To Have & to Hold

President Truman gave UNO delegates in London something to chew on. The U.S., he said, is going to hang onto the islands it needs in the Pacific.

His statement, delivered off the cuff at a White House press conference, called for holding the islands under "individual trusteeship," and it gave some hope to friends of UNO who believe that the trusteeship ideal of the San Francisco conference can somehow be maintained. The same words caused some qualms among those Congressmen and Army & Navy chiefs who believe the U.S. should annex Pacific islands outright. The qualms were unjustified.

A trusteeship contract may still be written in London, but whether as "trustee" or outright owner, the U.S. is going to exercise full power over the islands it needs as strategic bases.

The President did not say what islands they will be. But Chief of Staff Eisenhower said: "On Okinawa a garrison of approximately 33,000 Air and Service Force troops will be permanently stationed." The U.S. Navy has indicated that it wants to keep at least nine major bases in the Pacific. A House committee is now on a Pacific appraisal tour.

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