Evening star., 1950-11-26
Why Blame the People?

There can hardly be any valid disagreement
with General Marshalls assertion that it Is i'm
possible to base sound national defense pro-
gram on "a succession of feasts and famines."
sound defense program requires long-range
planning, and long-range plans cannot be based
on what General Marshall describes as alternate
cycles of strength and weakness. II the armed
services are to erect "an enduring posture OF
defense" they must know with some degree OF
certainty what materials they will have to build
with, now and in the future. If they lack this
knowledge they can only improvise from year to
year, and that does not make for sound de-
tense program. .
Granting this, however, 1t is difficult to
understand why General Marshall should say
that the "basic error has always been with the
American people themselves" In what respect
have the people refused to sanction" what Cen
eral Marshall calls that enduring posture Of
defense which would discourage aggression and
put us in better position for the test If war
should come?
In the first place. the people are not COM
petent to know what is required for q sound
defense program, and they should not be expected
to sit in judgment on that question. It would be
very difficult, however, for General Marshall or
any one else to point to any recommendation
since the end of World War II which would have
improved our military position and which has
been vetoed by the people.
It may be true that popular pressure to bring
the boys home brought about a much -too-hasty
demobilization of our armed forces at the end
of the war. But at that time every responsible
official was predicting that the era of peace and
good will had dawned. Who, in responsible
post, was making any real fight against the
clamor for rehabilitation?
For what basic errors" since that time are
the people responsible? In the case OF universal
military training, which General Marshall and
the President have consistently urged the people,
If one may Judge from public-opinion polls, have
been overwhelmingly in favor of it. We do not
have 1t because no one has made q real fight for
1t, and because Congress has preferred to bow to
the opposition Of minority pressure groups. The
polls indicate, however, that better than 10 per
cent Of the people have consistently favored
military training
II lack Of money is responsible for our mill
tary unreadiness, the people can hardly be
blamed for that. The size of the military budget
Is determined by the administration and Con-
gress-not by the people. And In 1s4s, when
Congress, presumably In response to popular
demand boosted the appropriation for the Air
Force the President decreed that the money
could not be spent. The theory was that our
economy in peacetime could not stand greater
military outlays. In less than a year events had
demonstrated the fallacy Of that theory. But
this was not an error that can be Justly imputed
to the people.
In The Stars judgment, the people of this
country in the past few years have supported
security programs which would have seemed
unthinkable a generation ago. If there is any
major program which has been advocated by the
President and the Congress, but rejected by the
people, 1t does not come readily to mind. What
does General Marshall think the people should
have done that they have not done? In just
what respect are the people TO blame for our
present military Weakness2