Evening star., 1941-01-12

reassure the country and would add
greatly to the presidential authority
to act with vigor in present and
future emergencies.
Each of the cabinet officers named
should be allowed an additional as
sistant secretary whose sole task
would be to devote himself to the
work of the committee, to represent
his chief in the latter's absence
and to coordinate the work OF his
department with those OF the 9TH
ers in naional defense matters.
Liaison With Congress.
The committee ought TO be en-
powered to create subcommittee,
to consider any phase of its work
which might require special exam
ination, and these subcommittee
could be composed of any properly
qualified persons in the Govern
ment service or otherwise. One per-
manent subcommittee should be
that on war plans, to consist of the
heads of the war plans division OF
the general staff and office of naval
operations, with a permanent joint
planning staff drawn from both
services who would be assigned to
no other duty. A joint intelligence
subcommittee should likewise be in
cluded, with State Department rep
resentation as well as military and
naval.
A system of liaison officers be-
tween the Committee of National
Defense and the related committees
of the Congress should be set up,
in order that Congress should have
the benefit of the co-ordinated in
formation and advice thus avail
able, and should be kept in touch
with the progress of affairs. Also
it would probably be wise to create
a joint select committee of both
houses of Congress whose duty
would be to receive periodical re-
ports of the exercise of the extraor-
dinary powers granted the Presi-
dent under the legislation now
pending, and to thus keep the Leg
islature informed and to insure
proper cooperation and confidence.
This joint select committee should
of course have no power to veto the
acts of the executive.
Additional Machinery.
Additional machinery necessary
for the emergency period and which
might be made ancillary to the pro-
posed Committee of National De-
fense includes the following:
(a). An economic defense au-
thority, closely co-ordinated with
the office of production manage
ment and concerned with assuring
a supply of raw materials and other
necessary imports and assembling OF
necessary strategic reserves, the
stopping of leaks in the blockade
which now permit American ma
terialS to reach the axis powers,
and in general the full use of the
economic, financial and commercial
power of the United States toward
the achievement of the national
purposes.
(b). A Shipping Authority. with
full powers to control and direct the
operation of our merchant marine,
including its knotty and dangerous
personnel difficulties.
(c). A Committee on 1nforma-
ton and Morale, working in close
liaison with the Intelligence Sub
committee; this committee would be
charged with the use Of propaganda
as a weapon, and with combating
the propaganda efforts Of our enc
mics. A further duty would be to
provide the American people with
the fullest possible information Of
what their Government was doing.
The membership of this committee
should be such as to inspire the
most complete public confidence in
its statements.
Greater CO. ordination Needed.
We need this machinery, or ma
chinery capable of performing the
functions described. if the struggle
we are now entering upon is to be
brought to a victorious conclusion.
We need it now; every day wasted
is a day which can never be re-
claimed. 1t may be urged that we
are now doing most of the things
herein before proposed; but We are
not doing them quickly enough, or
smoothly enough, and we are doing
them, if at all, by improviSed meth
ods and by grudging delegations of
the presidential authority. The
President cannot hope TO keep every
detail of administration in his own
hands; what must be done must be
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