Milford chronicle., 1950-12-01
WHAT WILL THE NEXT CONGRESS DO?

WHAT WILL THE NEXT CONGRESS DO?
Everybody is now talking about what
the next Congress will do and will not do.
And it's possible attitudes on foreign policy
and related matters are naturally high on
the list of discussed topics.
One thing is certain-iSOlatiOniSm in
the full sense of the word, made no gains
at the last election. In fact, there are almost
no real isolationistS in Congress any more
A true isolatiOnist policy would have us
withdraw from the UNA, drop Europe like
a hot potato, hole in here at home and say
to the world, "a pox on all your countries"
That was just about what happened after
World War l, when Woodrow Wilson failed
in his gallant fight to bring us into the old
League of Nations. No one argues for such
policy any longer. To take an outstanding
example, Senator Faft-WhO will lead the
coalition of Republicans and conservative
Democrats that will dominate the Senate
and who will be the most powerful individ-
ual IN CongreSS-WaS once an iSOlatiOnist
But recently he said, in effect, that no intelli-
gent man could be one in tOdays world.
However, this does not mean that the
next Congress is apt to write blank checks
for all the proposals that will be made in
the name of Western security and world
peace, The so-called bipartisan foreign pol
icy is dead-in fact, it never worked very
workable The chances are that Marshall
Plan aid will be sharply reduced, in the be-
lief that the participating nations are now
able, II they will, to carry more and more of
the. load themselves. And appropriation bills
OF military nature will be sharply scru-
tinized.
There is strong feeling Throughout the
country, no less than in COngress-that in
the postwar period we did not get full value
for al the billions of dollars we spent on the
military. The Hoover Commission estimated
that sheer waste in the Department of De-
fense ran to $1,000,00000O year and some
think this low figure. Moreover the terrible
course of events in Korea has raised a strong
question, rightly or wrongly, as to whether
our defense chiefs, both military and civil
ian, are as wise as they might be. The next
Congress viii look on all defense measures,
existing and proposed, with very critical
eye.
It will be most critical in regard to the
State Department. Secretary of State Dean
Acheson has said that the election will not
change our foreign policy, and that he has
no intention Of resigning. Mr.. Truman has
lntimated as much. However, it should be
remembered that only short time before
Secretary of Defense johnson was dismissed
the President said fatty he would not be
dropped from the cabinet. 1t is believed in
many quarters, Democratic as we'll as Re
publican, that Mr.. AchesOn will have to 90
and that the last election did indicate a lack
of confidence in him, his department, and
his policies.
In foreign policy and national defense
as IN other matters, the Administration viii
no longer have It's own way unchallenged.
&Ge&@
FREEDOM MUST BE EARNED
1--WE all cherish our rights and thew mus
be protected" said Representative Jane.
G. Davis of Georgia recently. "We all trea
sure our freedom and it must be vigilantl,
guarded. But these rights will not survive
nor will this freedom long continue, unles
those who enjoy them daily perform tn
tasks required for their protection and pres
ervatiOn. They are not self-perpetuatinc
They can be kept and rightly belong only t
those who have the courage, the industry
and the determination to guard and defen
them" This is another way of saying ths
the man who takes freedom for granted
much as he takes the air he breathes,
ripe for slavery Few of us would willingl
surrender any basic liberty. Yet millions {
us, in the hope of personal gain or adval
tage of some kind, seem eager to give gov
ernment and those who represent govern
ment more and more power, more and MOI
authority over our lives and actions. An
each time government is given more pOWe
it must be taken from the people. There
no other place from which it can come. tn,
we have witnessed serious decline in IL
old American qualities of independence an
self-reliance no man can satisfactorily den
The tendency to look to the state to prote
us from all manner of human misfortune
and exigencies has reached Ominous pr
portions. And if the state is to be our guar
ian, we are the wards of the state, subje
to its whims and dictates. After ALL he wi
pays the piper will also call the tune On
those who work for and actively defer
freedom deserve to have it.