The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-07-17
THROUGH
n A z E L
E Y E S
.
BY
H-rcl Brannon


The President now asks Congress
for full power over the lives of over
one million men who make up the
National Guard, reserve officers and
selectee groups now indicted in our
army. He asks for the authority to
keep these men under arms until
such time as he says the emergency
has passed. Under the terms Of the
bill Mr.. Roosevelt will be complete
dictator on the question of life and
possible death of these million men.
He is asking to keep these men
in unlimited service for further
training when even now the equip
ment for further training is being
held up by strikes, politics and other
delays.
Our army troops in training now
don't have tanks to train with. They
are using trucks with flags dcsignat-
ing them as tanks. Ammunition is
lacking to fire what guns we have.
Red bands are tied around cars to
substitute for mechanical equipment.
Sticks are being used for guns. The
fact is we don't have equipment for
the group now training and won
have Is for another year or longer,
with the rs per- cent we are sending
to Britain.
The troops in training now have
gone just about as far as they can
go in learning the fundamentals Of
army life and training, in toughen-
ing up to be a soldier. They must
have equipment to go further. Can
adam troops take only 4 months for
such basic training to our twelve.
Yet the President absolutely re-
fuses to ask for any legislation to
outlaw strikes or to put ceiling on
wages that labor can ask for /. :.
or in any other way demand sac
rifice Of this group.
If this is Democracy then we
think more people ought to be given
a chance to defend it.
If we could believe that the re-
tention OF these men would result
in further training only in order that
they could eventually assume the
status of trained, veteran troops for
our, defense then we would favor
their being retained.
But if the retention is going 20
result in further moves that will
make us assume more the status of
belligerent, then we are over
whelmingly opposed to extension of
their time.
Unfortunately, the question of re-
tanning Indefinitely these troops in
sexvirc, is a question Of whether or
not we want to be involved further
in a shooting war. Every man in
Congress and the President knows
the nation is overwhelmingly against
that.
Ii the President is permitted to
retain these men let us examine the
possibilities Of what will happen. First
he will man the bases in the Atlantic
we have designated as necessary to
our defense. Not only those bases
but Iceland, which is in the war zone
and has never by any stretch Of the
imagination been considered part
of the western hemisphere, and
possibly Dakar, the Cape Verde Is
lands, and even Ireland.
None Of our readers can be no
naive as to think we can go into
the zone of operations in this war
and not start shooting.
Thus the question Of retaining
troops in service is deciding whether
we are going into the war altogether
or whether we intend to stay out.
Congress will decide.
-oOo-
Theoretically we are arming for
our own defense.
Actually, if these men are left in
service. We will be placed in posi-
ton where war will follow as the re-
suit of our actions.
To thrust an unprepared nation in
to war is treason of the highest or
der. An administration or Con-
gress that pursues such course will
live to feel the hate of the American
people and reputation of the gov.
eminent itself. To court defeat fol-
our army by pushing it into wal
unprepared is to court disaster and
dishonosable place in American
history We do not believe the Pre-
sident or Congress would relish being
so placed
DID
There are those who say we will be
safe if we retain the men in ser
vice but prohibit their use outside
the western hemisphere.
That is a foolish hope. President
Roosevelt has already said that he
has given up trying to decide just
where the western hemisphere is.
We can rest assured that men KEEP
in service will be placed all over the
Ii