Milford chronicle., 1948-05-14


tarily. And there will, of course, be
a considerable increase in military
orders for conventional weapons.
The fact that top military men
take the claims Of airpower enthu-
siasts with a grain Of salt is .nstur-
al. A good commander cannot be an
optimist. He must plan on the
worst, and prepare himself as best
he can for every conceivable con-
'tingency And, like everyone else,
the military leaders ask for more
that they expect to get. So it Is
only reasonable to assume that
much OF the testimony on the ARM
ament program represents the
very human fault of exaggerati0n
At the top, there is said to be
more and more feeling that show
of strength and determination by
us will eventually persuade Russia
to sit down and negotiate the
worlds differences. That is GER
tainly the hope of all nations now.
At the time this is written, the
war-is-imminent spirit doesn't
seem so intense as it was a short
time ago. It reached almost hys-
terical proportions in March, when
some of the commentators talked
bHthely Of rains of bombs on AM
erican key centers. A number of
military leaders are still warning
Congress and the country that the
possibility of war this year or next
cannot be brecluded. However,
such top officials as Defense Sec
retary Forrestal have expressed a
much more moderate view, and the
general feeling is that a war, if
there is to be one, is at least FIVE
years of, probably ten, and maybe
fifteen.
Back of that are several theor-
Lies. One is a stiffening of anti
cOmmtnist elements in Europe, as
indicated by the Italian elections.
THE other is that nobody is ready
for war or could win war. A
third is that, sooner or later, this
country and Russia will get to-
gether and find some means where
by communism and capitalism can
exist peaceably in the same world.
In this connection, it is interest
ing that reports from Moscow say
the government has soft-pedaled
war talk in it's controlled newspa-
pers and radio. Stress is laid on
current plans for expansion of the
, lpPoduction of consumer goods, a
projected higher standard of liv-
|, ing for the Russian people, etc.
III Every time the war scare dies
| down, the public eye naturally TO.
cuses once more on domestic mat
? ters. Congress has completed mOst
l of it's big iobs-EurOpean aid anC
: the tax reduction measure among
3 them. Last major matter awaiting
] final action is preparedness anC
e the pattern that will take is cleal
r Ia bigger ,air force, a limited draft
s but no universal military training
\ this year. No surprises are at al
e likely, unless the course of worlC
: affairs takes an unexpected turn
a So the lawmakers, and the public
( can draw a deep breath and piI
t their attention on the political bat
4 ties that are now moving tOwarl
j, the climax.
r The stop-Truman movemen
d within the Democratic, party is
: dead duck The President will b.
J. nominated for reelection unless h
It amazes everyone and withdraws O
: his own volition. Only question i
> who he will choose for his runnin
, mate. Party leaders would lik
IL Justice Douglas of the Suprem
d Court who, they think, might b
l. able to bring back into the fol
,e old Roosevelt followers whose en-
l. thusiasm for Truman is nOn-exis
IS tent. But he hasn't shown any ar
IS parent interest thus far.
g The Stassen drive has been i
y, the bull-market phase. No Othe
IS COP aspirant has shown anywheT
e, near his ability to attract the vo
l. ers. He is tireless, has an exec
lent personality, and has been III
lg usually fortnight on all the i!
W SUES. DuLy dI Tic SAINT IAAAlCJ IL
Sc stop-Stassen element in the GO
le is gathering it's resources. Vote
It on primary ballots don't necessa,
ID lily mean votes in the cOnventio
ly hall, and many top party leader
d, have no liking for the ex-gOvernC
w of Minnesota. They think he ism
E. regular" enough, wouldn't be
p good party man, is too much Ill
IL Willkie. However, as in the ca'
a. of Willkie, they may have to tai
b. him whether they like it or not
lg public fever reaches a high enOul
n temperature.
rs In all his talks, Mr.. Stassen HI
DIS spoken glowingly of Senator Va
o. denberg, a fact which has led
some interesting speculations. Oh
Mt of them is that if Mr.. Stassen Sc
i'll that he can't get the nomination
lir will throw his strength to Il
p Michigan senator, and perhaps a
ry cept the second spot on the tick,
is Governor Dewey's stock has de
It's nitely declined, though his backe
wv still talk enthusiastically, and he w