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Show MARQUIS CHILDS Army Fears Public Return To Pre-1939 Indifference a committee of civilians to advise ad-vise him on the best appeal to enlist eligible young men, and . he is now working to persuade a top advertising man to come to Washington to spark the campaign. Follows Former Course Tentatively, the secretary has decided to follow more or less the same course he took last year. He will wait until late February or early March to give recruiting what he believes will be a thorough test If there Is not a decided Improvement between be-tween now and March 1, he expects to have to go to Capitol hill to ask that selective service serv-ice be continued. The act now expires March 31, 1947. This Is a ticklish subject that touches the sensitivities of most voters. It Is likely to be complicated compli-cated by a senate investigation Into the German occupation. The Republican majority will be reluctant to Jeopardize its fund of public good will by adopting a measure bound to produce popular discontent Yet, a great deal turns on whether the American army of occupation is sufficient In size and quality to do an adequate job. It is hardly too much to say that the peace of Europe, and therefore the peace of the world, depends In large measure on whether we fulfill our obligations obliga-tions In Germany. Copyright, 1946. United Feature Syndicate WASHINGTON With the year's end the war department has been staging a aeries of spine-chilling, off-the-r e c o r d press conferences on the menace and horror of another war, when radio-activated dust and bacteria bac-teria of a new degree of deadll-ness deadll-ness will rain down on cities and towns. - It is no coincidence that this comes at this particular time. Soon requests for appropriations appropria-tions will go up to the new congress. Policy makers in the war department are fearful that the great American public, and with them their representatives In congress assembled, will settle set-tle back into the comfortable, somnolent Indifference of the pre-1939 years. Of immediate concern la the necessity to live up to our occupation occu-pation commitments In Germany, Japan and Korea. This takes men and money. And congress Is waiting, ' ready to wield the economy knife. There are three key points in the program the war department depart-ment will present to congress. Number one, at any rate from the point of view of its chances of passage, la unification of the armed services. Means Some Economies In a compromise form, this is likely to go through if only because it will mean -' some economies. 'Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson has worked unceaalngly for unification. In recent discussions in the bureau of the budget on military appropriations, ap-propriations, Patterson spoke in . warning: "Don't go to the president and tell him there are no duplications duplica-tions in these requests. There are duplications and you all know It as well as I do." Navy policy makers have always al-ways belittled the economies that could be achieved in this way. But Patterson insists they are not small. He points, as one example, to the fact that the army and navy maintain separata flying fields with completely com-pletely separate staffs here In Washington. With unification of commands in the Pacific, it may be possible to take another step and bring about unification at the Washington level. Universal Training Point number two In the war department program is universal military training. President Truman has named a commission commis-sion of clviliana who will advise the department on an expanded program of which military training train-ing would be one part This is an effort to make It more palatable to the public. But even so, it Is highly unlikely that congress will adopt it The third point la continuation continua-tion of selective service. Just here, of course, the man power pinch In the occupied countries cuts hardest The recruiting of volunteers - fell off during November No-vember and December. This can partly be put down to a decline normal for the season. But there is grave doubt In the war department that voluntary volun-tary recruiting will suffice. Patterson wants to be able to tell congress that he has given the voluntary method the fullest full-est possible test He has named |
