Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1951-04-27
lust A Minute
BY JOHN A. ULLMAN

BY JOHN A. ULLMAN
THHE Douglas Macarthur is excellent
n exercise In Democracy. The nations of the world
would do well to think solemn1y upon it. And
would those of here who enjoy (but do not al
ways understand) this Democracy we inherited.
Those of ms who approve the Presidents re-
moval of Macarthur from command should keep
firmly in mind that the aging general is, indeed,
The fight he put up in an utterly hopeless stua-
authentic modern hero. ''f'ti te@*
ton in the Philippines smashed the daylghts out OF
the japanese plans for conquest. The time that
magnificent military action bought months and
lives at the end for it gave industry the time
to tool up.
But because we fully acknowledge MacArthur's
military genius we need not be blinded to his mani
fest faults which are many and dangerous.
1t Is not dangerous that he is hollow and dema-
gogc orator That the thing which will expose his
vanity and his arrogance and open the eyes of the
hero worshippers.
It is dangerous that his concept of Democracy
was to ram it down the throats of the Japanese.
Macarthur knew what was good for the japanese,
and he saw that they got it, period.
He also saw to it, on more than one occasion
that the newspapermen who were assigned to Tokyo
had the greatest difficulty sending critical reports
of his administration of Japan his conduct of the
Korean war. Some called it censorship and maybe
it was
Bigger men, with less of vanity and less of self
righteousness could nave accepted criticism, even
If they did not learn from it.
It Is not necessarily shocking when a commander
In the field turns out to be an iron listed rigid
compromises, either-and he, too had his military
greatness.
But it is shocking when this same commander
makes for himself, or forces upon his nation a po-
ltca decision and most especially when this action
has been specifically and expressly forbidden by his
commander in chief. SD 7'a
was for hagrant refusal to obey orde4s in the
diplomatic sphere that General Macarthur was re-
moved from command. President Truman would
have been eligible for Impeachment if he had 50
dlsregarded the Constitution as to surrender diplo
macy to a general in the field.
When General Macarthur said, with oratorical
pompoSity, that few men living knew more of the
his admitted heroism in the Philippines he was also
being ridiculous.
There are several hundreds of thousand ex-GIs
in this country who know definitely MORE of these
horrors than the General-have stood longer In
colder mud; have faced hostile enemy at closer
quarters for longer; have suffered their personal
wounds, and have had no command post to retire to
when the going got really menacng.
And when he spoke of Limited war" on the
Chinese mainland, he quacking like a duck
There has never been Limited war, and there
never will be- AS Macarthur said to thunderous
applause, the object of war is victory-and who
heard of limited victory? You win or you
lose.
The General Macarthur who strong armed the
veterans of World War out of Hooverville in
Washington; the General Macarthur who helped
eourtmartia1 General Billy Mitchell for his too out
spoken advocacy of air power the General Mac
Arthur who flew to Formosa to pose for a picture
with Chang Kai Shek while our State Department
was scrupulously avoiding such involvement-this
General Macarthur is not safe acceptable advo-
cate of Democracy. He has been removed.