Evening star., 1943-07-21

deviSd efforts to DaVid Lawrence.
mold oublic opinion as it is to
swallo1 the alibi of alleged COM
placenv being the reason why war
producion under Mr.. Wilson's man
egemen has Jagged.
1t is interesting to recall that
Underseretary Of War Patterson
called attention publicly to the lag
in airplne production and criti-
cized the slowness of the program
long befor the present wave OF mil
itary successes began. For the ex-
ecutive he'd of WPB now to assert
that we hive the manpower, the
plants andthe materials but that
war COMPETENCY" is responsible
for the slowown is to ignore alto
gether the elSnent of governmental
control and gvernmental red tape
which it is tn business of ofdcials
to remove or regulate so as to
achieve smooth operation.
Muzzling Foves Harmful.
What Admira Horne says con-
corning the war n the Pacific is, OF
course, thoroughly sound, and if
some of America military or naval
chieftains were PRINTED to speak
more often inste;d of being muz-
zled, the public wmld have better
appreciation of tn real facts.
The truth is tht the American
people are adults snd not children
end when they reat the pronounce
ment from so important a figure as
Prime Minister Churchill which
stresses the possibility of winning
the war by means ofairpower, it is
natural for readers b derive from
the recent bombings n Europe the
impression of an earl end OF the
war.
The moment any high Official
would undertake to refute the
Churchill statement, h would be
accused Of airing grievances in pub
lie and he might fild himself
stripped of his rank or lost of re-
sponsibility. The American people
have been misled into thinking the
end of the war is just aound the
corner and perhaps onb a few
months of because the Washington
administration has allowed the i'm
preston to be cultivated hat air
power is enough to win his war
and that land operations and sea
battles will play secondary role.
Long Confident Of vicbry.
1t is true that airpower ha. played
and will continue to play a temen-
dous part in winning the var but
the notion that the war can k won
inexpensively so far as casultts are
concerned seems to have taken hold
widely in America.
It is doubtful, however, whaher
che average American worker has
slowed his efforts or MANAGEMENT
has relaxed its vigilance just be-
cause the war news happens to
nave become favorable. In m.nv
an athletic contest taking the had
often spurs the winning side to new
and greater effort.
The administration would do hr
better to let the military and naval
men outline the road that lies aheai.
They are not mercurial nor ae
they interested in creating any par-
ticular impression.
Cleanup May Take Years.
When Admiral Horne speaks o.
laying plans for a naval war in the
Pacific that might last until 194s
he is, Of course, thinking of the
cleanup job that may be necessary
in the islands OF the Far Pacific
long after the main backbone of
japanese resistance has been brok-
en-. The distances are so vast and
the problem of mobilizing an ar
nnada OF ships to fight the more
sdvantaeeously arranged interior
line operations of the japanese is,
so be sure, no secret.
The Allies still are fighting many
thousands of miles south of the
equator and, as for attack on ia
pan from the Arctic, this is a long
Srowp.o,,t proooeS fror, u,hioh tLo
people have been permitted to draw
optimistic conclusions largely be-
cause no dispassionate military or
naval analysis is permitted from
Washington.
Somewhat the same colored and
one-sided impression has been given
about military operations in the
European theater. Instead of tell
Ing the people that cleanup opera
tions in the Mediterranean, includ-
ing a possibility of the collapse of
Italy. still will not mean that the
Allied armies can reach into the
heart Of Central Europe for another
Elh VI -IlulC AAiOAltAlS pAlu tlldt IAlC
real invasion has been postponed
until next spring, the oficial in
iormation-that is, information that
is released-gives the impression
that when Sicily is occupied and
Italy crumbles, the end will be in
sight.
Russians Realistic.
No such unrealistic pictures have
been allowed to befog the vision OF
the Russians, who from the very
beginning have clammored for
second front and by second
'front.'" they do not mean amphibian
operations in the Mediterranean.
They want to see hundred or
more divisions of Allied troops in
action somewhere on the continent
Of Europe leading directly to Berlin.
Some Of the blame, incidentally.
must rest on those extremists in