MacArthur warns nation of its internal dangers
Washington (UP) –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur has written Rep. A. L. Miller (R-NE) that the United States “must not inadvertently slip into the same condition internally as the one which we fight externally,” it was revealed today.
Gen. MacArthur voiced the warning in a letter to Mr. Miller which was made public by the legislator. In it, the Southwest Pacific Allied commander also declared:
Like Abraham Lincoln, I am a firm believer in the people and if given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring before them the real facts.
Gen. MacArthur did not elaborate in his letter – dated Feb. 11 – on what he meant by the condition “which we fight externally.” Presumably, however, it referred to military rule and dictatorship in Axis countries.
In another letter, Gen. MacArthur referred to the “sinister drama of our present chaos and confusion.” He also agreed with the “complete wisdom and statesmanship” of comments by Mr. Miller – comments which included an assertion that:
There is a tremendous groundswell in this country against the New Deal… They have crucified themselves on the cross of too many unnecessary rules and regulations.
Speaks of a draft
The exchange of correspondence with Mr. Miller began when the Nebraskan, in a letter dated Sept. 18, told Gen. MacArthur he “should not be a candidate for President but should permit the people to draft you.” Gen. Miller expressed the opinion that “you will carry every state in the Union and this includes the Solid South.”
He also told Gen. MacArthur that if he was a presential candidate, President Roosevelt “will probably not even a candidate” because the New Deal, including Mr. Roosevelt, is “scared to death” of the MacArthur-for-President movement.
A sobering thought
In another letter to Gen. MacArthur dated Jan. 27, Mr. Miller said that he felt Gen. MacArthur’s response to his first letter indicated the general was “interested in some of the political, economic and domestic developments in this country.”
Mr. Miller said he had traveled during the Christmas holidays through Texas, California and Nebraska, and declared he had found “a mass movement by the citizens who are displaced with the many domestic mistakes now being made by the administration.”
Gen. MacArthur’s Feb. 11 reply said Mr. Miller’s second description of internal affairs was a “sobering one” and added that:
We must not inadvertently slip into the same condition internally as the one we fight externally.