Evening star., 1940-06-08
Plea for Cundor


taking prodigious strides in re-
armament to prepare for a possible
clash with hostile forces that press
upon us from three directions it is
essential that the American people be
told the truth.
They are being called upon to
make large sacrifices now and they
will be required to endure greater
prlvatlonS in the future. But there
is no evidence of any public unwill-
lngness to do whatever may be neces-
sary to safeguard this country. On
the contrary, there is every indica-
ton that the American people are
far ahead of most of their leaders
in this respect
But that degree of national unity
and coordination of effort which is
essential to adequate preparedness
in the short time that may be left
to us cannot be achieved unless all
the people have the greatest possible
understanding of just what dangers
we are preparing against. Until the
truth, SO far as it is possible to ascer-
tain it, is told in this respect, there
is certain to be a seriously harmful
element of confusion of thought and
action in everything we undertake,
and the President could render no
greater service at this time than to
take the American people into his
confidence. AS the one national
leader to whom the people look for
guidance, he should tell them the
whole truth, however disconcerting
it may be. In the past the President
has been too cautious in his public
statements. This discreet attitude
may have been dictated by the outcry
which has gone up from the iSola-
zionist bloc when he has sounded
| even yelled warnings of impending
danger, but the necessity for taking
this factor into account, if it ever
existed, has disappeared, for it has
been demonstrated beyond doubt
that the people want to know the
facts and are courageous enough to
be told the truth without any
reservations.
The confusion which can result
from anything less than candor in
official statements is evidenced by
events of the past few days
Last week the President asked for
authority, in the absence of Congress,
to call to active service a portion of
the National Guard. Yesterday he
intimated that he looked with favor
upon proposals for adoption of a
system of universal compulsory mill
tary training. The Star believes that
either or both of these may be de-
sirable, if not absolutely necessary,
to our national security, But there
is a vast difference between them,
and the President ought to be explicit
in revealing the facts which may
make either or both imperative in
the immediate future. This is espe-
cially true, if demoralizing confusion
is to be avoided, in view of the
apparent belief of General George c..
Marshall, Army chief of staff, that
our first step ought to be the raising,
equipping and training of Regular
Army of 100000 men. General Mar
shall has said that he wants to avoid
the necessity of calling on the
! National Guard at this time If it is
| possible to do so. He has expressed
the conviction that we can expand
the Army more quickly than we can
mobilize the Guard. That language
seems to imply that the Army high
command believes that our first
necessity is to build up our Regular
Army as quickly as possible, but that,
obviously, cannot be done if we are
to undertake simultaneously a pro-
gram of universal military training.
The problem is one of putting first
things first, and 1t is of primary
Importance that Mr.. Roosevelt ex-
press his views in this respect with
complete candor.
This necessity for frankness in
discussion of our man power require
ments applies with equal force to
other considerations. Fifth column
activities in Latin America, for exam
pie, are a serious menace. We have
sent two heavy cruisers there on
good will" visits. If the sending of
these ships southwark was a precau-
tionary measure, as undoubtedly was
the case, nothing is to be gained by
absurd explanations that they are
on good will tours. The American
people as a whole are disturbed by
ominous trends in certain Latin
American nations and if the danger
from that direction is as real as it
appears to be, or if the contrary is
true, nothing could be lost and a
great deal could be gained by a
frank statement of the facts.
There is no justification for cod
ding the American people. All the
evidence strongly indicates that they
are whole-heartedly supporting the
President in his foreign policies, but
they are confused for lack of guild
ance-guidance which can come only
from Mr.. Roosevelt.