Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-17

w. MarCll, u,
House minority aIsl %*<*$::%* -
leader, for David Lawrence.
congressional committee of both
parties to have voice in the con-
duct Of the war.
But 1t would be mistake if hasty
action were taken in Congress either
condemning or urging the proposal,
because 1t raises some very i'm
portant questions Of policy that
ought to be frankly explored SO that
even . well-intentioned suggestion
does not in the end actually result
IN a disservice to the MANAGEMENT
Of the war.
If all that were involved were
merely the set Of first hand observa-
lions brought back by Representa-
tive Mas, Republican, Of Minneso-
ia, these could easily be verified or
disproved or put into proper perspec-
tive. But there is back of this move
ment something deeper and more
significant, and perhaps the best
way to correct it is to apply the
treatment of healthy exposure to
the free air OF analysis.
To put it simply, there are many
members Of Congress who are so
bitter against and distrustful of the
administration's method OF han
ding public authority that they
openly talk Of Mr.. Roosevelt's al
legged ambitions for q fourth term
In 1914.
React on War Leaders.
But who suffers from that sort
Of attack? Not Mr.. Roosevelt-who
goes on with the New Deal and
his New Deal henchmen regardless
of how the majority OF the voters
protested at the polls couple weeks
ago-but the military and naval
men to whom politics is an anathe-
ma and upon whom the response
bility for winning the war has really
been placed.
1t is most unfortunate that Mr..
Roosevelt Is just as vehement
against his critics and distrustful OF
his opponents as they are concern
ing him. He, however, has had OPP
portunity after opportunity to rise
above such polemics and break the
vicious circle Of accusation and
eounteraccusation, as BELTS a man
who has been given three terms and
presumably can forego further am
bition.
But Mr.. Roosevelt, even during
this fateful emergency, has been re-
luctant to concede that the New
Deal scheme of Specialization must
be sacrificed to win the war. To in
terrogations about a lengthier work
week, for example, the President still
replies with the statement either
that we do not have 40-hour week
IN America or that we are already
working a 48-hour week, as if the
economic problem involved in the
straitjacket of the wage and hour
law and the issue Of overtime and
Increased manpower were as simple
as that comment implies.
The American people must evil
IDENTIFY continue to bear the burden
Of class war inside this country at
the same time that their sons are
fighting a global war. All this puts
politics to the fore and makes the
Army and Navy command the target
Of criticism that is really aimed at
Mr.. Roosevelt.
Strategy Not Revealed.
Nothing could be further from the
truth than the assumption that Ad-
niral Ernest j. King, for instance,
would allow political considerations
or the behind-the- scenes jealousies
Of Gen. Douglas Macarthur in Army
circles to influence the strategy used.
Admiral King is an independent,
high-minded naval officer who is
fighting a two-ocean war with a
one-ocean Navy, and he had moth
ing to do with the evolution of the
Allied diplomacy that failed to keep
Japan out of Pacific Ocean war till
Hitler could be defeated.
Admiral King must fight with the
weapons and ships allotted to him,
and it does no good at this late date
to bemoan our earlier misfortunes in
the Pacific, for we are correcting
their ill-effects.
Admiral King hasn't confided his
strategy to Representative Mas or
any one else outside of his official
circle, and it may well be inferred
that the Minnesota marine member
of Congress knows only portion of
the story of all the global problems
involved. There isn't any political
subservience or sycophancy in Ad-
miral Kings makeup, and members
of Congress would do well to let the
Army and Navy high command
alone and concentrate their atten-
ton on the economic blunders being
made on the home front, rather
than to demand voice in the max
ing of the strategic policies of the
war abroad.