Evening star., 1948-10-17
Truman Asks 14.4 Billion Budqet
For Military 2 Billion Over r1948>
But 8.6 Under Plea Of Chiefs
Surprise Reserve
Training Program
Sent to ForrestuI
By John A. Giles

President Truman announced
yesterday a $14,4O0, 100000 mill
tary budget for next year, ST.
000,000,000 more than this year,
as he ordered a vigorous" Army
and Air Force reserve training
program which caught defense
officials by surprise.
He coupled the military budget
announcement with statement
that he believed there had been a
slight easing of world tension.
Mr.. Truman said that his defense
chieftains had wanted a budget of
arounds23, 900 100 900, but that he
had cut them back. The figure he
announced was. in fact. lower than
q $4,000 100000 limitation on mill
tary spending set several weeks ago
by the Budget Bureau for the fiscal
year beginning next July /.
Russian Approach Better.
The budget statement, at a news
conference aboard his campaign
train as he returned to Washington
from, mid-Western tour. followed
the Presidential order earlier in the
day directing Secretary of Defense
Forrestal to come up within go days
with speed-up program to build
up and train reserve units. 1t was
signed at Clarksburg. w. Va.
In amplifying his statement on
the world situation, Mr.. Truman
said that there had been some i'm
proyement in the Russians ap-
proach in that they are better about
talking things over.
Mr.. Truman also saw the con-
tinuing United Nations debates as
a reason for optimism. He saw
nothing in the world situation that
lent a note Of urgency.
1t would take Croessus to MAIN
tain spending like the military
wanted, Mr.. Truman declared. Once
firm foundations for peace have
been laid, Mr.. Truman said, he
hoped to reduce military spending
to about S. 900 900 900 to $1,000, ,000,-
600 annually. He said that he had
tried TO get the military budget
down $4,000 900 900 in 1946-47 and
pointed out that the previous year
1t had stood at s105, ,000. 900 ,000
Wants Adequate Force. .s
At the same time. the President
made it clear that ne wanted ade-
Quate defense forces and pointed
out that there was a tendency in
peacetime to neglect the military
establishment. He said he did not
want to see this.
Turning to the armed services
reserves. Mr.. Truman said that
they needed no additional money
now and added that when they did
he hoped to take it from the budg-
cts of the Regular forces.
In fact, Mr.. Truman said. his
order to expedite reserve programs
was part of an overall program to
reduce defense cost by using trained
officers as a nucleus for providing
trained civilian reserves.
The order merely strengthened his
overall defense program, MIR. Tru-
man added.
He listed as part of that program
unification of the armed forces, and
universal military training He
recommended passage of universal
military training to the last Con-
gress and said yesterday that he
would recommend it again.
Forrestal Is Silent.
Mr.. Truman said that there are
SOC. 900 to 5000 officers who re-
ceived training in World War II
and at least half of them would
like to keep up their training. The
President said that nothing was
being done to build up the reserves
Of the Army and Air Force and en-
phasized that he wanted them built
up like the Navy and Marine Corps
reserves.
He added that he had organized
tSee DEFENSE. Page A-8J