Evening star., 1944-10-25

public, warned Of the growing
danger.
Year after year, our chiefs or staff
reported on .he utterly impover-
ished and pitifully small manpower
of our Army. Year after year, the
Budget Bureau, which is under the
personal direction of the President
cut down the amount requested
1t was right in the fall of 1899
after the Second World War had
actually begun, that Mr.. Roosevelt's
Budget Bureau cut out $552, 600, ,0OC
of amounts certified by the Army
for critical and essential items.
1t was in January, 1910, that Mr.
Roosevelt told the Congress that
81 300, 100000 for national defense
was, in his judgment, "a sufficient
amount for the coming year,
although he admitted that it was
far less than many experts on
national defense think should be
spent"
1t was in that month that I called
publicly for a two-ocean Navy, a
concept which Mr.. Roosevelt still
later called "just plain dumb"
1t was in those terrifying days OF
the Nazi blitz, in May of 1910, that
he told us we should not become
"discombolated." Then. with France
about to fall, he publicly announced
on June that he saw no reason
for Congress to stay in session. II
was an election year--so in that
hour of national peril he said that
a continued session of Congress
would serve no useful end except
sarcastically, the laudable purpose
of making speeches.
Congress Refused to Go.
1t was that American Congress
which refused at that historic time
to go home. 1t stayed in Washing
ton and worked
1t was that Congress which then
passed the National Selective Serv-
ice Act, sponsored by Republican
Congressman and an anti-New Deal
Democrat. 1t was that Congress
that stayed after it had been told
to go home, which ran the appro-
priations and authorizations for ma
tional defense up to IL billion dol
lars
Here, then. are some more chap
ters of the story-all of which my
opponent conveniently forgets. But
the American people will not forget
them when they 60 to the polls in
November.
In his speech of last Saturday
night my opponent did remember
the Washington Arms Conference
by which, for the first time, we sue
ceeded in restricting Japan to an
inferior naval relationship of 5-5-3
But he forgot that he was supposed
to be telling "the whole story" He
complained that we "scuttled" part
of the strength of our Navy. But
that Is not what he said at the
time. Then, in a magazine article,
Mr.. Roosevelt asked America to
trust Japan and complained of "the
delay in the scrapping of United
States ships as provided for and
pledged in accordance with the
treaty" What he also forgot last
Saturday night was that as late as
1884 he called the Washington Arms
Conference a milestone in civili-
zation.'
How election times change mems
memories! If we are going to learn
the lessons for future use, we have
to keep the record straight.
Scrap Iron to Japan.
1t was in that year, 1894, that
Japan served notice of termination
Of the limitation treaty which kept
her navy inferior to ours. Yet, il
was in the first two administrations
of the New Deal that this country
sent 10000. 900 tons of scrap iron
and steel to Japan, unchecked by
my opponent until October Is, 1910
The weight of that scrap iron alone
was 10 times the tonnage of the
whole japanese Navy.
Mr.. Roosevelt said last Saturday
that We could have compromised
with Japan, "by selling out the
hearts blood of the Chinese people. u
Well, let's see what he did.
In addition to scrap iron, he per-
mitted the shipment of as much as
100000 barrels month of oil
the hearts blood OF war. for use