Show Childs Marquis J Truman Address Should Slow Jt Tough Russians WASHINGTON What WASHINGTON What President r Tru Truman man said in his message to congress longress should 2 convince the tough-minded tough men who nuke make I up the politburo in the Kremlin in Moscow Moscow I that the United States will not permit the 4 conquest of western Europe by Communist tyranny whether by direct military mean i or by Trojan horse Infiltration The great majority of or the American people have come to understand that t tn United States has a paramount inter Interest l i la in the freedom of oC western Europe Should that area come under the domination of a a. single power with a reaching far-reaching i. i ment of tyranny then this country would be Isolated I Tb There are of course dissenters from this view Henry Wallace going his blind way toward some obscure and mysterious mysterious' destiny is one of them He moves farther and farther from reality with each At the opposite pole are the time old-time iso bo Senator Robert A. A Taft of oj Ohio Ohio seemed to speak for them a a. day or two before the presidents president's message when h he h. J said he could see no threat to U this country that might bring war 1 Record Studded This is the same kind of ot that Taft expressed in the years before betor Pearl Harbor The Thc record is studded With his remarks to the effect that Japan had bad badi no aggressive Intentions II At both of these poles is a body of or of opinion It includes honest pacifists id sincere i isolationists who believe that the United States can best defend Itself by byj ignoring the fate of Europe and building u up up vast armaments here at home v. v How large this body of opinion is no no noone one can say with accuracy But it is 11 not large Jarge Certainly the number of today is far smaller than the number in b tn-i tn 1940 and 41 when the two oceans were still believed to be a barrier that no enemy could successfully overcome What hat is important now is quick action from congress This does not mean lavish slavish acceptance of President Truman's r t com coni j But no one can dispute decay and deterioration have gone too farl farlin in our military establishment in vie view o othe of the threat to the of 1 uneasy peace the put two years IHas j I Has the Power In his initial reaction to the presidents president speech Taft said nothing about reenactment reenactment reenactment reenact- reenact ment of selective service other than th that t it would be given consideration Taft has of course the power to decide what the senate sen ate docs does Reluctance to take such a step so soon lOOn after V V-J V J day is understandable quite apart from the pressure of year election-year politics The gap to be filled by selective service is ii it only about men at present l' l livel lel for the army and navy 1 With only additional men needed need need need-i ed ed congress is likely to boggle at putting the sweeping power of the draft back into fatal the hands of the military Immediate Need Need The immediate n need cd however li Is not t t. t what U. U S. S military planners have primarily In vi view w. w They want selective service on thi toil books with the machinery set up Then in the event of a sudden emergency it it could be thrown Into high gear One avenue of escape for unhappy congressmen con con- gressmen who may not want to vote cathe on ca the draft this year is a super-duper super air force such as has been recommended by at least two surveys Undoubtedly our force inthe in inthe inthe the air does need to be expanded particularly particularly by building a strong aviation try But that can be no substitute for tor the the minimum minimum- number of men to carry out American responsibilities and maintain at least a thin line of ot trained reserves There is little use in dwelling on past put mistakes such as the cry after V-J V day clay to bring the boys home What Is happening today is part of the cost of the complacency and unconcern of that time that now seemS so infinitely far away Copyright 1948 United Feature Syndicate |