The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1940-03-28
e EN- ERAL
HUGH S.
JOH N SON
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ARMY ILL EQUIPPED

There is a smell in the Washing
ton air of something like COM
plete disembowelment of the army
defense program by congressional
refusal to provide funds to carry it
out.
The navy will get by partly be-
cause the President regards himself
as navy man and doesn't pay
much attention to the army, and
partly because Jimmy Byrnes is in
charge of the navy's needs in the
senate and is man enough to see
that they don't go by default.
But the army has never been any
too adept at handling congressional
committees. It's topside isn't alto
gether out of the doghouse with the
administration and with congress
and it hasn't any outstanding con-
gressional champion to present and
insist upon its case, Even the pre-
sentation of the case to the country
has been bad. There have been
too many administration Pollyanna
speeches assuring us that the army
is coming along satisfactorily in its
modernization program and that
there is nothing to fear.
The fact is that it isn't coming
along at more than snaiPs pace
and that if the Caspar Milquetoast
requests it has made for money to
make it come a little faster are
slashed, it could be major catas-
trophe.
1t is recognizing in modern
streamlined divisions to be entirely
motorized with new rapid-fire equip
ment and with many of the men
behind steel shields. The war in
Europe is proving that, with this
kind of organization and equipment,
far fewer men are needed, those
who are used are much better pro-
tected from death or injury, and the
great speed, range and mobility will
enable a few men to defend far
greater area than was ever before
thought possible.
This is a vital consideration in
our military problem. Our principal
danger is swift and unexpected
raids. From an expense angle
alone, we could not defend our vast
stretches of coast and territory with
fixed or slow forces. We couldn't
do it with what we have. We can
only be sure of doing it by what we
propose to get. One other problem
is to be able by an expeditionary
force to repel or break up any hos
tile Judgment in Latin America. In
view of the armament of other coun-
tries, both of these problems abso-
lutely require such an army as I
have described. Until we get it,
our defenses will be woefully weak.
We don't need big army, but we
need a small one that can move
fast and hit hard over the widest
area that any nation has to defend.
Now you can't do halfway job
on this. A motorized army has to
be motorized all the way. 1t is tied
to the speed of it's slowest unit. 1t
is an integrated whole and if part
of it isn't high speed, the rest of it
might as well not be. Furthermore,
if you streamline your divisions on
the theory that you will make up for
the loss of men by armor and auto
matte weapons of vastly increased
power and then don't provide the
weapons, you have cut your defen-
sive power in half-or worse.
It seems to me that we are max
ing exactly this mistake right now
even with the program as it is. If
the appropriations are cut, I am abb
solutely certain that we shall make
it.
1t is not an exaggeration to say
that we have no disable army now.
With the world at its most danger
Gus worst, we may be caught chang
ing our clothes and so-very literal
ly-with our pants down.
1 don't like the air of secrecy that
covers hearings on our military
committees. They do not make
sense. Foreign nations know all
about this condition. The people
who have the best right to know
about it-precisely and exactly-are
the people of the United States.
They know precious little and what
they know is largely wrong. Per-
haps if they knew more, we might
get some action.
-0xr, rx.n,x,