li.S. Slow To
Start, Now Doin»
All Right
New York — Wendell
Willkie said the American!
deliveries of tools and ma
terials of war to Russia I
and China were not great j
to date, and he should j
know, but look:
Those who used to make'
the trip by train between j
Washington a n d Boston
through an intermitten |
but almost continuous in- j
dustrial area in the late j
'30’s remember that the \
factories were dark and j
their chimneys and the j
•
shipyards deserted almost
up to the time that Hitler j
struck Poland. Empty win
dows. w;th the panes ston
ed out by the kids during
the years of neglect, stared
blankly, as a poetic writer
might say. and the scene;
was one of rust, ruin and
decay. Many of the plants,
were very old, anyway,
and not worth rehabilitat
ing for private industry
and there were no govern
ment armament or war
program going then which
would put up the monev
for new buildings and
equipment and the owners
couldn’t take a chance.
Ar.vway. what would they
have don ' for orders when
nobody knew what the gov
eminent wanted them to
make?
After the Fall of France
Not long after the fall
of France and the Presi
dent’s address to the joint,
session which scared a lot
of people and made us all
realize that our war in
dustry consisted of very
little more than the spec
ulative activity undertak
en on orders from Britain
and France, one of the lead
ing citizens of Bridgeport.
Conn., gave a very dismal
report on the current cap
acity of that great muni
tions renter and the region
around.
He sa d most, of the old war
plant-, had been di-mantled after
the first world war or had been
allowed to go to ruin and that
most of the oeo'ple -who had pos
sessed skills which ran those
plants frm 1914 to 1918 had died,
grown old moved away or lost
their knack. Anyway, there was
no skilled staff ready to step1
into the jobs and before new j
hands could be trained it would I
be necessary to convert the fac- !
tories hack to war purposes, j
which meant new kinds of ma- j
chinery and even new buildings. I
Were Not Concerned
The same could be said of;
many other industrial cities for,
dopes that the free peoples are,
the Americans had watched Hit
ler equipping his army to the
last boot latch without thinking
that would mean anything to us.
In the summer of 1939 the army
held a big exercise in the Adir
ondack more for the purpose of
alarming the people by the mis
erable state and pathetic lack of
equipment than for any other
The tanks such few as there i
were, looked like old woodburn
ing threshing machines by com
parison with the stuff that Hitler
had already and you may remem
ber that the soldiers used laun
dry wagons for theoretical tanks
and gaspipe for howitzers and
yelled “bang" and “pow" to sim
ulate the sound of fire. The stall
work must have befen terrible,
too, because good work in any
line calls for experience and our
army had been starving along,
sweeping leaves and spearing cig
arette butts on the posts for
many listless years.
Back Look Is Taken
Of course, this is a backward
look and victory lies forward,
and is more to be thought of
M
* + * ?hi* has How:t alio- >• the Territory of Alaska. That’s
a -imple stale merit. > fart :i known to every man ami woman,
l • even school child in VI ask a. It's a simple statement. Until
you start to think about it. Then it gets all mixed up with other
tiling- . . . with vour whole life, your home, your family, the
ineil* you eat, the game- you play, the thing- you learn at
school, the newspapers you read, the radio program* you listen
to. the way you earn youi living.
For all these ami n 01 •* stem from the Flag . . . from the Stars
acid Stiipe- snapping in the breeze. They always have, of
course, but we’re inclined to forget until a war come- along.
A vva i sharpens our perceptions. Clearly we sec what lias always
been there—the won! freedom emblazoned across those St an
and Stripes . . . freedom from want and fear . . . freedom to
speak our minds . . . freedom to worship as we please . . .
freedom to make our own laws.
Today Alaska, a- an important strategic part of the United
States of America, is facing its greatest trial since that historic
day seventy-five years ago when the Stars and Stripes first flew
above Sitka. Today, too—and for the first time in three
quarters of a century—the trite value of Alaska is clearly
realized by the re.-t of those United States of America—this
great Territory's value not only from a military viewpoint
hut from the viewpoint of the future peace and the growth and
development that must come to this nation with th * peace.
We know that Alaska is ready ... not only with the stamina
for war but with the vision for peace. We know that Alaskans
arc ready and willing to fight for their country ... to buy
War Bonds ... to make any sacrifice- asked of them that their
Flag dial! -til! fly also .e the land they love and serve.
II ( V WAR RONDS
ALASKA STEAMSHIP COMPANY
than blame-placing and alibis. I
but the tact is that this coun-j
tr\ has done a wonderful job,
all things considered.
Shortage is a new experience
! to Americans. We are very waste
ful by habit and the United Stat
es had put more than four mil
; lion men under arms the last
1 time without feeling any pinch
i except in sugar and coal, Now,
| within two years from a flat
j footed start, this nation has ,
| even more men under arms and,
! apparently what is more, all arm
ed armed from our own indus
! tries, whereas the last time Brit
ain and France provided much of
i the equipment and the force is
i growing tow-ard seven million in
i the army alone, with .Americans
t spotted all over the world out
' side the enemy nations.
(From “Fair Enough" by West
I brook Pegler.)
" S O U R D O 'J G H •
STATIONERY
V N -,tg PTk-:
THE GERMAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER 'GRAF ZE PPLIN
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