Evening star., 1945-07-19

of the committee has been high
Wood has accepted membership
and the Craftsmanship, made vacant
by the resignation of Representative
Hart of New Jersey. Hart gave ur
the wheel after two months, weary
Of having Representative John
Rankin of Mississippi sitting In his
lap screaming and demanding to bt
allowed to drive.
Wood is a veteran of the First
World War, q lawyer and former
Judge. He is said to be high
class citizen, a little on the con-
servative side. Obviously he Is 6
brave man. That being so, it may
be worth while to offer a few con-
structive suggestions.
Bars Witch Hunting.
The new chairman has announced
that the committee is not going to
do any witch hunting. That Will
leave a large hole in its program
since in the past witch hunting was
the only thing it did nothing else
but. And even now an investigator
is on his way to Hollywood to look
into what Rankin calls "a gigantic
plot to overthrow the Government.
This Notwithstanding that the only
dangerous character turned up IN
Hollywood by the implacable Dies
himself was Shirley Temple, and
that Shirley, having reached the
sedate age Of II, is said to have
abandoned the wild ways of youth
and to have nothing more subverslve
on her mind than marriage.
The committee, therefore, should
be looking elsewhere for un-Ameri-
can activities. 1t won't have to look
very far, not beyond the halls of
Congress.
For example, what could be more
m- American than the filibuster?
The basis of our democratic gov
ernment, Of any democratic gov
ernment, is majority rule. Yet a
minority of two or three members
Of the Senate is permitted, on many
important issues, to substitute its
will for the will of the majority
of the members and a majority
of the people of the United States.
The minority achieves this by OBJ
structing the Senate's work.
The Senate grants to every men,
Der the privilege Of unlimited de-
bate. Having obtained the floor, a
member can talk as long as his
lungs hold out. If he has one or
two helpers ready to take his place
when he needs to go to the little
boys room or wants to take a nap
in the. cloakroom, he can hold the
floor Indefinitely, preventing the
transaction of any Senate business.
1t is a demonstrated fact that any
congenital nuisance who becomes
a Senator can play havoc with our
national affairs in this manner.
Chairman Wood and his commit
tee should look into the matter. It
surely is undemocratic-and un-
American.
Another Job.
At the same time the committees
experts might examine the opera
tions of the House Rules Commit
tee. The manner in which a few
members of that committee, tax
rng advantage of House rules, can
carry on group filibuster to pre-
vent the House from voting on bills
they oppose, certainly seems con-
trary to what we generally consid-
er the American way.
And, finally. the Committee on Un-
American Activities might give some
study to its own past activities.
What could be more un- American
than the practice, in which the
committee has engaged for a long
time, of publicizing it's unsupport-
ed suspicious concerning innocent
American citizens? 1t has hap
pened time and again.
When the committee has cleaned
up these un-American activities in
Congress there is another field
awaiting its work. Certain of our