Evening star., 1942-11-13
Mas
Continued From First Page J

daring and with perfect precision,
inflicting major damage on our ma
val forces in Tulagi Harbor'"
Mr.. Mas, a colonel in the Marine
Reserves who returned recently from
a four month tour of duty in the
Pacific, declared also that official
reports of defeats and disasters
had been twisted and played down.
Asks Special Committe.
In an interview, Mr.. Martin said
the responsibility Of correcting the
situation described by Mr.. Mas be-
longed to Congress and called for
formation of a special joint House
and Senate committee to tackle the
assignment.
President Roosevelt was asked at
his press conference today whether
he had seen or heard about the Mas
speech. He replied in the negative.
Mr.. Mas is the ranking minority
member of the House Naval Affairs
Committee.
Mr.. Mas said Navy Represent
atives who had obtained an advance
copy of his speech had questioned
the accuracy of his references to
communiques on the battle of the
Solomons, and that he had made
several changes of purely minor
nature
Technical Changes"
@ao1oral Oh
80 technical as to have no actual
effect on the meaning of the speech"
and certainly constituted no at
tempt to gag him.
Senator Vandenberg, Republican,
Of Michigan, also said Mas charges
ought to hasten establishment of
joint congressional committee which
could investigate these and other
complaints about the conduct OF the
war.
Senator Vandenberg told report
ers he considered the charges "seri-
Gus and deserving of an answer"
In his radio address, he said we
are still losing the war in the Pa
cific." but declared that the United
States had the resources, the man
power, the production and ingenuity
necessary to defeat Japan. He
added:
80 far. however, we have lacked
the organization and failed to con-
centrate our energies and forces.
We are fighting dozens of separate
wars all over the world. They are
not co-ordinated and are not all
part of one overall plan to defeat
our enemies.
Many of these fronts are pressure
fronts-that Is, undertaken locally
to satisfy various of our Allies, but
not as part of we'll worked out
general war plan. We are carrying
on so many second fronts that we
see INTO have had little or nothing
left with which to carry on our own
first front in the Pacific"
1T will make little difference in
the end who wins in Europe, we or
Hitler. If the Japs win in the Pa
cific," he said, for in 20 or 80 years
a billion and a half Orientals, in
dustrialized, organized and mobil-
lied by Japan, will overrun q war
devastated Europe and, finally,
America too"
Fleet Caught Asleep"
He said the loss OF three American
and one Australian cruisers in the
Sololnons Islands the night OF
August occurred despite a warn
ing hours in advance of the Jap
anese neet's approach He con-
tended that the attacking Japanese
force caught our feet literally
asleep and were gone out OF range
of our guns without ever even being
fireu upon by our ships"
Mr.. Mas also contended:
There can be no effective unity
of command in the Pacific until
there is first unity of command over
our Army and Navy in Washington.
THE Solomons campaign was not
well organized and not followed up
at all.
THE local commanders in the
Pacific do not have sufficient over
all authority to order all branches
into one plan for the whole Pacific.
'Not only have our losses been
played down, then made known long
after they occurred, but defeats and
disasters have been twisted into
being announced at the time as sue
cesses and victories for our forces,
thus grossly misleading the Amer
lean public"
War Job for housewives. Hem