The Wilmington morning star., 1947-02-19
TODAY
and
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TOMOKKOW
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life that he is never attacked. No
man can put himself above sus-
p%icion." ALI he can do is to put
himself above the suspicion of just
and honest men who examine the
charges against him.
Nor can we accept the rest Of
Senator Brewster's theory, which
is, it would appear, that only a
man who is confirmed almost I'm
animously a command general
confidence" Because a public mar
has personal and partisan op.
ponents when he is appointed, 1t
does not follow that he may not
come to command general con-
fidehce.
There is, for example, the con-
spicuous case, as Mr.. Krock re-
minded us the cher day. of the
former Chief Justice of the United
States, Mr.. Hughes. When Presi-
dent Hoover sent his nomination to
the Senate, a strong opposition
showed itself. He was attacked by
some of the ablest and most high
minded Senators in both parties,
for example by Senators Glass,
Borah, Walsh Of Montana, and
Norris of Nebraska. He was
charged with being a corporation
lawyer" and with failure to con-
denim, though he was a member OF
the cabinet, ''the riot of corrup-
tom i n the Harding administra-
ton. Mr.. Hughes was confirmed,
but only by a vote of Sc to 20.
Thus in the eyes of more than a
quarter Of the Senators voting,
Mr.. Hughes was not above sus-
picion and did not command their
confidence.
Yet he was one Of the most dis
tinguished of the Chief Justices Of
the United States. and he com
mands today the universal conf
dence of the American people.
Whether Mr.. Lilienthal will
eventually command general conf
dence cannot be determined today.
His appointment is for two years,
and at the end of this term, there
may be a republican president. In
any event. if he is appointed, the
Senate will be called upon again
to pass upon him but it will
be passing upon his performance
in office and not upon the accusa-
tons of Senator Mcclellan.
In the mean time we r perhaps
forgetting the positive reasons why
Mr.. Lilienthal was selected. 1t is
that he has conducted successfully
the one great operation which
most nearly resembles the opera
tons under the atomic energy act.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is
in scale and scope extraordinarily
similar to the Atomic Energy Com
mission. 1t is the administration
of an enormously valuable national
resources a n d public property in
collaboration with private corpo-
rations and private individuals, in
volving scientific research and
both civil and military service. Mr..
Lilienthal happens to be the only
man in the United States who has
ever administered such a big and
special project. No doubt other
men could have done it. The fact
of the matter is that he has done
it, and that he possesses, not to be
sure unique ability, but a unique
experience. 1t a as natural to
select him for this particular
undertaking, especially at the be-
ginning, as it was, for example, to
send Admiral Byrd back to the
Antarctic because he already knew
more about it than any n else.
There is little doubt that the
rejection of Mr.. Lilienthal on the
Mcclellan suspicious, or by parti-
san politics, would have costly
consequences. The paramount
national interest, both military
and civil, requires that this coun-
try shall never fall behind, shall
always be well forward, in the de-
velopment of the pure and the
applied science of atomic energy.
This depends not only on our
wealth and archaeological skill but
finally upon the very highest
forms of creative intellectual
work.
That kind Of work cannot be
obtained just by paying for it. It
certainly cannot be obtained by
ordering it to be done. The ere
alive imagination is a delicate and
subtle thing, and all men are a
little queer while it is working
within them. The Senate does not
have much to do with men of this
sort. But here it is dealing with
them, and somehow it will have to
realize that the kind of atmosphere
generated by Senator Mcclellan has
much the same whitening effect on
the very highest type of intellect
that a killing frost has on a fragile
plant.
Maybe men. endowed with the
rare gift for penetrating the TN
known and dedicated to the search
for truth ought to be tougher, and
insensitive to an atmosphere of
suspicion. superstition and inoui-
sition. But we shall have to take
them as they are, and accept the
TACT that in an atmosphere like
that OF this nasty fight the hest
work of the best men may be lost.
G