Evening star., 1946-05-16
Inviting Contempt

1t would be difficult to put too
much emphasis on the damage done
to this country's international posi-
ton by the decision of a politically
minded House to wreck the Selec-
tive Service System.
In every corner of the world the
House vote to prohibit the induc-
ton of all but a handful of men
into the Army will be taken for what
it Individually iS-a sign that a ma
jority of the elected representatives
of the American people have put
their own political fortunes ahead
of this countrys solemn obligation
to assume responsible and effective
role in salvaging a worth while peace
from the ruins left by the war. When
he spoke in the Senate Tuesday,
after the House had tackled it's dis
aStrouS amendments onto the Sem
ate's last-minute resolution EXTEND
ing the draft to July /, Majority
Leader Barkley tried t9 put the best
possible face on the matter. Il
wish" he said, ito have it un-
derstood among foreign nations,
whether they are in conference now
or may be in conference later, that
no inferences are to be drawn and
no conclusions are to be reached by
any Of them because of the Situa-
ton in which we now find ourselves"
But Mr.. Barkley was whistling in
the dark and those who heard
him must have known it. The other
nations will draw their own infer
ences and reach their own conclu-
sions-all of them prejudicial to
the true interests of the United
States. The minority spokesman,
Senator Austin of Vermont, was
closer to the mark when he told the
Senate: 1--WE aim to give our Gov
ernment in the negotiations with
the great powers of the world
standing which will command their
respect, and we know very we'll, as
a practical matter, that our con-
duct today subjects us to their utter
contempt for voluntarily putting
ourselves in a position of being one
of the weakest of all the negotiators.
I wonder how the negotiators in
Paris look upon the action of this
country which within one year had
risen to the pinnacle of leadership
in thought and in political power
in the world. Do we wonder that
they shoot at our planes as they
come down to land on our own run
ways in Europe? How much cutting
about will now follow as this coun-
try pursues the course of reducing
its strength to the point of sub
jecting it to utter contempt?"
Every candid person will know
the answer to these questions, will
understand that the House by posi-
tive action and the Senate by pro-
crastination have struck down much
OF the power and influence of the
United States in a world in which
power will shape the future. In
consequence we stand in immediate
danger of losing the chance for a
real and lasting peace for which
World War II was fought. And the
men who endured the agonies of
the late war, the families and friends
of those whose lives were forfeited
in the struggle, the parents of the
boys WHO will have to fight the next
war ought to rise up in furious pro-
test against this reckless act by
politicians who cannot see beyond
the next election. But the time is
short. Selective Service will die al
together on July l unless. in the
meantime, bill extending it's life
has been passed. And the chances
of obtaining any worthwhile exten-
sion are slim-unless the American
people really want to grasp what
we'll may be the last chance for
peace and unless they tell their Con-
gressmen in no uncertain terms
that that is what they want.