Evening star., 1949-06-29
Tydings Bill Is Called
Attempt 10 Set Up
Military Dictator
Cabinet Officer Could
Use Powers Without
Accounting to People
By David Laurence

services COmnlLIee, Will COnIlru III
the fact that it not only concen-
trates in the hands of single
cabinet officer-the Secretary of
Defense-powers that should be
exercised only by the President as
commander r-in-chief directly. but
it vests unprecedented influence
in single military man who. as
his assistant, can thereby DOM
mate the Army, Navy and Air
Force.
without any accountability to
the people, a cabinet officer can
become the military dictator Of
the United States. With a weak
or incompetent President, Secre-
tary of Defense can exercise un-
paralleled power.
The check against such a con-
tingency Is the retention of
supervisory power over their re-
spective services by the Secretary
of the Army. the Secretary Of the
Navy and the Secretary Of Air.
Each of these three or all three
should have the right to go di-
rectly not only to the President
but also to Congress in the event
that there is dispute about ap-
preparations.
Not Confined to Budget.
The proposed statute, on the
other hand. would be justified If
1t were confined solely to. sys-
tenn of unification on budget mat
ters or budget controls. There is
great need of such supervision
and concentration in order that
Congress may get a co-oordinated
plan of proposed spending. Con-
gress in the last analysis must be
permitted to examine such a plan
and get testimony from each of
the three armed services through
their spokesmen.
1t may be annoying to the Sec
retary of Defense to have one Of
the three armed services speak
directly to Congress. as Secretary
Symington did last year, but
there can be no permanent dam
age in giving each service the.
right to communicate directly
with Congress. The attempt has
long been made to keep Govern
ment bureaus from disagreeing
with the Director of the Budget,
but they do. and it is essential
that they be free from coercion
In order that Congress. which
has final control of expenditures,
may make up It's mind what are
the facts of the case.
The proposed Tydings law gives
the Secretary Of Defense not only
powers over budgets but vast
powers over the military services.
Despite the so-called language
safeguards, the bill does give the
Secretary Of Defense the power
to change missions and roles
which were outlined In the De-
fense Act of 1947. The phrase
except as otherwise assigned"
appears frequently in the measure.
Likewise, Secretary johnson him
self, in testifying before the House
Armed Services Committee. in
advertently revealed that single
military man is going to be given
a position of influence enabling
him in effect to override what
the Joint Chiefs of Staff may
recommend.
Joker Seen in Clause.
The Senate bill says there shall
be fourth member of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and that he shall
act as chairman who shall have
no vote but shall be head thereof"
This implies he will not act as
umpire. but the joker is that he
will not formally vote during the
proceedings of the Joint Chiefs.
Later on he will decide the dis
putes and this is conveniently ar
ranged as a separate action to be
performed solely for the Secre-
tary of Defense. Mr.. johnson, in
his testimony this week interpret
ing the Tydings bill, explains it
this way:
"But the chairman must be In
a position, If he cannot secure
unanimity of thought among the
Joint Chiefs. to identify the basis
of the differences. and to submit
to the Secretary of Defense bis
own recommendations as to the
decision which the Secretary of
Defense should make"
This means that the cha sirman
OF the Joint Chiefs is to have the
final say after the other members
have expressed themselves. The
Secretary of Defense can then
make that decision on his own, for
the proposed law gives him the
power of decision" in wartime as
well as in peace. 1t Is an amazing
grant of power to a civilian who
Is not elected by the people to be
communicative chief of the United
States Army and Navy.
What the legislation appears to
be is an attempt to set up mill.
tary dictatorship in cabinet
officer. 1t would be much better
to have the missions and roles of
the armed services which were
spelled out in the Key West and
Newport agreements put now into
statutory form and then limit the
Secretary of Defense to strictly
civilian matters. The Joint Chiefs
of Staff should report on military
plans directly to the President of
the United States. who can seek
the advice Of a Secretary of De-
fenSe but should take full re-
sponsibility for decisions there
after made.
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