FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1951 UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
AGE NINE
Thought for the Day
The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house of a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master.
—Kahilil Gibran.
The Editorial Page-
Draft Is Only Stop-Gap
By FRANCIS KELLEY
A stop-gap measure to fill immediate military needs is being threshed out in congress—the question of whether or not to draft 18-year-olds. The long-range problem of how to maintain a large standing army over a period of years will not be answered by drafting 18-year-olds. The answer to this particular $64 question will only come when congress approves a program of universal military training, thereby assuring a steady flow of men for future military needs.
There are approximately 800,000 men in the 18-to-19 age group. Some 450,000 will be needed in the next year. And the need won't stop there. The general assumption is that the nation will be in a critical period for an indefinite length of time.
The need for a continuous flow of young men into the armed service is a vital one. Mrs. Anna Rosenberg, undersecretary of defense, has stated that the goal set up by the defense department cannot be met unless 18-year-olds are used.
Mrs. Rosenberg is not alone in advocating the training of 18-year-olds. Topflight educators, legislators, and militarists have voiced similar opinions. They include Gen. D.wight D. Eisenhower, Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, Gen. George C. Marshall, Gen. Omar N. Bradley, Dr. James Conant, Vannavar Bush, Gordon Gray, and the Association of American Universities. Dissenting voices were heard from The Daily Worker and The Chicago Tribune.
"We need them for our long-range security problems," Mrs. Rosenberg said. "A draft of 18-year-olds would provide for orderly growth of an armed force, give flexibility to meet emergencies, and interfere least with our economy."
On the local scene Chancellor Deane W. Malott and Capt. W. R. Terrell, professor of naval science, have given their approval of universal military training.
Chancellor Malott favors a program requiring military training for a period of 18 months or two years for all men, beginning while they are between the ages of 18 and 26. Young men could elect to do their service while 18-year-olds or upon finishing high school. Others might choose to start college immediately.
Captain Terrell recommends continuous training of one year for men between the ages of 18 and 20. The men would then be held in reserve for approximately six years.
"The armed forces are not expected to comment on diplomatic policy," Captain Terrell said, "but they are expected to have some idea of how to adequately defend our nation. They cannot defend the nation without the use of universal military training."
Our top military and legislative leaders are quietly considering a program of universal military training. A senate armed services subcommittee has approved legislation which would create a five-member universal military training commission to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the senate. The U.M.T. program, starting at the end of the present emergency, would require training only and not military service. It is the only solution to a perplexing military problem.
Uncle Sam Is 'Sugar Daddy'
By JOHN CORPORON
While we can't agree with the methods of the 19-year-old Michigan youth who cost his state 4 million dollars to avoid the draft, it isn't difficult to understand the boy's objection to being drafted.
Richard C. Shay admitted setting a map on fire in the Michigan state office because he thought he would be put on probation, thereby escaping the draft.
Maybe, though, he had ideas about how much good would be accomplished by being inducted. In World War I France was on the winning side. She got back some areas lost during 1870's and picked up additional territory. Germany came out with poverty. The United States lost money and men. Britain hastened her decline as a world power. Russia changed her form of government. Killed in that war were $8\frac{1}{2}$ million persons. The United States spent $15\frac{1}{2}$ billion dollars on the war.
Germany made a strong comeback and in 1940 conquered almost the entire European continent. Japan and Italy both carved temporary empires. Well over 20 million men were killed during the last war.
Maybe Richard Shay, married and a father, has read somewhere that World War I was fought to help free people keep the world safe for democracy. Maybe he never could decide from the history book just what really happened from 1918 to 1939. What a shock he must have gotten when he read in the closing chapters of his book and in newspapers that by 1941 the Allies were again battling to preserve freedom in the world.
Out of the mess the United States has emerged at worst No. 2 world power, which leaves her policeman, big brother and sugar daddy to some of our allies.
Now it's 1951. Germany is in shambles. France has come close to economic disaster several times since 1945. She has a private war going right now trying to keep Indo-China safe for democracy. England is poor. Italy is poor. Russia had 15 million of her people killed during the war.
Cartoon Had 'Libelous Nature'
Dear Editor:
We were amazed at the libelous nature of the cartoon printed in the Feb. 6 issue of the UDK.
Though he meant to provoke laughter, and at the same time, to criticize the food served at the Union cafeteria, the "artist" distorted the picture. The cartoon had all the ear marks of "Yellow Journalism," and served notice of the type of journalistic ethics professed by the cartoonist. We cannot accept this type of propaganda as constructive criticism. We feel that the "artist" owes the Union—i.e., all the employees,—an apology. If the "artist" meant to slander a unit of the University, he should have remembered that each unit is comprised of many people—all human.
3. Can he tell us where in Lawrence, the negro students can eat?
Furthermore, if the "message" of the cartoon was sanctioned by the editor of the UDK, we would like him to answer the following questions for us:
1. Can he tell us where in Lawrence we can get better-balanced meals?
2. Can he tell us where in Lawrence, we can get as much food for as little money?
This last point is important in light of the recent, apparently now forgotten, campagin by the U.D.K. to uphold the "democratic" principles of our country.
Bill Schaben
Harold Stroud Oliver Spencer
All Education Sophomores
Union Director Replies To Kansan's Apologies
Dear Editor:
The employees and staff of the Memorial Union appreciate your editorial very much and wish to thank you for your thoughtful expression.
Since we are a service organization on the campus, it is our aim at all times to maintain high standards of food and service. When we have sometimes failed because of unforeseen circumstances, it has been our regret and we have appreciated the kindly expression of the students.
According to our leaders the Russians, our World War II comrades, are threatening democracy. At least we can't blame Germany this time.
Hermina Zipple
Director Memorial Union
Boys like the Michigan one are again needed to take up arms to halt what is termed aggression. Just what good another war will do no one knows. Responsible persons in a position to think about it, too often are busy planning for the next one. Several things might be accomplished: We fight Russia. We win. We smother Russia with friendship just in time to ask her to aid the democracies to stop somebody else's march of aggression.
If the Michigan boy's protest could have been registered vocally, he and the Michigan administration would be happier today. But who can blame him for not wanting to enter the international dog-chasing-its-tail contest?
Yesteryears
(From the UDK of Nov. 6, 1917)
(From the UDR of Nov. 6, 1917) Active military drill work for the men of the University began yesterday. Chancellor Frank Strong made short addresses at each hour of drill while the companies formed in front of the gymnasium and stood at attention.
"This military drill is a part of an attempt to organize thoroughly, the University and country for war service," said Chancellor Strong. "It is an attempt to make our boys who are in the field and who will have to bear the first shock of the fighting realize that we are doing what we can to support them."