Show NA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Reviewed by CARTER FIELD Now that the country is awake tax legislation will willbe willbe willbe be given a z thorough over over- overhauling overhauling hauling Military author author- authorities authorities authorities always have been slow to admit revolutionary changes in equipment Bell Syndicate Syndicate Service WASHINGTON The new tax measure is not just going to be the sort of lick and a promise which had been Indicated earlier It is going to be the result of considerable study and Investigation on the part If f the congressional tax experts Just lust a 10 per cent flat fiat addition Is out the window Senators and rep rep- representatives representatives representatives Interested directly in inthe inthe the tax situation pride themselves on their understanding of the problem problem lem em and they are arc going to have something they are saying to which they can point with pride when the next revision comes up Then too the bill is not going to raise the mere seven hundred mil mil- millions lions ions additional that President Roosevelt talked about It is going to be nearer twice that not improbably improbably improbably ably a billion and a half haU on top of the present tax load There are two reasons for this One is that the amount of expend expend- expendItures lures tures necessary for national defense has bas been constantly understated understated- underestimated If it you like but understated is more accurate The point here is that plenty of people including the President the admi admi- admirals admirals rals the generals and the senior members of the senate and house military and naval committees knew that the United States army and navy needed the spending of several billion dollars to bring them up to date AFRAID TO SPEAK But none But none of them thought the public would stand for it From the President down all were afraid po- po politically politically of telling the country that we had to spend billions more on national defense So there was virtually a conspiracy to let the fiscal fis fis- fiscal fiscal cal situation and the national de- de defense defense ense situation ride until after elec- elec tion ion It must be realized In this connection connection connection tion that the fiscal situation was al al- already already al- al already ready very bad Even with terribly Inadequate national defense spending spend spend- spending spending ing the government was headed di directly di- di directly directly for financial rocks Every Everyone one who studied the situation knew that congress would have to Impose additional taxes next session and would have to raise the debt limit also In the session to begin egin next January But the President President President dent and the legislators figured on coasting until after the election was over Then came Norway and Denmark with Holland and Belgium following and the drive to the English channel on top of that For the first time since Gettysburg there was real tear fear In this country as to whether this ills nation could go on being what It has las been SLOW TO MAKE l CHANGES It is not so surprising to students of naval and military history that the Jie navy suddenly discovers our battleships need better deck armor as a protection from airplanes and that the army is woefully deficient In mechanized units UI tS It Is the history of army and navy staffs stalls of most countries that they the theare are very slow to admit that changes have revolutionized their own art There is nothing new about this It ItIs It ItIs Itis Is a failure of human nature It is entirely probable that the tremendous supremacy which Ger Ger- Germany Germany Germany many has shown in the use of fight fight- fighting fighting ing machines in the present war is due to the fact that its army and navy have been under the absolute domination for some years now of an outsider outsider-a a fanatic who was only a corporal in the World war but who achieved supreme power In other words it is the well consid ered opinion of many students of military and naval history that this ruthless direction by a man who had never served in the various grades leading up to the high command was of Inestimable advantage to the Nazis' Nazis military force The classic illustration of course of resistance to new Ideas in the navy is found by y studying the reper reper- repercussions repercussions cuss ions of the battle of the Merrimac Merri- Merri Merrimac Merrimac I mac and the Monitor in our own Civil war TOOK A LONG TIME There were three lessons to be learned from that battle plus the easy victory the day before of the Merrimac over the wooden Union ships lying in Hampton Roads One was that an iron ship or an ar ar- armored armored ar- ar armored mored ship was immeasurably su su- superior superior su- su superior to a wooden ship The second was that for war purposes the screw propeller was greatly superior to toi i the old fashioned paddle wheels The third was that a few large guns In turrets directly over the keel were far more deadly In their fire than a larger number of guns mounted along the sides of the ship The Merrimac had a lot more guns than the Monitor but they were mounted as though she was an old British frigate frig te to shoot through openings In her sides broadside fashion Neither ship sank the other but the Merrimac never put to sea again after her retreat that day |