Show I S L' L 4 tt 4 S 'S I V F V w a A I TRUMAN AND MACARTHUR 1 TALKED AT WAKE VAKE ISLAND but the result was only an al uneasy truce RED ARMY ARl SPEARHEADS THE MENACE 1 OF COMMUNISM I I would MacArthurs MacArthur's policies have hatJe brought total war THE GREAT CONTROVERSY History Shows That the Symptoms Underlying MacArthurs MacArthur's r iJ l Dismissal Have Existed for Many Centuries ries By W. W P. P Managing Editor There is a kind of universality about Douglas MacArthur that communicates itself to many men something of the same stuff that leads nearly everyone to believe in his own heart that he can run a newspaper and play Hamlet with a deathless genius Was Vas MacArthur right or wrong in his belief in the strategic priority of Asia the bombing of Manchuria the of Chinese Chinese Chi Chi- nese Nationalist forces P Did he In his public and private rejection of administration and United Nations policies in the Far East express a subconscious desire desire desire de de- de- de sire to achieve martyrdom for tor his principles Did President Truman take the right action but at the wrong time timen In n relieving MacArthur of his multiple multiple multiple mul mul- tiple command It doesn't make any difference who you are you undoubtedly have your own strong definite and perhaps impassioned answer to each of those questions And according according ac ac- ac cording to your vers ans answers you align yourself on one side or the other of the MacArthur controversy the controversy the great American schism of 1951 It Is a basic division a schism of the soul and spirit and the rock upon which the split has occurred Is s a military man a soldier yea even a year old general lt Military Mens Men's Drama That in itself Is not unusual Itis It Itis Its is s In point of fact a fairly sound historical tradition that g great r rea e a t epochs of mans man's development are likely to turn upon the personality of a military leader probably because because because be be- cause it is easy for the public to focus its attention upon a man who can be identified with with- the drama of ot danger and physical acion action action ac- ac tion ion and with the glamour of mill- mill tn J t General MacArthur follows vigorously vigorously vigorously vig vig- in that tradition It has been his lis peculiar destiny to help lead this nation In smiting tyranny both right and left within the past decade decade dec dec- ade striking to the right at Japanese Japanese Jap Jap- anese imperialism in World War II and to the left at Communist efforts at domination in Korea and the Far East Thus he has become a political symbol having stood at the spearhead spearhead spear- spear head lead of ot Americas America's often inept and fumbling but always intense desire desire desire de de- de- de sire for peace that patently will not be had for the asking but which may come if we fight hard enough for it Whether the principles he has advocated are right or wrong It ItIs Itis Itis is MacArthur the symbol not MacArthur MacArthur MacArthur Mac- Mac Arthur the man around which the very real very basic foreign policy policy pol pol- pol- pol icy quarrel has gathered From that point of view the MacArthur controversy is an old and elemental form of domestic strife that has occurred and recurred recurred recurred re re- re- re within this or that national community ever since man has hasben hasben ben able to formulate and defend an an opinion Without attempting to make any Invidious comparisons a number of historic parallels to the MacArthur MacArthur MacArthur Mac- Mac Arthur case become apparent from froma a quick glance at the records There is a superficial resemblance resemblance resemblance blance for instance between the firing Iring of MacArthur by President Truman and Calvin Coolidge's dismissal dismissal dis dis- missal of the late General Billy Mitchell for defying orders Mr Coolidge made it clear however that he was in sympathy with the cause of aviation which Mitchell was personifying But he also made it plain that sympathy or no sympathy sympathy sympathy sym sym- pathy he could not overlook the insubordination of which General Mitchell was found guilty An Assist to Air Power The violent closing of Billy Mitchells Mitchell's career we know now marked the turning point of the controversy over the future of ot military military mili mili- tary aviation and the pioneering general did much to advance US U.S. air power to the mighty peak it reached in time to help win World War II 11 Whether time and events will vindicate G General e en n e era r a I 1 MacArthurs MacArthur's ideas as fully as they have those of General Mitchell is anybody's guess One of ot the abiding characteristics of many powerful and successful military leaders in the past has been their capacity to capture the imagination and sympathy of the people and carry them along a chosen course course to to a point at least This makes for power and au au- au- au And the possession of broad authority is like having a permit to carry a pistol Keep it in the holster and depend upon its presence presence pres pres- ence there to control circumstances circum stances and chances are you wont won't get Into trouble The danger of carrying a gun lies in the possibility ity that sooner or later you might start firing it indiscriminately and anda a lot of people will get hurt including including including in in- yourself Julius Caesar an overwhelming overwhelm overwhelm- ing military and political genius amassed for Rome and for himself himsel a n great reservoir of power which he was able to exercise p pre pretty r e t t Y much at will But there were those who felt he had too much power t the they h e y mistrusted tZ it feared that Caesar m might i g h t use mis-use it No Julius Caeser single man or group of men were strong enough to fire or depose the ruler by legal means So Brutus and fas- fas as- as sius plotted and on a day in March Caesar powerful and unsuspecting walked up the steps of the Capitol to meet the knives of his assassins Controversy Then Too That stirred up a great civil controversy controversy controversy con con- in Rome too Was Caesar right In his and policies concerning the Roman empire or were the men who deposed him by liquidating him right It might be argued that Rome under Caesar reached its peak of dynamic expansion expansion expansion ex ex- ex- ex and that its decline began after Caesars Caesar's death in 44 B BC B.C. C. C But regardless of the truth of that position position po po- the split over the aims and policies of ot Julius Caesar marked an epochal turning point in the history history history his his- tory of the Roman empire Scotland's immortal R Rob Robert o b e r t Bruce was the storm center of a raging controversy much of his life while he held to and fought for his ide ideal l of a free and independent na na- na- na tion He settled that Issue himself however by decisively defeating the English forces under Edward II at the battle of Bannockburn InJune inJune in inJune June 1314 and nd assuring the continuance continuance continuance con con- of Scotland as an independent independent independent inde inde- pendent kingdom Every student of American history history history his his- tory knows of the quarrels and differences of opinion that flared after President Abraham Lincoln put General Grant In charge of the Union armies Some members of Lincoln's own cabinet not only refused refused refused re re- re- re fused to support but actively opposed opposed opposed op op- op- op posed Grants Grant's appointment It was In a sense a MacArthur situation In reverse Grants Grant's Problem And when Grant took command in March 1864 he found he had to fight tight not only the enemy but the torpor and passivity of his own generals in the field The military military mili mili- tary i issue s sue at stake that time was whether or not Meade Hooker Hook Hook- er McClellan and ando o others the r s in in the 1 string of Union 1 i generals w were ere right in fighting n na a defensive e war General Grant avoiding battles wherever possible and choosing more often to retreat than to fight Grant favored action and offensive offensive offensive offen offen- sive contact with the Confederate armies Over the protestations of his subordinates he decided to attack wherever possible and carry carry car car- ry 17 the war to the enemy The ultimate surrender of General General General Gen Gen- eral Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox proved the rightness Tightness of Grant strategy But Grant who went on to become President of the United States albeit not an especially popular popular- one remained the center of a maelstrom of violent opinions all his life So the MacArthur story is by no means a new one Call his actions and utterances in Korea J k GENERAL MACARTHUR 1 be he went his own way or call them an honorable defense of his own principles they have basic meaning for tor us as a dramatic Illustration of the grim fact that the United States has to choose between two basic and different different dif dif- di- di ferent courses in this battle against the evils of communism One way is going to be right the other wr ng We say that the nation in its collective mind has S A PRESIDENT TRUMAN IAN he be lowered the oom split spilt over the issue of ot which is the best way to deal with Communist aggression in the Far East But it is not it cannot be a fatal split The doubt that has been lurking behind our thinking and our attitude on the question of ot how best to fight the monstrosity of w v world 0 r rid 1 d communism has been brought plainly into the open and andis andis andis is clearly defined There is no longer any reason for anyone anyone be be he statesman military military mil mU- man farmer storekeeper or factory worker worker worker-to to deny the existence existence existence exist exist- ence of ot that doubt Now it can be talked about and it can be elim cErn mated That is the great service that President Truman and General MacArthur have unwittingly performed performed performed per per- formed for the nation and the free world They have managed to get all the cards on the table The answer still to be found 1 Is there somewhere MacArthurs MacArthur's Father Had Troubles Too Gen Douglas MacArthurs MacArthur's father Gen Sen Arthur MacArthur embroiled himself in a bitter dispute with civilian authorities 50 years ago when he was military governor of the Philippine Islands which the US U.S. had just acquired from Spain William Howard Taft arrived in inthe inthe inthe the islands as head ead of a presidential commission charged with establishing establishing establishing lishing a civilian government in the Philippines Although President William McKinley McKinley Mc- Mc Kinley was under heavy pressure in Washington to establish a civilian government as soon as possible Arthur MacArthurs MacArthur's command took the point of view that only the army could do a proper job of restoring order and control When Taft arrived MacArthur coldly refused to see him |