The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-27
.GI's Dream Comes True In Senate
A newspaper shades
BY FREDERICK c. OTHMAN
United Press Staff Correspondent

~0.~'~~A~N United Press Staff Correspondent Washington, July 27-(UP)-Two GI.'s on Capitol sightseeing tour saw something no dough-foot ever saw before: Brass hats getting dressing down, a raking over and a abusing in senatorial ire.
 "Gosh," said the big G.I. T nev- CT would think it."
 Yeah" said the little one. Makes you glad you ain't a general"
 The two infantrymen had wan- dered into the Senate caucus room and there before their bulging eyes were majors, colonels, yep, and three-star generals squirming, get ting red in the neck and mutter- ing excuses that sounded lame to Sen Homer Ferguson of Mich, and Co.
 Expenditures Questioned The question was, how come the army spent $440OO,00O on a $14,- 0,O00 road in Central America that never was finished and led nowhere because it had no end?
 The infantrymen's faces lit into smiles that might be called beatific as the brass hats tangled with the only civilians who could tell 'em off. I'll skip the testimony of the small fry, such as majors and col- nels, and concentrate Qike the G.I.'s) on Lit. Gen. Eugene Rey- bold, chief of the army engineers, and It. Gen. Leroy Lutes, chief of staff of the army service forces.
 The elderly Gen. Reybold said the army considered the road an insurance policy for the Panama Canal, but had to go easy on aban- doning it later to avoid ruffling the feathers of the Central Amer ican governments.
 You say you didn't want to ruff file their feathers?" demanded Sen Ferguson of the special war in- vestigating committee.
 l Weren't these people in the war with us? And why did you start ] this road at all after Gen. Eisen- hover protested that it wasn't nec- essary?"
 In5ignificant-At S44 Million
 Gen. Reybold said he couldn't answer that. He said maybe the war department could. He said the cost | lof the road was high, but that it would have been insignificant if there'd been a critical emergency. The $44,00O,00O, he added, was a small matter.
 "Now wait a minute, general . snapped Sen. Ferguson. Were not talking about marbles. We're talking about $44,200,000 of the taxpayers money"
 The two G. I.'s relaxed Quxur- iously is the word) and Gen. Lutes took the hot seat, to announce that he didn't want to be interrupted un- til he'd finished his formal state ment.
 General. if you won't answer questions, we don't need your testi- mony," Sen. Ferguson said. The general said all right, he'd answer.
 Rudolph Haley, the committee counsel, asked him what was the idea of starting the road in Central America when 600 miles of it in Mexico were incomplete and prob ably wouldn't be finished for years?
 "You shouldn't mention that, Gen. Lutes exclaimed.
 Why not?" demanded Haley.
 "You mean it's a military secret?" asked Sen. Ferguson.
 The general said it was a state department matter. Sen. Ferguson said 1t looked like no military secret to him, no matter what the red stamps on the documents said.
 What war were we building this road for?" he continued. This war? or the next one?"
 Gen. Lutes said this one and that anyway, Mexico had a railway lead ing to Guatemala. He said it could carry the freight to the army's road. Sen. Edward V. Robertson oi ! Wyoming said 1t was mediocre railroad. The hearing went on from there: I found seat by the G. Is
 He watched the brass hats sweat The big soldier said now he knew wha poetic justice meant. The It. tie one said he had nothing else left to see.