Evening star., 1945-12-17
Pearl Hurbor Probe
Held VituI to u. S.
Writer Says Valuable Lessons to
Be Learned in Whole Truth
By David Laurence

By David Laurence
The Congressional inquiry into the
Pearl Harbor fasco has taken a strange
twist. Although not so intended, the
resignation of counsel and the with
drawal OF Chairman Barkley has given
the impression that some members
would like to scuttle the whole thing.
No greater mistake could be made
either by the Democratic party in
Congress or by the friends of the late
President Roosevelt.
The Nation for nearly four years
has heard a whispering campaign
against Mr.. Roosevelt. It has been
carried on to some extent by isolation
lists and given further momentum by
those who have been ready and willing
to believe that Mr.. Roosevelt would do
anything to get himself elected and re-
elected, even If it meant maneuvering
the United States into war.
The thesis usually advanced is that
because Mr.. Roosevelt had pledged in
his political speeches that he would not
enter the war unless attacked" he
contrlved lin some way to provoke the
Japanese to attack us either at Pearl
Harbor or elsewhere in the Pacific.
Truth Must Be Revealed.
Not scintilla of evidence has been
brought out thus far to support any
such view, but to stop the inquiry now
or to muzzle it in any way would be to
play right into the hands of those who
have made the charges 1t is import
ant for history that the truth be fer
reted out, wherever it leads and what
ever it implies. This correspondent does
not believe Mr.. Roosevelt will be con-
Vlcted on the charges but nobodys
opinions will be given credence if the
inquiry folds up and the whispering
campaign continues.
Part of the difficulty which the COM
mlttee has encountered is the way the
hearing has been conducted An admin
lstratlon effort to choke off individual
members from going through the files
and records has merely resulted in a
demand by the opposition that volumi-
nous papers be presented. The lengthy
examinations and cross-examinations
are due to fear by some members that
only evidence which points to this or
that exoneration will be introduced.
FINALLY when the records are dumped
on the committee, some members claim
they never have a chance to read and
study them before they are presented.
Ihere Is such a thing as messing up
nearing by confusion and If anybody
maneuvered it that way, he certainly
has succeeded.
Thus. for example, the hearing has
not yet finished with the War Depart-
ment's part in the pre-Pearl Harbor
events and the inquiry turns this week
to the Navy Department without hear
ing all the witnesses on the phase once
begun. This does not appear to be a
systematic procedure.
OF what value is the hearing? Already
there are those who would like tn FORGET
1t and who hope to kill the inquiry by
pooh-poohing it in the hope that the
public will get sick Of the story, and
members OF Congress will vote to drop
the matter. But while some cross-ex.
aminations have been too lengthy and
IN some instances unnecessarily harsh
on the witnesses, as was the case at
times with respect to Gen. George C.
Marshall, the whole truth must be per-
mitted to come out If for no other
reason than to give future classes at
the Army War College and at the Naval
War College the most comprehensive
textbook ever written on how to kill
5000 American boys through neglect,
stupidity, red tape and sheer incom-
petence in the military services, on
which the Nation depends for its
security
Lesson for Others, Too,
Also. it makes important reading for
the diplomatic service and the State
Department on how to synchronize
negotiations with preparations for the
execution of our diplomatic notes. Also.
1t teaches vital lesson on the subject
OF open diplomacy, so the people may
know, and incidentally the generals and
the admirals may read, when a crisis Is
at hand. 1t ought to teach lesson to
Congress, too, on promptly supplying
funds with which to maintain adeouate
defenses wherever the American nag
| flies.
1t is one of the most important IN
vestigations ever undertaken by a COM
mittee OF Congress and even If 1t con-
sumes several months time for few
Senate and House members and eats up
few thousand dollars in costs, it Is
an insignificant price to pay to write
history and postmortem record that
future statesmen. generals and admiral,
can read and re-read 50 that It may
never happen again.