[Defense : Official Weekly Bulletin of the Office for Emergency Management. Vol. 2, No. 24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
DEFENSE
OFFICIAL WEEKLY BULLETIN OF THE OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OFFICE OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL DEFENSE ADVISORY COMMISSION, DEFENSE HOUSING COORDINATOR, DEFENSE COMMUNICATIONS BOARD, COORDINATOR OF HEALTH AND WELFARE, NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH COMMITTEE, NATIONAL DEFENSE MEDIATION BOARD, DEFENSE AID REPORTS, COORDINATOR OF COMMERCIAL AND CULTURAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS, PRICE ADMINISTRATION ANO CIVILIAN SUPPLY, CIVILIAN DEFENSE
WASHINGTON, D. C. JUNE 17, 1941 VOLU M E 2, ft U M BE R 24
In this issue
Review of the week in defense...............................................2
President reports 4% billions allocated for Lend-Lease......................3
MEDIATION BOARD Aluminum strike settled; work resumed in 2 other cases..................4
LABOR Leaders endorse East Coast shipyard stabilization.......................5
PRIORITIES Blanket preferences to speed defense merchantmen...................... 6
PRODUCTION 13 companies advised to produce more plates for ships..................10
PURCHASES Faster defense deliveries needed, says Nelson..........................12
PRICES AND CIVILIAN SUPPLIES Freight cars put first in civilian allocations..................... 14
AGRICULTURE U. S. to grow seed supply for use if imports fedi......................17
HOUSING Defense homes ranked with planes and guns .............................18
TRANSPORTATION Unloadings of export goods increase.................................. 21
CIVILIAN DEFENSE LaGuardia names leaders of emergency medical program...................22
323639°—41
9
* DEFENSE ★
June 17, 1941
Review of the Week in Defense
Defense requirements for raw materials last week foreshadowed further curtailment of nonessential civilian goods as idle machines resumed operation with the return to work of strikers in aviation and aluminum plants.
The Office of Production Management advised sheet and strip metal manufacturers to divert more of their output from materials for autos, refrigerators, and metal furniture to plates for ships, freight cars, and other defense necessities.
Stricter priorities imposed
An expansion in magnesium production frorfî 30 million to 400 million pounds a year was recommended by OPM after the War Department reported that aircraft and other military manufacturing would require much more of the metal by 1942.
Military aircraft production in May amounted to 1,334 planes. This was short of the 1,389 output in April.
The OPM Priorities Division imposed stricter controls on vital materials in which increased production or imports have not kept pace with defense demands.
Zinc, which has wide military uses, was placed under full priority control. Mandatory priorities were imposed on all synthetic rubber and on polyvinyl chloride, a plasticized resin used in making sheathing for ship cables. Priority control of aluminum scrap was broadened.
Shipyards get preferences
A preference rating Plan for all shipyards working on U. S. Maritime Commission vessels was adopted to keep them supplied promptly. Twenty-four companies are now building 289 merchant ships.
A preference order also was issued to restrict the use of tungsten in the manu-, facturing of high-speed tools for civilian use. The order, which requires a proportional use of molybdenum, was the first in which the Priorities Division has compelled the use of a substitute as a means of conserving a critical material.
The Material Coordinating Committee, composed of U. S. and Canadian officials,
reported progress after its first conference in coordination of raw material resources of the two countries.
The Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply meanwhile announced a civilian allocation program of materials to be used in the production of 73,000 freight cars this year. The cars will take 1,400,000 tons of steel alone.
Price Administrator Leon Henderson continued his war on inflationary tendencies. He asked five auto manufacturers to withdraw recent price increases. OP ACS officials met with representatives of the coffee trade and warned against any price rise. In a move to lower the price of shoes, OPACS issued a schedule imposing a ceiling on the prices of hides, the chief raw material.
Contract “clinic” opened
As the Defense Contract Service opened a clinic in Washington to further subcontracting, it reported that 67 percent of $1,093,000,000 in defense loans made to contractors by 321 banks in 101 cities went tp companies with assets of less than $1,000,000. Contractors with assets of less than $100,000 got 26 percent.
Zone standards governing wages and hours to be paid in Atlantic coast shipyards were submitted to 55 companies by the Shipbuilding Stabilization Committee of the OPM Labor Division. The proposal is similar to the zone agreement now in operation on the Pacific coast.
Tide of strikes recedes
The tide of strikes that kept the National Defense Mediation Board working night and day the week before had subsided somewhat last week. Strikers in the North American Aviation plant voted to return to work following Presidential intervention, and aluminum plants at Cleveland and Detroit reopened. The board resumed mediation of wage disputes in the Inglewood and Detroit cases. Lumber workers in the Puget Sound area accepted a board proposal and returned to work, but machinists in Pacific coast shipyards voted to reject the request of the President and their international council to end their strike.
LaGuardia active
Mayor F. H. LaGuardia, following a tour of three Army corps areas, spent the week in Washington establishing his headquarters. He appointed a Civilian Defense Medical Board and instructed it to map a course for training volunteers. He announced plans for a school at Edgewood Arsenal, Md., to train firemen and policemen from 40 eastern seaboard cities.
Three governmental agencies—OPACS, Transportation Division, and Bituminous Coal Consumers’ Counsel—advised the public by radio to buy coal for winter heating this summer and thus avert an undue burden on the railways in the fall.
Following a broad discussion of defense housing needs at a National Housing Inventory in Washington, Defense Housing Coordinator Charles F. Palmer stated that the National Capital will experience a housing shortage unless some governmental agencies are moved, in whole or in part, to other cities.
★ ★ ★
Five auto makers asked to withdraw price increases
Five leading automobile manufacturers were requested to aid in resisting inflation by immediately withdrawing recently announced price advances, in a telegram sent to them June 11 by OPACS Administrator Henderson.
The telegram was sent to presidents of the Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Corporation, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Studebaker Corporation, and Hudson Motor Car Co.
Price rises held “inconsistent”
Mr. Henderson pointed out that maintenance of stable prices and prevention of inflationary price tendencies make imperative sound leadership by the automobile industry at this time.
“Recent price advances,” the telegram stated, “are inconsistent with favorable earnings position of the industry as a whole during recent periods.”
Assurances were given, however, that in “event of specific hardship prompt adjustment of this request will be made.” Mr. Henderson also stated that he was sending the manufacturers a letter setting forth his views in detail.
DEFENSE
OFFICIAL BULLETIN of the Office for Emergency Management. Published weekly by the Division of Information, Office for Emergency Management, and printed at the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
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June 17, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
3
Over 41¿ billions of Lend-Lease funds allocated for orders, President reports
President Roosevelt on June 11 made his first quarterly report to Congress on activities to aid the democracies under the lend-lease program. Following is the text of the letter transmitting the report:
To the Congress of the United States:
Section 5 Cb) of Public Law No. 11, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved by me on March 11, 1941, provides in part as follows:
The President, from time to time but not less frequently than once every 90 days, shall transmit to the Congress a report of operations under this act except such information as he deems incompatible with the public interest to disclose.
In compliance with this provision, I am submitting this report.
We have supplied, and we will supply, planes, guns, ammunition, and other defense articles in ever-increasing quantities to Britain, China, and other democracies resisting aggression.
Wars are not won by guns alone, but wars are not won without guns. We all know this full well now. Beginning with the outbreak of the war, the American public began to realize that it was in our own national interest and security to help Britain, China, and the other democratic nations.
Beginning with the outbreak of the war, British and French orders began to be placed. But dollars could not be immediately turned into airplanes and ships and guns and ammunition.
In those dark days when France was falling, it was clear that this Government, to carry out the will of the people, had to render aid over and above the matériel coming off the assembly line. This Government, therefore, made available all that it possibly could out of its surplus stocks of munitions. In June of 1940, the British Government received from our surplus stocks rifles, machine guns, field artillery, ammunition, and aircraft in a value of more than $43,000,000. This was equipment that would have taken months and months to produce and which, with the exception of the aircraft, cost about $300,000,000 to produce during the World War period. Most of this matériel would not have been usable if we had kept it much longer. This equipment arrived in Britain after the retreat from Dunkirk, where the British had lost great quantities of guns and other military supplies. No one can appraise what effect the delivery of these supplies had upon the successful British resistance in
the summer and fall of 1940, when they were fighting against such terrific odds.
Since June 1940, this Government has continued to supply war matériel from its surplus stocks, in addition to the matériel produced by private manufacturers. The 50 over-age destroyers which Britain received in exchange for the defense bases were a part of the aid supplied by the Government.
By the turn of the year 1941, the British commitments in this country for defense articles had reached the limit of their future dollar resources. Their striking power required the assurance that their munitions and equipment would steadily and certainly be augmented, not curtailed.
The will of our people, as expressed through the Congress, was to meet this problem, not only by the passage of the Lend Lease Act but by the appropriation of $7,000,000,000 made on March 27 of this year to carry out this task.
4% billions allocated
In the 90 days since the Lend Lease Act was passed, and in the 74 days since the funds were appropriated, we have started in motion the vast supply program which is essential to the defeat of the Axis Powers.
In these 74 days more than four and one-fourth billion dollars out of the $7,000,000,000 have been allocated to the War, Navy, Agriculture, and Treasury Departments and to the Maritime Commission to procure the aid authorized. Contracts have been let for long-range bombers, ships, tanks, and the other sinews of war that will be needed for the defense of the democracies. The balance of less than two and three-fourths billions is being rapidly allocated.
To be effective, the aid rendered by us must be many sided. Ships are necessary to carry the munitions and the food. We are immediately making available to Britain 2,000,000 gross tons of cargo ships and oil tankers.
But this is not enough. Adequate shipping for every day to come must be reasonably assured. Since the Appropriation Act was passed, $550,000,000 has been allocated for the construction of new ships under the Lend Lease Act. Contracts have been let, and the new ways required to build these ships are now nearing completion. Allied ships are being repaired by us. Allied ships are being equipped by us to protect them from mines and are being armed by us to pro
tect them as much as possible against raiders. Naval vessels of Britain are being repaired by us so that they can return quickly to their naval tasks.
The training program of 7,000 British pilots in our schools in this country is under way. Valuable information is being communicated, and other material assistance is being rendered in a mounting benefit to the democracies.
Millions of pounds of food are being and will be sent. Iron and steel, machine tools, and the other essentials to maintain and increase the production of war materials in Britain are being sent and received in larger quantities day by day.
Since September 1939, the war goods sent to Britain have risen steadily. The over-all total exports to the British Empire have greatly increased in 1941 over 1940. What is more important, the exports of those things which are necessary for fighting have increased far beyond our other exports. In the first 5 months of this year, we have sent more than 12 times as many airplanes to Britain as we did in the first 5 months of 1940. And as the rate of aircraft production increases, relatively more and more heavy bombers and medium bombers are being sent. At the same time, we have sent more than 10 times as many aircraft engines in the first 5 months of 1941 as we did in the first 5 months of 1940. For the first 4 months of this year, the dollar value of explosives sent to the British Empire was about 17 times as much as for the first 4 months of 1940. Ninety times as much in dollar value of firearms and ammunition was sent to Britain during the first 4 months of this year as for the first 4 months of 1940.
Will see that munitions get there
With our natural resources, our productive capacity, and the genius of our people for mass production, we will help Britain to outstrip the Axis Powers in munitions of war, and we will see to it that these munitions get to the places where they can be effectively used to weaken and defeat the aggressors.
In the report that follows, facts and figures are given to the extent advisable without disclosing military secrets to benefit the Axis Powers. These facts describe the past and portray the present status of our aid to those nations so gallantly fighting the aggressors. They do not present the most important fact of all—the strong will of our people to see to it that these forces of aggression shall not rule the world.
We have before us a constant purpose not of present safety alone but, equally, of future survival.
4
★ DEFENSE *
June 17, 1941
MEDIATION BOARD...
Aluminum case settled; one strike averted, two ended; coal dispute closed
The National Defense Mediation Board June 8-14 obtained an agreement settling the issues in the Aluminum Co. of America case; agreements to return to work pending the Board’s adjustment of two other disputes and an agreement not to go on strike in a fourth. It also held hearings on the issues in the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. case, and received acceptance from the Northern and Southern operators and the United Mine Workers of the Board’s recommendations in the bituminous coal case.
To date the Board has received certification of 41 cases. In 36 of these cases, involving 651,268 workers, the men have either returned to work as a result of agreements or postponed threatened strikes at the request of the Board. Of the remaining 5 cases, one was returned to the Secretary of Labor as outside the Board’s jurisdiction; most of the men have returned to work in a second at the request of the Board; public recommendations have been made in a third; a fourth is pending, and the fifth is the North American Aviation case in which the men have returned to work.
Bituminous coal
On Monday, June 9, only a few minutes before the deadline of 6 p. m., the Board was notified of the acceptance of its recommendations in the bituminous coal dispute by representatives of the Northern and Southern operators and the United Mine Workers of America. The case is now closed.
Aluminum Co. of America
Hearings on the dispute between the National Association of Die Casting Workers, CIO, and the Aluminum Co. of America, Cleveland, Ohio, opened on June 9 before a panel consisting of Judge Walter P. Stacy, Cy Ching, and Emil Rieve. That afternoon, within a few hours after the hearings opened, a strike was called, involving 6,000 workers in the Aluminum Co.’s plant in Cleveland. The Board thereupon recessed its hearings and the parties negotiated directly that night and all the following day. At 6 p. m. June 10, when the panel was informed that an agreement had been reached for returning to work, the hear
ing was reconvened. The agreement was reduced to writing and the following day ratified by the union membership in Cleveland. Work was resumed on the 7 a. m. shift June 12 and the case closed.
The main provision in the agreement called for a general wage increase of 1 cent per hour, the effect of which was to put the Cleveland plant of the company on a parity with its plant at NeW Kensington, Pa. The agreement also provided for an increase of 3 cents per hour on the second shift and 5 cents per hour on the third—both of them in addition to the 1-cent general increase, but neither to apply to continuous process workers.
Bohn-AIuminum & Brass Co.
The Board received certification of the dispute between the United Automobile Workers of America, CIO, and the Bohn Aluminum & Brass Co. plant in Detroit, on the evening of June 9. The Board immediately dispatched telegrams to both parties, setting June 16 as the date for a hearing and requesting, in the light of the President’s proclamation of May 27, that there be no stoppage of work in the meantime. Due to some delay in the delivery of these telegrams, this message did not reach the parties until after a strike of the 4,600 workers had become effective at midnight that night.
The Board thereupon wired the management and the union that “the Board considers that this interruption to production constitutes a serious threat to the defense of this country.” It informed the parties that it had requested a Commissioner of Conciliation to aid them in negotiating an agreement for the immediate resumption of production pending the Board’s consideration of the matter. As a result of this telegram, the parties the following day reached an agreement that the ultimate settlement would be retroactive to June 9. This agreement was ratified by the union and the men returned to work June 12.
Marlin-Rockwell Corporation
The Board received certification on June 7 of a strike by the United Auto-? mobile Workers of America, CIO, at the Marlin-Rockwell Corporation’s plant at
Plainville, Conn. The strike, which involved 1,225 workers making ball-bearings for airplane motors, had been called May 27. The case was set for a hearing June 16, and at the request of the Board, the parties reached an agreement for reopening the plant pending the Board’s consideration of the dispute.
Curtiss-Wright Co.
The Board on June 12 received certification of a dispute between the Curtiss-Wright Co. at Neville Island, Pa., and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, CIO. A strike of 960 workers making propellers and other plane parts was threatened for that midnight. At the request of the Board, the strike was postponed pending the Board’s consideration of the dispute. A hearing originally set for June 16 was postponed to June 18.
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Hearings on the dispute between the Bay Cities Metal Trades Council, AFL, and the Bethlehem shipbuilding plant in San Francisco, opened June 12 before a panel composed of Dr. George Stocking, Gerard Swope, and George Meany. After 2 days of hearings, the Board announced that it had been unable to reach an agreement and would proceed under the terms of the Executive Order to make findings and recommendations in this case. The parties left for the West Coast with an agreement that there would be no strike pending the drawing up of the Board’s recommendations. At the Board’s request, all of the 5,000 shipbuilding workers, except for the machinists, had returned to work last week. The controversy over the terms of the Shipbuilding Stabilization agreement, between Lodge 68 of the International Association of Machinists, AFL, and the shipyards in the San Francisco area was not certified to the Board. The terms of the stabilization agreement were specifically excluded when the Bethlehem case was certified to the Board.
North American Aviation, Inc.
Richard T. Frankensteen, director of the Aircraft Division of the CIO, made a plea to the employees of the North American Aviation plant to return to work in accordance with the agreement made before the Board. This plea, which failed of ratification, was made at a mass meeting of the workers held on June 8. The plant opened the following morning at
June 17, 1941
★ DEFENSE ★
5
7 a. m., and 45 minutes later, after only a dozen workers had been able to return to work, the President issued a proclamation taking over the plant. The United States Army took temporary possession of the plant and the men began returning to work that day, and by the end of the following day, it was announced that full production had been reached.
The Board announced on June 13 that hearings would be resumed on the case June 17, at 2:30 p. m.
★ ★ ★
OPM distributes list of 550 essential defense skills
The Labor Division of the Office of Production Management last week began distribution, through State Employment Services, the vocational schools and other labor training agencies in the United States, of a list of 550 industrial occupations and skills essential to the defense production program, for the training of defense workers.
This list, based upon a survey of thousands of individual establishments in defense industries, is to serve as the official guide for educational authorities and management and labor groups, in setting up vocational training courses for defense workers.
Each fully described
Each of the 550 occupations is fully described in the alphabetical listing, and each is further listed according to the industries in which it occurs. The list, ranging from “absorberman” to “woodbender”, applies to the following defense industries: Aircraft and parts, air transportation, aluminum products, ammunition, automobile equipment, communication, electrical machinery, firearms, industrial chemicals, iron and steel, machine tools, models and patterns, motorcycles, nonferrous metals, professional and scientific instruments, railroad equipment, shipbuilding and ship repairing, and utilities.
The list was prepared by the United States Employment Service, in cooperation with the United States Office of Education and the Labor Division of the OPM. Title of the document is “List of Occupations: Approved by the Office of Production Management for Vocational Training Courses for Defense Workers.”
LABOR...
Spokesmen for 50,000 East Coast shipyard workers endorse proposed stabilization
Representatives of 50,000 East Coast CIO shipyard workers voted June 15 in Camden, N. J., to endorse a 2-year nostrike, no-lockout stabilization agreement proposed the day before by the Labor Division, OPM.
The proposed zone standards, formulated by the subcommittee of the Atlantic Coast Shipbuilding Stabilization conference, and designed to stabilize employment and production in the shipyards of the Atlantic coast, were submitted for consideration to the managements of 55 Atlantic coast shipyards by the shipbuilding stabilization committee of the Division.
Membership of committee
The shipbuilding stabilization committee consists of Morris L. Cooke of the Labor Division of OPM, chairman; John Green, president, and Philip H. Van Gelder, secretary, of the Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America; Harvey Brown, president of International Association of Machinists; John P. Frey, president, Metal Trades Department, AFL; Joseph W. Powell, special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, representing the U. S. Navy; Admiral Emory S. Land, chairman, U. S. Maritime Commission; Prof. H. L. Seward, representing Atlantic coast shipyards; F. A. Liddell, representing Gulf Coast shipyards; H. Gerrish Smith, representing Great Lakes shipyards; Gregory Harrison, representing Pacific Coast shipyards.
High officials ask consideration
The proposed set of standards was accompanied by a letter from Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy; Admiral Emory S. Land, chairman of the U. S. Maritime Commission; and Director General Knudsen and Associate Director General Hillman, OPM, requesting prompt consideration of the proposed standards prior to their submission to the Atlantic Coast Conference for final ratification.
The proposed standards are the work of the special Government-labor-man
agement subcommittee appointed by Gerard Swope, chairman of the Atlantic Coast Shipbuilding Stabilization Conference, which convened in Washington, April 28, 1941. Paul F. Brissenden is chairman of the subcommittee.
Chairman Cooke of the stabilization committee announced that the Atlantic Coast Conference would meet in Washington, June 20, for final consideration of the code. Mr. Swope will preside.
In submitting the results of its deliberations to the main committee, the subcommittee emphasized that any standards which may be finally approved should be applied to the entire shipbuilding industry of the Atlantic coast at precisely the same time.
Gist of proposed standards
The proposed standards embody a potential 2-year agreement including the following terms: Uniformity of wage rates and conditions for construction and repair workers; a basic wage rate of $1.12 for first-class skilled mechanics, with corresponding percentage changes for other employees, adjustment of wages after one year on the basis of changes in the cost of living index; overtime rates of time and a half above a 40-hour standard week with double time for work performed on Sundays~and holidays; 7-per-cent premiums for the second and third shifts; no lockouts on the part of the employers nor suspension of work on the part of the employees during the life of the agreement; no restrictions upon production; grievance machinery to be set up by local agreements, and to provide for arbitration.
★ ★ ★
David K. Niles appointed special consultant
Sidney Hillman, Associate Director General, OPM, June 12 announced appointment of David K. Niles, of Boston, Mass., formerly assistant to the Secretary of Commerce, as a special consultant.
6
★ DEFENSE ★
June 17, 1941
PRIORITIES ...
Blanket preference granted shipbuilders; materials for 1941 vessels rated A-l-a
To speed the construction of merchant ships vitally needed in the defense of this country and Great Britain, the Priorities Division, OPM, announced June 12 that blanket preference ratings, similar to those awarded already to airframe builders, are being granted to the Nation’s shipbuilders working on Maritime Commission hulls.
For ships to be completed this year, the rating will be A-l-a. For 1942 ships the rating is A-l-b. For ships to be completed in 1943 an A-l-c rating will apply. This puts the hulls needed this year ahead of 1942 and 1943 hulls. The high ratings will assure the builders prompt delivery of critical materials, including steel plates.
601 ships now involved
Under the present arrangement, the blanket ratings are being offered to 24 shipbuilding companies. The number of merchant ships involved under present contracts of these companies is 289. The ratings also are to be given to agents of the Maritime Commission who are handling the purchase of equipment for 312 emergency hulls. Thus, the total num-
ber of ships involved is 601, to which additional contracts may be added later.
A letter accompanying the order, addressed to each shipbuilder, explains that the rating applies to deliveries of material and equipment entering into the construction of the merchant ships specified, provided that such materials and equipment are included on the Priorities Critical List. This rating also applies to portable or stock tools, whether or not on the list, but does not cover machine tools and similar machinery, ratings for which must be obtained in the usual manner through the use of individual preference, rating certificates.
To reduce paper work
It is expected that the use of the blanket ratings will relieve the shipbuilders of considerable paper work and do away with the necessity for using individual preference rating certificates on all the different contracts for material flowing into the ships.
Under the arrangement set forth, the shipbuilders who use the plan will apply it to their contractors by executing a copy of the order and serving it on their
New critical list
A revised and expanded Priorities Critical List was issued June 10 by the Division of Priorities, OPM. The list included approximately forty new items and classes of items, thus expanding the total number of materials and classes of materials to over 300.
The Critical List is a compilation of materials on orders for which Army and Navy contracting officers may automatically assign preference certificates.
Items appearing on the list include all fabricated, mechanical, or electrical component parts and accessories necessary for the completion, maintenance, or mechanical operation of the items, excluding raw materials unless specifically included in the list.
New items appearing on the present list include types of: Blankets, cable, cloth, furnaces, gloves, addressing and duplicating machines, photographic equipment, motion-picture equipment, parachute silk, X-ray equipment, and several types of chemicals.
(.Complete new list appears on page 9)
Copper control amended
An amendment to General Preference Order M-9, which provided full priority control over copper, was issued June 11 by Director Stettinius.
The amendment includes three main changes in the order, as follows:
(1) Each refiner, in estimating the amount of copper he must set aside each month in a pool, for specific allocation, will set aside an amount equal to 20 percent of his April production of duty-free copper.
(2) A refiner may make full shipment to any customer in any month in which that customer’s total commitments do not exceed one minimum carload lot. It is also provided that no customer’s order need be cut below a minimum carload lot for one month.
(3) It is provided that persons who are parties to toll agreements for copper, must file information but need not file full copies of such agreements and need not obtain specific permission for new agreements.
suppliers. The suppliers in turn may extend the rating to their own subcontractors by going through the same procedure.
Once a shipbuilder has served such an order on his suppliers, the rating will apply for all future orders flowing into the same ships.
★ ★ *
Tungsten steel order forbids buying if substitute will do
To conserve the Nation’s supply of tungsten and divert part of the demand for high-speed tungsten tool steel into molybdenum-type steel. Priorities Director Stettinius issued June 12 a General Preference Order governing the distribution of high-tungsten-content tool steel in industrial channels.
This is the first order issued in which substitution has specifically been required in order to conserve the supply of critical material.
May not buy if substitution feasible
It is stipulated in the order that a customer for high-speed steel may not purchase the tungsten-type steel if the molybdenum type would serve as well.
It is also provided that, during any 3-month period, a customer for highspeed steel may purchase the tungsten steel only to the extent that he buys an equal amount of the molybdenum steel which contains less tungsten.
If a customer wants 50 pounds of highspeed tool steel, for example, the order will require him, in effect, to order 25 pounds of the molybdenum-type steel in order to get 25 pounds of the steel with higher tungsten content.
Increasing tightness indicated
Figures now available on tungsten indicate that the total supply available in this country during 1941 (not Including stock piles) will approximate 15,000 short tons of concentrates. During the latter half of the year, however, the consumption of tungsten in direct military and civilian channels may increase to a rate of approximately 20,000 tons of concentrates.
These figures indicate that the tungsten situation will probably become increasingly tight. The supply figure will, of course, be affected considerably if imports from China are cut off.
Jane 17, 1841
* DEFENSE ★
7
Aluminum scrap controlled; increased shortage reported
An order bringing aluminum scrap under full priority control was announced June 11 by Director Stettinius.
Orders previously issued control the distribution of primary and secondary aluminum, but the order issued June 11 is the first which provides for general priority control of scrap.
The order states that no person after the effective date of the order, June 10, 1941, shall deliver aluminum scrap for melting or processing purposes unless such delivery has been assigned a preference rating of A-10 or higher, or unless the Director of Priorities has specifically authorized delivery of a nondefense order which is deemed to be directly or indirectly in the interests of national defense.
Doesn’t govern interdealer sales
Provisions of the order do not govern the sale or transfer of scrap between dealers but are intended to apply to the sale of scrap to persons who will melt or otherwise process the material.
In the order it is declared that the shortage of aluminum has increased, that more than 90 percent of all primary and secondary aluminum produced during June will be required for defense, and that an increasing percentage of the entire production of both primary and secondary aluminum will be required for defense during the rest of the year.
The new order revokes Supplementary Order M-l-b, which governed the distribution of low-grade aluminum metal.
Present status of control
The present status of control of aluminum, therefore, is: The distribution of all aluminum in ingot form, in semiprocessed form and in fabricated form is governed by priority control, which provides that defense orders will come ahead of all other orders. The distribution of scrap by any person to any processor of such scrap is now also controlled. The orders give the Priorities Division complete control of aluminum in all forms, except for transactions between dealers.
As safeguards against diversion of metal in nonessential purposes, the order provides that persons violating the terms of the order can be prevented from obtaining further supplies of aluminum scrap, and also provides that processors accepting deliveries of scrap shall keep complete records as to inventories, purchases, sales, and deliveries.
Zinc put under full priority control as ’41 shortage of 215,000 tons is indicated
Zinc, a metal vitally essential in defense production, was put under full priority control June 11 in a General Preference Order issued by Director Stettinius.
The order, which becomes effective July 1, provides that all defense needs shall be filled ahead of all other requirements, that an emergency pool will be created to meet urgent needs, and that the remaining zinc shall be allocated among competing civilian demands. In allocating for delivery under civilian orders, the Director of Priorities will be guided by a civilian allocation program when issued by the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply.
Civilian use must be curtailed
Zinc has wide uses in both civilian and military channels. Typical uses include galvanizing, brass making, die casting, and rolled zinc. Military brass requires large quantities of zinc. In the light of the over-all shortage which will exist for 1941, civilian uses for zinc will have to be substantially curtailed.
Heretofore zinc has been subject only to partial control through a production pool out of which the Director of Priorities has allocated to meet emergency situations.
Available figures indicate that the total supply of zinc in 1941 will approximate from 890,000 to 950,000 short tons. The estimated requirements for 1941, however, including military and civilian needs, are now estimated at 1,165,000 short tons. This indicates an over-all shortage of from 215,000 to 275,000 tons for 1941.
Fulfilling estimate depends on shipping
A factor involved in the shortage is that the total supply figures for 1941 include over 200,000 short tons which would be produced from foreign ores. However, approximately 450,000 tons of concentrates is required for this production, and any inability to get ships to move this tonnage from South America could reduce seriously the estimated supply for this year. Potential demand in cartridge brass as new cartridge facilities come in may intensify the existing tightness.
In the General Preference Order it is stated that zinc includes “all grades of metallic zinc •«!