Show I Army Size Sze an on Issue for or Truman rumen Further congressional criticism of army military planning is making the question of array army policies on man power a national issue which can probably only be settled by President Truman hims himself elf Senator Johnson of Colorado h has s challenged Secretary tary of War Var Stimson to refute his calculation that not more than 3 American soldiers can be deployed in the Pacific b by bythe bythe Y the end of 1946 He urged that the army scale down to a sensible figure based on logistics and not on the military fortunes of high officers who do not relish the idea of being busted Senator Taft of Ohio called the army policy stupid and stubborn and said it is impossible to see how even men can be used in in inthe the war against Japan and we still have about Senator Taft also advocated an immediate halt haltin haltin haltin in drafting new men into the services This whole question of army size is not one th that t can properly properly prop prop- erly be solved by laymen or even by congressmen No one who does not know the inner secrets of army plans for action in the Pacific and the capacities of the supply system can make a sound estimate as to the number of men who will be needed and can be used Yet there is a point to Senator Johnsons Johnson's caustic statement relative to the possible desire of officers to maintain a larger military establishment than necessary just from the standpoint of maintaining organization rank and power There is need for some over all civilian check on army array man power policies policies and and President Truman is the logical person to exercise that control He knows or can get all the facts and can very easily determine how large the armed forces should be The situation has now become so much of a public issue that only an investigation by the president and a frank statement statement statement state state- ment will satisfy the American people and settle the issue one way or the other r h. h |