Evening star., 1945-05-21

has not been Frank R.Kent.
particularly felicitous in his rela.
tions with the Army, with Congress
or with the press. For a time, too
he did not even get along very vel
with his own organization. There
were number of designations, feuds
and friction.
Also, some OF his public utterances
backfired on him pretty badly and
he had to bear rather severe censure
for some of the owl output. Un.
doubtedly some of Mr.. Davis trou-
bles were his own fault. But some
were inherent in the situations he
had to face and cannot be justly
attributed to the impression o1
solemn self-esteem which he man.
ages to convey.
In his behalf it should be said
that his was an exceedingly difficult
Job and that no one could expect te
do 1t without criticism. This Is
true even though Mr.. Byron Price
our chief censor, has done his diff.
cult job with no criticism at all.
Element OF UnfalrneSS.
Nevertheless, there seems a dis
tinct element of unfairness about
the present attack upon Mr.. Davis
He is being pictured as having been
''repudiated" by the President and
Gen. Eisenhower, which is an idea
amply justified by Mr.. Truman's
press conference remarks, though he
certainly took pains to speak well of
Mr.. Davis intentions.
But what he did was to reverse
abruptly and publicly the postwar
policy announced by Mr.. Davis of
keeping from the Germans under
American control any news or pub
licationS except as provided or su-
pervised by the Owl, the theory
being that for sometime it will not
be safe to let them read private pub
lications from free-press countries
which might give them "too much
of an impression of divided policies. "
The Germans had, he said, to be
educated" and he made the COM
parison Of sick patient" who for
a time could only take what "the
doctor ordered" This, Mr.. Davis
explained, was the policy which
had been decided upon by the
Army and worked out in conference
with the Owl.
At once there was a howl from
American newspapers. The policy
was denounced as silly and Mr.
Davis explanation as sillier. Then
Mr.. Truman, after conferring with
Gen. Eisenhower, said that though
Mr.. Davis meant well he was mis-
taken; that apparently he had
conferred only with the military
"lower levels" that there would be
no news blackout," and that the
policy as announced by Mr.. Davis
was not Gen. Eisenhower's policy
and not his-Mr. Truman's-policy;
quite the contrary.
Taking the Rap"
No comment could be obtained
from Mr.. Davis following this re-
pudiation, and none has been made
yet. This leads to the feeling that,
perhaps, Mr.. Davis is taking the
rap" for some one else and IS left
In a position where he cannot de-
fend himself.
Certainly he is not a fool and
would not have made his policy an
nouncement without justification.
Nor is it likely he either would
have originated or promulgated this
policy on his own. Without know
ing the facts, one might reasonably
think that the Army originated the
policy and that Mr.. Davis acqui-
esced, with every reason to believe
it was a high military decision.
When the unfavorable reaction
here occurred and the President
took his stand, the Army withdrew
from its decision and Mr.. Davis
was left holding the bag Naturally
he is not in position to argue either
with the President or Gen. Eisen-
hover. He just had to take it, which
is tough. but unavoidable. If there