Evening star., 1949-04-27
Stop, Look and Listen


Defense johnson wanted to force John L.
Sullivan to resign as Secretary of the
Navy. II so, there Is a certain logic to
the way in which the matter of canceling
out the super carrier was handled
But II this was not the case, II there
was no intent to get rid Of both the
carrier and Mr. Sullivan, then one Is left
characterized by degree Of ineptness, II
not outright rudeness, which promises
trouble In the future.
For reasons which have already been set
FORTH The Star believes that the decision
to abandon the super carrier was correct.
But the. manner in which that decision
was made and announced leaves much
to be desired
According to Mr.. Sullivan the Secretary
and in the course of general converse
ton asked for his views on the super
carrier. After Mr. Sullivan had talked
for about q minute the Secretary. cut
him of, saying he had another engage
ment. Mr.. Johnson said he would discuss
the matter later, and on the following
day the Navy Secretary reminded his
superior in writing of his desire to present
his views.
That opportunity never came. Mr..
Johnson obtained the views of the Joint
Chiefs Of Staff, which presumably were
two-to-one against the carrier After that
he talked to the President, and then he
drafted and published the order for aban-
donment of the carrier. Mr.. Sullivan never
got his chance to be heard. He did not
even know that the order was being
issued, although the carrier was the Nays
top priority project. OF course he re-
signed, as any man with vestige of self
respect would have done.
This procedure raises two considera-
tions. One has to do with the Presidents
oft-repeated complaint that he cannot get
able men to come to Washington to work
for the Government In this instance Mr..
Truman supports Mr.. Johnson, and, by
inference at least, indorses his methods.
Does he think that this sort of thing is
going to encourage men of the caliber
he wants to come to Washington?
The second consideration concerns the
Presidents request that Congress grant
much greater power to the Secretary of
Defense than he now has
The Sullivan episode is bound to raise
misgivings on this score. The Star has
taken the position, and still believes, that
the Secretary needs more authority If
the goal Of real unification of the armed
services is to be attained. But that
authoritU ;if granted. ought to be used with
sense of discretion. After all, service
people and their civilian chiefs are like
other people. They expect to be treated
with appropriate consideration and If
this is not done their morale suffers as
does the morale of anyone else.
When a decision has to be made, and
when attempts to obtain an agreement
have failed, then, of course, the responsible
official has to use his authority. But even
in that contingency authority should be
used with the maximum consideration for
other people, and there is no indication
that this was done in this instance.
Secretary Johnson has not told his side
of the story. Perhaps he has good reasons
for not doing so. But Congress, before
granting additional authority, ought to be
satisfied that the added powers will be
used to strengthen the military establish
ment. If they should be misused, it could
easily be weakened.