London, May 21. owe must be prepared with an output capacity that can be switched on 24 hours' notice to meet the needs of war on a modern scale," declared Sir Thomas Inskip, recently appointed Minister for the Ca-ordination of Defence, in introducing the Estimates of his Ministry in the House of Commons to-day.
"If a storm should beat over our heads," he added, "we are unlikely to have a long time to expand our production'
Sir Thomas made a good impression in his first important speech before the House. In the course of a comprehensive state~ ment on Britain's defences, he reviewed the nature and scope of the work he had undertaken in the nine weeks since he took up his appointment, Sir Thomas also described the series of inquiries he had put in hand concerning the vulnerability of the battleship, the organization of the Fleet Ait Arm and war-time food supplies, and the preliminary steps for securing an adequate re-nse from the industrial system to the needs of the defence services and, particularly, to the requirements of lr force expansion.
Mr. Winston Churchill made his usual powerful contribution to the debate, He voiced the opinion that it was!
serious organizational blunder to Tink the functions of the head of a Supply board with the ce-ordination ff ateategle thought.
For example, he said, Sir Thomas Inskip would have to deal with problems Like the retention of the British command in the Mediterranean new and changed diplomatic con ditions, Sir Thomas Tnskip There was also the tremendous question of the military value of and whether Britain was en-r_not only by Industry. Four hundred firms received detailed inspection while others had received preparatory in~ nobody thu "At the same time, Mr, Churehitt declared, Sir Thomas was responsible] for seeing that the country had enough cobalt, chromium, nickel and fa hundred other vital matters.
Tu the meantime, everything was worse from the peace and safety point of view than a year ago.
"The country would have to pass through a Tong valley of unprotected: ness, and, In that period, events in Europe might reach a climax. spection.
Suitable firms ordinarily engaged on peace-time activities had been classified, inspected, tabulated and) allotted to different service depart ments.
"An orderly plan had been drawn up which embraced not only such Fequirements as production of stella fand shell components, but provided for the factor to which attention had been directed by Mr. Lloyd George and Sir Austen Chamberlain in previous debates, namely, the production fof essential tools and gauges.
He hoped within a few days
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.