Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1942, Page 9

Report Has Two Sides Mobilization Order Said to Have Been Up to Washington By DAVID LAWRENCE. ‘Why wasn’t the fleet of the United States Navy mobilized on November 26 or in the 11 days thereafter if the Navy Department considered the situation be- tween America and Japan to be on the edge of war? This penetrat- ing question is § being asked by naval experts after reading the Roberts report. Admiral Kimmel and other offi- cers in his com- mand at Hawaii, 1t is related, wefe accustomed for many months to getting messages from Washington telling of the delicate relations with Japan but there was always the caution expressed to them that the Navy must take no steps to offend Japan or to produce an overt act. This it is argued was one reason why all the naval officers at Hawail almost without exception did not expect any form of attack. If ‘Washington didn't see fit to pro- claim a mobilization, the officers natirally believed the situation could not be as serious as repre- sented. The fleet was scattered on Decom- ber 8. Some ships were on the West Coast in what might be termed recreational journeys and sqme were engaged in normal exercises. Two Sides to Story. It is not the business of the com- mander in chief of the Pacific Fleet to mobilize. These are orders which ‘Washington is expected to send out. It may be that the court-martial proceedings for Admiral Kimmel will be welcomed by the latter be- cause it will furnish an opportunity for all thess points to be thoroughly explored. That there are two sides to the story is generally conceded among naval men, many of whom are pointing out that it was the business of the Army to protect against air attack and that the concentration of the fleet in Pearl Harbor was a policy determined upon in high quarters in Washing- ton and not by Admiral Kimmel. There are, incidentally, many comments heard to the effect that Admiral Richardson should not have been removed from his com- mand and Admiral Kimmel substi- tuted and that when the vacancy was created the right man to have succeeded him was Admiral Snyder. Navy men on active duty cannot David Lawrenre. discuss these questions and yet in | naval circles there are all sorts of reports to the effect that President Roosevelt himself had & hand in selecting these high officers at Hawaii and in resolving the conflicts of views as to whether the battle- ships of the fleet should be concen- trated in Pearl Harbor. If a court-martial is held or con- gressional inquiry to follow through on the Roberts report, it must log- ically take up the errors of omission and commission by everybody who | had anything to do with naval policy. court-martial or inquiry during the ‘war period would be difficult to con- duct without taking active officers away from their duties. Postpone- ment of the whole inquiry to some more favorable opportunity may be the best way provided steps are taken promptly to correct the errors that are known to have been made. General Staff Plan Urged. One of the things Congress can do at once is to provide the Navy with a general staff. Under the present organization the eight bureau chiefs report to the Secretary of the Navy. Also the so-called “general board” is only advisory and [ not an operating body. But while an operating staff for the Navy to help Admiral Stark is essential so is an operating chief for Gen. Marshall in the Army. If a record of what both Gen. Marshall and Admiral Stark have had to do in the-last few months were com- piled it would be found that they do not have time to administer their respective departments, perform the many functions of contact with Congress and domestic phases of | their work such as the mobilization | and equipping of a draft Army or expanding Navy and still give thought to overseas operations day by day and hour by hour. The lessons of the Roberts report are numerous. If they are taken to heart, the country will benefit, but with Army, Navy and Air Forces still operating independently under a vague formula of “mutual co- operation,” there must be further risks in store for our troops and sailors. (Reproduction Rights Reserved.) 60 Pearl Harbor Widows Apply for Aircraft Jobs B> the Associated Press. LONG BEACH, Calif,, Jan. 27— Sixty Pear]l Harbor widows have ap- plied for jobs in an airplane plant with the motto “Keep ’em flying to avenge our husbands’ deaths.” “We feel that we should do all we can to carry on the work and the cause for which our husbands so nobly gave their lives at Pearl Har- bor,” said Mrs. Fern Evans. Her husband, W. C. Evans, chemists’ mate, third class, was lost in action at sea “Aircraft work is one way of doing our part. We are determined to do our share in the war effort that must go on and on until our loved ones are avenged and the final vic- tory is won.” Sixty widows and a gold star mother took aptitude tests yester- day for positions at Lockheed and Vega Aircraft Corps. Navy Chap- lain J. E. Johnson said there are gfl Pearl Harbor widows here and expects more to apply for jobs. It would appear that such a | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1942 Pearl Harbor || The Political Mill T Roberts Report Outlines Lessons for U. S. Which Every One Should Take to Heart By GOULD LINCOLN. Unified command of armed forces, naval and military, is the demand in some quarters today— an increasingly strong demand as the full implication of the Rob- erts report on Pearl Harbor sinks in. It is apparent fi the re- port that there was a complete lack of co-operation and co- ordination of the military and naval commands there, and that this lack was in considerable re- sponsible for the disaster which overtook both services on De- cember 7. Proposals for a De- partment of Defense, in charge of the Army and the Navy, are not new. Nor are proposals for unified air command. Those, however, are debatable matters that require a great deal of con- sideration. On the other hand, a proposal that a single officer, either of the Army or the Navy, have supreme command in a given area of military and naval operation is essential, unless there are to be other Pearl Harbors. The country has finally come to unified command for the pro- duction of war material—with Donald M. Nelson at its head. It struggled along for months with & dual command of the defense production, with William Knud- sen and Sidney Hillman as joint commanders. It did not work. Judging from the Roberts re- port there was practically no co- operation between Admiral Kim- mel, in command of the naval forces at Pear] Harbor, and Gen. Short, in command of the mili- tary forces. It may be argued that if they had co-operated, things would have been better. The only sure way to have co- operation, however, is to have a single head in command. Then the right hand will always know what the left hand is doing. The argument has been made for years that it is far better to maintain the Army and the Navy as separate and distinct organi- zations, each under a cabinet officer as head of the Navy or the War Department. It has been urged that the morale and the traditions of the services would suffer if any attempt was made to combine these services under one department. It certainly seems clear, however, that in a given field of operations against an enemy, where both services are involved, there must be unity of command if the most efficient action is to be had. Air Power Underestimated. Senator McCarran of Nevada has introduced a bill for unified command of the air services. This has been strongly resisted. Neither the Army nor the Navy wishes to give up its command of air forces. A cold shoulder has been turned to the McCarran proposal by the Senate Military Affairs Committee, and the measure has been shelved — or had been shelved—on the theory that with the war under way, this was no time to tamper with the setup. That some members of both the Army and the Navy have grossly underestimated the value and power of air attack and defense—even after observ- ing the war in Europe for the last two years—is unfortunately true. Never was this poor judg- ment more devastatingly dis- played than at Pearl Harbor, where the commanding officers ‘attack by Japan, discounted all possibility or prob- ability of an air ‘attack by the Japanese. The President’s demand for 60,000 airplanes this year, however, has given a more adequate idea of the part which air forces must play if this war is to be carried to a successful conclusion. Since the publication of the Roberts report, which shows & most painstaking and thorough investigation of the attack on Pearl Harbor, there has been strong criticism in some quarters because the forces in Hawall and the Philippines, and other out- posts in the Pacific, were not greatly increased. The argument is made if the administration, and particularly the Secretaries of War and Navy, had known for a year there was imminence of the report shows, there should have been built up in these Pacific bases much stronger defenses, both military and naval. This may be true. During all that period, however, there was a strong anti- war party and isolation party in this country. Groups which con- tended that there was no danger to the United States, and that this country and its possessions could not be successfully at- tacked. These contentions have now been given the lle, at least in the initial stages of the war. It comes with ill grace, too, that the criticism of the Government for not strengthening the armed forces — anywhere — should fall from the lips of some of those who were strongest in their op- position to the foreign policy of the administration and, in some cases, to building up the armed forces of this country. Should Be Taken to Heart. Furthermore, even if the mili- tary and naval forces, including the air forces, had been greatly increased at Pearl Harbor, it would have made no difference as long as there was such lack of co-operation and such lack of watch in that area. The more forces there, the greater would have been the target, if all the other circumstances had been the same. It is pretty late now to com- plain that the Philippines were not more adequately prepared for war—and Hawaii. They were not —and that fact can be charged up to the whole country, to re- luctance of a great part of the American people to make the preparations that were really necessary. It was the political weight of this anti-war, isolation- ist sentiment that was largely responsible for lack of prepara- tions, in the Pacific area and everywhere else. ‘The best information points to the fact that Japan was ready Y and prepared to attack the United States long ago—and ‘would have done so long ago, had she been able to make the kind of peace with China she wanted. ‘That the attack was delayed so long, and this country was given more time to build up its forces and prepare for war production, it is contended, was due to the unwillingness of the Chinese to make this peace. ‘The Roberts report has been made in an unbiased, non-politi= cal way. Its lessons must be taken to heart. It would be un- fortunate, indeed, if they were used merely to play politics. TWO NON-STOP FLIGHTS DAILY 415 pm 5:15 pm Only 4 hours 20 minutes Lv. Weshington Ar. Cincinnati Ar.Indienapelis Ar. Chicoge 7:25 am 1:55 pm 4:15 pm 4:25 pm 5:15 pm 10:23 am $:21pm NON- 10:37 am 5:37pm STOP 7:4Spm STOP 11:55 am 6:55 pem 7:35 pm 9:03 pm 8:35 pm 7:35 pm NON- % No change of planes necessary when you go to Chicago by Flag- ship. American is Washington’s— only through service to Chicago. Excellent connections at Chicago BOSTON Only 3 hours 2 minutes! for the West and Northwest. For reservations, call your Travel Agent or REpublic 1000, Ticket Office: 813 15th Street N. W, Buy Defense STAMPS and STAMP Out the Auis!| EUGENE C. GOTT, President 9 ¢ Through Services { V1. Ships for the Work of War A major objective of our war program {s the building of a merchant shipping fleet on an unprecedented scale. The war has spread over all the continents and all the oceans. The whole planet has become a battlefield. Tremendous quantities of sup- plies must be sent across un- counted leagues of water. Our ships must take them across the Atlantic to Britain, across the Pacific to Russia, India and Burma, north to the Arctic ports, and south into the tropics. Our supply lines must reach from our own industrial arsenals over the seas to fighting fronts of the whole world. The Mari- time Commission is now launch- ing ships at the rate of one every 24 hours. In the next six months, or before, it expects to be launch- ing two a day. Present schedules call for the building of about 2,000 oceangoing vessels. Other War Program Dwarfed. Today’'s program dwarfs our First World War building of the bridge of wooden ships. At the time of the armistice peak em- ployment in American shipyards was about 350,000 men. We had at least equaled and possibly ex- ceeded that total before our entry into this war. At least 750,000 men will be at work bullding ships in America for ourselves and other nations fighting the Axis when the present program is in full operation. Up to the beginning of De- cember, 1941, contracts had been signed for 999 ships; keels for 272 had been laid; 154 had been launched—and 123 of these had been delivered and sent into ac- tive service. 131 New Shipways Ordered. With the Navy also carrying out the greatest program for building fighting ships in our his- tory, the capacity of our existing yards was long ago exceeded. To meet the demand the Maritime Commission has ordered 131 new shipways. More than 95 per cent of them are already in use and the rest are to be in production in the next two months. Ship- yard facilities have increased since the commission began its program in 1937 from 10 yards with 46 shipways capable of turn- ing out vessels 400 feet or more in length, to 40 yards with 275 ways capable of this work Twenty-nine of these yards—with 202 ways—are devoted to building ocean-going merchantmen. Speeding up of the present huge construction program de- pends primarily on labor, ma- terials and equipment. The 'HE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s, Such opinions are presented in The Star’s eflort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s, Report to the Nation Fifth Installment of MacLeish War Production Summary Details U. S. Shipbuilding Efforts principal shortage of equipment is in propulsion machinery—en- gines to make the boats go. A wide distribution of work among available manufacturing concerns, large and small, was devised when the construction program first got under way. The commission reports that the ship- builders of America have applied their ingenuity to the develop- ment of new techniques to the end that a shipway shall become, as nearly as possible, an assembly line, After the Nazis got control of Europe's continental coast from Norway to Spain, a shortage of ships to meet our commercial needs ahd our promised aid to Britain soon developed. As the fighting areas spread over the earth the shortage was aggra- vated. Since the beginning of the war the commission has per- mitted the transfer of 227 ships— vessels of 1,000 gross tons and over—to foreign flags. These ships total approximately 1,100,- 000 gross tons. They consisted of vessels considered obsolete from an economic standpoint. Many had not been in use for several years. Another 200 vessels, totaling about 1,500,000 gross tons, have been transferred to Army and Navy use since the fall of 1939. 2,000,000 Tons for Allies. Moveeover, the President di- rected the commission in April, 1941, to assemble a pool of 2,000~ 000 tons of shipping to be allotted to the nations resisting aggres- sion. All these transfers and alloca- tions account for more than 4.- 000,000 gross tons of shipping, 50 per cent of the 8,000,000 tons of ocean-going merchant shipping available to this country when we went to war. Meantime, while the ships were being transferred or allocated, the volume of goods to be transported grew. In 1938, our sea-borne for- eign trade called for the trans- portation of 75,000,000 cargo tons. American ships moved about 26 per cent of this trade. Now pre- liminary estimates indicate that the total movement of our exports and imports for 1941 exceeded 80,000,000 cargo tons—and that men are being trained at shore stations, licensed officers at sta- tions aboard merchant ships and at four State marine academies. At two stations training in gun- nery is being given to new seamen and officers. This will be extended to other stations and training ships as soon as ordnance now on order is received from the Navy. The men in our new merchant fleet are going to be armed and trained to protect the cargoes they deliver. (To Be Continued.) Start Pay Raise Drive | meet advancing living costs. FREE PARKING SUITS & At 14th & G for 36 Years Look Forward! Invest in Good Clothes That Will Last . WA bills calling for $1500 minimum | wage: providing $300 increases for | The United Federal Workers, C. I.| all persons receiving less than $3.200 O, todav started circulating peti- annually, and setting up an over- | tions among Government employes | time scale providing time and one- { calling on Congress to raise pay to| half after 39 hours and double time A 15 per cent differen- The Federal Workers are pushing | tial for night work also is sought. | for Sundar. CAPITAL GARAGE O'COATS are ”As Fine As Human Hands Can Make"” NOW AT CLEARANCE PRICES $60 Fruhaufs, now 54 $65 Frfihaufs, now $58% $75 Fruhaufs, now 6 8% $85 Fruhaufs, now 7 8% Our Other Clothing and Men’s Wear Now Also Reduced % DIVIDED PAYMENT CHARGE ACCOUNTS % MONEY WEST, o M« 6 & { 1 This Changing World Japan's War Chariot Encounters Trouble; British Suspicious of Nazi ‘Reverses’ By CONSTANTINE BROWN. Allied defenders in the Nether- lands Indies and Australia are greatly hearténed by the contin- ual arrival of American and Brit- ish reinforcements in that vast area. The Japanese continue to make progress in Malaya and in all likelihood they will obtain more spectacular victories both in the Philippines and north of Singapore. But the tires of Ja- pan's war chariot are beginning to wear thin. American and British bombers and fighters have made effective appearance in the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. From the standpoint of major uperations they are a drop m the bucket, but they are beginning to worry the Japanese high command, which is now compelled to throw more forces, especially naval units, into the battle. Reports from the scene of op- erations indicate that the planes and flying personnel of the United Nations are distinctly su- perior to the Japs, who, however, still have overwhelming superior- ity in numbers. For the time being the British contribution is exclusively aerial. ‘The United States is going to the assistance of the beleaguered forces in the Pacific with air, naval and military detachments. Their number and movements are not being disclosed, but with- out being unduly optimistic it can be said that within the next five or six weeks there will be an American force in those regions which will make Japanese mili- tary operations incomparably more difficult than they have been heretofore. The Australians, who have been greatly concerned over the possi- bility of an invasion of their main territory, are now breath- ing easier. Unless some hitch occurs to induce the American high command to change its present strategy, they can be cer- tain that by the time the Japs are ready to undertake major operations against pivotal Aus- tralian positions, there will be sufficlent American land, sea and air forces there to take care of them. U. S. Planes Active. Heavy, medium and light bomb- ers of the United Nations are re- ported to be operating between Burma and Australia. This was to be expected, because smaller aircraft such as pursuit and fighting planes do not have suffi- cient range to cross the Pacific under their own power; they must be transported in ships. According to the same reports, light naval craft—cruisers, de- stroyers and submarines—already have reinforced Admiral Thomas C. Hart's command. The activi- ties of his units have materially increased recently. As to the number and type of land forces being sent to defend Australia there is nothing official, but when the time comes the offi- cial communiques will show that the frantic shouts from Australia have not gone unanswered. The British are necessarily compelled to keep a large naval and military force at home, in the Mediterranean, Egypt and the Near East. All they can af- ford to send to the Pacific for the moment is an air force which can be spared from the European and Mediterranean theaters of operation. The British general staff is not taking chances. Although the Russians are progressing satisfac- torily and the Nazis are yield- ing ground every day, there is something unquestionably pecul- iar about these operations. The Germans are simply not fighting. Occasionally they are caught and lose men and war material. British Suspicious of Nazis. It would be unwise to jump to the conclusion that the Nazis have lost their punch and are licked. The British and Russian general staffs certainly do not advance or even indorse such a theory. The Nazi general stafl realizes that Hitler has blundered in trying to force the pace against Moscow. They are taking their medicine and withdrawing as rapidly as they can to positions which were prepared many months ago. But the British are watching the Germans carefully. Some Nazi divisions have been with- drawn from France and sent to Norway. Strange as it may seem, the “eliminated” Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch is re- ported to be in command there. These troop movements and the presence of the former com- mander in chief of the Reichs- wehr in Norway has led the Brit- ish to believe that the Germans might attempt an invasion some- time in the spring, when, the Nazis hope, Britain will have been sufficiently weakened by the sending of military, naval and air forces to the Pacific. There are also important con- centrations of German air forces in Mediterranean countries. It is believed in military quarters that the Germans are relying on the prowess of the “honorary Aryans” in the Pacific. How correct this summary of enemy strategy is nobody can say. But in any event, the Brit- ish are highly suspicious of the Nazi moves and are reluctant to part with any sizable force which today comprises the United King- dom’s army of protection. “Thomas hair service pleases me,” says Capt. A. B. Fitzgerald American Alriines “Million Miler” Veteran Pllot Y career as a pilot prompts me to observe the skill and accuracy with which other men execute their chosen duties. I have great admiration for the Thomas scalp experts who have looked after my hair. They are endowed with uncanny skill and ability in the field of hair and scalp culture, and administer a scalp treatment which is pleasant, soothing, and stimulating, * says Capt. A. B. Fitzgerald. During the past twenty years a quarter-million other men found relief from scalp worries by turning their hair problems over to Thomas. Why don’t you, too, come in to- day and find out more about this reliable, proved method. Let a Thomas expert show you how Thomas treatment removes dandruff and relieves scalp itch caused by recre- ments He’ll advise you—in private—without charge or obligation. Come in today! = THOMAS SUITE .1050-51 WASHINGTON BUILDING (Corner N. Y. Avenue and 15th St. N.W.) (Bepars HOURS—® AM. to 7 P.0L. te Departments for Men and Women) SATURDAY fe 8:30 P.M. i McLemore— Becomes Admirer Of Walking Horses By HENRY McLEMORE. WARTRACE, Tenn—The boys around Henry Davis’ barn are laugh- ing powerful hard these days. So is the overall and gallus set that frequents the town pump, Hudgins’ Drug- store and the Hulan Harness Shop. They al- ways sald that the automobile wasn't here to stay. They have maintained for years that it was just a new-fan- gled gadget that wouldn't last, and sooner or later all sensible folk would get back Henry McLemore. | to the only real, honest-to-goodness | means of transportation, the Ten- nessee walking horse. Wartrace, a non-thriving, non- | bustling Middle Tennessee metropo- lis of 700, is the cradle of that | unique breed of all-around utility | horse, the Tennessee walker. The | automobile durn near killed the | place, but now, with the automcboile frozen, and with tires scarcer than retreaded horseshoes, Wartrace is on the boom again. So are all the other towns in this section of the country, where the walking horse had his head bloodied | by the automobile, but never com- pletely bowed. They've been breed- ing and selling walking horses around here since Andrew (Old Hickory) Jackson was a dashing | blade. | ** %% But now you perhaps are wonder= ing what prompted me to come to Wartrace, and why my sudden in- terest in the Tennessee walker. Il be honest with you. Twenty-four hours ago I had never heard of that breed, but in a conversation with Gilbert Orr of the Nashville Ban- ner I became convinced that when the automobile becomes temporarily extinct, it’s the thing to ride. | It's the one breed of horse that every one can ride. The running horse is out, naturally. Even jockeys have trouble staying on them. The American saddle horse isn't any- | thing for novices, either. It is fracuous. spirited, has five gaits, all ‘o( which are schemingly calculated to make the rider uncomfortable. | Put a non-horseman or non-horse- woman on the average saddle horse and dreadful things happen. And | not to the horse, either. But the Tennessee walking horse strictly lives up to his name. He walks. He is not interested in shaking your gizzard loose from whatever gizzards cling to. He doesn't like to buck. He won't run and shake you up unless he is driven to it. b 4 you'll just get on his back and leave | him alone, he’ll walk you to wher- ever you want to go, and if you do happen to slip off, he'll stand quietly by and wait for you to get back on. There have been instances where | Tennessee walkers have tried to assist dismounted riders back to the ‘saddle‘ He has only three gaits: The canter (which he despises and uses | only when forced to show off to a crowd), the flat-footed walk and the running walk. When he is flat- footing, he travels at about 3 to 5 miles per hour, and when he shifts into the running walk he gets up to 6 to 8 miles an hour. * X % % No other breed of horse has these gaits. Don't ask me why. My guess is that the horse wants to be comfortable, too. Little children can climb on a Tennessee walking horse and ride away in perfect safety. Grandma can hitch up her skirts, settle down comfortably (side saddle, of course) and go off to the Ladies’ Aid or missionary meeting without a fear of falling off and breaking her bones. The same goes for grandpa, mama and papa, and all the other members of a family. If you're not riding him, you can plow him. He's a big, tough horse, whose stamina comes from progeni=- tors who weren't nursed and pams- pered in elaborate stalls, but came from rickety, wind-swept farm barns. Veterinarians would starve to death if they depended on treating Ten- nessee walkers. Theyre a handy horse in front of a carriage, too. Theyll pull a surrey, buggy, barouche or any other vehicle you hitch to 'em. They don't | even mind pulling a wagon, with the | overflow members of the family sit- ting in the back on cane-bottomed chairs. Don't get the idea, though, that when you get a Tennessee walking horse you have bought yourself something with bloodlines like a mule. No, sir! His blood is as pure |as anything that wears mane and tail as standard equipment. In April | of 1939, Haynes Peacock, a Tennes- | see walking horse, won first prize of a 40-pound sack of flour at a | county fair show in New Hermon, Tenn. Seven months later, in No- vember, he flat-footed out into the show ring of another city that starts with New—New York. Right in Madison Square Garden. And when he had shown his stuff, they pinned a blue ribbon on him. Tomorrow I am visiting & famous farm near here with the view of purchasing me a Tennessee walking horse. See your local paper for what happens. Giddy-ap! (Distributed by McNaught Syndicate, Inc.) Edgar Masters Relents, Accepts Literary Award By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, Jan. 27—Edgar Lee Masters, 72-year-old Kansas-born poet whose “Spoon River Anthology” has run through 70 editions, broke his rule against accepting literary or academic honors last night by receiving the 1941 medal of the Poetry Soclety of America. Mr. Masters sald he took the award because it came from a group devoted to an art “that has made England the cherished realm that poets do not wish to see destroyed.” L] L}