Evening star., 1945-12-03
Prudence BY Trumon
On Merger Questioned,
Writer Sees President Deciding
Without Proper Study
By David laurence .

White House nearly eight months and
this is long enough for some impress
sions to be formed Is to the kind Of
Chief Executive he viii make In the
remainder Of his term.
The one outstanding weakness re-
vealed thus far Is q tendency TO reach
decisions impetuously or impulsively
and to be overawed by the prestige of
some Of the aggressive advisers who
have access to him.
A case in point is the proposed merger
Of the War and Navy Departments.
Here is a subject requiring the most
thorough investigation and the most
careful examination Of all the facts.
1t is q subject vital to the future Sc
curity Of the United States. President
Truman is as eager as any one else to
protect the United States against at
tack but . Commander In Chief who
is elected by the people must not reach
conclusions hastily or by intuition or
instinct. He must reach them by long,
arduous study and he must have the
courage to postpone decision until he
does get all the facts.
Compromise Possible.
Maybe 1t is right to adopt the War
Navy merger and maybe 1t isn't. This
correspondent is open to correction but
happens to think at the moment that
the plan is fraught with the greatest
danger to America and will do more to
ruin our effectiveness in . military and
naval way than anything which could
be done by legislation. But opinions
about this are varied and those who
hold the opposite view are entitled to
respectful consideration. They could
conceivably persuade opponents to
come part way toward . compromise
But what shall be said Of the quality
OF mind of President who before he
has heard all sides Of the story has let
it be known informally that the merger
plan is going to be indorsed by him.
Army officers have been saying their
plan rs in the bag" They said 1t al.
most from the start of the controversy.
Was their confidence based on . con-
viction that Mr.. Truman has made I'D
his mind to favor the Army no matter
what the facts showed about how the
war in the Pacific was conductedi
People Entitled to Know.
The American people are entitled to
know all the facts President Truman,
rs the impartial spokesman Of all the
people in . matter Of national defense.
is expected to make . thorough inquiry
himself or else to set up a national
commission to make such study. The
President cavalierly brushed aside at
recent press conference the latter
suggestion when made by his own
Secretary of the Navy. This does not
make . good impression because 1t does
not reveal judicial approach.
What Mr.. Truman meant, to be sure.
was that Congress was competent to
investigate that matter. He overlooked
the main point Of the suggestion, how
ever, which was that since the Army
controls the House and Senate Military
Affairs Committees and the Navy con-
trolls the House and Senate Naval A.
fairs Committees, there Is no hone for
anything but biased reports from each
category Of committee. The precedent
Of national commissions composed OF
outstanding citizens has been used again
and again by other Presidents and the
public has given to such reports the
attention which their high-minded dec
larations usually deserved
Mr.. Truman will be up for reelection
In 1o4S. There will be other opportu-
mites to Judge the quality Of his mind.
But his method Of handling the ma
tional defense problem thus far has
been disappointment to many persons
inside and outside his party. Mr.. Tru-
man is . likeable personality. He Is
sincere and honest but the American
people should not vote for their public
servants on that basis alone. The most
dangerous thing President can do Is
to jump at conclusions and to accent
recommendations without the most
thorough study.
May Prompt Inquiry.
Mr.. Truman has accepted as fact the
mistaken, widely circulated, and I'LL
founded propaganda that America had
unified command in the Pacific. He
hasn't taken the trouble to find out
why the Army Air Forces baked at
bombing the bases from which japanese
suicide planes were killing American
boys. He hasn't found out yet why
decisions like this had to be referred to
the Pentagon Building in Washington
while American boys were dying on the
decks Of unprotected American surface
vessels near the enemy bases. He hasn't
got at the facts about the mixup at
Leyte, when the ground troops were
crying for air cover and couldn't get It.
All this is pertinent to q fact.fndine
study of what did happen.
If Mr.. Truman has closed his mind
and Is going to recommend the proposed
merger without uncovering all the facts
OF what occurred, it may need another
joint committee OF Congress, like the
Pearl Harbor Committee, to investigate
some day the truth Of what haunened
IN the war in the Pacific. Maybe the
Senate and House Naval Affairs Conn
mittees themselves viii prefer to IN
vestisate all this before allowing action
on any merger TO be taken.
An impulsive decision by Mr.. Truman,
however, will not help his political
future. This Is not because the subject
Is partisan but because II u nonpertisan
and furnishes independents, irrespec-
tlve OF party, . chance TO Judge the
quality Of the Presidsnts mind ana his
approach 70 other tangled problems ia
the critical three years that lie ahead
for America and the world.
thssrodustion RIGHTS hsssfvsal
--.------4