THE HOPE of every real American is to see our present world-wide struggle come to a speedy conclusion. Yet, each one of us realizes that until the enemy is completely subjugated and a peaceful future is assured, there can be no genuine satisfaction for any of us in the normal events of life. Like everyone, we are doing our utmost to speed production and as each day we receive more direct evidence of this publication’s effectiveness we get an increasingly greater sense of worthwhile accomplishment. It is encouraging to know that you are doing your bit to end the conflict.
And this is no idle boast, for officials of various government procurement agencies have been loud in their praise of the services we render. Their letters—and there are a lot of them in our files—tell us how Surplus Record gives them timely, comprehensive, up-to-the-minute information on immediately available machine tools and electrical equipment in dealers’ stocks all over the country. Numerous officials urgently requested that we issue Surplus Record more frequently than once a month.
Since the War Production Board and the Army and Navy Ordnance departments became interested in plant conversion to war material manufacture some time ago, the demand for copies of Surplus Record has increased with amazing rapidity. Month after month this avalanche of requests gains greater momentum and as a result almost invariably our entire supply of copies is quickly exhausted, despite our constantly increasing print order.
We have frequently commented with pride about the role played by used equipment dealers in war production because we have been able to closely observe them at work. Lives are saved on the battle front because some used or rebuilt machine was placed in a manufacturing line months ahead of the time a new machine could be furnished.
We would like to add that much of this machinery has been made available because dealers have gone into the highways and byways to find equipment that might, even today, be gathering dust in a remote corner of a shop or power plant. More than a score of dealers are spending their time and money co-operating with a government procurement bureau in locating critical tools.
They are not looking for orchids, but they deserve them.
