Show ECONOMIC highlights the great debate continos con tinus avei whether the president has the legal or moral right to send troops to help garrison europe withof the consent of congress and regardless gard less of current actions will continue for a long time to come in more placid times this extremely important dispute undoubtedly would have been given much more press coverage and comment thin than has actually been the case it might for instance have been comparable to the late president ro supreme court packing proposal in its impact on the public mind today however the c are so many vital issues and so much is going on in the world that it is clearly impossible for each problem and controversy to be given the space and attention it deserves the principle differences between the president and those who oppose him over the troops to europe issue are shar sharp p and the president points to the fact that the constitution specifically states that he is commander in chief of all of the military forces he holds that the decision as to where the troops shall be sent and in what number is a military and diplomatic decision and that it can only be made by the executive and he cites many cases going back into our history where other presidents have sent troops to countries to duty without the consent of or advice from congress those who think otherwise and senator taft has been a leader of this group have strong arguments on their sided side they say that the writers of the constitution made the president commander in chief so that he could immediately rally the nations nation B defenses in event of att ackin the stagecoach days it took weeks week to convene congress where now it could 1 c c evened over night they arg c tt il t it is a very df f enert matter to send divisions 0 troops coops to europe in the face of 0 f he russian menace than it was to 0 dispatch a few soldiers or ar sailors to deal with the barbary pirates or the mexican bandits probably their most powerful argument is that if the president can send troops wherever he likes and in any number he actually has the power to make war without the consent of congress which would be a direct violation of the constitution it ts an interesting fact that some senators who are battling the president over this far reaching issue are for not against sending substantial numbers of american troops abroad to serve under general eisenhowe ers atlantic pact command but they do net believe that one man should have the authority to make that decision there is still another side to this which walter lippmann touched on in a recent colu column mn if the president were wiser than he is mr lippmann wrote he never would have dreamed of questioning the right of Conz congress ress to participate in the unprecedented project of placing an american standing army in europe and of merging it in an international army he would not only have sought the advice of congress but he would have insisted from the outset that congress share his responsibility mr lippmann differed sharply with gov deweys deleys unequivocal support of the president on this issue and said can governor dewey argue ehlt that the project of an american standing army in europe involving perhaps men can be called a mere deployment like sending troops to hawaii alaska or even by putting ground crews at so some me air strips in great britain so the various arguments run one thing is sure whatever the ultimate decision this is one of the most important questions that has ever risen in this country |