The Wilmington morning star., 1946-01-15
Fair Enough
By WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1916 BY King Features Syndicate)

Copyright, 1916 BY King Features Syndicate)
NEW YORK, Jan. IA - Here goes an egg
into the electric fan
What say about the soldiers protest parade
in Manila recently is that the commanding
officer or the responsible officer should have
sent M. P.'s to grab the ring-leaders and should
have caused them to be tried by court-martial
on a charge of mutiny. They should have
been convicted and sentenced to prison and
dishonorable discharge. For failing to do
| so he, himself should be tried.
The grievances Of the soldiers, who seem to
be rotting in inactivity overseas, must be
great because otherwise the wonderful An1eri-
can Army which licked two of the mightiest
military powers in all history would not have
gone to pieces so quickly. At present, ap-
parently, it couldn't lick it's weight in black
shirts and the prospect Of the new draftees is
very dreary for, as they go in, they meet
men coming out whose discipline has become
slack and who paint disheartening picture
OF life In uniform
Some veterans have been held overtime I'M
necessarily but, on the whole, the job of ship
ping these enormous forces home cannot have
been so very badly done. To start them back
the entire process first had to be reversed and
the supply and shipping systems revised
Meanwhile it was necessary to maintain
smaller traffic of new men in the other direc-
ton for relief and no other nation could have
brought SO many men so far back in COMPARE
BILE time
Mutlny in an Army is a corruption that
must be met and beaten with courage and
force and there have been many mutinies in
the American Army since the days of victory
in Europe and Japan. Regiments have sent
petitions to newspapers, columnists and radio
blatherskites which, in some cases, have been
treated with a great show Of sympathy with
intent to curry favor with a new public of
civilian veterans. One sergeant in the Pacific
was quite proud of his daring defiance of
military law when he started campaign to
intimidate senators and congressman by pro-
noting manifestoes, signed by hundreds or
even thousands of his comrades, threatening
to beat them at the polls unless ships were
sent Immediately to take them home.
# the men can get away with such
serious offense under military law and in time
of war, what will be their attitude toward law
and authority when they come home? Will
they emulate the nobs in uniform which
roamed through Germany after the first World
War and storm city halls and state capitols
pressing demands for one thing and another?
If so, Mussolini or Hitler may spring up
from among them and the whole nation, them
selves included, would pay the penalty.
Already, at home, We are beginning to see
mass demonstrations which lack only the sure
skilled touch of the communist manipulation to
turn them into riots and Instructions The
precedents Of the CLIO. riots which ragged over
four states in the organizing days and the
new mob scenes in the current strikes have
been accepted whereas they should be I'M
thinkable and they are an ominous indication
OF our complacent inurement to growing con-
tempt for government, the only force that can
protect us all from one another.
Probably from the standpoint of national
morale, 1t was a mistake to rush the troops
through the ports as they came home without
any or with hardly any triumpha1 parades |
Not until we examine the facts do we realize
that these men, enlisted or called up in the
finest time Of their youth, quietly vanished into
the unknown, quickly and, on the whole |
heartily adapted themselves to hard life
under rigid discipline, secretly disappeared
overseas and finally, returning home, went
straight from ships to camps where they were
out, one by one. Few Of them ever
had the satisfaction, traditional with conquer
ing armies, Of parading down great avenues,
between cheering banks Of their fellow citi- |
zens, with garlands on their guns. They return
to civil life almost furtive and, having return
3D. they find their country ratified by strikes
and riots formented by men who promised not
to strike during the war but struck ten thou
issues as the color Of the sweet eye-wash
peddled from the hockey pokey cart in the tank
foundry
Men in uniform but without discipline or
respect for law are much more dangerous
than the same men In mutt and we probably
have erred again in not providing decent civil
liam clothing for discharged men and for
bidding the wearing of the uniform after dis
charge. In Europe the American soldier was
blamed for crimes he did not commit because
American uniforms were issued to c1othe the
naked without first being dyed. Now at home
We see many men in American uniforms who
make a point of presenting a
slack appearance, all to the discredit of the
services.
We had one bitter experience in the bonus F
march in Washington in Herbert Hoover's /
time, True not many of the men were in uni
form but they were identified in the public /
mind, thanks in part to bad newspaper work II
in Washington, as wretched, hungry heroes OF
the first World War; Too late it was establish Il
ed that this challenge to the government and Il
the stability of the nation, ITSELF was organic
ed by communist front called the work
mems Ex-service League" and that hundreds
OF the rioters were communists with no serv-
ice records whatever. Many of the real veter-
ans were not needy, at all. Neverless the
mob attacked the police and Mr.. Hoover to this
day has been vaguely blamed for some sort
Of massacre when the fact is that not single
veteran was even injured nor shot fired
after he called on General Macarthur to clear
the streets