Evening star., 1946-04-02
Weaker Navy Is Seen
In Trumun's S Attitude
Writer Sees Leaders Following
Path We Took in I92Os
By David Laurence


When the Gallup Poll records that
most people think there will be another
world war before Is years have passed,
the average man may say this is empty
speculation. But the military and naval
men whose business it is to think in
terms of national security must 20 on
the assumption that when another war
comes. the United States shall not
sacrifice tens of thousands of lives
while getting prepared.
Unfortunately, the mood of the coun-
try today is coming to be somewhat like
1t was after 1920 President Truman
may disagree that the Nation is re-
verting to isolationist habits, but his
own attitude toward the maintenance
of an adequate Navy is exactly in line
with the thoughts held by his prede-
cessor, the late President Harding.
Back in 1920 there were many public
officials who were willing not only to
scrap what Navy we had, but to keep
America from building up to the limits
permitted by international treaties. AS
consequence, when Pearl Harbor came.
the United States did not have either
naval aircraft carriers or land-based
planes in sufficient quantity to protect
Hawaii
Would Reduce Strength.
again and again the question has
been asked: who was responsible for
Pearl Harbor?" President Truman has
said the American people were respon-
sible. By this he means that the coun-
try didn't support proper appropria-
tlons by Congress. But what he pro-
poses now is to follow the mood of
those who would substantially reduce
naval strength and also make the
Navy less important in the national
defense picture altogether.
The other day Admiral Nimitz was
testny1ng as to the amount of appro-
priations needed by the Navy. He indi-
Gated that the Navy would be consid-
erably weakened by the cut. Promptly
the President criticized the Nirnitz
statement as not being In line with
the facts, and it was learned that the
director of the budget really cut the
Navy appropriations down at the in
stance of President Truman himself.
The director of the budget does not
know what the Navy needs Yet he Is
empowered to slash its appropriations.
Again and again before Pearl Harbor
the Budget Bureau cut Navy requests
and had it not been for the wisdom Of
the Naval Affairs Committee in both
the House and the Senate, which in
creased the funds above what the
Budget Bureau recommended. the
United States would have been even
m worse condition at Pearl Harbor in
194l
Made Air Attack Possible.
Unfortunately, this time there Is
propaganda motivated by the Army Air
Forces to discredit the Navy and nullify,
II possible, its requests for appropria-
tions. 1t Is being openly asserted that
there Is no longer need for the United
States Navy because all the other navies
OF the world which could possibly be
aggressors have been sunk. But 1t will
be recalled that in the last war the
Navy was fighting and conducting a
campaign of offense long after the bulk
OF the japanese feet had been put out
OF action. The Nays victories in land
ing troops and protecting Guam, Saipan
and Two Jima made it possible for land
based Army Air Force planes to attack
Japan with the atomic bombs,
Before the last war there were ex-
tremists who wanted to scrap all battle
ships, but it was lucky thing America
had battleships at Normandy to cover
12-mlle range inland while the in
vasion OF France got under way. Some
how, battleships helped to recapture the
Philippines and to conquer Okinawa and
to protect aircraft carrier task forces
along the coast of Japan.
There is another important factor
overlooked today when it is suggested
that the other navies are gone. The
British still have big Navy. In 1910
when Britain was fighting with her
back to the wall there was MANY an
anxious query inside the United States
as to whether the British feet would
fall into Hitler's hands Supposing a
nation threatens Britain with an atomic
bomb unless she gives her feet to that
aggressor nation? What guarantee Is
there that there will not be large navies
to use against the United States Just
because there are none among our
potential enemies today?
The answer is that in 1920 the Ger
man Navy was sunk, too and Japan was
our ally. While America scrapped her
ships and weakened her naval strength,
other nations like Japan built theirs UP.
Inventions have always prompted ex-
tremists to scrap other weapons, but ex-
perience teaches that no nation rich
enough to protect its people can afford
to be supereconomical when 1t comes to
weapons needed for self-defense.
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