Mac Arthur Continued

The seven general officers who really run the U. S. Army have for the past three months been having landlord trouble. Neither Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, nor his Deputy, nor the other five members of the General Staff, had the faintest idea how much longer they would be in Washington. And while leases of the military at the Capital all contain a one-month's-notice clause, none of the staff or their aides knew what month to give notice.

On Nov. 20, handsome, dashing General MacArthur's four-year tour of duty as No. 1 Soldier of the U. S. was due to expire. No successor was named. Instead, an unprecedented order from the White House continued him in office another 30 days. Secretary of War Dern sorely needed General MacArthur to push military legislation in the coming Congress, to continue his army modernization plans. Despite a law which specifies four years of service for the General Staff Corps, Secretary Dern wanted the President to reappoint General MacArthur for another four years. Seldom bound by legal convention, and apparently without a substitute to relieve General MacArthur, President Roosevelt last week retained him in office indefinitely simply by writing a letter to that effect to the Secretary of War.

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