Evening star., 1950-09-01
Decentralization
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Decentralization
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should be extended to include their
home communities, he replied that
was a natural reaction from some
quarters, but he still thought the
original plan was better.
Referred to Committee.
A House appropriations subcom-
mittee decided informally to refer
the Presidents request to legis-
lative committee for study. The
question of the appropriation
would come up later. it was said.
Chairman Thomas of the APP
preparations subcommittee told the
House a possible extension of
President Truman's original plan
contemplates construction of 40
or IL or even more" Government
buildings ''at an approximate cost
of from $3.50 million to $500 mil
lion"
Members got into a. debate over
the measure, and there were sew
eral sharp exchanges between Re-
publicans and Democrats before
Speaker Rayburn reminded them
the legislation was not before the
House.
Irked at G. o. p. Remarks.
The Speaker obviously was irked
at remarks from the Republican
side, that the reason. for desire
to move was to protect "bureau-
Gratis" from harm in event Of war.
He apologized for making q
speech from the presiding offlcer's
desk, and remarked with some
heat that the plan sis not to pro-
tect the workers Of the District
4 of Columbia, ;" but rather an ef-g
fort to protect the records that
are irreplacable-military secrets
of the most vital Importance"
Mr.. Thomas, Democrat, of
Texas had explained that the re-
quest for about $40 million is
to construct, within 10 to so miles
of the District, certain units to
house Government agencies "if, as
and when the District is bombed"
He added that 1--WE should request
the Speaker to refer the bill to
the appropriate legislative COM
mittee."
Held Complicated Question.
Mr.. Cannon, Democrat, of Mis-
souri, responded:
THE gentleman is to be COM
mended on his suggestion. This
is a very complicated question,
and it should have ample consid-
Grafton. There is no danger of
attacks on Washington in the
present war because the enemy is
not equipped to reach Washing
ton by plane. Nevertheless, this
arrangement is a matter of de-
fense against some future attack
by some future enemy who would
be equipped to bomb Washington.
THE appropriate legislative COM
/ mittee should give attention to the
question, but may I suggest that
the committee should be practical
about this. If Washington should
be bombed, and. of course, that is
to be expected if there were war
with great power able to cross
the ocean-the purpose of strik-
ing Washington would be to para
lyze the nerve centers of the Ma
ton, both civil and military.
FavOrs Wide Dispersal.
There is no use in merely NOV
ing across the street. and there is
no use establishing from four to 10
towns in the immediate vicinity
of Washington which could be
reached as easily as Washington,
because it would take the airplane
only couple of minutes more to
reach out and take them all in.
Every one In e,city of Wash
ington would know where these
are located, and an enemy would
know where they we're located,
and If they intended to destroy
the nerve centers. they would get
all of these points at the time
they got Washington. So they
should be located at Chicago, Dem
yer, st. Louis or Houston. They
should be placed in localities
where they would really have pro-
lection. Merely putting them a
block or two away here in Wash
ington would provide no protec-
tion whatever. I trust that the
legislative committee which does
take this matter up will take that
into consideration"
Industrial Detroit Cited.
Representative Dondero, Repub-
lican. of Michigan said:
After listening to the discus
sion by Mr.. Cannon and MIR.
Thomas, I think that. if the Gov
eminent is going to act to provide
program of protection for the
city of Washington, it should con-
slider other cities likewise. I hap
pen to come from perhaps the
\ greatest industrial center of the
United States, if not the world s,
and that is the city of Detroit.
It seems to me that, if this kind
of program is going to be estab-
lished here for the people of the
District. the people of Detroit want
to live just as well as do the
people of fhe sity nf Washington.