Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-08-17
Time Is FIeetinq "

-
House passage of the National
| Guard mobilization bill, with the
| defeat of an amendment which
would have prevented the use OF the
! Guardsmen outside the United States,
its Territories and possessions, marks
! completion of another important step
! in the provision of man power for
defense purposes. The House adopted
a few amendments to the bill, con-
corning which agreement must be
Preached with the Senate. When that
/ is done, and the measure signed by
the President. the way will have been
! cleared for the training OF nearly
! 400 900 men for use, should need
arise, in resisting any encrOachment
by would-be aggressors on this hemi-
sphere.
| Clearing of the National Guard
! legislation, however, will mark the
beginning rather than the end OF
/ the effort to insure an adequate
supply of trained man power for
| American defenSe-an effort which
| can only be satisfactorily and safely
/ concluded by, enactment OF the
Burke Wadsworth compulsory selec-
tive service bill.
The opposition to the selective
service measure is directing it's main
effort toward supporting compro-
mise which would defer application
of the draft until January l, seeking
in the meantime to raise the neces-
sary number of men by shortening
the enlistment period to one year and
increasing basic pay scales in the
Army This substitute proposal is
strongly opposed by the Army high
command and administration leaders,
who fear that volunteers will come
in too slowly and in insufficient num-
bers to satisfy the urgent require
ments of national defense
Speaking for the opponents of
compromise, General George C. Mar
shall, Chief of Staff, declared yes
terday that it will be necessary, II
Britain is defeated, to bring into
service and training Immediately
enough men to raise the land forces
of the United States to 900, 900 men.
Warning that all military informa-
ton indicates that the situation
confronting us is critical General
Marshall stressed the point that
time is the vital factor and time is
feeting."
In the light of warnings such as
these from our experts in the prob
lem of defending America, it is diff
cult to understand why any members
of Congress are willing to incur the
risk to the safety of the Nation
that must accompany deferment of
the draft to permit experimentation
with the uncertain and unSatisfac-
tory method of volunteer enlist
ments. And yet there is strong sup
port for this proposal some members
of the Senate even going so far as
to advocate that the entire matter
be dropped until next January
after the election is over.
A tragic object lesson in the penal
ties that attend delay in military
preparedness is being prepared for
us across the Atlantic While our
legislative Neros fiddle, the people of
the British Isles are undergoing the
most terrible ordeal that any civilian
population has been called upon to
endure Throughout all of England
men, women and children are being
killed and manned by German bombs
because the leaders of Britain a few
months ago refused to believe that
war in it's full horror could come to
them. And, stubbornly disbelieving,
they would not begin in time to build
the defenses that could have spared
their people much of the suffering
that they now know. 1t is too late,
now, fof the British to prepare these
defenses; they can only endure the
punishment and hope that somehow
they will be able to preserve their
homeland from actual conquest.
Those American leaders who coun-
sci delay in the making of our max
imum preparedness effort and who
refuse to believe that real danger
confronts us are gambling on hope,
as the British gambled in the days
before the war. Throughout most
of the rest of the world adherence to
the policy they advocate has brought
disaster of hitherto unknown pro-
portions. 1t is inconceivable that
this country, with its opportunity to
profit by the mistakes of others,
should heed the counsel of these
false prophets and incur the risk
that must attend anything less than
a maximum effort toward real ma
tional defense.