Evening star., 1947-05-14

wash brush In the lot. Then he tried
again, with q commission consist
ing Of DR.. Ernest M. Hopkins, chair
man; former Gov. Tobin OF Massa-
chusetts, and DR.. Knowles A. Ryer-
son.
This commission was liberal
enough with its whitewash, but the
effect was patchy and dauby, too
thick In some places and not thick
enough in others. 1t was one Of the
most self-revealing jobs of its kind
that the writer has ever seen. The
report was just too good to be true
and not true enough to be good.
For instance, Secretary Forrestal's
committee said: Nowhere did our
committee find any expression of
desire to be removed from under the
auspices of the Navy but on the
contrary, whenever discussion of the
matter came up, apprehension was
expressed as to whether from any
other department than the Navy,
services so vital to them as those in
their possession could be afforded"
Challenges Report.
The committee must have been
more than circumspect not to find
a single Guamanian who wanted to
slough off the petty tyranny of the
naval governors. Secretary Forrestal
himself could have shown the men,
bers of the committee petitions
unanimously adopted by the Guam
anian Congress asking for citizen
ship and Bill of Rights. None Of
the newspaper correspondents
brought back such a story from
Guam, and Representative Poulson
of California, who himself has Wis
tied the island, came back with an
entirely different impression.
It simply is not true, as this Ian
guage would seem to imply, that no
Guamanian desires the ordinary
freedoms that are the natural herit-
age of free men. I challenge this
statement and its deliberate impli-
cation as not being true within the
customary and usual interpretations
of the English language.
One learns also from this report
that Guam and Samoa have civil
government "basically under the
control of the local people them
selves and of (Guamanian) Con-
gress." This Congress lacks all
powers except to give advice. There
can be no local civil government
when the people are subject to
arbitrary arrest and trial before a
naval tribunal without jury. Peo-
pie do not govern themselves when
their homes can be entered and
searched without a warrant and
their property seized at will.
The committee further reports
that government does not cease to
be civil government in the true
sense of the term merely because
the executive head and some of his
assistants may sometimes wear a
military uniform and be responsible
to department of the executive
branch of our National Government
which is primarily concerned with
our national security and defense"
In other words, the Navy is not
military merely because Its person.
mel wear uniforms and an admini-
strative officer in naval uniform is
not q Navy man If. in his closet,
perhaps back on the mainland, he
possesses civilian suit which he
may occasionally wear. The COM
mittee is not on solid ground when
1t distorts or attempts to explain
away incontrovertible facts.
Pledges Violated.
The United States has continu-
ously violated pledges made to and
accepted in good faith by its wards
in Guam and Samoa. These subject
peoples do not have even vestige
of q bill of rights. The tenets of the
American Bill of Rights have been
violated wilfully and persistently.
These peoples have been denied due
process of law. The Navy doubtless
thinks that its rule in these islands
has been benefieient, but 1t has
violated every principle of Democ-
racy.
It is to be wondered whether Sec
retary Forrestal's committee, or the
Secretary himself, has ever read the
report of the Joint Committee un-
der the craftsmanship of former
Senator Bingham Of Connecticut
which found, in 1890, on investigat-
ing conditions in American Samoa.
that the rights of the American