Evening star., 1945-06-28


slider the proposal has held extern
sive hearings, with Chairman Wood
rum at least, and sometimes alone,
sticking doggedly to the self-im-
posed task of listening to the views
of all corners. A report on these
hearings, filling several hundred
pages, is being completed and it
will offer any interested citizen
about all there is to be said on the
subject-all, that is, concerning the
principle of peacetime training. The
question of how such training can
be carried out will be a matter for
other committees of the House and
Senate to consider Assuming that
the members of Woodrum's COM
mittee indorse the Army and Navy
proposal, it Is not part OF that COM
mittee's purpose to offer any plan
of operation.
A bill has been introduced in the
House by Chairman May of the
Military Affairs Committee, and a
similar bill in the Senate py Sena-
tor Gurney of South Dakota, to
provide exactly what the Army and
Navy desire. This would require
that all boys in the 17-18 age group
each year give up one full year to
military training. There would be
virtually no exemptions, except for
actual physical disability; boys
who could not be trained for combat
duty would be trained for non-
combat duty.
Where Trouble Begins.
There's where the trouble will
begin when Congress undertakes to
legislate. To parents by the tens
Of thousands, or to the boys them
selves, the need for their services
on the farms, the need to make a
living during that year or the need
for uninterrupted education or pro-
fessional study, will seem more
important than military training.
Having in mind the number of ex-
emptions granted, particularly
among farmers of fighting age, even
in the midst of a desperate war, it
is easy to foresee the pressure on
Congress for such exemptions In
peacetime. True the exemptions
given farmersEand the same applies
to factory workerS-are based on
the wars demand for what they
produce. But the need for food in
peacetime can and undoubtedly will
be argued, as well as the need in
many cases for the boys factory
wages.
If it were not for these consid-
erations Congress probably would
not find the issue difficult political
ly. Universal training is truly demo-
cratic and appeals for that reason.
Furthermore, the physical benefits
of the training are seen in every
lad that wears a uniform. And not
many dispute the value of training
from the standpoint of national pre-
paredness. For that matter, nobody
is able to argue effectively against
Gen. Marshall's contention that
q year of unbroken training is
greatly to be preferred, from the
viewpoint Of those charged with the
national defense, to the same
amount of training given at inter-
vals in the course of two or three
years.
Truman Has Own Ideas.
But Congressman have to live
with their constituents. They have
to consider the demands of the
representatives of farmers, labor,
businessmen and educators. And
these. in large part, will want any
plan of military training fitted as
far as possible into the normal
business of living. Time out for
school or to get in the crops or to
earn money for the family will
certainly be urged.
President Truman has not yet
been heard from on the subject, but
it is known that he has given it