Evening star., 1949-11-27
Attacks Upon Johnson
Attributed to Liberals


Attributed to Liberals
Defense Secretary's Economizins Seen
as Cause of Vilifcation Campaign
By Frank r. Kent
He may not be the most tactful man in
the world and certainly there are times when
his plunging policies, obvious ambitions and
personal promotion fail to endear him to the
discriminating. OF course, there is room for
criticism on various grounds. Nevertheless,
there Is such thing as fairness and the
savage attacks upon Secretary Of Defense
some money out Of the $4,000, 100000 appro-
priated for his department seem altogether
out Of proportion and not easily justified.
Two things are to be noted about these
attacks. One is that they come exclusively
from the professional liberals" who were
anti-Johnson to begin with but anti Truman
before that and chronically anti-economy at
all times and places. These are the bright
boys who constantly promote the left-wing
economist, Leon Keyserling who indict DR..
Nourse as an "old fuddy duddy" because he
believes in the multiplication table and who
persistently beat the drums for the ubiquitous
Roosevelt brothers. Jimmie and Franklin.
They are all more or less affiliated with the
self-styled Americans for Democratic Ac-
ton" Of which Senator Humphrey Of Mime.
sofa is an outstanding leader.
The other notable thing is that these
attacks reveal the inherent opposition Of
this element to anything that will save
Government money. This is the group which
regards saving as silly, and, regardless Of
debt, deficits and the stability of our Fed
eral fiscal foundations, advocates ever faster
spending The very word retrenchment II
abhorrent to them. They regard Senator
Harry Byrd as villain and the Hoover re-
port as sinister instrument fashioned by
evil reactionaries Of the Mckinley era and
primarily designed to repeal the New Deal"
This may seem exaggerated. Actually. it is
not far from the truth. Certainly. it Is
true reflection Of what is In the minds Of
some Of the more ardent disciples Of the
spending cult. No better proof could be
asked than the ,unrestrained violence Of the
assault on Mr.. johnson.
$50 4
In effect the Secretary Of Defense Is ac-
cused Of planning a cut In defense appro-
priations that would destroy our national
security and leave this country helpless
against the potential foe, utterly unable
to protect itself. Mr.. johnson. 1t Is held,
is doing this dreadful thing to promote his
own political ambitions, while Mr.. Truman
supports him because he does not know any
better. OF course. this is complete nom
sense. Mr.. Truman and Mr. johnson ,,n-
doubtedly have their failinss. They make
plenty Of mistakes, but to intimate that
either Is lacking In patriotism and willing
to imperil the safety Of the republic for
personal political purposes II outraseously
false. To be sure, the point can be made
against Mr.. Truman that 1t u ridiculous for
him to talk about saving money In any
department 20 long as hs il demanding en-
actment Of his welfare program" the cost
Of which would make even the two billions
Mr.. johnson expects to save next year seem
negligible.
But no such point can bs made against
Mr.. johnson. It u absurd to accuse him
Of willingness to weaken the national de-
lenses merely to make record for economy.
In his recent speech to the American Le-
sion. he made 4 very able and convincing
defense Of his economy drive. He is neither
an idiot nor traitor. He isn't out to render
our defense plan inadequate. He is out to
stop waste without impairtng efficiency, and,
In the main, he is following the lines of the
Hoover report, which, among other little
things. shows that II the Army, Navy and
Air Force could agree on uniform underwear
100000 year could be saved; that the
reduction Of 34,3so motor vehicles to be
inactivated by January Is will save $20,-
000. 900 4 year; that the II, 1876 chauf1eurs
and 1000 recruiting officers to be released
for reassisnment to military duty viii save
over 410,000,o0o. These are just small
examples Of the way In which operating
expenses can be cut without impairing de-
tense. Scores Of other suggestions for much
larger savings are made, and no informed
and fair man has the least doubt that the
100000, 900 Mr.. johnson has fixed as a
goal can be saved without cripplins any
part Of our defense machine.
\
At any rate, that il what he has started
to do and there seems no reason to believe
he will be deferred by the reckless and silly
attacks that are being made. The fact is
that If he did not make the attempt he
would be derelict in his duty and would
deserve general condemnation. II hs sue
ceeds. he viii have greatly strengthened the
defense machine because he will have con-
tributed toward the stabiliSation Of our
Federal financial structure upon which
everything, including defense depsnds II
Mr.. johnson can eliminate waste and dupli-
cation in the armed forces he viii hAvs
fully justified uniflcation and viii deserve the
tics. II he succeeds In his avowed purpose,
1t is inevitable that he will be . much
stronger figure than he Is now. On the other
hand. II later It turns out that his effort
was mainly q matter Of publicity and that
he has weakened or been diverted, then he
will have earned neither credit nor respect
and he will not get either. ..5ae 1
papers could be found. they might be useful
to living inquirers into abnormal PSYCHOLOGY.
4 Z 4 u ,Gs
1.-THE Geological Park" said The Star for
November Is, 1899, was enriched last night
hx, Ma