Evening star., 1949-08-05
All Hope for Avoiding
Arms Race Given Up
By Truman; Johnson
Seeretory's Testimony
On Aid Program Held
OF Top Significance
By David Lalcrence

All hope for reduction of arma-
ment and all hope for the avoid
ance of race in armament-build-
ing with Russia seems to have
been given up by President Tru-
man if Secretary of Defense Louis
johnson, who makes international
policy nowadays, was speaking for
the United States Government in
his testimony before the House
Armed Services Committee.
What Secretary Johnson said in
answer to questions by Represent
ative John Vorys, Republican, OF
Ohio, in connection with the arms
aid program is of transcendent
significance. Here exactly is the
transcript Of testimony:
"Mr. Vorys: Now. on disarma-
ment: We've got proposal be-
fore the United Nations that we
will disarm when the rest will,
provided there is inspection, etc.
And certainly this does not change
lIldt, OOto IL! VIC dlC ACnAS w
disarm whenever the rest are on
q basis that will secure all of us?
Fell for That Once
Secretary Johnson: We fell for
that once.
"Mr. Vorys: But we are willing
to proceed: This doesn't alter the
plans we have made?
Secretary Johnson: I am sus-
picious of all the disarmament
talk. I think there is peace for
the world only in a strong, armed
Amepica. We want to bring the
cost of that down within our
economy. But there are forces
loose in the world that I would
not trust for a moment, so far as
America disarming: and we might
as well say that on the record now
as later.
Mr.. Vorys: What I mean is
that when those forces will enter
into a plan of reduction that pro-
vides for our security, we don't
intend to change our views by this
legislation?
Secretary Johnson: You assume
that those forces would enter into
such an agreement. Nobody's word
in certain places will be sufficient.
Nobody's agreement will be sufi-
cient as far as I am concerned,
on certain people disarming.
Mr.. Vorys: We would require
inspection and punishment for
violation, as provided in our pro-
poSal to the United Nations?
Secretary johnson: 1t is pos
sible TO frame it so that by inspec-
ton and checking, perhaps as
Mr.. Baruch talked about in con-
nection with atom bombs, that
Can be done. But with the forces
that are rampant in the world
seeking today to destroy our way
of life, the hope for American
peace, which is world peace, is
strength of American arms and
strength of American economy.
Mr.. Vorys: That is ALL"
Alibi For Mistakes.
The phrase, I'VE fell for that
once" bears explanation because
it is an alibi for the mistakes of
a previous Democratic admins
tration. The reference about dis
arming undoubtedly was to the
arms limitation conference in
1921 by which Great Britain and
the United States and Japan
agreed to maintain naval arma-
ment on the basis of 5-5-3I
ratio.
But the inside story of what
happened afterWard has never
been emphasized. Japan chose to
use the naval tonnage allotted to
her to build fast cruisers and air.
craft carriers. The treaty was due
to expire after II years, and the
Tokyo government formally noti-
fed the other powers. including
the United States, that she did
not intend to renew the treaty.
What is more, Japan notified the
United States in December, 1884,
at the London conference, that
she considered Americas attitude
in the Far East one of aggression
and that she planned to build up
n
pleased.
This warning was never made
public, although now it appears
in the State Departments volume
of past diplomatic records. Evil
IDENTIFY the Democratic admins
tration, which was in power in the
'30's, failed to heed this warning.
Japan built enough aircraft car
rierS to be able in 1941 to cap
ture the Philippines and all of
Southeast Asia and to administer
a crushing defeat on the U. S.
Navy and on the Army and Air
Forces at Pearl Harbor.
Reduction of armament can be
a matter of agreement, but with
any such agreement goes the right
to increase armament if treaties
are violated or terminated
The fact that the Truman ad-
ministration has decided that it
will not modify its arms program
even if tension eases or If the
Russians change their policy, and
that America intends to build up
the mightiest armed force the
world has ever known, will mean
a tremendous cost for many years.
1t will, of course, lead to consid-
cradle competition in armament
which is already being started
and which is being construed by
many members of Congress as the
precursor to inevitable war.