Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Dec. 15, 1950, edition 1 / Page 5
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THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, HERTFORD, N. C, FRIDAY DECEMBER US, U.950 PAGE FIVE r r WASHINGTON HOW READY ARE WE fense based on the principle that in TO FIGHT THE REDS 7 - aself -governing republic, every able- The people ol the United States are bodied young man should be trained apparently overwhelmingly in support to defend his country. The advice of of any action by the government which will control Communist activities in this country and check aggressive ex pansion .by Soviet Russia throughout tne world. IWith this idea in mind, the public will Bupport the action of Congress in passing a Communist-espionage-sabo tage control bill over the veto of 'President Truman and the ' congres sional proposal to shut off financial and economic aid to nations that ship potential war materials to the Soviet Union and its satellites. The test of this legislation, however, is not the declaration of purpose out lined in debate or described in textual preamble. It is the effectiveness of enforcement after the legislation is passed. There i considerable differ ence of opinion as to the workability of this legislation, indicated by the ac tion of the President in vetoing the bill submitted by Congress. We. are not concerned with either of the legislative matters referred to because, after all, if enforceable, they may do some good and if unenforce' able, may do little harm. The danger that arises, however, is that the public, despite its firm intention to oppose Communism and Soviet aggression, may conclude that much more has been accomplished than the future will disclose. Consequently, there is the danger that an aroused public opinion may sit back and take it for granted that the menace of Commu nistic aggression has been adequately cared for. In this frame of mind, the people are apt to overlook the importance of universal military training to strengthen the national defense. De spite the high-sounding declarations that accompanied debate on the two measures, the only sensible prepara tion for stopping Communistic aggres sion is to be prepared to use force. Without universay military training, one may doubt whether this country will ever , have an adequate number of trained men, ready to fight for individual freedom and to block Soviet aggression. Speaking after his appointment as Secretary of Defense, General of the Army George C. Marshall pointed out that, after World War I, a bill was introduced in Congress to provide for ' universal military training. Of course, V Vill A! A nr. ..oca l., nol TUT.- wiv vui uiu uwh paao uuw jfwic&cM mat jj shalT expresses the opinion that if, Congress had enacted the proposal, Hitler would not have dared to pro voke a second World ' War and the present menace of a third war conflict would have been averted. If the people of this country are in earnest in their declarations against Communism, they will demand that the country follow the advice submit ted to the first Congress in 1790 by President George Washington. He General Washington was not followed but, if it had been acted upon by Con gress, the chances are that the coun try would have been prpared to meet every military emergency that has confronted us in our subsequent his tory. . It might be interesting to call at tention to the statemens made by General Marshall in connecion with national defense since 1920. When Congress passed a National Defense Act, omitting the proposal for uni versal military training, it was a marked improvement over the policy followed previous to World War I. The law authorized a standing army of 280,000 men and provided for an elaborate Reserve Officers Training Corps system in colleges and univer sities and instruction and training in the National Guard. General Marshall then points out that this was "reasonably sound ac tion" except as to universal military training. It was based upon long hearings, held when memories were fresh with the experience of the terri ble war, and it appeared that the na tion might, at last, take a long step forward in the matter of prepared ness for defense. Some nine months later, however, Congress was confronted with the po litical problem of the national budget an dan increase in taxation to support its defense program. What happened ? Congress cut appropriations; making necessary a reduction of the Army from 280,000 to 185,000. Eight months later, the Army's strength was cut to 150,000 and still later to 125,000. The program of training was. continued and the Army had to assign some of its officer personnel to this task which meant its combat effectiveness was decreased. Continuing his recital of compari- tively recent developments, General Marshall pointed out that the move ment to build up an air force resulted in the recommendation of the Newton D. Baker Committee. No provision was made, however, for the personnel of the Air Force and the result was that infantry, artillery, the tank corps and our higher elements were de pleted. By 1933 "there literally was no ground force worthy of the name of the Army. The PYtent of the emasculation is to foe understock ffo nfan exanlple cited by General Marshall. "A regiment was ordered to move about twelve hundred miles in order to consolidate com mands. There was no money for trans portation, so it marched, "with its dwindling companies." It lost several units before it was half way its des tination and when it reached the new post "the entire regiment was elimi nated." This was pretty much the picture of the ground forces of the gave a plan for complete national de Army" when General Marshall arrived YOU GET' - t-l x in Ad Ann ,p."gr TOACTC3 p HYDRAULIC CONTROL ' Regular; equipment on the full 2-plow Cue Model "SC. f .Controls both mounted end pull-type implements end mac hinrs. v . . , o POWER THAT HANGS ON Long-lived heavy-duty engine putts Mill harder when i slowed down pulls through tough spots with less gear V- shifting. , . . ' , o LOW TOTAL POWER "COST Moderate fust cost, long-lasting fuel economy, long life . with little upkeep add up to low total power coeU o SHOCK-PROOF STEERING Case steering linkage saves your fingers, hands, nail wrists no . backlash, can't transmit ground shock Triple-life sear. Lfl . COME IN AND SEE fO YOiKZZLTI In Washington in 1988. ' General Marshall points ou that, "despite what most people said, the Congress and the people had not learn ed their lesson from the firt World War." And, "what is more important, again after 1945 and 1946, we demon strated that we still had not learned our lesson despite another catastrophic World War." This brings us to the observation with which we started this rather long discussion. Have the people of the United Staets, in the light of events of the last year, made up their minds to adequately prepare for self defense?' Is the public prepared for the per sonal and financial sacrifices that will be necessary to adequately prepare? Or, will we be satisfied with a few pieces of legislation which, despite their declared purposes, do little more htan create the impression that some thing big has taken place in connec tion with our well-nigh unanimous de cision to oppose Communism and Sovi et aggression ? HERE'S A WARNING TO RUSSIA It seems to us that the most im portant announcement made by the foreign ministers of the United States, Great Britain and France, during their recent conference, is that which makes plain the determination that an act of aggression against the West Ger man Federal Republic will be regarded as air attack upon the United States, Great Britain and France. The North Atlantic Treaty, one may recall, bound its members to assist any member subjected to an "armed attack." In defining an armed attack, it stated specifically that such an at tack upon "the occupation forces of any party in Europe" would bring the treaty into operation. The new declaration, inextending the definition, makes it clear that an at tack against the West Germans, whe ther or not occupation forces are at tacked, will be met by the armed forces of the three governments. It is also agreed that a West Ger man police force of 30,000 men be per mitted to deal with the problem of internal security. This, under certain circumstances, might be increased to 50,000 men. In addition, plans were laid to increase steel production in Germany so as to permit a substantial increase in Western Germany's contri bution to the defense of the western area of Europe. The decision to consider an attack against the West German Federal Re public an attack upon the free powers constitutes a significant warning to Soviet .Russia. Unjder this declaration, we presume, if the Soviet-sponsored forces of East Ger.nany commit .ag gression against the West Germans, the forces of the free nations will be used to stop the attack. The plain intent of the declaration is to give' Never try to imitate somebody else; a warning that aggression, whether he may be doing die same thing. from East Germans or from Russians, will be met with force. 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The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Dec. 15, 1950, edition 1
5
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