Evening star., 1950-07-18
The Political Mill
Irumoh Must Set Lead
In Extent of Mobilization
Congress Members Demanding
Full Statement on Korea
BY Gould Lincoln

The President, Congress and the
American people face q tremendous de-
cision-immediate mobilization Of man
power and industry. Such q mobiliza-
tion will cost Q huge sum Of money.
It might cost 20 or 80 billions Of dollars,
1t will disrupt the lives Of millions Of ;
Americans, among them whole genera
tion OF young men who are completing
their educational programs. The alterna-
tive, however Is piecemeal mobilization.
which might easily turn out to be too
little and too late.
Opinion among members Of Congress
is strongly divided. In any event, most
members point out, the extent Of mo-
bilization for war viii largely. be de.
termined by President Truman-indeed,
he must take the lead. They are de-
manding o full and frank statement,
dealing with the Korean situation and
what 1t may be expected to develop.
Mobilization win bring with 1t regi-
mentation and controls Of all kinds
such as we had in World War II. It
may be hugely unpopular-unless the
President and Congress are able to
convince the people that the safety of
the Nation Is at stake. An election of a
new Congress is coming up. The
decision about mobilization, however,
should not rest upon politics.
Contention Of Lodge.
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, ir.,> Of
Massachusetts,. Republican member Of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
has insisted 1--WE must quickly create a
situation Of military strength-and this
means nothing less than the immediate
mobilization Of American manpower and
industry" To do less, in the opinion of
Mr.. Lodge, will be to play directly into
the hands Of the Communist leaders of
Russia. These gentlemen, Mr.. Lodge con-
tends, have developed fool-proof pro-
cedure-with no cost to themselves, they
impel mercenary native army to ag-
gression-in Korea now but later in
Iran, 1ndo-China, or somewhere else on
the perimeter of the Soviet Empire. And
when they have us extended, here, there,
and elsewhere, they will be in posi-
ton themselves to hurl Russia's own at
tack in the Ruhr, or in Japan. Once they
gain control Of the Ruhr and Japan,
Russia would have a great industrial
potential in their hands, added to their
own Industrial strength.
AS Mr.. Lodge and some of his COLI
&CdSuCo 0CC AG1 L1lc Only Wise course IO1
this country is to mobilize without fur
ther delay, and build up tremendous
striking force and strength Throw the
whole works at whatever point-includ-
ing Korea-that the Soviets undertake
aggressive action. Only in this way, and
by show Of great strength, may it be
possible to avoid a third world conflict,
and only after convincing Russia she
cannot win. This may already be too
late. But in the opinion Of Mr.. Lodge
and other Senators, it's the only chance
for peace.
Strongly o72.-cd.
Such q program is meeting strong
opposition In some quarters It's oppo-
nentS declare that this country should
be able to deal with North Korea with
out such an effort, that complete mobili.
zation would add Tremendously to the
public debt and disrupt the whole econ
omy Of the country, and that 1t would
impose controls and regimentation on
the people from which they might not
be able to get away for yearS-or per-
haps not at all-that IT might mean the
loss Of freedom and the erection of O
socialist form Of government. e
The alternative. however, might be
worse. Without mobilization, and with .
too little and too late piecemeal efforts,
this country might become isolated and
ripe for the plucking.
Mobilization. however. is not the duty
Of the United States alone. It should
be adopted by other members of the
United Nations, and to a degree that
might reduce the load upon the back
OF this country for manpower. The
sooner the United States and the other
nations face the issue, the better.