TWO ANSWERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 September 1941, Page 6

TWO ANSWERS

CATCHING UP ON HITLER. “To the question how the Democracies can ever overhaul the German lead decisively on land as well as in the air, now that all the economic resources of Europe are under Hitler’s thumb. I would give two answers," said Mr Douglas Jay in a broadcast talk. “The first is a simple set of figures—and remember in considering them that the battle of war production ultimately depends on the various nations’ power to produce steel, motor and aircraft engines, and ships. The British Empire and the United States can now produce close on 100 million tons of steel a year —which is more than twice the whole output of Nazi Europe. American and British industry can produce more than five times as many motor and aircraft engines as the whole of the rest of the world. American and British shipyards produced four times as many tons of shipping, including warships, as the whole of the rest of’ the world in 1919, and within a year from now we should again be approaching the output of 20 years ago. That, I think, is a pretty solid piece of encouragement. The second answer is that the sea blockade of Nazi Europe is all the time acting as a brake on Hitler’s industrial machine. Some people are so disappointed at the failure of the blockade to produce spectacular results that they tend to think it is achieving little or nothing. But although the blockade may not have crippled Hitler’s economic arm, it is nevertheless limiting its power. For instance. if there had been no blockade, Hitler might have had just that extra number of aeroplanes which would have turned the scales in the Battle of Britain against us last autumn. But in spite of all that, don’t let us deceive ourselves into thinking that economic forces are going to win the war for us by some mysterious natural process j like the incoming of the tide. They aren’t. They might never have the time. And if we do not ourselves make a gigantic effort, even time and economic forces together will avail nothing.”