.; gun parts; $111,000.
R. H. Baker & Co., Inc., Huntington Park, Calif.; airplane parts; $9,000.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works, Eddystone, Pa.; guns, mounts, and shells; $330,000.
Thè Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., Baltimore, Md.; transportation; $325,000.
M. L. Bayard & Co., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.; cranes, winches, and elevators; $42,000.
Bendix Aviation Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y.; electrical equipment for communica. tion and fire alarm units; $264,000.
Bendix Aviation, Ltd., Burbank, Calif.; airplane parts; $302,000.
Boeing Aircraft Co., Seattle, Wash.; aircraft; $96,000.
Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill.; cartridge cases; $150,000.
Bradford Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; lathes and accessories; $65,000.
Bridgeport Brass Co., Bridgeport, Conn.; cartridge cases; $149,000.
Buffalo Niagara Electric Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.; transmission of electrical power; $41,000.
Callaway Mills, LaGrange, Ga.; cotton khaki tent duck; $2,000.
Cape Ann Tool Co., Pigeon Cove, Mass.; aircraft and vehicles drop forgings; $103,000.
The Carpenter Steel Co., Reading, Pa.; steel products; $1,101,000.
The Champion Machine & Forging Co., Cleveland, Ohio; forgings for gun mounts and airplane engines; $103,000.
Chase Brass & Copper Co., Inc., Waterbury, Conn.; cartridge cases; $670,000.
The Chicago Gear Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill.; geared lathe heads for guns; $131,000.
The Cincinnati Ball Crank Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; bursters; $56,000.
Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Ry. Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; transportation; $173,000.
Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation, Denver, Colo.; forgings for shells; $734,000.
Columbian Iron Works, Chattanooga, Tenn.; machining of shells; $188,000.
Cone Automatic Machine Co., Windsor, vt.; automatic screw machines; $216,000.
Consolidated Machine Tool Corporation, Rochester, N. Y.; lathe, boring mill and planer machinery; $461,000.
Crescent Tool Co., Jamestown, N. Y.; wrenches, pliers, snips and hack-saws; $104,000.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.; pursuit planes and propellers; $6,095,000.
C. R. Daniels, Inc., New York City, N. Y.; cotton duck; $70,000.
DeLaval Steam Turbine Co., Trenton, N. J.; drawings and parts for reduction gears and feed pumps for destroyers; $396,000.
The Dicke Tool Co., Inc., Downers Grove, Ill.; reel units; $8,000.
Doehler Die Casting Co., New York, N. Y.; aeroplane instruments and parts and castings; $572,000.
The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich.; acrylo nitide, magnesium metal, thickol and butadine; $12,249,000.
E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.; centralite, dinitrololuene, nitrate acid and smokeless powder; $8,460,000.
Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N. Y.; telescopes; $621,000.
Eaton Manufacturing Co., Cleveland, Ohio; aircraft engine parts and propeller shafts; $1,403,000.
The Eastern Machinery Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; rebuilt machine tools; $248,000.
The Electric Auto-Lite Co., Toledo, Ohio; fuses and boosters; $240,000.
Electro-Motive Corporation, La Grange, Ill.;
Diesel power plants; $1,868,000.
The Emerson Electric Mfg. Co., St. Louis, Mo.; boosters; $123,000.
Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation, New York, N. Y.; airplane engines and spare parts; $1,464,000.
Federal-Mogul Corporation, Detroit, Mich.; airplane engine main and rod bearings; $469,000.
Foote Bros. Gear & Machine Corporation, Chicago, Ill.; precision gears and parts; $1,-941,000.
Foote, Pierson & Co., Inc., Newark, N. J.; aircraft radio accessories; $79,000.
The Fulton Sylphon Co., Knoxville, Tenn.; cartridge cases and projectiles; $49,000.
The Gabriel Co., Cleveland, Ohio; machining of shells and fin assemblies; $47,000.
The Garrett Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif.; aircraft parts; $318,000.
General Metals Corporation, Oakland, Calif.; drop forgings for production of airplanes and motors; $40,000.
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich.; cartridge cases and truck parts; $1,026,000.
Georgia Southern & Florida Ry. Co., Macon, Ga.; transportation; $18,000.
Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Co., Fond du Lac, Wis.; boring and milling machines; $1,150,000.
Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, Akron, Ohio; airplane surface parts; $404,000.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio; gas masks and synthetic rubber; $260,000.
Gould & Eberhardt, Newark, N. J.; metal shaping and hobbing machines; $130,000.
Greenfield . Tap & Die Corporation, Greenfield, Mass.; gages and high speed taps; $357,000.
Harvill Aircraft Die Casting Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif.; dies and die-casting parts for airplanes; $326,000.
Hayes, Industries, Inc., Jackson, Mich.; airplane wheels and brakes; $144,000.
Hercules Powder Co., Wilmington, Del.; smokeless rifle powder; $77,000.
William E. Hooper & Sons Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; cotton, duck, and rope cords; $80,000.
The Hoover Co., North Canton, Ohio; machining of shell fuses; $474,000.
Illinois Gear & Machine Co., Chicago, Ill.; bevel gears, pinions, and hangar hatches; $31,000.
Independent Lock Co., Fitchburg, Mass.; fuzes; $181,000.
The Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Birmingham, Ala.; shipbuilding: $1,936,000.
The Ingersoll Milling Machine Co., Rockford, Ill.; machine tools and milling, adjustable rail machines; $435,000.
6
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
International Nickel Co., Inc., New York City, N. Y.; gun parts; $989,000.
International Projector Corporation, New York, N. Y.; aviation instruments; $216,000.
Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Bloomfield, N. J.; airplane accessories, $181,000.
The Kilgore Manufacturing Co., Westerville, Ohio; parachute flares and¹ signals; $60,000.
The Lapointe Machine Tool Co., Hudson, Mass.; broaching machines and tools; $14,000.
Latrobe Electric Steel Co., Latrobe, Pa.; high speed, magnet and chisel steel; $1,605,000.
The Lawson Machine & Tool Co., Malden, Mass.; aircraft engine parts; $60,000.
Lebanon Steel Foundry, Lebanon, Pa.; castings for warships; $229,000.
The LeBlond Engineering Co., Norwood, Ohio; general machine work; $329,000.
Leeds & Northrup Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; heat treating furnaces; $200,000.
Lehigh Valley Railroad Co., New York City, N. Y.; transportation; $2,317,000.
_Leich Electric Co., Genoa, Ill.; field switchboards; $15,000.
Le Tourneau Co., of Georgia, Toccoa, Ga.; machining shells; $85,000.
Liberty Tool & Gage Works, Inc., Providence, WB. I.; tools and gages; $71,000.
Lincoln Machine Co., Pawtucket, R. I.; grinders, milling and rifling machines; $63,000.
W. C. Lipe, Inc., Syracuse, N. Y.; lathes and automotive clutches; $55,000.
Lukenweld, Inc., South Coatesville, Pa.; steel weldments for guns, engines, gears; $255,000.
Machinery Mfg. Co., Los Angeles, Calif.; machine tools; $35,000.
The Mississippi Central R. R. Co., Scranton, Pa.; transportation; $150,000.
The Monarch Machine Tool Co., Sidney, Ohio; metal-working lathes; $155,000.
The Morton Mfg. Co., Muskegon Heights, Mich.; milling, boring, and planing machine; $39,000.
O. T. Muehlemeyer Heat Treating Co., Rockford, Ill., airplane parts; $4,000.
Nantahala Power & Light Co., Franklin, N. C.; electric power; $15,073,000.
National Carbide Corporation, New York, N. Y.; calcium carbide; $963,000.
National Pneumatic Co., Inc., New York City, N. Y.; boosters, guns, mine and bomb fuses; $153,000.
National Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.; pig iron, coke, and structural steel products; $10,250,000.
The National Supply Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.; forging for shells; $187,000.
The New Jersey Zinc Co., New York, N. Y.; washed oxide of zinc; $101,000.
Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; cruisers and aircraft carriers; $1,087,000.
Niagara Lockport & Ontario Power Co., Buffalo, N. Y.; transmission of electric power; $70,000.
Niagara Machine & To61 Works, Buffalo, N. Y.; gears for presses and machine tools; $52,000.
Nordberg Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; marine diesel engines and bronze castings; $316,000.
North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, Calif.; airplanes and parts; $703,000.
The Ohio Seamless Tube Co., Shelby, Ohio; seamless steel tubing; $194,000.
Omaha Steel Works, Omaha, Nebr.; machining of shells; $17,000.
Palo Alto Airport, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.; primary training of pilots; $262,000.
The Park Drop Forge Co., Cleveland, Ohio; dies and forgings for aircraft engines; $476,000.
Perkins Machine & Gear Co., West Springfield, Mass.; gears, shafts, and adapters for aircraft; $359,000.
The Pipe Machinery Co., Cleveland, Ohio; pipe threading equipment and special tools; $126,000.
Pittsburgh Metallurgical Co., Inc., Niagara Falls, N. Y.; ferro-alloys; $111,000.
The Plomb Tool Co., Los Angeles, Calif.; machine hand tools; $79,000.
Precision Parts Co., Ann Arbor, Mich.; aircraft, tank, and scout-car bolts and pins; $19,000.
Pressed Steel Car Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.; forgings for shells; $39,000.
Puget Sound Sheet Metal Works, Seattle, Wash.; sheet metal, structural steel, and roofing; $35,000.
Pump Engineering Service Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio; pumps, valves, and cylinders; $708,000.
Quimby Pump Company, Inc., Newark, N. J.; pumps for naval vessels; $128,000.
RCA Manufacturing Co., Camden, N. J.; radio transmitting’ and receiving apparatus; $2,370,000.
Reid Brothers Co., Inc., Beverly, Mass., surface grinding machinery; $31,000.
Republic Mining & Manufacturing Co., New York, N. Y.; bauxite ore; $503,000.
The Robertshaw Thermostat Co., Youngwood, Pa.; boosters; $127,000.
Romeo Pump Co., Elyria, Ohio; aircraft pumps; $36,000.
Ryan Aeronautical Co., San Diego, Calif.; primary training of pilots; $72,000.
Ryan School of Aeronautics, San Diego, Calif.; primary training of pilots; $213,000.
The St. Lawrence River Power Co., Massena, N. Y.; electric power; $199,000.
The Sawbrook Steel Castings Co., Lockland, Ohio; steel castings; $58,000.
Schwitzer-Cummins Co., Indianapolis, Ind.; cases, cartridge; $295,000.
Scoville Mfg. Co., Waterbury, Conn.; cartridge cases; $2,519,000.
Sheet Aluminum Corporation, Jackson, Mich.; aluminum and aluminum alloys; $85,000.
The Sidney Machine Tool Co., Sidney, Ohio; lathes, milling, and coils winding machines; $171,000.
Simmons Machine Tool Corporation, Menands, N. Y.; boring and turning lathes; $101,000.
Snyder Tool & Engineering Co., Detroit, Mich.; milling, drilling, and grinding machinery; $82,000.
Southern Chemical Cotton Co., Chattanooga, Tenn.; bleached cotton linters; $151,-000.
Southern Railway Co., Richmond, Va.; transportation; $715,000.
Spicer Manufacturing Corporation, Toledo, Ohio; truck parts; $1,428,000.
Springfield Bronze & Aluminum Co., Springfield, Mass.; magnesium sand castings; $15,000.
Square D. Corporation, Detroit, Mich., aircraft instruments; $613,000.
Stacy Machine Works, Inc., Springfield, Mass.; jigs, fixtures for machine tool parts; $44,000.
Standard Forgings Corporation, Chicago, Ill.; forgings for shells; $115,000.
The Steel Improvement & Forge Co., Cleveland, Ohio; aircraft, tank, and torpedo forgings; $447,000.
Stewart-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Hl.; fuses; $389,000.
Stockham Pipe Fittings Co., Birmingham, Ala.; machining of shells; $81,000.
Tennessee Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., Birmingham, Ala.; pig-iron, ingots, and steel products; $23,500,000.
Thompson Products, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio; aircraft engine parts; $642,000.
The Timken Roller Bearing Co., Canton, Ohio; electric furnace steels; $3,639,000.
Triton Chemical Company, Inc., Wilmington, Del.; trinitrotoluene; $474,000.
The Trojan Powder Co., Allentown, Pa:; pentaerythrital, loading and assembling of bombs and shells; $397,000.
The Tube Reducing Corporation, Stamford, Conn.; seamless steel tubing; $767,000.
The United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford, Conn.; aircraft propellers and parts; $31,612,000.
The United States Aluminum Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.; aluminum sand castings and airplane cylinder heads; $1,560,000.
Vega Airplane Co., Burbank, Calif.; airplanes and parts; $6,452,000.
Vinco Corporation, Detroit, Mich.; machine tools; $145,000.
The Virginian Railway Co., Norfolk, Va.; transportation; $1,336,000.
Vultee Aircraft, Inc., Vultee Field, Calif.; aircraft; $4,260,000.
Wabash Railway Co., St. Louis, Mo.; transportation; $49,000.
Walworth Co., Kewanee, Ill.; machining of shells; $540,000.
The S. K. Wellman Co., Cleveland, Ohio; clutch and brake parts for airplanes and tanks; $405,000.
Western Maryland Ry. Co., Baltimore, Md.; transportation; $2,374,000.
Wickes Brothers, Saginaw, Mich.; boring mills, lathes, and special tools; $345,000.
Winter Brothers Co., Wrentham, Mass.; ‘ studs, aircraft motor parts; $30,000.
Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation, Harrison, N. J.; durable machine tools and gun mounts; $1,535,000.
Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Paterson, N. J.; aircraft motors; $4,289,000.
Wright Machine Co., Worcester, Mass.; boosters; $63,000.
Wyckoff Drawn Steel Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.; aircraft parts; $35,000.
Wyman-Gordon Co., Worcester, Mass.; aircraft parts; $1,846,000.
Z. & M. Machine Products, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio; screw machine products; $52,000.
★ ★ ★
Appointment of H. B. Cunningham as assistant director of Subsistence and Supplies
Appointment of Howard B. Cunningham of New York as assistant director in charge of Subsistence and Supplies was announced March 4 by Donald M. Nelson, director of the Division of Purchases, Office of Production Management.
Director of purchases for the National Biscuit Co. for several years, Mr. Cunningham will have charge of the section which is advising the Army Quartermaster General’s Office on the procurement of foodstuffs for the Army. Before his association with the National Biscuit Co. he was for some 15 years in the milling business in Minneapolis and Kansas City.
His appointment is in line with the Division’s program to bring in qualified civilian experts on food purchase and distribution to help the Army men handle all phases of the food-buying program. To assist in this task, the Division has enlisted the services of a large number of men from the food industry, each of whom is qualified to deal with one particular phase of the problem or one specific commodity which is to be bought. These experts will work under Mr. Cunningham’s general supervision.
Mr. Cunningham succeeds Mr. Douglas MacKeachie, new deputy'dire ctor of the Division of Purchases.
March 11, 1941
* DEFENSE ★
7
Compilation of defense contracts cleared and awarded, February 27 through March 5
Defense contracts totaling $49,533,693 were awarded by the Army and Navy and cleared by the Division of Purchases, Office of Production Management, during the period February 27 to March 5, inclusive.
This compares with $54,887,403 for the previous week, and $143,028,815 for the week ending February 19. Contracts amounting to $500,000 or more are cleared by the Division of Purchases of the Office of Production Management.
Cleared contracts awarded by the War Department during the latest period totaled $9,390,543, and by the Navy Department, $40,143,150.
CONSTRUCTION
War
Three contractors: MacDougald Construction Co., Griffin Construction Co., Inc., Nonnemaker-Clayton Construction Co., all of Atlanta, Ga.; construction of Flying School No. 1, near Macon, Ga.; $2,049,735.
Navy
Hawaiian Dredging Co. and Associates; deepening and widening channel into Wake Island at Naval Air Station, Wake Island; $2,000,000.
Two contractors: George H. Flinn Corporation, New York, N. Y., and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Chicago, Ill.; construction of graving dry dock at Bayonne, N. J.; $8,600,000.
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. of Pittsburgh; construction, equipping, and organizing for operation of a plant for the manufacture and assembly of ordnance equipment near Canton, Ohio; $16,150,000.
Arundel Corporation & Consolidated Engineering Co., Inc.; shore facilities, dredging, pier at St. Lucia, British West Indies, and Antigua, British West Indies; $3,810,000.
Hardaway Contracting Co.; construction of barracks and mess hall, administration building, welfare building, etc., at naval air station, Pensacola; $1,697,000.
Frederick Snare Corporation; construction of temporary shore facilities, dredging, pier at naval air station, Jamaica; $2,300,000.
General Motors Corporation, Cleveland Diesel Engine Division; construction of propelling machinery for 28 motor minesweepers; $3,500,000.
EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
War
J. L. Stifel & Sons, Inc., Wheeling, W. Va.; cloth, cotton, herringbone twill— 3,000,000 yards; $847,200.
Reeves Brothers, Inc., New York, N. Y.; cloth, cotton, herringbone twill—6,000,000 yards; $1,775,200.
J. P. Stevens, Inc., New York, N. Y.; cloth, cotton, herringbone twill—2,200,000 yards; $653,400.
Charles A. Eaton Co., Brockton, Mass.; shoes, service—225,000 pairs; $730,544.06.
International Shoe Co., St. Louis, Mo.; shoes, service—240,000 pairs; $782,400.
Brown Shoe Co., Inc., St. Louis, Mo.; shoes, service—240,000 pairs; $811,200.
Navy
Fairchild Aviation Corporation Jamaica, N. J.; cameras, yokes and bracket mountings; $1,082,150.
Arundel Corporation and Consolidated Engineering Co., Inc.; purchase, assemble, and fabricate materials at naval air station, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, and British Guiana; $1,004,000.
ORDNANCE
War
King Powder Co., Inc., Kings Mills Plant, Kings Mills, Ohio; charges, spotting; $500,000.
AIRCRAFT
Douglas Aircraft Co., Santa Monica, Calif.; airplanes, $1,195,864.
★ ★ ★
Appointment of adviser for women’s organizations announced by Nelson A.
Rockefeller
Nelson A. Rockefeller, coordinator of commercial and cultural relations between the American Republics, announced on March 6 the appointment of Miss Mary N. Winslow as adviser for civic projects in connection with the activities of women’s organizations.
Miss Winslow will serve in the Division of Public Education of the Coordinator’s office and will assist in the planning and operation of projects relating to activities of women’s organizations.
Contracts announced for ordnance storage depot in Ohio and , troop housing facilities in South Carolina
The War Department announced March 8 supplemental contracts with the Hunkin-Conkey Construction Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, for construction, and Jennings & Lawrence Co., of Columbus, Ohio, for architectural and engineering services for the Ravenna Ammunition Storage Depot at Ravenna, Ohio.
These contracts have been cleared by the Office of Production Management and are for a total estimated cost of $4,039,075. This ordnance storage depot is directly adjacent to the Ravenna Ordnance Plant (shell loading) now under construction by these funds. The storage facilities will be entirely separate from the shell loading.
Troop housing
Also announced by the War Department are additional troop housing facilities at Fort Jackson, S. C., under a contract with the J. A. Jones Construction Co., Charlotte, N. C., in the amount of $3,924,607.31. This contract has also been cleared by the Office of Production Management.
★ ★ ★
New chief of perishable foods section will headquarter in Chicago
Appointment of John A. Martin as chief of the perishable foods section of the Subsistence and Supply Branch was announced March 6 by Donald M. Nelson, director of the division of purchases, OPM. .
Mr. Martin is transferring his office to Chicago, where he will have his headquarters in the Chicago Quartermaster’s Office.
In this new post he will serve as the chief civilian adviser to the Army Quartermaster Corps in its task of reorganizing the Army’s buying of perishable foods—fresh fruits and produce, fresh meats, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. In his Chicago office he will be assisted by technical experts in all of these lines.
Mr. Martin has been serving as special adviser on produce. Before coming to the Division of Purchases, he was vice president and general manager of Wesco Foods Co., Chicago.
8
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION ...
Citation of the shortages of necessary community facilities in many defense areas—discussion by Mr. Frank Bane
Shortages of necessary community facilities, “which are already handicapping the rearmament effort in many critical defense areas,” were described by Frank Bane, Director of the Division of State and Local Cooperation, before the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds of the House of Representatives on March 4.
Mr. Bane characterized the situation as “extremely serious and one in which the Federal Government has some responsibility.” He spoke at a hearing on H. R. 3570, the community facilities bill, which authorizes an appropriation of $150,000,000 to provide community facilities where an acute need or shortage exists or impends which would impede essential national defense activities.
Funds would be made available upon a finding by the President that needed facilities could not otherwise be provided. The money would be expended in the form of loans or grants or both to public agencies for the construction, rehabilitation, and operation of community facilities, or for the direct construction, operation, lease, or sale of such facilities.
New needs
Early in the national defense program, Mr. Bane pointed out, it was recognized that some new housing would be needed for defense workers. Also in the planning of new industrial plants attention was given to public utilities or community facilities available for plant operation.
However, no provision was made or is being made for expansion of public services to take care of the new concentrations of working population near military camps and cantonments, naval bases and stations, and newly located industrial plants.
Already existing industrial areas are increasingly affected by the vast amounts of contracts being let for their products, Mr. Bane continued.
Shortages of housing, insufficient sanitary and health facilities, overcrowded
transportation services, inadequate recreational facilities, overcrowded schools have resulted.
Defense housing is being supplied through appropriations to the Army and the Navy and through the Lanham Act and is coordinated through the Office of the Defense Housing Coordinator. Access roads are being furnished through appropriations to the Public Roads Administration.
No provision
But as yet no provisions have been made to supply deficiencies in schools, hospitals, water, and sewer systems, sewage disposal plants, recreational facilities, street-widening, and other community facilities—deficiencies occasioned by defense activities in so-called defense areas.
There are 60 or 75 critical defense areas where shortages of community facilities now exist, and the number of defense areas can be expected to increase. These concentrations of population are taking place so fast that it is far beyond the normal capacity of local communities to increase their facilities rapidly enough to cope with the situation.
Federal agencies concerned
At the request of the National Defense Advisory Commission and the Office of Production Management, the Division of State and Local Cooperation has accepted responsibility for suggesting and executing plans to remedy the situation. Much work has already been done in cooperation with the National Resources Planning Board, the Coordinator of Defense Housing, the Administrator of Federal Works, the Coordinator of Health, Welfare, and related activities affecting national defense and with other Federal agencies.
The Public Health Service has made intensive surveys of defense-connected hospital, water supply and sewer systems. The Office of Education has ascertained what school facilities are needed in defense areas. The Public Roads Administration knows the road and street requirements.
Inadequacies noted
Field representatives of the Division of State and Local Cooperation have reported inadequacies of water, gas, sewers, schools, police, and fire protection, hospitals, housing, access roads and streets in many communities, as, for example: At Charlestown, Ind., where a $74,000,000 powder plant is being built; in San Diego, Calif., where naval expansion, cantonments and aircraft plants have overtaxed water supply and sewer systems; in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, headquarters of the fifth naval district and principal base of the Atlantic Fleet, where naval expenditures for ship construction will total more than a half billion dollars; at Alexandria, La., where Camp Beauregard is being constructed; at Hattiesburg, Miss., and Starke, Fla., where other cantonments are located; in the Portsmouth, N. H., Kittery, Maine area, and at Bremerton and Seattle, Wash., where ships are under construction, and in many other critical defense areas.
To bring together and to supplement existing studies of community facilities, the Division of State and Local Cooperation is undertaking, at the request of the Office of Production Management, a survey of the over-all need for defense-connected community facilities. This survey, to be completed within 30 days, is being made by a group of engineering consultants experienced in community management (Defense, February 25).
This survey primarily concerns the emergency, and not the normal requirements of the communities.
Local funds inadequate
All the needs for additional facilities in communities affected by the defense program cannot be met by local financing, Mr. Bane asserted. In many cases, fixed debt limits restrict borrowing and there is also a natural reluctance to commit a community’s financial resources over a long period for some types of emergency construction.
In addition to capital outlays, operating costs must be considered. It is unlikely that the additional revenues of many cities will pay for the increased local expenditures attributable to defense activities. Many new industrial plants will be tax-free locally because of the Federal title and others may be underassessed. In any event, there would be a great lag between impact of
March 11, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
9
the increased need for public services and receipts from the assessment of real property.
Joint financial responsibility
In light of these considerations, Mr. Bane proposed that the Federal Government share the cost with the communities “in such proportion that the communities will be relieved of those elements of cost which might be attributable to the risk represented by an indeterminate defense period, and of those costs which are in excess of those increased revenues.”
“It is clearly the duty of the Federal Government,” he said, “in cooperation with the States and local communities, to see to it that no defense activity, whether military, naval or industrial, is impeded by reason of shortages in essential community facilities. In terms of public morale, these things may make the difference between success or failure in our defense effort.”
★ ★ ★
Majority of 1941 legislatures consider defense measures
Bills providing for a State defense council, State guard, regulation of explosives, prevention of sabotage, or other defense aspects of law enforcement are either under consideration or already approved by the majority of State legislatures in session this year, according to the Division of State and Local Cooperation.
Six of the 1941 legislatures have now passed measures for State defense agencies and four of these have become law. The Wyoming act was approved by Gov. Nels H. Smith on February 18 (S. 76, Laws of 1941). Laws have also been approved in Iowa, Nebraska, and New York (Defense, March 4). In Montana and Delaware, defense council bills have been passed and wait approval.
Wyoming act
Under the Wyoming act, which also provides for a State guard, the Governor is directed to appoint a State council of defense to assist in all matters pertaining to the State guard and other State or national defense activities. The council has authority, subject to the Governor’s approval, to organize subordinate branches and to establish rules and regulations for their operation.
Defense council bills of one type or another have been favorably acted upon by one house of the legislature in several States, including Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
No requirement for export licenses for certain types of drums and containers
Under the provision of Presidential Proclamation 2413, approved July 2, 1940, the Secretary of State is authorized to issue or deny export licenses covering articles or materials subject to export control, in accordance with specific directives communicated to him by the Administrator of Export Control.
In accordance with directives issued by Brig. Gen. Russell L. Maxwell, Administrator of Export Control, the Department of State March 3 notified all collectors of customs, that, effective immediately and pending further instructions, no export licenses will be required for the export of the following types of drums and containers:
(1) Metal containers of less than five (5) gallons capacity.
(.2) Metal drums and containers with capacity of five (5), or more gallons, but less than thirty (30) gallons, except those containing or clearly intended to contain gasoline, lubricating oil, crude oil, fuel oil, diesel oil, gas oil or petroleum jelly (including
petrolatum of low grade to be used as lubricant or to prevent rust).
(3) Metal drums and containers regardless of size containing the following commodities as described in schedule B, “Statistical Classification of Domestic Commodities Exported from the United States, effective January 1, 1939”:
Group 00.—Dairy products.
Group 1.—Vegetables and preparations. Fruits and preparations. Sugar and related products. Beverages.
Group 2.—Naval stores, gums and resins, except pine oil. Vegetable dyeing and tanning extracts.
Group 8.—All descriptions, except petroleum jelly (including petrolatum of low grade to be used as lubricant or to prevent rust).
Group 9.—Miscellaneous office supplies.
Licenses are required for the export of all metal drums and containers referred to in Executive Order 8669, issued February 4, other than the three classes specifically exempted above. It should be noted that all of the drums- and containers subject to license must contain or be designed to contain liquids, and that those containing or designed to contain exclusively solids or gases do not fall under the licensing requirement.
Utah, Washington, and West Virginia, and such proposals are pending elsewhere.
The legislative program of the Federal-State Conference on Law Enforcement Problems of National Defense is under consideration in many States. Reports available by March 8 showed that measures providing for a State guard has been introduced in 30 legislatures; regulation of explosives, 25; sabotage prevention, 22; fresh pursuit by military forces, 6; and protection of public property, 2 State legislatures.
★ ★ ★
Shoe repairs for the Army
The Quartermaster Corps is studying the problem of shoe repairs, and has established a policy of maintaining repair units at cantonments where commercial shoe repair organizations cannot handle the large volume of repair work necessary to maintain proper footwear for the Army. Workmen employed at these shops will be civilians drawn from Civil Service rolls.
The Quartermaster Corps, in addition, is experimenting with the use of a mobile shoe repair unit at Camp Lee, Va. This unit will have the same equipment as the stationary shops and will be capable of repairing 200 pairs of shoes per day.
Dental defects major cause for rejection of Selective Service registrants
Dental defects have been the major cause for rejection of Selective Service registrants at the time of physical examination, Col. Leonard G. Rowntree, chief of the Medical Division of National Headquarters, Selective Service System, told the Committee on Preparedness of the American Dental Association at a meeting February 15.
Dentist assistants for local boards
Arrangements are being made to have a dentist assigned to assist the examining physicians of every local board.
Records now available show that 17 percent of the rejections by Selective Service medical examiners have been for dental defects, and that 22 percent of the men rejected at Army induction stations have been for the same cause.
Dental Advisory Committee
Colonel Rowntree also announced that a Dental Advisory Committee has been set up to cooperate with National Headquarters of the Selective Service System.
10
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
HEALTH AND WELFARE ...
Partial summary of facilities needed for Nation’s health, welfare, and recreation program, as outlined by Charles P. Taft
Various defense needs such as additional education facilities, adequate sewage disposal systems, milk pasteurization plants, mosquito control in southern areas, hospitals, clinics, and community buildings for soldiers now in Army cantonments and civilians at work in new industrial areas were described to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds of the House of Representatives, March 4, by Mr. Charles P. Taft, Assistant Coordinator of Health and Welfare and Related Defense Activities.
Mr. Taft’s statement was made at hearings on the community facilities bill, H. R. 3570, which calls for an appropriation of $150,000,000 to provide “community facilities in those communities where there exists or impends such an acute shortage of such facilities as to impede essential national-defense activities.”
Mr. Taft emphasized that the largest possible measure of local and State leadership and cooperation, both in finances and personnel, must be stimulated for the program.
An estimate of costs follows:
called for under S. Res. 324. The study as planned and carried out, however, included all local areas affected by activities of the defense program, not only those “at which housing programs for defense workers are being carried out or are contemplated.” It revealed the following:
1. That there is an imperative need in many localities for additional school facilities to accommodate children of personnel connected with projects essential to the national defense program;
2. The school-plant facilities should be programmed and built at the time that family housing facilities are programmed and built;
3. That the numerous local congested situations resulting from activities of the national defense program are in many Instances very acute, that they are certain to affect the morale of defense workers and naval and military personnel, and that the immediate school problems they create cannot be solved by local school administrative units or perhaps by these units and the State;
COSTS
Project First year Operation Construction
Operation Construction
Water supply........._____________ 0) $15,000,000 $973,000 2............................ $27,000,000
Sewers_____________________________ W 12,000,000 $1,528,000 2.......................... 24,000,000
Sewage treatment plants___________ 0) 22,000,000 $935,000 2............................ 53,000,000
Milk pasteurization plants_________ $280,000 3,000,000 $1,500,000 per year........___________ 10,065,000
Mosquito control__________________ 1,500,000 2,000,000 $2,800,000 per year...________________ 5,000,000
Clinics_____________________________ 2,800,000 4, 200,000 $3,200,000 per year___________________ 4,200,000
Hospitals...............___________ 2,200,000 12,500, 000 25,000,000
Total........................ 6, 780,000 70, 700,000 Indeterminate 1..................... 148, 265,000
¹ Actual amount will be influenced by income from operation which cannot be predetermined. Annual grants from Federal Government for operation should not exceed 10 million dollars.
² Revolving funds.
School needs in defense areas
In response to requests from the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of War to Administrator Paul V. McNutt, of the Federal Security Agency, the United States Office of Education made the study of estimates of needed school facilities as
4. That in areas over which Federal jurisdiction is exclusive, States and local governmental entities such as local school administrative units cannot legally provide such public services as public education;
5. That generally Federal military reservations are not integral parts of
local governmental entities such as local school administrative units; and
6. That equity demands that the Federal Government assume a fair measure of responsibility for providing educational facilities for these children.
A summary of the estimates of needed school facilities as submitted by State departments of education to the United States Office of Education, projected in terms of public and private family housing facilities being provided and to be provided, anticipates a displacement of approximately 250,000 children of school age. Such a displacement would ordinarily call for:
1. Necessary school buildings and equipment. The estimated cost for sites is $2,500,000 and for buildings and equipment, $92,000,000.
2. Needed transportation facilities to transport these children to and from existing schools not within walking distance, as defined by State laws. The estimate is $2,200,000.
3. The required cost of operating and maintaining facilities referred to in 1 and 2 above, and for the necessary costs of instruction, including teachers’ salaries, requires, in terms of estimates submitted by the States, approximately $18,000,000 for the school year beginning September 1941. Estimates for school building needs were prepared by the States in terms of available information regarding the permanence or temporality of the family housing facilities being provided and to be provided.
Health facilities in defense areas
Most of the cantonments and many of the defense industries have been located in open country or adjacent to relatively small cities or villages. Experience has shown that such developments are attended by increases in the civil population equivalent to one-half the military strength and three times the number of industrial workers.
At least 1,500,000 people will migrate to the smaller communities adjacent to military establishments and new defense industries now in process of development.
Among the essential health facilities may be mentioned water supplies, sewerage, milk, pasteurizing plants, major drainage for mosquito control especially
March 11, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
11
for the prevention of malaria, and hospitals.
The type of population growth associated with defense activities is not likely to be of a permanent character; consequently the developir.ent of facilities in these communities is not attractive to private capital.
Because the community situation has arisen from the current defense program, which is of national concern, the local communities do not feel that they should assume the entire burden, which in most instances balances the benefits that are derived from the cantonment or defense industry. It is therefore incumbent on the Federal Government to make the initial capital outlay and to provide for the operation of needed facilities until the communities can become sufficiently organized financially and politically to assume their normal responsibilities, Mr. Taft said.
It is proposed that the Federal Government shall hold title during the current national emergency to such facilities as it may construct.
The community alone or the community with the help of the State will be expected to furnish the site or easement, and to the extent of its ability bear a part of the construction costs.
The facilities when completed will be leased on consideration only that such facilities will be operated in accordance with the terms of the lease; except under those unusual circumstances where the Federal Government is to become the operating agency.
Water supply and sewage facilities.— Many defense communities are without public water and sewerage facilities, and where existent seldom exceed the normal requirements, Mr. Taft reported.
It is believed that any considerable increase in existing facilities or installations of new facilities should, in most instances, be financed and constructed by the Federal Government. Reimbursement where claimed should be derived from operating revenues. Grants as such are not recommended, although in many cases the financial outlay by the Federal Government will in effect be a grant, since the facilities may not be necessary after termination of the present emergency.
Where existing facilities of an established governmental unit are increased only slightly, this may be done through a loan and the operation can be undertaken by the municipality or district owning such existing facilities without further outlay or responsibility by the Federal Government.
New installations may require operation by the Federal Government until
the-emergency has passed or the community has become a legal entity and can take over the operation. Revenues from any individual installation should be available for its maintenance and operation as is the usual procedure with self-sustaining facilities.
It is probable that where facilities are greatly increased or newly installed, some financial assistance from the Federal Government toward maintenance and operation will be necessary for a short period of time.
Of the estimated increase of 1,500,000 in population in the areas under consideration, 1,125,000 will require public water supply and sewage services.
Milk pasteurization plants.—Many defense areas have been located where facilities are not available for proper pasteurization of milk. In these areas the United States Public Health Service recommends consideration by the Federal Government of construction and equipment of milk-pasteurization plants, since the uncertainty as to their future need will not warrant investment of private capital.
It is estimated that if this is done provision will have to be made for pasteurization plants in 25 areas to serve a civilian population of 481,000 and a military population of 962,000. It is assumed that milk from these i?lants would be purchased by the adjacent military authorities and estimates have been made on this basis.
After a period of operation, pasteurization plants should be self-sustaining and if activities continue, self-liquidating.
Mosquito control.—It will be necessary in the vicinity of practically all defense areas located in the South to control breeding of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Cantonments particularly have been located away from thickly populated areas or large communities and hence in areas where little or no malaria control has heretofore been exercised.
For the known areas it is estimated that the cost of ditching will amount to $5,000,000. Maintenance and other methods of control are estimated at $1,500,000 per year. For the first year the cost for ditching and control is estimated at $3,500,000. The funds requested under this act are not intended to supplant the Work Projects Administration work in this field.
Hospitals and Clinics—F rom the standpoint of medical care, especially hospitalization, the civilian population of defense areas may be considered under two broad categories: (1) The employed or self-sustaining group, who on ac
count of improved economic conditions in defense areas should constitute a large part of the total population, perhaps 75 percent; (2) the dependent and medically indigent group who cannot meet the costs of major illness.
About one-half of this latter group will be local residents and their care should be a local responsibility. There will remain approximately 190,000 persons who because of residence laws are excluded from such public assistance as the community affords and for these the Federal Government should make necessary provisions.
Recreation facilities
Altogether there are over 100 places, surrounded by over 200 communities where it is believed some buildings will be needed. Mr. Taft referred especially to the needs at distant points, in Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines, the Canal Zone, the new island bases, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.
The best estimate is that a maximum of 350 buildings of some type will be needed which the community will be unable to supply.
The national welfare agencies operating in the recreation field have offered their full facilities of personnel and experience well beyond the services already commenced at some locations, and they are ready to begin at once.
The Young Men’s Christian Association, the Young Women’s Christian Association, the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Travelers Aid Society, and the National Catholic Community Service have together formed a corporation known as United Service Organizations for National Defense, Inc., to which has been made available information about the communities concerned.
With the approval of the President, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Coordinator, a tentative agreement has been reached with USO for the operation of these community buildings, wherever local funds and experienced personnel are not available, effective, of course, only when Congress decides that these funds should be provided for the buildings.
The estimate of the cost of community facilities to be used by the USO and by any other agencies, public or private, under this head is $15,000,000.
It is hoped that in many cases the community buildings, and schools too, may be designed to furnish space for clinic facilities. The schools may frequently serve for recreation programs.
12
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
CONSUMER DIVISION ...
Letter from Commissioner Elliott to Senator O’Mahoney, chairman of the Temporary National Economic Committee, recommends measures to deal with price fixing
Early enactment of measures to deal with price fixing, now under consideration by the Temporary National Economic Committee, was urged March 5 by Miss Harriet Elliott, Consumer Commissioner of the National Defense Advisory Commission, in a letter to Senator Joseph C. O’Mahoney, chairman of the TNEC.
Miss Elliott also expressed herself as in accord with proposals which would break down certain types of barriers to interstate commerce and others which would permit the Government to proceed against conspiracies to raise the price of goods purchased by governmental agencies.
Related to civilian welfare
“Because of their direct relationship to civilian welfare under the defense program, I am especially interested in these measures,” Miss Elliott said. “Repeal of the Miller-Tydings Act, as proposed by the Department of Justice, would restore the effectiveness of the antitrust laws in dealing with certain types of price-fixing activities which the law now permits.”
Miss Elliott said that the proposed statute enabling the Government to proceed against conspiracies to raise the cost of goods and services purchased by the Federal Government is necessary in dealing with emergency situations which are likely to arise under the defense program.
Text of letter
The complete text of Miss Elliott’s letter follows:
My Dear Senator: I have followed with great interest the testimony and proposals recently presented to your committee, and on behalf of the Consumer Division of the National Defense Advisory Commission I should like to add my support to certain of the recommendations which were made. Because of
their direct relationship to civilian welfare under the defense program, I am especially interested in the proposal to repeal the Miller-Tydings amendment to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and in the recommendations designed to break down certain types of barriers to interstate commerce and conspiracies to raise the cost of goods purchased by the Government.
Repeal of the Miller-Tydings Act as proposed by the Department of Justice would restore the effectiveness of the antitrust laws in dealing with certain types of price-fixing activities which the law now permits. The memorandum prepared in the office of the Assistant Attorney General, dated February 10, 1941, setting forth the grounds for repeal of this act, appears to me sound, and I strongly urge that this recommendation be followed.
I favor also the proposal of the Department of Justice that Congress should enact a statute authorizing the Federal Trade Commission to make findings of fact as to whether a designated local ordinance or State statute interferes with interstate commerce, and providing that such findings shall be accepted as prima facie evidence in actions in the Federal courts to enjoin the enforcement of any such statute or ordinance.
The proposal of the Department of Commerce to establish a joint Federal-State committee for the purpose of considering trade barrier problems involving Federal-State relations would supplement the preceding recommendation and appears to be meritorious. There are certain types of State statutes which have a restrictive effect upon interstate commerce and may bring unnecessary price increases in this period of emergency. Their modification is essential to a fuller production and flow of commodities vital to civilian welfare and national defense.
It has also been proposed before your committee that a statute be enacted en
abling the Government to proceed against conspiracies designed directly or indirectly to raise the cost of goods and services purchased by the Federal Government, the effect of which would be to permit the use of the antitrust laws in cases of national importance not involving interstate commerce. I believe such a law is necessary in dealing with emergency situations which are likely to arise under the defense program.
I urge that the Temporary National Economic Committee approve these recommendations with a view to their early enactment by the Congress into law.
★ ★ ★
Shoe market conditions do not justify predictions of general price rise—statement by Miss Harriet Elliott
Predictions of a general increase in shoe prices in the near future are not justified by shoe-market conditions, Miss Harriet Elliott, consumer commissioner of the National Defense Advisory Commission, declared this week.
Contracts for 1,827,000 pairs of Army service shoes, awarded recently by the Boston Quartermaster Depot, showed a 1 cent per pair decline from the average price paid in December for about the same number of shoes. The December price was too high, according to the Division of Purchases of the Office of Production Management, which confidently expects that it will be lowered substantially on future awards.
These facts indicate, Miss Elliott said, that there is no basis for the claim of some shoe dealers that a forthcoming general rise in shoe prices is evidenced by the December advance in Army shoe prices. “These statements by certain shoe dealers constitute unwarranted ‘scare’ advertising,” Miss Elliott said.
7,000,000 pairs of Army shoes
The contracts just awarded complete the Army shoe purchases under appropriations for the current fiscal year. The 7,000,000 pairs purchased under these appropriations made up less than 2 percent of total shoe production in 1940, and only about 7 percent of the total volume of men’s work and dress shoes
March 11, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
13
manufactured last year, according to the Consumer Commissioner.
“Delivery dates are distant enough to permit the Army shoes to be made during the normally slack months which are approaching,” Miss Elliott reported. “There is, consequently, no question concerning the possibility of satisfying civilian demand.”
High imports
With respect to raw material supply, Miss Elliott said that unusually large imports of cattle hides, received during the last 2 months of 1940, brought the year’s total imports of this important leather raw material to the highest level since 1929.
Stocks of all cattle hides and cattlehide leathers were larger at the beginning of this year than at the beginning of 1940.
Export control, already applicable to cattle hides, was extended last month to calf and. kid skins. Sole and belting leather go under export control on March 10.
★ ★ ★
Placing of educational orders for a limited quantity of low-cost civilian gas masks
The War Department announced March 3 that the Chemical Warfare Service of the Army has placed orders with five different commercial establishments for manufacture of a limited quantity of low-cost gas masks known as “noncombatant masks.”
This type of mask was designed to meet the requirements of a military commander in providing gas masks for noncombatants remaining in areas under military jurisdiction and control. The noncombatant gas mask, however, is of a type which the War Department believes would be suitable for general civilian use.
The mask provides protection against all known war gases in the same manner as does the service gas mask issued the troops, but is not designed for the long life and rugged use of the service gas mask. The Educational Orders for non-combatant gas masks were made for the purpose of providing a limited quantity of noncombatant type masks and also by way of developing sources of supply for these masks should they be required in any considerable number. At the present time, no further extension of the manufacturing facilities for these masks is contemplated.
Broadcasts of market news for consumers initiated in a number of cities
Local market news broadcasts for consumers, recommended by the Consumer Division to help guide consumer buying, have been initiated in a number of cities, reports Miss Harriet Elliott, consumer commissioner.
These broadcasts tell household buyers which food products are plentiful and good buys, and provide other information of assistance to consumers.
The programs are prepared by market and food experts of governmental agencies. They are broadcast from three to five times a week for 5-minute periods over local radio stations. Since the news carried relates primarily to local markets, only local coverage is sought.
5-minute programs
The programs consist of a 2-minute flash of consumer information from a national viewpoint, and 3 minutes of local market news furnished by the local representative of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
State Departments of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Home Economics and Consumers’ Counsel Division of the United States Department of Agriculture are cooperating with the Consumer Division of the Defense Commission and the Agricultural Marketing Service in promoting this type of service.
The local food market news consists largely of information on the supply, quality, and price trends of such commodities as fresh fruits and vegetables, poultry, and dairy products, since these show substantial variation from day to day.
Price trends
Wholesale and retail prices and specific brands and stores are not mentioned, but price trends and the comparative price—“high,” “low,” “moderate”— are included.
Programs of this kind are now being carried as a public service by the following stations: WIP, Philadelphia; WFBR, Baltimore; WSAI, Cincinnati; WHK, Cleveland; WHB, Kansas City; KOCY, Oklahoma City; and WJJD, Chicago.
In addition, the following stations carry the programs on a modified basis: WAAB, Boston, and eight stations of the Colonial Network, through the New England Radio News Service; WBZ, Boston;
and WBZA, Springfield. The Bureau of Consumers’ Service of the New York City Department of Markets pioneered in this type of program and is rendering a regular market news service.
Food trade cooperation
In Chicago, the program has been meeting with particularly enthusiastic response. The Market Service Association, representing Chicago’s wholesale fresh fruit and vegetable trade, has distributed 10,000 posters and 75,000 postcards calling attention to the broadcast.
At the present time, effective local market news broadcasts of this kind are for the most part limited to cities which have Agricultural Marketing Service representatives. Plans are now under way to include an additional 20 cities during the next 3 months.
Besides consumer market news broadcasts, consumer forums are being broadcast in a number of cities. These are designed to discuss consumer problems and to further consumer education. The program of WJSV in Washington, D. C., is of this type.
★ ★ ★
Initial tests scheduled by Bureau of Mines on magnesium metal
The Bureau of Mines on March 5 reported to Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes that it is ready to proceed with initial tests of a special process it is developing for the production of magnesium metal, vital defense material. The tests will take place at a small pilot plant just completed by the Bureau at Pullman, Wash., Dr. R. R. Sayers, director, said.
No commercial plant in the United States utilizes such a process, which involves the direct production of magnesium from magnesite, and only three other plants in the world are reported to employ a method similar to that being developed by the Bureau.
If the operations at the Bureau’s small pilot plant, which is designed to produce from 50 to 100 pounds of the metal daily by the electrothermic method, are successful, sufficient data may be made available to determine the feasibility of production on a larger or commercial scale.
14 .
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
HOUSING...
Number of dwelling units for which public funds have been allocated is now 72,251; additional 1,704 units placed construction contract; 200 available for occupancy
The number of dwelling units for which public funds have been allocated under the coordinated national defense housing program rose to 72,251 in the week ending March 1, it is reported by C. F. Palmer, defense housing coordinator.
The increase resulted from approval by the President of the construction of 3,639 homes in 27 areas.
The coordinator reported that an additional 1,704 units had been placed under construction contract during the week, and 200 units were made available for occupancy.
Of the total number of units for which funds have now been allocated, he said, 46,531 were for the families of civilian workers and 25,720 for the married enlisted personnel.
Summary of activities of various governmental agencies participating in the defense housing program as of last week shows:
Federal Works Agency
Following the. President’s approval of the new recommendations by the housing coordinator. Federal Works Administrator John M. Carmody announced construction assignments for 19 defense housing projects with a total of 3,434 units to be built under the Lanham Act.
Included in the assignments was 1 project for the Farm Security Administration, 13 for the Public Buildings Administration, and 5 for the United States Housing Authority. The Public Buildings Administration was scheduled to produce living accommodations in Riverside, San Francisco, San Miguel-Paso Robles, all in California; Valpariso, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; Alexandria, Leesville, and Shreveport, La.; Muskegon, Mich.; Waynesville-Rolla, Mo.; Great Bend and Sidney, N. Y.; and Carlisle, Pa.
The United States Housing Authority was delegated to handle projects in Alameda, Calif.; Jacksonville and Miami, Fla.; Wilmington, N. C.; and Harrisburg,
Pa., and the Farm Security Administration at Pulaski, Va.
The Federal Works Agency reported that as of March 1, it had 21,715 dwelling units under contract with a total estimated construction cost of $69,237,964.
United States Housing Authority
The United States Housing Authority reported that on March 15, families of defense workers would move into the eighth defense housing project to be opened by the USHA during the present emergency.
The latest project completed is Marshall Courts at Newport News, Va.; and will be for the families of workers in the Newport News Ship-Building and Drydock Co. The development will house 352 families. USHA defense projects have already been opened at Montgomery, Ala.; Pensacola, Fla.; Columbus, Ga.; Corpus Christi, Tex.; East Moline, Ill.; Portsmouth, Va.; and Mare Island, Calif.
Federal Housing Administration
FHA Administrator Abner H. Ferguson reported that almost $100,000,000 of small home mortgage insurance applications were received during the short month of February. He reported that the available weekly figure covering new homes started under FHA inspection during February was 2,413—compared with 2,397 in January and 2,035 in February, 1940.
STATUS OF PUBLIC DEFENSE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION MARCH 1, 1941
Funds Con- Com-
allocated tracts pleted
Number of States and
Territories_______________
Number of localities_______
Number of projects________ 46 37 11
Number of family dwelling 132 86 15
units__________________ 253 132 16
Civilian industrial 72,251 38,740 2,515
workers_______________ 36,792 15,622 965
Other civilians: 9,739 5,388 721
Employees of Army 25,720 17,730 826
and Navy_________
Married enlisted per-
sonnel....___________
PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION UNDER FHA MORTGAGE INSURANCE
Week
ended Previous
March 1, week
1941
New homes started_______________ 2,431 2,287
New home mortgages selected for 4,539 4,827
appraisal________________________
★ ★ ★
Statement of racial policy in the provision of shelter for families of defense workers
A statement of racial policy in the provision of shelter for the families of workers in defense industries and the enlisted personnel has been issued by C. F. Palmer, defense housing coordinator.
In a memorandum which has been made public, Mr. Palmer said:
The racial policy adopted in the defense housing program will have an important effect upon the Nation’s total defense productivity. World War records reveal the great military and industrial contribution made by the Negro.. World War experiences and the affirmed intentions of the Office of Production Management indicate that Negro workers will constitute an ever increasing factor in defense production. To assure equitable and adequate housing facilities to eligible Negro personnel and industrial defense workers, the following policies are hereby adopted by the Division of Defense Housing Coordination:
1 .—To include the housing needs of the Negro in the Defense Housing Program by making equitable provisions for his housing requirements in accordance with the purposes, scope, and objectives of'this agency.
2 .—It shall be the responsibility of regional coordinators to ascertain from labor surveys and other sources, the racial composition of workers now engaged, or to be employed in defense industries.
3 .—In making analyses of the housing needs of a community or locality, full consideration shaU be given to the adequacy of housing facilities available to Negro defense workers.
4 .—Subject to the determination of the needs, housing will be provided for the families of Negro industrial workers, families of eligible military personnel, and those of civilian workers in military establishments.
5 .—Locality program reports shall specify the housing required for Negro occupancy, if there is evidence of need in the locality under consideration. .
(a) If, for any reason, the extent of the need appears indefinite, then at least a statement that a need exists shall be made. This statement may include an estimate of the need.
March 11, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
15
AGRICULTURE...
Commissioner Davis makes address as North American Bomber Plant breaks ground for construction in Kansas City
A proper balance between agriculture and industry must be achieved if the United States is to have a sound economic basis, Chester C. Davis, agricultural commissioner of the National Defense Advisory Commission, said at the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the North American Aviation Bomber Plant at Kansas City, Mo., March 8.
Calling on industry and agriculture to unite in development of the Midwest empire, Mr. Davis pointed out that diversification of agriculture was not enough.
“For generations agricultural leaders have urged upon farmers the advantages of well-diversified and well-balanced systems of agriculture,” he said. “But diversification of agriculture is but one step along the way. The full route is diversification of the economy—a diversification which encompasses both agriculture and industry. A full balance is only- achieved when the community has alternative sources of both agricultural and industrial income.”
Modern army dependent on modern industry
Mr. Davis emphasized the fact that in this world only the industrial country can survive the path of modern aggression. He said:
“The industry of a country has become the clue of its survival in the modern anarchy of power politics. When once we talked of strong or weak armies, we now talk of strong or weak industry. The modern army has become only the antenna of the shops and factories which lie back of it. A year and a half ago the farms and fields of Poland fell within a few days before the Germany industrial might. France fell before the greater and better organized industrial power of the Reich. During recent months the agricultural countries of the Balkans have been helpless pawns in German hands. The Italian Army, Navy, and air force collapsed before the superior technical equipment of the British—an equipment which came from a better organized, better manned, and more-efficient industry .”
Although many parts of our industrial plant have been operating in low gear in
recent years, Mr. Davis said that we have the basic industrial fiber for a strong defense.
“Partly as a result of this, we have not maintained the normal rate of expansion in steel, power, railway equipment, and the like. The production of some of our commodities—aluminum and magnesium for example—has been too closely monopolized and production selfishly repressed. But, in terms of our basic industrial equipment the people of the United States are fortunate. Our industry was built for peace rather than for war but fate has played into our hands. We can create an Army more rapidly than we could create a steel industry or a motor industry. This gives us a good head start.”
Peacetime industries converted to defense
But a strong industry is only the first step in the strategy of modern war and modern defense, he warned. While steel mills, truck and tractor factories, and a progressive chemical industry are important, the countries of the Old World have always had something more—in addition to their basic industrial equipment they have a great industry for converting the products of peacetime industry into the actual munitions for war.
“We have never had in the United States the equivalent of the Krupp Works in Germany—a vast concern which in peace and war devoted itself to producing the engines of destruction,” Mr. Davis pointed out. “We have not had the equivalent of the Skoda Works in Czechoslovakia or of Vickers in England. We have Ijad industry but we have not had an armaments industry. It was necessary for us in a few short months to build ourselves ‘Krupp’ and ‘Skoda’.
“It is not possible to overestimate the magnitude of this undertaking. A year ago we did not produce enough smokeless powder to last a modern army more than a few weeks. You have heard of hundreds and thousands of tons of bombs being dropped in the course of a week. We had no industry for producing such explosives in vast quantity in the United
States. Now three TNT plants are under way. We needed an industry to produce tanks, another one to manufacture shell cases, and another to manufacture small arms ammunition. These are also under way. We needed, above all, an industry to produce military aircraft. A year ago our airplane industry was on a peacetime basis. We produced only a few military aircraft, many of them of unproven quality. American transport planes were used in commercial airlines all over the world and the transport is easily converted to a bomber. But even this part of our industry was a small-scale, hand-tooled affair.
“The task of the past year has been the creating of an armament industry. Most of us have experienced a twinge of regret that this vast program of industrial expansion should be for the production of munitions of war rather than the good things of life. But even from such a sad and critical period there are some peaceful benefits which can be salvaged.”
Some of the defense industries will be permanent, Mr. Davis said. Sites chosen during the defense program will mark out the areas of permanent industrial growth. Some of the industries will not survive the period of rearmament and defense production. But even these will leave behind them skilled workers, trained management, power reserves, and even vacated plant and equipment which will be a rich attraction to new peacetime industries.
★ ★ ★
Dried egg production can be increased, Agricultural division reports
Advantages of increased shipments of dried eggs to England or other European countries were emphasized in the report of the poultry committee recently submitted to the food supply section of the agricultural division of the National Defense Commission.
W. D. Termohlen, chairman of the poultry committee, pointed out that dried eggs do not require refrigeration and that a tremendous saving in shipping space results. He said that while a 30-dozen case of shell eggs packed for export weighs about 60 pounds, the eggs alone weighing 45 pounds, the same number of (.Continued on page 16}
efforts would suffer if the output of mines, mills, and factories were diverted from munitions to transport units beyond the amount necessary.
Successful handling of the Nation’s traffic requires prompt release of cars at destination. It is elemental that cars cannot be used for warehouse purposes without crippling transportation. Failure to unload them on arrival was the chief cause of congestion and delay during the World War. With that experience as a warning and guide it seems reasonable to assume that the difficulties it led to will be avoided. No other single thing is so important in this connection as to make certain that cars are not loaded until provision has been made for unloading them promptly.
★ ★ ★
Eggs ...
(.Continued from page 15)
eggs in dried form weighs only 9.8 pounds. Allowing for packing of the dried whole eggs in dried form weighs only 9.8 pounds, per case.
Although in the past a substantial quantity of dried eggs for domestic consumption has come from China, it is estimated that domestic production could be increased to about 12 million pounds a season. Domestic drying plants are capable of taking care of domestic requirements and without great difficulty they could be expanded to meet additional demands, the report of the poultry committee stated. Also, domestic canned chicken, ■ canned turkey, and canned chicken and turkey soup could be made available for export if demanded.
Britain’s egg supply cut
George Livington, chief of the food supply section, said that the United Kingdom normally imports about 75 percent of her shell-egg requirements from Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Rumania.
“It appears reasonable to assume that no eggs are now being received by England from these countries,” he said. “We also understand that egg production has been cut materially since the outbreak of the war in 1939. Nutrition specialists recommend that one egg be included in the meals of each person every day. From the best data available it appears probable that even before the war the English people had less than half an egg a day and probably nearer one-third of an egg. They are getting far less than the requirements for even a moderately good diet. Dietary conditions probably are even worse in some of the occupied countries and Spain.”
16
★ DEFENSE ★
March 11, 1941
TRANSPORTATION...
Estimated 1942 railroad traffic will be three-fourths as much as 1929, and total traffic largest ever handled—Mr. Budd reports
Indications of an increase of 9.4 percent in total carloadings in 1941 as compared with 1940, and an increase of 16.9 percent in 1942 as compared with 1940, have been forecast by Ralph Budd, transportation Commissioner of the National Defense Advisory Commission.
The total increase in carloadings for 1941 is estimated at 3,426,628, an average weekly increase of 65,900 cars above 1940. Loadings in 1942 are estimated to exceed 1940 by 6,140,373 carloads, an average weekly increase of 118,100. The railroad traffic in 1942 should be about three-fourths as much as it was in 1929, although the total traffic of the country would probably be the largest ever handled.
Basic figures for commodities affecting 60 percent of all railroad carloadings were furnished by the Commission’s Bureau of Research and Statistics. Their estimates were translated into carload equivalents by the Association of American Railroads, which also estimated other commodities based on the Bureau’s study. This overall estimate covers defense and civilian requirements in United States and British purchases.
Estimated increase in loadings of specific items
Bituminous coal loadings are expected to increase 690,931 cars in 1941 compared to 1940, or 12.4 percent. In 1942 bituminous coal is expected to show an increase of 1,465,422, or 26.3 percent.
Iron ore loadings in 1941 may exceed 1940 by 535,849, or 30.1 percent. In 1942, they are estimated at an increase of 902,577 over 1940, or 50.7 percent.
Lumber, shingles, and lath are expected to increase 125,142 cars, or 18.2 percent in 1941, and 198,028 cars, or 28.8 percent in 1942.
Refined oils and gasoline are estimated to increase 88,175 cars, or 7.2 percent in 1941, and 173,901, or 14.2 percent in 1942.
Iron and steel shipments of all kinds are expected to increase 326,440 cars in 1941, or 30 percent over 1940. In 1942, estimated increase over 1940 is 524,589, or approximately 48.5 percent.
Cement loadings for 1941 show prospective increase of 115,501 cars, or 22.3 percent; in 1942, 182,324 cars, or 35.2 percent.
Automobiles, trucks, and parts, including tires, show estimated increase in 1941 of 204,270 cars, or 31.7 percent. In 1942, the estimated increase is 330,217 cars, or 51.2 percent.
Scrap iron and scrap-steel loadings in 1941 show estimated increase of 79,141 cars, or 26.6 percent, and in 1942, 128,-827 cars, or 43.3 percent.
Because of inherent difficulties in any attempt at long-range forecasting, these estimates undoubtedly will be revised from time to time to give effect to changes as they occur;
In commenting upon these Estimated carloadings, Mr. Budd stated in a recent address:
Those most familiar with the capacity of our transportation facilities are satisfied that the increased traffic, as indicated by the forecasts for 1941 and 1942, can be handled without congestion or delay. I agree with them for it certainly appeals to railway men more as a promise than as a threat, to be told that they will have to handle about three-fourths as much traffic in 1941 as they handled in 1929. The capacity of highway trucks, pipe lines, and water carriers is larger than ever before, and increasing. Together they would carry perhaps a third of the total load including defense; that is, about half as much as the railways would carry.
It has been suggested that because there are less cars and locomotives now than there were in 1929, and because the average age of equipment is older, that their carrying capacity must be less. No mathematical formula exists which can be used either to prove or disprove this conclusion. The railway rehabilitation and betterment program which has been carried out since 1923 has cost $9,500,000,000. New cars and locomotives have larger capacity than those which they replaced—in the case of locomotives, as much as 3 to 1.
Those who are directly in charge of and responsible for providing transportation feel sure that the plants and personnel can be kept ready and able to meet the future requirements as they arise. Obviously, it is important to do this without unduly increasing the plant, because the direct defense
0. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1941