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Show Altitude Againsl Poshvar Service Sways Conaress V !! JJ Public Joins Influential Organizations in v. ( .' l Objections to Training; Meed for - Interim Security Force Argued. f i By BAUKIIAGE ' News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W. Washington, D. C. In the days that followed President Presi-dent Truman's message to congress urging universal military training we, in Washington, waited to see if there would be an echo to the President's Presi-dent's words spoken so earnestly but with so little effect on the audience before him. There was an echo all right but it was an emphatic rumble of negation. I wasn't surprised I read my listeners letters. It was interesting to see the way the members of congress reacted to the President's message as he delivered de-livered it. I watched them with one eye on the text of his speech as I stood squeezed into the crowd in the gallery of the house. Varied Reaction To Proposal Here are some of the sentences which I checked as bringing response: re-sponse: "... above all else, we are strong because of the courage and vigor and skill of a liberty -loving people who are determined that this nation shall remain forever free." (Applause). Well, that was a general, gen-eral, non-compromising sentiment. Nothing to do with the subject rn hand. There was the statement that we didn't lack faith in the United Nations Na-tions organization, "on the contrary with all we have, we intend to back our obligations and commitments under the United Nations charter." (Mild applause, this time.) Then came the response to the first direct appeal for the measure in hand. The President said: "The surest way to guarantee that no na-ti na-ti on will attack us is to r em a in strong in the only kind of strength an aggressor can understand military mili-tary power." Applause again but I had the feeling it was for the sentiment senti-ment and not the suggested means of implementing it. When he said that "the basic reason for military training" is to guarantee safety and freedom from . - an aggressor, there was another demonstration, but not quite as energetic ener-getic and many members, I noted, refrained from any applause at all. The last note is the most emphatic. em-phatic. "Good applause" followed the President's affirmation that "until "un-til we are assured that our peace machinery is functioning adequately, we must relentlessly preserve our superiority on land and sea and in the air." But that is just what the congress is not willing to do because it believes the country is not willing to have them do it. I am sure of that because I know they have been receiving, as I have, far more letters let-ters against military training than in favor of it. Must Sell Public Program Today, a man who keeps his fin-, gers on the pulse of congress assures as-sures me that there will never be a universal military training act until a great deal more "selling" has been done by those who believe in it, than has been attempted so far. This man, like the writer, is a convert to the cause, so his expression expres-sion was the reverse of wishful thinking. Both of us, though members mem-bers of the American Legion, never favored their program for universal service urged upon congress, beginning be-ginning shortly after the last war. "There is too much organized opposition," op-position," my friend said, "such powerful influences as the federal council of churches, some influential members of the Catholic church, I virtually all of labor so far (and this includes the CIO and the AFL which often nullify each other's efforts) ef-forts) the colleges and the unorganized unorgan-ized group which might be called ! simply 'the mothers.' " Where do the returned veterans stand? It is too early to say. If they follow in their fathers' footsteps they 'will eventually vote for preparedness. prepared-ness. It is the tendency of men who have seen service to place a high value on thorough preliminary training. But they will not become vocal until they join the ranks of the World War I veteran organizations or build others of their own. There is, however, another force which may change the picture a change in the international set-up which will inject the element of fear into the people's attitude ant since fear starts the adrenalin flow ing that usually means action. Meanwhile, there are those wh feel that complete preparedness m only is essential in the interim, eve though a future world security o' ganization is moving swiftly i fruition, but that it will also act a stimulus toward such a goal. The argument runs briefly: W must prepare to enforce peace, prepare to fight a war. Many men bers of congress realize this ai would undoubtedly support U President's program if they felt tht could do so without flying in tl face of the majority opinion of the constituents. I do not intend to u this column as a platform upi which to debate the issue now but would like to present a viewpoii expressed by a medical man whic made considerable impression o the comparatively few Washingto. ians who heard him address a n cent meeting in the capitol. Tb speaker was Dr. G. B. Chisholn one of the world's foremost ps chiatrists, who served as chief med cal officer of the Canadian arm and is now deputy health minister c Canada. 'Maturity' Needed For Peace His thesis is that "this is a sic! world, with an old, chronic but evei more extensive and serious sick ness. Its sickness has recently be come acutely dangerous and the fu ture is uncertain indeed." It is a sickness which has mad-us mad-us "the kind of people" who figh major wars every 15 or 20 years The cure is education. Just as in dividuals become neurotic becausi they are not mature, and thus an unable to cope with the situation; they must meet, so the world ha-developed ha-developed a behaviour patten which produces something which no body wants: war. We must have enough people wh; can show tolerance, be patient, anc above all have the ability to com promise. These are qualities of mo turity, Dr. Chisholm points out, anr people, mature in this sense would not want to start wars anc would prevent other people from starting them. But the doctor realizes that edu cation will not produce such matur ity in one generation. But such a state must be realized or we face one of two alternatives. Either wt must become a race of trained killers,' or a race of slaves. Until we can achieve education sufficient to avoid such horrible fates, "for so long as it may take-to take-to change the bringing up of chil dren enough in this world, our close watch on each and everyone in the world should not be relaxed for a moment." The first step in eradicating eradicat-ing war is an attainable stopgap. Dr. Chisholm believes. Security must be achieved and the valid fear of aggression eliminated. This means legislation backed by immediately imme-diately available combined force prepared to suppress ruthlessly any appeal to force by any peoples of the world. The administration of such a force is a delicate problem but it can be devised if and when ! the great power really wants it. The second step would be to provide pro-vide the opportunity for all peoples to live on economic levels which do not vary too widely, either geographically geo-graphically or by groups within a population. This means a redistribution redistribu-tion of material. This is possible since there are enough resources in the world to go around. It is impossible in this space to do justice to Dr. Chisholm's views but the main points are these: he feels that man has developed one consistent consist-ent pattern of behaviour which causes him to indulge in a major war at frequent intervals; that going go-ing to war represents immaturity: that immaturity can only be cured j by education beginning at childhood i with an accent on the "sciences of living"; that until we achieve -maturity we must unite ruthlessly to suppress the effort on the part of any nation or anyone in any nation to start a war. Psychiarrists may not solve the problem of world peace but it is safe to say that immature laymen won't either. Meanwhile, what congress must decide is how dry the country wants to keep our powder. I BARBS . . . by Baukhage Television will be a great help to the police. One way will be exposing ex-posing the rackets of confidence men. War must make people generous. The "march of dimes" contributions contribu-tions to fight infantile paralysis increased in-creased 25 per cent last winter but the War Community fund had a I tough battle after the fighting stnpyed- It takes an orchid seven years to produce its first bloom and once around the dance floor can finish it The only American foreign service serv-ice man (state department) ever arrested on charges of espionage was completely vindicated and promoted pro-moted to a responsible position. His arrest was just a plain m'stake, but he had to be tried. |
