Evening star., 1949-07-29
For a Stronger Defense

The cOnference-appro unlncatlon-
tightening bill represents a reasonable
compromise between the Senate ana
House versions of this controversial legis-
lation In substance, the final bill con-
tains most of the essential elements OF
the Hoover Commission formula Tor a
more eficient military establishment. And
it also contains some of the safeguards
against military dictatorship" recon-
mended by Mr.. Hoover and his associates.
There will be statutory chairman OF
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but he will not
be "super-chief of staff" in any sense
of the term He would, however, be
military man, not civilian. The chair
man, under the proposed law, would
neither vote at Joint Chiefs meetings, nor
exercise military command in any way
Nor would he be the principal military
tary of Defense, as proposed In the Sen
ate bill. He would have the prestige OF
higher rank than any of the chiefs OF
staff, however, provision indorsed by
the chiefs themselves. In effect, there
FORE the new permanent chairman OF the
Joint Chiefs of STAFF would occupy posi-
tion and perform duties quite similar to
those of the present temporary arrange
ment, under which General Eisenhower
has been serving as presiding officer.
The principal military adviser to the
President and the Secretary of Defense
would continue to be the Joint Chiefs, as
a body. This plan assures the, President
and the Defense Secretary of receiving the
benefit of all views of the Joint Chiefs,
even the minority ones. This is important
to the Navy, which has found itself fire.
uuently on the minority side of questions
before the jos.
Compromise was easier in the less con-
troversial provisions of the legislation,
having to do with administrative reor-
ganization of the combined armed forces.
This reorganization in its general form
had been urged by the President, Defense
Secretary Johnson, the Hoover Commits
sion and both Armed Services Committees
in Congress. Most practical OF the
changes will be the formal changing OF
the name of the National Military Estab-
lishment-a designation which never
caught Onto Department of Defense,
with creation of deputy secretaryship
Ito be held by Stephen E. Early and OF
three assistant secretaryships. The Sec
retaries, of the Army, Navy and Air Force
would retain their titles, but they would
rank just below the Deputy Secretary and
would not be of cabinet status.
Passage of this legislation presumably
shelves the Presidents Reorganization
No u,hi iph
anyway. Mr.. Truman frankly said he was
sending the plan to Congress for action
only if satisfactory unification legislation
were not adopted on Congress own initia-
tive. There Is no reason to believe that
the compromise bill will be other than
satisfactory to the President, since it fol-
lows so closely his own plan.
This Is the most important legislation
to improve the national defense setup
since enactment of the military merger
law in 1947. If estimates of the Hoover
Commission prove accurate, up to three
billions of dollars year will be saved the
taxpayers. These savings do not take into
account the added cost of an increase
in military pay, provided in the House,
approved bill now pending before the
Senate. This pay raise is so vital to i'm
provement of the morale and efficiency
of the defense forces that it should be
granted, even though it may mean less
savings The unification-reform bill and
the pay bill should be considered as
complementary measures, designed to
strengthen national defense through diff
ferent approaches.