The daily monitor leader., 1945-11-30
. BEHIND THE SCENES
IN WASHINGTON .

was more like the baying of po-
litical hounds on the trial Of
some poor goat to skin and sacri-
flee on the affairs of history in
atonement for the congressmen's 8
own past shortcomings.
The committee got away to q
Enthusiastically b e u d d e d
start. A fuse had blown in the
big Senate Office Building ma
jor'y caucus room where the
hearings 'are being held. The
only illumination came from two
spotlights set up by the news
reel men. While congressman
are used to being lazzled by
their own brilliance, they were
positively blinded by the movie
spots. Chairman Barkley ordered
them doused.
In the echoing, cathedral dim
ness, Committee Counsel Will
liam D. Mitchell rose and began
to introduce the exhibits of
translations from Japanese Sc
cret code diplomatic and mill
tary messages. I-e couldn't be
heard, so was told to sit down
and get his mouth closer to q
microphone.
The first two witnesses called,
Admiral Inglis for the Navy and
Colonel Thielen for the Army
both revealed they were not at
Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 194l,
which of course made them ex-
perts.
At 1890 the lights came on.
And at the same time the word
was passed among the 200 re-
porters assembled for the Pearl
Harbor orgy that President Tru-
man would hold a special press
conference at the White House
in half an hour. That could be
for only one thing-to announce
the results of the U.S.-Canadian-
British conference on tonic
bomb control.
1T WASN'T A PLAY FOR
HEADLINES
Now it may have been that
President Truman was smart
enough to announce the results
of his conference with Prime
Ministers Attlee and Mackenzie
King so as to take the news play
away from the opening day OF
the Pearl Harbor probe. But
probably not. A better guess
would be that the President
made his atomic energy an
nouncement just as soon as he
had it read:' no sooner and no
later. Anyway, few Of the re-
porters left the Capitol for the
White House because Pearl Har-
Dor, with it's possibilities for sen.
sational disclosures, looked like
the bigger story.
But was it? What happened
at Pearl Harbor four years age
is nothing compared to what
may happen at the start of the
next ''ar. Whether or not there
is another Pearl Harbor on q
bigger scale to start and finish
World War III doesn't depend or
anything the Pearl Harbor in
vestigating committee does In
the next six weeks. 1t depends
on what Is done about control
ling atomic energy. Truth Is, the
atomic age simply has not fully
dawned on Congress or the peo-
pie they represent.
The issue of what to do about
controlling atomic energy-the
m ost potentially destructive
force ever created by mankind
has been at large in the world
for three months. For half thai
time it has been before Congress
The House, apparently feeling
itself utterly incompet t to deal
with the issue, has given up try.
ing. And I, : Senate is just now
beginning to 60 to work on the
problem by sending the McMa'
hon Committee to Oak Ridge
Tenn, where some Of the mate
rial that went into the bomb wa.
made.
How's that for being alert tc
the number one question facing
the country today and the worlc
today? Congressman would rath
or nlav nolitics. After all. they