Evening star., 1947-12-07

Prominent Washington attor-
neg and former head OF the
NRA OF preWqr days.
Harris -EWing Photo.
ting that he is Communist. AS
matter of fact, no witness pleaded
the defense of Standardization.
There is no privilege of a witness
recognized in the law to refuse to
answer the question propounded by
the House committee since it did not
involve Standardization. 1t Is
mere farce comedy for apologists to
babble about free speech and
free press" and secrecy of the bal
lot since none of these rights was
involved. No one but a Communist
ever pretended that freedom of
speech or press authorizes witness
to refuse to testify regarding his
opinions or his political activities,
or that the secrecy of the ballot is
involved, when one is called upon to
state whether or not he belongs to a
certain political party.
A lot of foolish articles have been
written arguing that it is offensive
to American principles to compe.
a man to testify as to his opinions
Ae n ,,,ottor If low, If tho opjpiops
a man holds, whether political OF
economic, are evidence which viii,
shed light upon the question under
legal consideration, he has no right
to refuse to testify. He must even
testify as to his religious beliefs il
that is relevant to the pending issue
Matters of Personal Privilege
The obligation of a witness tc
testify has been established for CEN
turies as shown by the rule laid
down long ago in England In this
judicial language: The public has
claim to every mans evidence ano
no man can plead exemption from
his duty to his country" Or, in the
more recent language of an Ameri-
can court, There is no privilege OF
silence when reticence, if tolerated
would thWart the public good"
There are some varieties of per-
sonal privilege which are recognized
in the law and are justified by the
desirability of preserving the con-
hdential character of certain rela-
tions, such as those between a priest
and penitent, or physician and q
patient or a lawyer and client
But, none of these privileges justifies
man In refusing to testify to his
political affiliations or his politica
or economic opinions If those facts
are relevant to a lawful inquiry.
1t is very easy to criticize legis-
lative committee which is endeav-
oring to get the facts about what
is essentially a conspiracy to violate
the laws and to overthrow the Gov
ernment. Witnesses trained in
Communist tactics do everything
possible to muddy the issues and tc
avoid direct refusal to answer
They try to make speeches. They
denounce Government officials They
do all they can to provoke disorder
and to confuse the public mine
with cries against "fascism" anc
tyranny" and denial of consti-
tutional rights"
These are the same tactics which
lead to street riotlng, kicking police
men in the shins, using any means
of annoyance and physical injury
that may provoke exasperated Off
GERS to use force against force
ana thus create public resentment
against police brutality"
One Way to Combat Them
The chairman of an Investigating
committee is required to have the
patience of Job to avoid turning ar
ordinary hearing into mob scene
and making spectacle of himself
in his righteous indignation. There
is only one way in which these
subversive activities of trained Com
munists can be effectively COM
bated. That is to turn the light Of
publicity on these secretive, treach-
erous practices and to put the finger
OF suspicion upon all those who
whether by design or from adulter-
ated notions of liberalism, carry on
the insidious campaign of creating
industrial and political disorder
and undermining confidence in the
fairness of democratic government
and the desirability of free business
and labor.
OF course, efforts to expose secret
plottings and activities harmful tc
the general welfare, will sometimes
90 astray. Despite my own rather
conspicuous services, writings and
speeches devoted consistently to up