Evening star., 1949-04-22
RoyaII's S Departure
Was Expected After
Johnson Got Post
Navy and Air Force
Secretaries Also Due
To Resiqn Soon
By David Laurence

Departure of Kenneth Royal
from the post of Secretary Of the
Army was inevitable as soon as
the announcement was made that
Louis johnson would be made
Secretary of Defense. In fact all
three secretaries of the armed
services may be expected to leave
the Government before long.
When Secretary Forrestal re-
vealed last autumn his intention
of leaving the Defense Depart
ment, the preference at the Pen
tagon for Mr.. Royal to be Sc
lected as Defense Secretary was
an open secret. 1t was reported
that both secretaries, Sullivan of
the Navy and Symington Of the
Air Force, had indicated their de-
sire to see the existing team main
tanned.
Mr.. Royal was, of course, a
loyal Democrat during the whole
campaign. including the precon-
vention period. He helped to keep
the North Carolina delegation in
line at the Democratic convention
when other Southern States were
boiling the Truman standard. On
the last night of the campaign
that is, on the eve of election day
Mr.. Royal made speech in the
Presidents home town, Independ-
ence, Mo, and it is understood
that Mr. Truman himself selected
the Army Secretary for the ,oc-
casion.
So Mr.. Royal was politically in
tune and also had the benefit Of
actual experience in the defense
establishment. Mr.. Johnson. on
the other hand. had prior or, II
the word can be used without any
attempt at irony, higher claims.
He had collected the campaign
funds when the dollars were
scarce. Under the present code Of
political ethics the money-raiser
gets almost anything he wants and
no questions are asked.
Element of Experience.
There was, to be sure. the ele-
ment of experience. Mr.. johnson
had been Assistant Secretary of
War in the Roosevelt administra-
ton. This gave a certain per-
suasiveness to the choice of Mr..
johnson but it didn't altogether
answer the question of why Mr..
Royal wasn't chosen and the pres
ent elements of the team at the
top retained.
It will be argued that unification
has not succeeded but certainly
this has not been the fault of the
three secretaries of the armed
services who worked together un-
der Mr.. Forrestal. Whatever ele-
mentS of discord there are have
little bearing on the way the
civilian secretaries have operated
or will operate. It is inside the
services, among the officers, that
a clash of opinions has developed
and this will never be cured by
reshuffiing the civilian aides at the
top of the Defense Department.
President Truman was asked at
his press conference if he thought
Mr.. johnson was doing a good job.
The President had to answer that
one in the affirmative even though
he is in no position as yet really
to give a candid appraisal.
A Bold Beginning.
The new Secretary has made a
bold beginning. He has evidenced
his determination to bring about
unity If he possibly can. But there
are some signs that he may have
unwittingly created some disunity
at the same time. 1t isn't going to
bring concord if the Secretary of
Defense gives the impression that
all that needs to be done to secure
unification is to knock few
heads together" Nothing could
be more demoralizing at this time
than any such approach.
What is important at the present
time is that all sides be given a
thorough opportunity to present
their facts and that preconceived
notions or prejudices be laid aside.
To suggest that Mr.. johnson or
any other civilian can decide the
fundamental issues of strategy
satisfactorily just because he may
have such authority or may obtain
1t from Congress is in itself one
of the dangers that the whole
military establishment faces.
For, If the experience of men
who have given their whole lives
to a study of military affairs is to
be brushed aside and civilian de-
cisions are to be made hastily and
without an attempt to bring the
military men themselves into
agreement, the whole defense pro-
gram may suffer grievously.
This is a critical time in the evo-
luton of the Is billion dollar pro-
gram. There are many things in
1t that can be improved and uni
fed. Many economies can be made.
But the job cannot be done over
night nor can inexperienced civil
ians carry out the program by
substituting their judgment for
the expertness OF conscientious
military advisers.
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