Evening star., 1940-08-11

tIle armed IorceS. Inc speed Win Wh1ch
Congress has voted large appropriations
to finance preparedness is the only swift
moving aspect Of the drive.
The problem of men is tied up in the
debate over conscr1ptlon. The bill pro-
viding the peacetime reg
Notionol istration for reflective
Guord Bill, military service of all
American men between
81 and 81 reached the Senate floor, but
is still in the House Military Affairs
Committee. The Senate passed by II
to 7 the bill giving the President au-
thority to summon National Guardsmen
and reservists into active service, and
the House Military Committee has ap-
proved the bill tentatively. To set at
rest the apprehensions of guardsmen
and reservists, President Roosevelt told
the press at Hyde Park the chance is
but 100-to-1 that they would ever have
to 60 outside the limits of the United
States or its possessions for peacetime
duty. The Guard bill would augment
the Regular Army by almost 100000 men,
but the administration puts its chief
reliance upon conscription. To test the
present capacities of the Army, the
regulars and guardsmen last week
opened war games in Upper New York
State. To see the present capacities
of our Navy, President Roosevelt opened
the week end with tour of sea bases
in the New England area.
The political problem involved in con-
scription is well-advertised fact. What
Secretary of War Stimson told the House
Ways and Means Committee about the
slow progress of the materiel end of the
preparedness program came as a sur
prise.
while in June" Mr.. Stimson said,
Congress made $400,0O0,00 available to
the Army for planes, engines and ac-
cessories, today, almost seven weeks
later, we have been able to sign con-
tracts for the construction of but 80
planes of the 1000 and more for which
these appropriations were made"
William S. Knudsen, National Defense
Council member, said that not until 1914
could we expect the equip
Defense ment to be ready for an
DeIoys American Army Of 100000
men. The news from Europe
Is responsible both for the desire for
speed in preparation and for the slow
ness in preparation. The tanks which
an enlarged American Army would need,
for instance, will be slow in coming, MIR.
Knudsen said, because the administra-
tion's military advisers had to change
the American tank design in the light
of what occurred in the Battle of Flan-
ders, where the Germans forced back
the Belgians, French and British with
an army that took its strength largely
from its giant tanks. The drawings for
the new tanks will be completed August
~. The tooling for the machines to
make the tanks will require eight months
Of preparation. Then America will get
her tanks.
Chief source of defense fuss and diff
Guilty remains the human equation. Tues
day the air was blue around the Capitol
for that reason. In general observa-
tion on the Senate floor, Senator Holt,
Democrat, of West Virginia said that the
idea of transcription came from those
individuals who have interests to pro-
tect in this war, and if necessary to
protect them are willing to sacrifice
American boys on European battlefelds
as they did in the last war" He traced
the origin of the conscription drive to
a Harvard Club meeting in New York.
Senator Minton, Democrat, of Indiana,
was aroused.
when was in France" he said, "the
father of the Senator from West Vir-
ginia sent his son, who was eligible,
to hide away in South America from
the draft. I get impatient with being
lectured by Stacker family"
Three days later the Senate opened
formal debate on conscription, with
Chairman Sheppard of the
Droft Military Affairs Committee
Debote sounding the keynote. He
argued that the volunteer
system Of manning the Army and Navy
will not work. He explained the reason
for our preparedness drive:
"The doctrines and aggressions Of Ger
tain dictator controlled nations become
every day more menacing toward the free
and independent democratic countries.
The bloody conflicts they have imposed
on many of such countries outside the
United States and are still imposing on
those countries call for the immediate
establishment by the United States of
nucleus of armed forces in the air, on
the sea and on land, properly equipped
and capable of expansion within an ade-
quate time into proportions sufficient to
overcome attack on the United States
or the Western Hemisphere"
President Roosevelt announced World
War veterans and their organizations
probably will form nucleus for home de-
fense If and when the National Guard
is called into Federal service.
And he recalled from Europe Ambas-
sador John Cudahy for unauthorized"
comments on conditions in German oc-
cupied Belgium. '---'
Gibraltar and French Morocco as her
share of the loot. The military experts
,rn J,or ,ef 1,