Evening star., 1949-07-15
Senate Coercion Seen
On Housefor Passage
OF 'Unifiotion' Bill
Atmosphee Of Distrust
Aroused y Stond Taken
By Defene Secretary
Bp Daid Laacrence


Hill is a cornittee torn so much
between cof1icting desires and
viewpoints 5 is the House Armed
Services Conmittee. and yet. by a
vote of Is o 0. it decided to re-
port out "unification" bill to
the Houseof Representatives.
This is he measure which is
supposed + save S1,500,000,0O0 in
the Department of National De-
fense, though IL may be some time
before that sum can make its ap-
pearance IS ap economy. For
already the Sedetary of Defense
has said he dtein't know whether
that sum coul be saved and what
additional suns would be needed
for national Iecurity.
Anyway. q the Senate side,
Senator Tydngs, chairman of the
Senate Arn1d Services Commit
tee, and meabers of his commit
tee are holdlg up the passage OF
the military pay bill till it can be
determined What the House will
do about th "unification" bill.
CuriousKinj of Coercion.
This is acurious kind Of coer-
cion and desn't seem too clear,
because, ifthe members of the
Senate AIRED Services Commit
tee-who re represented as be-
ing desires of holding up the
military py bill till the savings
are achked or assured OF
achievement by the unif1cation
measure-nean what they say. it
may be Seral years before any,
one will now definitely whether
an econmy has been effected.
Only Wenesday night President
Truman warned against cutting
off personel and adding to un-
employmnt. Most of the savings
are supposed to come from the
discharg of 100000 civilians in
the milhry services.
Actuay there is behind the
scenes lot of pressure to force
"unificaon" down the throats OF
variouslnilitary men who oppose
the prgram because they hon.
estly dn't think it will do what
is claired.
Whaa the House Armed Serv-
ices Committee has done is to IA
vor the rPorting of a bill which
deals viii the procurement and
fiscal peations of the Depart
ment of lefense where the saw
ings are Supposed to be made. The
House Cmmittee has omitted
from theb bill the highly contro-
versial setion dealing with a mil
itary chirman for the Joint
Chiefs of staff. Such a chairman
according to Secretary johnson,
will be d pended on to listen to
what thS Joint Chiefs say and
then NAE his own recommended
tions, thus attaining the most
powerful position ever given to a
militay man in American his
tory. He. could control not only
the aocation of funds but indi-
rectly also the missions of each
servic, thus ignoring statutory
authorizations very much as the
SecretaF of Defense has already
Becaue the House Armed Serv-
ices Committee didn't accept this
kind of bill, the Senate Armed
Services Committee apparently is
trying ! high-pressure the House
of REPRESENTATIVES into action.
Coincidnt with this move, Pres
ident fuman issued n threat that
unless the House acts it will re-
ceive measure from him en-
deato,tng to accomplish the same
thirg under the recent Reorgan-
izaaon Act.
-his is strange piece OF CO.
ercon and makes one wonder
what is back of all the effort to
get dne man appointed who will
coltbl what is done in all the
arnf services. The Army and the
Air torce are enthusiastically fol-
the han, as it is known that ar
Arm general will be selected who
is id accord with the views OF the
twoservices and will vote agains,
, the Navy on major issues of vita
imp, ,rtance to the future strength
, andeffectiveness of the Navy.
Scramble For Funds.
A scramble for funds by the
arm led services has arisen. 1t has
ben intensified ever since the
Secretary of Defense began ask
ini the heads of the three armed
sevices to vote as committee on
wlat money each of them should
have.
Coincldentally, an investiga-
tion has been ordered by the
House Armed Services Committee
concerning undue influence by
aircraft manufacturers and lob
byids who have managed to get
big contracts for the B-36 bomber
whsn, as late as last autumn. the
offitial view did not favor con-
cen!rating most of the funds OF
the Air Force in the purchase OF
those planes but instead called
for q balanced ALLEGATION to vari-
Gus types Of planes.
What has added to the general
atmosphere of distrust and sus-
picim, especially in Navy circles
is the order issued by the Secre.
tary of Defense instructing al
personnel in the armed service!
to submit their testimony to hi
Office before appearing at con
gressional hearings. This mov'
has been interpreted as form O
intimidation which has increased
the belief that there must b.
more to the B-36 controvers.
than meets the eye or else ther'
wouldn't be such a palpable effor
to control in advance the testi
mony of the witnesses.
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