Trouble at Home

Back in Washington after 32 days away from his White House desk, President Truman found the capital hot, humid and in the doldrums, and the country's domestic problems piled up in stubborn, mountainous stacks. The first 100 days had come & gone. Now President Truman faced problems which could not be solved by a mere reference to his predecessor's policy. New decisions had to be made --and had to be made by Harry Truman alone.

First & foremost was an all-out row over the size of the Army. Civilian officials were clamoring for release of soldiers to mine coal (see Wartime Living) and help out in the transportation jam (TIME, July 30). Almost everybody in the capital thought the Army was too big -- except the Army. Last week, the scrap was brought to a head by Colorado's angular, crinkly-haired Senator Ed Johnson, a constant thorn in the War Department's side.

Senator Johnson accused the Army of "blind and stupid and criminal" failure to provide an orderly discharge of soldiers.

The point-discharge system he branded a "mathematical monstrosity." He charged that the Army could transport and supply no more than 3,000,000 at the Japanese front, not the 7,000,000-man Army as presently called for.

From War Secretary Stimson came a prompt, tart reply. The point system would not be revised until next year, and, moreover, the War Department did not intend to increase its present rate of discharges. Said Henry Stimson: "We shall not let any man go whose going jeopardizes the lives of the men who remain to fight." Rudderless Ship. The size of the Army had the most direct bearing on reconversion, which was the second problem roiling the domestic scene. To all intents & purposes, reconversion was stalled. In a sizzling report, the Senate Investigating Committee had called on the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion to stop umpiring disputes at the policy level, take a strong and active hand in reconversion. OWMR's new boss, Banker John W. Snyder, still unsure and unfamiliar in his job, wanted WPB's operations extended to take in the transition problem.

But WPBoss "Cap" Krug, hoping to close shop, was all for letting OWMR do it.

Both these problems called for policy decisions at the top, i.e., in the White House. Meanwhile, Harry Truman-- although still riding a wave of unprecedented popularity -- had faint indications that the first blush of his presidential honeymoon was over. A group of Democratic Senators held a luncheon just to let Harry Truman know that they would expect more action on domestic matters when Congress resumes in October. And at least part of the press showed its first querulousness toward the new President by repeatedly asking just what he meant when he said in Berlin that the U.S. did not want any piece of territory out of World War II.

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