Evening star., 1946-01-13
State of the Union


the Christmas holidays three weeks
ago the seven Republicans and nine
Democrats on the House floor were
told by Speaker Rayburn: I'VE have
right to be proud of ourselves"
And on the other side of the Cap
itol, where absenteeism had also
made it impossible to assemble
quorum, Senator Taft, speaking for
the Republicans, was saying: 1--WE
are fairly we'll pleased with the
record made by the session, both in
what was and what was not passed
by Congress. When the legislators
reconvene tomorrow it may be
doubted that these sentiments will
be much in evidence, for the re-
turning Congress will be faced with
a domestic crisis of an extremely
serious nature.
In our industrial relations a con-
dition prevails which is only little
removed from anarchy. The United
Automobile Workers, largest union
in the world, and General Motors,
giant of American industry, have
squared away for a fight to the
finish. Telephone and telegraph
facilities are closed down or Grip
pied by strikes Some 1000 steel
workers, jumping the gun on the
general steel strike scheduled for
tomorrow, had left their jobs, and
the indications were that no prog
ress had been made in the attempts
to head off the impending strikes
in the meat packing and electrical
industries.
On the military front, series
OF CT demonstrations, apparently
originating independently, threat
ened breakdown in Army discip-
line. 1t is difficult to determine
how much significance should be
read into these disturbances. The
complaints of near-m -mutiny seem
hardly justified by the evidence. At
the same time, however, they can
not be dismissed as mere safety
valve" demonstrations by boys who
have nothing to do and who want
to come home, for the disaffection
seems to have spread to occupation
troops with serious duties as we'll
as to those who are merely await
ing transportation home. Certainly,
the demonstrations are embarrass-
ing our occupation authorities and
are damaging the prestige of the
country. ..-.
There probably are many reasons
contributing to these disorders at
home and abroad. Yet it can
hardly be doubted that the funda-
mental trouble is a deplorable alb
sence of sense of responsibility.
We have talked a great deal in
recent years of the social and eco
nomic obligations of the country to
the individual. Not enough has
been said about the fact that the
individual, if he is to realize these
benefits, must be prepared to rec
ognize and act upon his obligations
to the country. And today there
is dangerously little evidence of
willingness to face the fact that the
welfare of the whole country must
be put ahead of the ambitions of
any individual or minority group OF
individuals.
The returning Congress, in COL
laboration with the President, can
remedy this state of affairs. But
this will require strong and clear
minded leadership. It cannot be
done if the disaffection between the
President and the Congress, much
of it over shallow political issues,
is to continue. The purely political
considerationS-the considerations
which cause men in public life to
be guided by their estimate of votes
to be gained or lost rather than
by their estimate of what is good
for the country-must be subordi-
mated to single-minded consider
alton of the national welfare. If
this is done, the current drift
toward chaos can be checked. If it
is not done, the state of the union
is going to get a great deal worse
before it gets better.