Evening star., 1945-09-05
Full Congress Inquiry
On Pearl Hurbor Seen
Army Board Report Called
Courageous by Observer

Army Board Report Called
Courageous by Observer
By David Laurence
Full investigation of the Pearl Har-
Dor tragedy by Congress would seem to
be assured.
Such an inquiry becomes more than
ever necessary because of the peculiar
attitude which has been exhibited by
various officials of the present admin
istration toward the Army board whose
report is one of the most courageous
ever filed by governmental tribunal.
So accustomed are some of our public
officials to resent criticism or to have
their mistakes hushed up that 1t is
amazing to read suggestions that the
Army board had no right to discuss the
part played by Secretary of State Hull
and should have confined itself solely
to Army officials.
Here was an instance in which the
Army and Navy pleaded with the civil
ian branch of the Government to delay
steps that would bring crisis in rela-
tions with Japan till they had time to
prepare for war and yet it is being
seriously argued that the communica-
tions between the State Department and
the Navy and War Departments or the
action taken by the State Department
was not a proper subject of investiga-
ton.
This method of passing the buck or Of
restricting criticism to rigid compart-
ments of the Government is one of the
reasons why the people so often do not
get the facts about their own Govern
ment. The State Department is the
most notorious offender on the hush
hush side.
Secret Yalta Agreement.
Thus, for instance. although It has
been insisted publicly again and again
that there were no secret agreements
or commitments at Yalta except those
announced before the San Francisco
Conference, it turns out now that the
American Government actually agreed
to support Russia's claim to the Kuriles
in the event Russia entered the war.
Presumably such secret agreements were
called military" and the quibble arises
from the fact that the official state
ment said everything but military agree
ments had been made public This il
not candor but clever piece OF camou-
f1age.
1t will be recalled also that in the in
structions given Justice Roberts con-
corning Pearl Harbor in 194l the ad-
ministration insisted that he and his
associates were to investigate only the
circumstances of the attack and not
what happened in Washington. Sub
sequently, under the plea of military
secrecy and the possible harm that
might come to sources of informa ton,
it was insisted that all other phases of
the Pearl Harbor investigation be de-
layed
Now when an Army board shows that
Admiral Kimmel and Gen. Short were
not the only ones at fault, there is
hue and cry to the effect that the board
stepped beyond its authority or juris-
diction.
Right to Fill Background.
Any board of inquiry has right to
fill in the background and establish the
premise on Which it builds its conclu-
sions. For the Army board to have
circumscribed itself and failed to COM
ment on what was happening in the
State Department would have been to
deny the truth to the public
One need not agree at all with the
comments of the Army board This
correspondent, for instance, believes the
points made about Gen. Marshall were
picayunish. But the right of the Army
board to criticise or express itself about
anybody is a right inherent in any
board OF investigation. Justices of our
courts have never been inhibited in
their comments about anything or
| everything that pertains to the subject
matter of their decisions or court
| opinions and it is an American tradi-
| ton that any inquiry should not be
hamstrung by censorship in advance.
| Although Congress is at fault in fall
| ing to appropriate adequate sums for
| armament between 1888 and 1899, it is
| pertinent to learn what the War and
| Navy Departments actually requested
within that period and what arrange
ments were made by the State Depart
ment to advise the War and Navy De-
partments of the evolution Of our for
eign policies. Congress can do this BY
searching inquiry. Maybe 1t will be
found that we need a single department
combing the State Department and ths
War and Navy portfolios into one.
though that overall function is sup
posedly exercised by the President to
whom all departments are responsible.
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