EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. THEORDORE FRANCIS

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CIA-RDP80R01731R000500380052-3
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RIPPUB
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K
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6
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December 12, 2016
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July 5, 2002
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52
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Publication Date: 
July 16, 1947
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Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 (Not printed at Government expense) United States of America COD R Ord grtv.-4 Iona cc. PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 80th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Lecture by Mr. Antoine Gazda HON. THEODORE FRANCIS GREEN OF RHODE ISLAND IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Friday, July 18 (legislative day of Wednesday, July 16), 1947 Mr. GREEN. Mr. President, during the war the State of Rhode Island made an outstanding record of production. One of the great contributors to its suc- cess was'Mr. Antoine Gazda, a native of Austria although now a citizen of Rhode Island -He-was a-flyer -in-World War I,- well known for his armament and avia- tion inventions. He revolutionized avia- tion when he brought ou the first jet- propelled helicopter 3 years ago. On April 22 of this year he delivered a lecture before the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Rhode Island Society of Professional Engineers. I ask unanimous consent to have it printed in the Appendix of the RECORD. There being no objection, the lecture was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: Mr. President, gentlemen, it certainly is a great honor for me to be with you tonight, and I was happy to be able to accept Mr. Blais' kind invitation to address this dis- tinguished gathering. Not being much of a speaker, and my Aus- trian mother tongue still struggling with my English, I felt a little uncomfortable when Mr. Blais asked me to address you. As a matter of fact, I felt like the Duke of Welling- ton before the Battle of Waterloo, when he was asked what his chances were and what he thought about his generals; he answered, "When the enemy is as afraid of my gen- 756411-22112 erals as I am, then I- shall win the battle." And he did. Another problem for me was the subject on which to speak to you. Being in New England, the cradle of the great American industry, and having myself been connected for a life-time with patents and industry, I decided to talk.to you about New England industry, particularly in Rhode Island, where I settled in 1940 to organize a new branch of industry. You may be interested to know why I chose Rhode Island. country-America-famous for its mass pro- duction, as a peace-loving Nation had the smallest defense industry, in proportion to its size and resources, that I had ever come across. In fact, for its gun models it was almost entirely dependent upon foreign de- signs and licenses. Switzerland, the oldest. democracy in the world, is also well-known, as a peace-loving nation, though a small. one, but I found that in America there was. not one armament factory organized and. equipped in a manner to compare with our Swiss-Oerlikon Works. There were prac- I came to this State in 1940, although this tically no machine tools to be had for im- was not my first visit to America. As a-mediate _use-for-armament work.- Therewas matter of fact, I had been here eight times before, each time fascinated anew by the tremendous and exciting strides in ideas and production methods made by America's justly famous engineering talent. I was already very familiar with American mass produc- tion-especially in the automotive and avia- tion industries, in which I had many friends, having previously visited their plants from the east to the west coast. When I flew to the United States in May 1940, a few weeks before the collapse of France, I carried with me all - the manu- facturing drawings of the 20-mm. Swiss Oerlikon cannon. This new weapon had by'then been recognized by the British as the right answer to the dive-bomber, against which they were now engaged in a life- struggle, and it was my intention to organ- ize the production of this cannon in the United States for the' British Admiralty. After my arrival in 1940 I traveled all over the States, renewing my friendship with in- dustrialists, Wall Street bankers and Gov- ernment officials, and trying to interest them in the manufacture of this weapon, or parts of it, for the British. To my astonishment, I discovered, during this visit, that this big, highly industrialized only a minimum percentage of toolmakers and skilled workers for armament work. This situation, of course, was not favorable for my program. However, I was not discouraged by all these setbacks, and proceeded with my plan, as I wanted to fulfill the promise I had given to the British Admiralty when I warned them of the collapse of France-that I would insure delivery of Oerlikon cannons from. America. When the unbelievable happened, and France did fall, the Swiss Oerlikon Works were, of course, no longer able to deliver to England,,and my purpose was to hasten pro- duction here of the 20-mm. Oerlikon As. cannon which the British fleet now needed, so urgently. I had heard about New England's machine- tool and textile-machinery industries. Also, Governor William Vanderbilt of Rhode Island had heard of my presence in this country and of my plans. He sent Mr. William Allen, chairman of the industrial commission of- the State of Rhode Island, to New York to. Invite me for a visit to Providence. 'This. visit soon convinced me of the skill of New England's labor and its adaptability to my- plans. A large proportion of the plants and shops in Rhode Island were at that time idle,. and my idea was that these would form an. Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 2 excellent basis for the American production of Oerlikon cannons. I made headquarters with the Rhode Island Industrial Commis- sion, who furnished me with a desk in its offices, and I immediately went to work, with the assistance of the secretary of the com- mission, Mr. Clifton N. Lovenberg, and Mr. .Cockrell, consulting engineer of the com- mission, to locate production capacity for this cannon in Rhode Island. Before I left Switzerland, the Swiss Oer- likon Works had shipped a 20-millimeter Oer- likon antiaircraft cannon, as a prototype to the United States. Unfortunately, this can- non never reached the United States, as it was captured on the boat in Bordeaux by the Germans when they overran France. Never- theless, I was able to arrange with the British Admiralty to bring another Oerlikon cannon to the United States by destroyer, and when this cannon reached New York I shipped it immediately to Providence. As soon as the Oerlikon arrived here, I contacted Gen. Herbert R. Dean, then in charge of the Rhode Island National Guard, and asked for his as- sistance. General Dean gave me his full co- operation, and placed at my disposal the State Armory in Cranston, where this Oer- iikon cannon was exhibited, under heavy guard, so that interested manufacturers might be able to compare our drawings with the actual parts. I invited Rhode Island manufacturers to view the cannon and drawings, and discussed their po.-sibilities of manufacturing parts for this cannon. When I realized the favorable potentialities existing in Rhode Island, I in- structed one of our Swiss Oerlikon engineers, Mr. Lameraner, whom I had left in London, to come to Providence to assist me in estab- lishing the subcontracting organization for producing this gun in Rhode Island. I am happy to say that here in Rhode Island I received a great deal of eager and active cooperation in my plans. However, among other obstacles-which I found par- ticularly in Washington-I had to overcome resistance from Rhode Island sources which had no sympathy with Britain's war, ignor- ing the possibility of this country's being involved, and showing little appreciation of the danger the world was facing in those days. I also had opposition from sources which did not care to see competition in Rhode Island labor market. Finally, it was in this little State of Rhode Island that I had the privilege of trans- forming idle workshops and textile-ma- chinery plants, in the shortest time, into 756411-22112 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD important participants in the foundation of what was to become a gigantic United States armament industry. In spite of the lull existing in those days, it was the traditional fame of New England's industry that brought me to this progressive State of Rhode Island 7 years ago. When Gov. J. HOWARD MCGRATH took of- fice. he asked a friend of mine to arrange a meeting with me. When I met the young Governor, he complimented me on what I was doing to improve the economic status of the State, and for the Allied war effort, and urged me to call on him directly in any mat- ters in which he could be of assistance. From that time onward he was my keenest supporter in all I did for the Allied war effort. With its traditional industrial spirit, Rhode Island proved equal to the task when, 18 months before Pearl Harbor, I started there mass production of the now-famous 20- mil-limeter Oerlikon antiaircraft cannon for the British Admiralty. Soon came the terrifying news of the fall of France-which I had foretold, which everyone had refused to believe, and which was the reason that brought me to America this time. The Nazi occupation of France made it impossible for Switzerland to con- tinue deliveries to England, and the British Government immediately sent me a hurry- up call to investigate the possibilities of speediest delivery of Oerlikon cannons from .America. The British had by now learned by tragic experience of the danger of air power. They had seen the terror of the dive- bombers, which had devastated Poland and Belgium, and which had sent .many of their own ships to the bottom of the sea. No longer did the British ridicule the danger from the air to ships, as they did in 1936, when I developed this Oerlikon cannon model and proposed it as the only defense against the coming divebomber. You will be interested to hear that it had taken me almost 3 years to convince the British Admiralty of the necessity of this new anti-aircraft defense. During the years 1937, 1938, and 1939, I had to fight against many skeptical ordnance experts to get this powerful cannon introduced into Eritish Ad- miralty service. Most of these experts felt that the mighty battleships and destroyers of the Royal Navy could easily cope with any threat from the air, and that they had noth- ing to fear. Some even relied on their mighty 16-inch cannons. My records of those years show that it took me 238 meetings with the Admiralty officials, during 380 days' stay in England, to accomplish the introduction of this defense which they came to need so desperately. In my efforts to convince the British Ad- miralty of their need of this new armament against the coming dive-bomber, I was for- tunate in having the support of Lord Louis Mountbatten-then a commander in the Royal Navy-who was one of the first to recognize the significance of this powerful new defense, and who gave me his unceasing assistance and encouragement. It was he who arranged so many of my important meetings and who accompanied me on my visits to influential officials. Indeed, it was largely due to Lord Louis Mountbatten's fore- sight and persistence that the British Ad- miralty finally accepted the Oerlikon can- non as anti-aircraft defense. He even came to America at the beginning of 1941, and, on the basis of his own battle experiences as commander of destroyer flotillas, convinced the United States Navy of the fact that the Oerlikon cannon was the best defense against the Axis dive bomber. Throughout those difficult years of struggle, I was indeed grate- ful to have Lord Louis' support. I am happy to say that during that time there developed between us a real friendship, of which Lord Louis gave ample-proof during a temporary period which was for me personally a dark and critical one. Only a few months ago we met again, in happier circumstances, in Switzerland, when now Admiral Viscount Mountbatten of Burma had to interrupt his skiing holiday to obey the order he had just received to assume the difficult task of being the last Viceroy of India. When America entered the war, little Rhody was ready for Uncle Sam, and was able to shift its Oerlikon cannon production for the British Admiralty to the United States Navy. The Oerlikon cannon was immediately adopt- ed as, America's best defense against dive- bombers and Kamikazes. Everything afloat in the Allied navies-from the humblest fish- erman's boat to the mighty Queen Elizabeth (which carried 80 Oerlikons) -had to be equipped with 20-millimeter Oerlikon AA cannons. My Rhode Island organization, the American Oerlikon Gazda Corp., whose mass production was by then in full swing, also had to help to tool up the General Motors and the United States Navy Hudson plants, as well as numerous subcontractors for the speediest manufacture of Oerlikon cannons for the United States Navy. Now it may be reve?lcd that over 460,030 men and women were employed in making Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 this 20-millimeter, rapid-firing, anti-aircraft cannon in the United States during the war, and on this Oerlikon program alone the United States Government spent over $2,800; 000,000. Rhode Island itself produced $187,- 000,000 worth of Oerlikon cannons. These figures show, not only how vital to the war effort this Oerlikon cannon proved to be, but also what an important contribu- tion to that effort was made by Rhode Island industry. I believe I am not wrong in saying that some of the gentlemen here tonight have con- tributed a significant share to the production of this cannon in Rhode Island. As industry is so obviously dependent on invention, and as many new industrial ideas first saw the light in New England, I should like to say a little about inventions. Everyone realizes that it is to American inventive genius that the prosperity of this great country is so largely due; the names of some of great American inventors-Edison, Steinmetz, the Wright brothers, Henry Ford, and others-are a proof of this. The Amer- ican mode of living, economically and so- cially, is and always will be-influenced by the achievements of inventors and scientists; indeed, the course of the whole world's pro- gress - will-depend-upon-the-achivements-of- such men. Unfortunately, those responsible for guiding the world's destiny do not always recognize this. For example, when the San Francisco Conference tried to shape the post- war world-a world of peace-they came to the anachronistic conclusion that the key to a peace guaranty would be a strong air force. In so doing they neglected to take the scientists into account, and it was not long afterward that they were shocked into real- ization of the power of the scientists. The atomic bomb was released, demonstrating a force whose significance had been entirely disregarded by the United Nations repre- sentatives at San Francisco, and on which the nations of the world have still been un- able to agree. A new problem has been posed, and its solution will unquestionably be a major factor in the shaping of the world's future, whether for peace or for war. We know that inventions contribute to progress, and lead to the creation of new employment opportunities, but for an in- ventor to be successful, those three great characteristics-intelligence, courage, and determination are indispensable, as from idea to production is a long and thorny path, and not every inventor has lived to see his brain child materialize. 756411-22112 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD As an inventor first of all looks for pro- tection of his invention by a patent, it may be of interest to recall how the early Ameri- can inventor was protected. It was under President George Washington that Congress passed an act, in 1790, for the granting of patents to inventors. The Secre- tary of State in those days was authorized by the President to perform this office, and it is known that, during the George Washington administration, Thomas Jefferson, in his capacity as Secretary of State, personally examined and granted many of the petitions for patents. At that time petitions for pat- ents were accompanied by a model of the invention, and not merely by a drawing and a description, as is the case today. So it was in the year 1790 that the Ameri- can inventor was first protected by a United States patent. With the granting of patents, American inventive genius was encouraged. The year 1790, so important for the Ameri- can inventor, was also important for the in- dustrialization of America, in which New ,England has played such a noteworthy part. It was in that year that Samuel Slater started to run his first spinning machine in the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, and by so doing he laid the foundation for the now gigantic American-textile-industry- in-this-smallest- State of the Union. Only 4 years later Jefferson issued a patent for the cotton gin, the machine for separat- ing the seeds from raw cotton, which, in the truest-sense of the world, revolutionized the United States. American industry is still in search of new ideas for production, and before the end of the war, as recently stated by the Commis- sioner of Patents, industry checked over two and one-half million inventions, pat- ented since 1790. Some of these inventions, so ingeniously, painstakingly, and precisely contrived, have been fated to lie dormant for a long time, to be hailed as something new.and startling when rediscovered years later. Our old pat- ent for the zipper, for instance, granted in 1893, remained practically unknown to the general public until comparatively recently, and the same is true of many ideas which have contributed to the smooth running of American life and industry. The helicopters, jets, rockets, and other sensational developments, which have revo- lutionized their spheres in the twentieth century, were invented long, long ago. Rockets were successfully used by the an- cient Chinese thousands of years ago. Jet propulsion, a sensation in the field of modern aviation, was invented by the Alexandrian philosopher, Hero, in the pre-Christian era, and was again demonstrated, in the seven- teenth century, by the English mathema- tician, Sir Isaac Newton. The helicopter was invented by the great Italian artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, who designed and even built a model of a helicopter 400 years ago. That versatile genius- was responsible for originating more devices than he could launch in his lifetime, and which we now take for granted as part of our everyday existence. It's the same old story-there's nothing new under the sun, but a new application of an old idea will awaken people to the value of that idea. Two or three years ago I was thrilled to learn that there was to be an auction in New York of 20,000 early American patent models, and for a number of reasons I was keenly interested. In the first place, having myself trod the thorny path of the inventor for over 30 years, I thought I could appreciate what a story of enthusiasm, hope, and often bit- ter disappointment those records could tell. Secondly, I saw in those models contribu7 tions of that American inventive genius to which-the-prosperity-of this-great country- - owes so much. Having a profound admiration for these models, I tried to obtain some of them. My interest was intensified when I learned that the models to be auctioned included some from early inventors of New England, and particularly Rhode Island. Therefore, I was anxious to bring them back, if possible, where they belonged-that is to say, to the State of Rhode Island. Fortunately I was able to secure 35 of these early patent mod- els, all of them invented by Rhode Islanders. Eight of these models, apart from their his- torical value, are of particular industrial interest to the State of Rhode Island, being closely identified with the great American textile industry, the cradle of which is Rhode Island. .I brought these models to Rhode Island, repaired them, put them into working order, and awaited a suitable occa- sion for presenting them to their native State. I found such an occasion when, on December 13, 1944, the United States Alien Property Custodian exhibited alien patents in the Providence Public Library. At that - time I had the honor of presenting to the State of Rhode Island these 35 historical models of early Rhode Island inventors, and they were graciously accepted by Gov. J. Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000500380052-3 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Howard McGrath. They were placed on permanent exhibit, as an incentive to pres ent and future Rhode Island inventors to contribute further to the progress of New England Industry. As I said a little while ago, almost all in- ventions have to suffer obscurity for a time and experience a rebirth before their value is .recognized. I am certain, however, that this will not discourage inventors from con- tinuing to strive for improvements in Amer- ican industry. and especially for progress in New England. No amount of discouragement or disappointment-material or spiritual- can quench the spark when an inventor has faith and inner conviction in his idea--when he feels that he has something to offer which, in one way or another, will prove to be an advance in our civilization. Indeed, with the all-round acceleration which we, in our gen- eration, have witnessed-especially in the last 756411-22112 decade-inventors of today can surely -hope that their aspirations will be reached much sooner than those of their predecessors. Whilst the pioneer spirit of New England is necessarily tempered with wise caution, there is today a keener desire than ever, on the part of industry, to find new, forward-looking ideas. It is the men of vision who always have and always will form the real backbone of any nation's progress, and when that vision is supported by specialized training and the keen business sense for which New England is famous, satisfying- rewards may be con- fidently expected. The end of the war found New England eager to induce new, out-of-State industries to replace the mushroom growth of heavy war industries, and in Rhode Island the in- dustrial commission made tremendous ef- forts to bring such industries to us here. Such plants, however, although the loca- tion on the waterfront and waterways may look attractive for transportation and ex- port, do not appear to me as suitable for New England. This region has no steel mills, nor coal mines, nor any of the basic requirements necessary to support a mass production pro- gram in competition with other, more favor- ably endowed regions. I do see New England's successful future guaranteed by its traditional specialization in quality and skill, as proved so well in pre- cision tooling, textile machinery, jewelry, and similar industries. Adhering to this principle, New England industry will solve the difficult problem of successful competi- tion with other industrial States in the. Union. Thank you. 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