Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-02

cannot conscientiously be called essential 10
our security. health. welfare and growth
Magic as is the term security in today
sdistempered world, it must not be exploited
to cloak projects other than those of first
importance to the safety OF the Nation.
Therefore, when I plead the essential justia-
cation OF military pay revision at this
time. do so with complete awareness OF the
urgency ! invoke.
For while your armed forces are not starv-
Ing for the want OF butter and eggs the
failure TO provide persuasive career incen-
tives Is in danger of reducing us to an Army
81 second-raters. AS long as qualified men
respond in free economy to the opportunity
Tor initiative and the prospect OF reward, We
cannot compete for promising leaders on pay
scales that date TO the horse-trolley age
More than any other institution, the Army
Is in the business of people. II We are for
ever to be outbid for the services Of outstand-
ing men. then submit that We shall entrust
our security future to rejects" content TO
make their way in steady job at steady pay.
An army so handicapped in peacetime can
not hope to produce the Marshalls and
Eisenhowers it needs in war.
Bargain personnel seldom produce a bar
gain security system. Yet our Government
clings to the theory that 1t can deal forever
IN basement prices on the talents OF men.
Making Patriotism a Luxury.
We are in danger of making patriotism a
luxury that the most able men can no longer
afford. For today a talented young man
must choose between a military career and
the prospect of greater abundance for his
family. BY our failure to modernize pay
scales, we have told him he can't have both.
AS result of this shortsightedness We
have discouraged from the military service
ND scio
with the talents to improve U.S.
Today we are faced with an emergency
that will adjudge the competence Of our
armed forces 30 years from now. Either
we shall leave to our children a heritage OF
capable military leaders. or we shall hazard
their lives on the limitations OF second-rate
men.
Inferior inducements attract second-rate
men. Second-rate men invite second best
security. In war there is no second prize for
;he runner-up.
However successful our research in science
for weapons Of defense, those devices can
be no better than the men who direct them.
II we expend billions on weapon research
while pinchtng on personnel. We may fnd
ourselves headed toward doomsday econo-
my trap. For weapons in the hands Of capa-
BILE men are weapons that win wars. But
weapons in the hands Of inept men are
weapons that DeCkOn disaster.
Until our armed forces are stated with
men Of such superior quality and competence
that they multiply in value with the passing
of each year. we shall waste much of our
Nations resources in fruitless peacetime
training. For unless each officer and nom
commissioned officer has capabilities greatly
in excess of the responsibility he holds he is
oasically an improbable part Of q military
machine.
Leadership Standards Declining.
As leadership standards decline for the
lack Of sufficient incentives for hrst-rate
men, we shall find ourselves dabbling on
day-to-day defenses rather than investing
In security for the future. Reservoirs Of
military leadership are more important TO
the welfare Of this Nation than picked ships
and lay-away planes.
decline in the cost of living for the
first time since the war has created what
some observers call an unfortunate psyche
logical stage for the discussion Of service pay.
However. ours Is no fourth round Of periodic
increases. Instead the proposal before Con-
gress is the first overhaul of military pay
scales in Al years.
Because their wage-earners are paid from
public funds in the service Of their Nation
the families of servicemen have had neither
shop stewards nor Hobbies to represent their
plight. AS a result, we find men who after
a lifetime of service are compensated at the
scales of their fathers In the gas-light age
Our problem is not a problem Of psyche
logical timing. Rather 1t Is the need for
correction Of long frozen injustice. Only
by showing prospective leaders that service
pay affords them fair incentives in this age
can we hope to excite in them the desir-
ability of service in the future.
The American people have created their
NlteI,s nf4 ratr
own Nation. It is an institution founded
upon equal rights and upon freedom OF
opportunity. It is an institution that has
permitted meas the son Of a country
schoolmaster-to quit my l7-cent-an-hour
lob on the railroad, to compete for a COM
mission and eventually to succeed Gen.
Eisenhower as the Army's Chief OF Stan.
Yet this Is the institution hahitually
whipped by every man with a grievance as
the demigod Of oppression. the protector OF
privilege and the despoiier Of moral young
men.
The United States Army has permitted me
and thousands like me to pay my way hon.
orably In q career of service to the Nation.
1t has permitted me to serve in dignity and
self respect all my adult life a Nation for
whose institutions the military has taught
me greater love and devotion. When plead
for a fair reward. 1t is not for the generation
OF which j part W ktOt SAtak da
a supplicant for q higher wage for myself.
Incentive for Service Needed.
Instead. petition the Nation as q spokes-
man of the service represent TO preserve
an equal opportunity for service among the
young men Of this generation. II we are
70 entreat them to devote lifetime 70 the
service. then we must also give them the
opportunity to serve with dignity. with
honor, and with prospects OF an abundant
livelihood for themselves and their families.
The need for revision Of military pay
scales to recruit young leaders In the armed
forces has already been supported vigorously
by the President. by the Armed Services
Committee and by q commission from In
dustry headed by Charles r. Hook.
Because the original bili introduced at
this session Of Congress sought 70 replace