HomeMy WebLinkAboutCivil Defense, an Alternative to a Military State Speech by The Honorable Zoliie Steakley
Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
Sixth State Conference for Texas Civil Defense Directors
Villa Capri Motor Hotel, Austin
Monday, February 21, 1966
2:00 p,m.
In order that we might have a clear understanding of this
topic, "Civil Defense, an Alternative to a Military State," it
is important that we define terms. You know the meaning of
"Civil Defense" as "Government at all levels, functioning in
emergency." But, let's look more closely at the term "Military
State."
"Military" is defined by Webster as "relating to soldiers,
arms, or war," and the word, I am sure, is commonly understood.
Webster has a number of definitions for the word "state,"
but his first definition in the Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
is the one we should use in our thinking today. Here the word
"state" is defined as "mode or condition of being."
So, what we are actually considering today as a "military
state" is: soldiers, arms, or war in a mode or condition of
being.
These words, then, are synonymous with the term "martial
law." Webster defines "martial law" as "the law applied in oc-
cupied territory by the military authority of the occupying
power" But it is his second definition which is more in agreement
with our subject: "the law administered by military forces that
is invoked by a government in an emergency when the civilian law
enforcement agencies are unable to maintain public order and
safety,"
To make our point early, then, Civil Defense - -civil
government functioning in emergency--IS the alternative to martial
law, or a military state.
John Stuart Mills, who lived during a very trying period in
our nation's history, is supposed to have said:
"A people may prefer a free government, but if, from
indolence or carelessness, or cowardice, or want of public spirit,
they are unequal to the exertions necessary for preserving it;
"If they will not fight for it when it is directly attacked;
"If they can be deluded by the artifices used to cheat them
out of it;
"If by momentary discouragement or temporary panic, or a
fit of enthusiasm for an individual, they can be induced to lay
their liberties at the feet even of a great man, or trust him
with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions;
"In all these cases they are more or less unfit for liberty,
and though it may be for their good to have had it even for a
short time, they are unlikely long to enjoy it Benjamin
Franklin said, "You have a republic, if you can keep it."
It is not easy for us to face up to the realities of our
present world situation. It is much easier to turn our atten-
tions to more pleasant activities and hope that disaster and war
will never come.
Modern warfare, with its ever increasing power to destroy,
has created a condition in which every resource of our nation,
including manpower, must be included in our defense plans.
We have fought most of our wars on foreign soil. We have
carried the fight to the enemy and our efforts at home have
consisted of a phenomenal production of goods used in waging war,
and in sending our military manpower to fight in other lands.
If a nuclear war should come to the soil of our nation, we
will have a difference which is beyond the imagination of those
of us who have not seen a country ravaged by war, We will have
blast, heat and fire. Wide areas will be pinned down by radio-
active fallout. The war will be with us, all around us, above
us, underneath us and in our very bodies.
The national government has placed all defense planning,
civil and military, under one head - -the Department of Defense.
The government has concluded that a national shelter system
provides the best single investment for survival, rather than
additional increments in either counterforce weapons or anti-
ballistic missiles.
We are given assurance that a nation -wide fallout shelter
system will save millions of lives, even in the absence of
counterforce operations or anti-missile and air defenses. Put
in another way, an effective Civil Defense program, developed
around a shelter system, may very well become crucial from the
standpoint of limiting damage and saving lives.
A Civil Defense program as we visualize it may be inspired,
urged, and even financed in whole or in part by the Federal
government. But its effectiveness must be the direct responsi-
bility of local and State governments.
Certainly, the Federal government can and should provide
specifications for the construction of shelters, as well as
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guidelines for effective organizations, for warning and
communications, and for emergency police and rescue activities.
These are responsibilities which the Federal government can
assume. But when the attack has been made and the blow has been
struck, responsibility suddenly looms as a problem for which no
outside direction is at hand. State and Federal help will be
available, but on- the -scene direction and control is a local
problem.
In case of a nuclear attack, our National Plan already has
committed the military to provide support, but that support is
predicated upon the existence of available military units and
equipment which can be spared from military combat needs.
In the plan, support remains under military control and
Civil Defense under civilian leadership. If through poor
organization, poor leadership or the disruptive effects of an
attack, civilian control falters or fails, the military is under
orders to move in and take over
On page 4 of the Federal Civil Defense Guide, April 1965,
Part G, Chapter 3, we find, "Civil Defense and other civilian
authorities must therefore understand that military support will
not replace civilian participation in Civil Defense except in
those extreme cases where the civilian capability has been
destroyed or is otherwise unable to act."
Department of Defense Directive Number 3025.10 dated
April 23, 1965, in outlining the military role in support of Civil
Defense, gives as one task:
"Make provisions for installation or station commanders to
render immediate and independent support to local Civil Defense
authorities, and under conditions where civilian control is no
longer effective, to assume such control until relieved by higher
authority or until effective control is established."
Looking more closely at this particular area, the Fourth U. S.
Army Plan for Military Assistance to Civil Authority points out
that protection of life and property and maintenance of law and
order within any state are the responsibility of State and local
authorities in civil disturbances.
The plan further explains that intervention with military
forces in civil disturbances will take place only upon orders of
Fourth Army or higher headquarters in the Army Chain of Command;
however, in circumstances where immediate intervention is
necessary to render it dangerous to await instructions from a
higher authority, a commander of troops may take such action as
the case may reasonably justify.
Although military commanders are directed to cooperate to the
fullest extent with the Governor or other State and local
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authorities and forces, it is further directed, "unless or until
such cooperation interferes with the accomplishment of his
mission" The military commander is subject to no other authority
but that of his military superiors.
The decision to impost martial law will normally be made by
the President, whether it be nation - wide or limited, The Fourth
Army Plan points out "the appropriate military commander would
be the supreme governmental authority in that domestic territory,
to the extent authorized, until martial law should be properly
terminated,"
A declaration of martial law affecting the Fourth U. S. Army
area would require the exercise of control by the military of the
civil population, not only to restore law and order but to
provide for the relief and rehabilitation of the people, the
resumption of industrial production, restoration of a shattered
economy, the protection of life and property, the control of
evacuation and traffic, and the prevention of sabotage and other
crimes,
Where danger is imminent, this can be accomplished by a
military commander simply by a proclamation stating the conditions.
The part of such a proclamation which calls for consideration
here is in the final paragraph, which states:
"Now, therefore, I, (officer's name) , as senior officer
of the Executive Department of the Government of the United States
present within the area here affected, declare that martial law
shall be imposed through the area of (description) , until
such time as I, my successor or higher authority by successive
declarations shall have terminated martial law in any area or
areas because the civilian authority and control can effectively
be restored, and I do require all persons in the area here
affected to obey promptly and fully, in letter and in spirit, such
proclamation, rules, and orders, as I or my subordinate may issue
during the present emergency."
Let me again call your attention to the definition of martial.
law: "the law administered by military forces that is invoked
by a government in an emergency when civilian enforcement agencies
are unable to maintain public order and safety."
Note the parallel we have drawn by the use of the definition
and the quotation from a sample proclamation which could establish
martial law.
Please do not misunderstand. I do not intend to say that this
is wrong. Certainly not, when we can visualize the necessity of
martial law where local government has collapsed through civil
disturbance or war - caused disaster.
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Few people would, in my opinion, question plans such as
these. They are both wise and necessary for a wartime situation.
We are in complete accord with such plans. We should, however,
analyze the implications in these plans and then within these
plans their impact on our civilian population,
First, the military begins by assuming that State and local
units will need help. It says, in effect, that civilians w..).i
not and perhaps cannot organize themselves in such a way as to
avoid the need for military assistance when the going is hart!.
And this seems to be a sae assumption if based upon an evaluation
of the Civil Defense programs in many communities at this time.
There are many areas of this State that have not taken time to
draw up plans of any kind.
Second, military commanders are expected to have plans ready
for complete take-over as circumstances dictate, This means
that each commander must plan to give up some of his force
primarily trained and committed to military activities to assist
some locales in doing a job the community should have been pre-
pared to do for itself.
Third, it should be noted that the military makes its own
decisions as to when and where it takes over and when it with-
draws. The nearest military commander may ask you where and when,
but by implication, at least, this directive gives him complete
authority to move into your city, your county, when your plan
shows weakness.
Fourth, for emphasis, let me stress that a military unit
doing martial law control cannot, at the same time, be performing
its primary function of repelling enemy military forces.
But there is an alternative to martial law. It is a Civil
Defense operational survival plan which can assemble where
necessary and function in such a way that military support will
be unnecessary. This is my thesis and I conclude with these
observations:
First; poorly organized, trained and equipped Civil Defense
units are an invitation to declarations of martial law.
Second; the President will be reluctant to withdraw military
control from a badly disorganized political subdivision; he will
not do so until civilian authorities are capable of handling
their own situations.
Third; historically, most dictatorships have come into
existence as a result of a necessary military takeover.
It is not difficult for us to imagine an extended period of
rehabilitation for our country if we should ever come under nuclear
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attack. It is equally easy for us to foresee the need of strong
military control and support during that period. And it seems
to me that we may go a step further and assume that the strict-
ness and duration of such control would depend largely on how
well we, as civilians, have done our jobs in planning and
implementing our Civil Defense organizations.
I would like to leave you with this thought from the pen of
another:
The average life of each of the world's great civilizations
has been 200 years--and during that life it has progressed
through the following sequence;
1. From bondage to spiritual faith.
2. From spiritual faith to great courage.
3. From courage to liberty.
4. From liberty to abundance.
5. From abundance to selfishness.
6. From selfishness to complacency.
7. From complacency to apathy.
S. From apathy to dependency,
9. From dependency back to bondage.
In ten years the United States of America will be 200 years
old. `there are we now? Where will we be then?
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