Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-26
Case for the Armv

Undersecretary Of War Patterson
made an excellent statement of the
reasons why we must have 1O,8OO.OO0
men in the armed forces by the end
Of 1943 in his address to the Pitts
burgh Chamber of Commerce Tues
day evening.
Mr.. Patterson pointed out that the
armed forces Of Germany, italy and
the nations supporting them exceed
l3,0OO,O00 men. Yet we-this country
and our Allies-must carry the war
to them on the continent of Europe
an operation calling for a marked
numerical superiority since the en-
envy Will have the tactical advantages
that go with defensive position.
Unquestionably, we will sustain very
heavy casualties and we must be
ready to make them good. Then we
are faced also with the japanese in
the Pacific, and their numerical
strength greatly exceeds anything
that we have been able to put against
them. Yet they must be defeated, and
we simply cannot afford to rely on
the manpoWer of some other nation
to do the job.
The UnderSecretary made a point
OF emphasizing that the figure as to
the size of the Army was not pulled
out OF hat. but was arrived at after
careful consideration of the factors
OF supply, transportation and main
tenance Of the home front. And the
conclusion was, he said, that the lob
was hard one but that it could and
must be done. This is reassuring, but
Mr.. Patterson left great deal unsaid
IN discussing specific methods bv
which the task can be Accomplished
There are white collar workers in
noneSsential industries, he said. who
can go back to the farms from which
they came. True enough, but what
Is being done to get them back? Farm
machinery can be pooled. he de-
clared, and many steps" taken to
increase production on the farms.
Perhaps SO, but this will require
degree Of planning and organization
which is not yet in evidence.
On the subject Of absenteeism Mr..
Patterson said only that 1t must and
can be solved. But here again, what
Is being done to solve it? This is
probably the greatest single source
OF manpower waste in the country
today, but Secretary of Labor Perkins,
teStifying before a House committee,
had no solution to offer beyond say
ing that the discharge of offending
workers would not necessarily correct
the evil. Possibly that is right, but
what is going to correct it? Some
officials have been talking about can
ceiling the draft deferment of chronic
absenteeS, but if this is a satisfactory
remedy, nothing is being done to put
it into effect. OF still another fragrant
waste of manpoWer - that repre-
sented by union 'featherbed" rules
and made" work-Mr. Patterson had
nothing to say. This abuse goes on
unchecked and nobody knows how
extensive it is, because it seems to be
at the top Of the "hands-off" list.
To any right thinking person it is
little short Of shocking to talk about
reducing the size of the Army while
the waste Of civilian manpower rep
resented by these timidities and con-
tuSions goes on undated. While we
are debating the question of sending
soldiers out to pick cotton because of
civilian squabble over wages, these
problems Of wasted manpower-
according to Mr.. PatterSon-have
been solved in England, Russia. Ger
many and Japan. But they did not
solve them by trying to avoid going
to the root of the trouble.