WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11. 1951
Kansas State Historical Society
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
Marvin Arth
the editorial page
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MacArthur: The Stormy Petrel -
General Douglas MacArthur, in attempting to reshape our foreign policy, has finally strayed too far afield and has been removed from his command in the Far East. To MacArthur, the most theatrical-minded of our army men, he was merely exercising his prerogative as the biggest fish in the Pacific ocean. MacArthur unquestionably regards MacArthur as being God's gift to a confused world. Whether he is or not is a matter of conjecture. But it is now an established fact that his attempts at making-over the world situation proved to be too embarrassing to his superiors.
The latest incidents leading to MacArthur's removal were:
(1) MacArthur's letter to Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Republican floor leader in the house of representatives from Massachusetts, which was read on the floor of the house on April 5. In the letter General MacArthur agreed to the use of Chinese Nationalist troops on the Chinese mainland, and stated the theory that Asia is more important than Europe.
By issuing his all-seeing pronouncements General MacArthur has challenged United Nations policy in the Far East at nearly every point. The fundamentals of U.N. policy which our political general in Tokyo has questioned include:
(2) An interview published in the London Daily Telegraph in which the general is represented as saying that if the politicians would "take the wraps off" his armies, they could defeat the Chinese forces in Korea.
(2) That the U.N. is acting defensively in Korea, with no political or military objectives involving the mainland of China.
(1) That everything possible must be done to prevent the Korean conflict from touching off a world war.
(3) That the road to peace is to convince Chinese Communist Premier Mao Tze-tung that he is acting against his own best interests and to woo him from the Russian orbit.
MacArthur's pronouncements have led to a revival of demands from London and Paris for recall of the Far Eastern commander. The issue was a source of friction between the United States and its European allies. It had been hoped that relations with MacArthur could be kept under control until the end of the Japanese occupation. However, the general was seemingly intent on making the situation intolerable, and President Truman was forced to step in and relieve him of further responsibility—F. J. K.
Happy Hour For Communism
(Editor's note: The following editorial was written by Alfred Yang Fing Sim, a College junior from Swatow, China. Mr. Sim was simply concerned over the removal of General MacArthur from his command. He felt compelled to write something it. We felt compelled to run it.)
Last night at 1 a.m. eastern standard time was the happiest hour for the Kremlin and international Communism. It was their happiest hour and our darkest night, because the bitterest enemy of Communism, General Douglas MacArthur, was removed from his command.
General MacArthur was relieved of his command by President Truman because he has expressed his view on the Far Eastern situation on a strictly military point of view. If a general can be fired for merely expressing his point of view to the people of the United States and the world, then freedom of speech will not long endure in this great country and dictatorship will soon rule with an iron fist.
The general was accused of inability to carry out his duty, although he did an excellent job in all respects. In the occupation of Japan, in the Korean war, and in the supreme knowledge and understanding of the peoples of Asia, MacArthur has done a top-notch job. He was idolized by the Japanese people because of his unsurpassed justice and sincerity. Indeed, General MacArthur has won the heart of the Japanese people for the United States and the free world. He was also the hope of all the freedom loving peoples of China and the rest of Asia. However, this hope has been sadly cut off by the sell-out policy of the Truman regime. This is in addition to the effect on the morale of the soldiers fighting in Korea, the disappointment of the people of Japan, and the feeling of MacArthur himself.
Lest night the peoples of Russia and its satellites rejoiced because they knew the feelings of the people of a free Asia. A feeling that they were being left alone in utter hopelessness, unwanted and let down. That such feelings of hopelessness and being left alone could easily turn into hatred and anger, turn friends into foes and their greatest potential enemy into an enemy of the United States, there is no doubt.
The soldiers of Nationalist China in Formosa were itching for action. The guerillas are fighting the Communists on the mainland with mostly will power and faith that the United States, being the leader of the free world, will assist them in their holy struggle and the people who stand the massacre were also hoping for the light to be carried to them soon. However, all these hopes and will power will die soon when they learn that the man who can voice their views to the United States was removed from office for so doing.
MacArthur saw clearly that a stalemate in the Korean war would mean an endless tunnel of death for American youth. He also knew from that Communist China can be crushed by opening a second front, aided by the people's uprising. But his career and knowledge were tragically off.
Indeed, Truman's announcement last night was a sell out to Communism. If I were a Communist, I would rejoice too.
—Alfred Sim.
Letters一
(Because of space limitations, the editor reserves the right to condense letters of more than 100 words. Anonymous names will be withheld on request. Letters should be addressed to the editor of the Kansan.)
Words Of Praise
To the editor:
Congratulations to the new management on increased Washington news coverage. Such issues as U.M.T., draft quotas, troops for Europe, and congressional debates should constantly be kept before student attention. In times when mistakes in extending governmental power and formation of foreign policy could have such disastrous effects upon our own futures, the college newspaper can perform an invaluable service by making it a point to consistently present this information.
It is our opinion that further improvement would be possible if separate columns were set aside either daily or at frequent intervals for exclusive mention of Washington and United Nations affairs. Individual news items could then be covered continuously to their conclusion.
Peace Fellowship Group Wesley Foundation (Seven signatures)
Subtle Attempt?
To the editor:
Interested people always try to read between the lines when they pick up a newspaper. They are aware of the attempts of a majority of the newspapers, sometimes just one or two of a newspaper's staff, to exert a political influence upon its readers.
In smaller papers, such as university dailies, the more subtle attempts in the field of psychology and politics occur only at election times. One such case which has proven interesting in recent weeks is the history of campus politics at KU., written by Lee Shepeard. In deriding the importance of campus politics, especially the many independent political parties of the past, Mr. Shepeard has done a thorough job, although he must have received some help from an article of similar intention which appeared in last year's Daily Kansan.
Clayton Comfort Engineering junior
I wish to congratulate Mr. Shepeard for his journalistic ability, but I must question his innocence of political shenanigans.
Editor's Note: Shepepard has the following reply:
The only purpose of the articles, however, was to relate some of the humorous situations that have come up, and to give a little background on campus politics.
Mr. Comfort: Since you are a candidate on the F.A.C.T.S. ticket, apparently you feel the articles were slanted to lower F.A.C.T.S.' backing by ridiculing campus politics.
The only conclusion I could draw from studying that history was that neither Pachacamac nor its opponents have ever taken as much interest in the student body as they have in getting positions to list under their senior pictures in the Javawker.
I see your point—a small vote always benefits Pachacamac.
To Attend History Meeting
George Anderson, chairman of the history department, will leave for Cincinnati on Wednesday, April 18, to attend a three-day conference of the Mississippi Valley Historical association.
Dr. Anderson is chairman of the program committee. Stitt Robinson, assistant professor of history, will also attend the conference and participate in a discussion on 18th century America.
If the objectives of F.A.C.T.S. are "actually constructive," I fling my hat in the air and utter a loud Huzzah. Nothing could be more useless than Pachacamac anyway.
Just remember that the Lark's in the Heaven, not under your feet.
Yesteryears
Cheek To Cheek
(From the UDK. Dec. 4, 1917)
Students may go to Wednesday night dances, says our adviser of women, if they can't already dance; in short, if the students go there to work and not to play.
But the conditions are rather abstruse. Since styles of dancing have changed, and forced the official measuring tape out of business, why not get out a successor to it in the form of a handbook of conditions?
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