Evening star., 1947-02-05
MeKeIIar' S Charges
s.-- .,-,. -,
'Besmirch' NAAides,
IaienfhaI Complains
By the Assoeioied Press

~ NV Vsse~'e'S6 t'ss~
David E. Lilienthal complained to-
sday that employees of the Tennessee
Valley Authority are being "be-
.,smirched" by "unsubstantiated'
scharges from Senator McKellar
Democrat, of Tennessee that they
ARE Communists.
!, The former IVA chief and Sena-
tor Mcclellan, longtime antagonists,
-clashed at the Senate Atomic Energy
Committees hearing on Mr.. Lilien-
sthals nomination to be chairman of
the Atomic Control Commission
sSenator McKellar has called Mr..
.Lilienthal the mo. Communist" in
Tennessee.
Mr.. Lilienthal objected to what he
ssaid seemed a clear tendency" by
.eSnator Mcclellan 'in making accu-
stations of Communism against peo-
pile who are not present, or, being
present, do not have the protection
of counsel"
- This type of questioning, Mr..
zLilienthal said, is mot among demo-
cratic traditions"
Mcheltar Reads List.
+. Senator McKellar read list of
TVA employees he said the House
Un-American Activities Committee
has been told are Communists.
Mr.. Lilienthal said he knew Of no
proof that these persons are Com
munists. 1t is not fair, he continued,
Ito accuse people without giving them
"a chance for hearing.
One of the tenets of democracy,
he added, is that the individuals
fright of good name and right not
to be besmirched by charges that
are not substantiated" should not be
violated.
Mr.. Lilienthal contended that
continual dragging of the names of
these (TVA) people before these
committees is almost as un-Ameri-
can as any of the things the COM
-mittee has sought to root out"
Sees No Other Course.
Chairman Hickenlooper told Mr..
Lilienthal it was the American Gus
tom to turn the "pitiless light of
often inaccurate and usually bur-
densoma publicity" on those who
seek public Office or who accept it
by appointment.
whether I agree to questions
asked at public hearings or not, I"
the chairman said, Il am prepared
to defend the right of Senator
who has to vote on the issue to ask
questions he believes pertinent.
see no other course"
Mr. Lilienthal was subjected once
again yesterday to Senator Nickel
lars vigorous questioning about %
the presence of Communists in iva
and CD whether the nominee has
"leftist sympathies."
The tall, baldish administrator
assured his long time political foe
he had no such sympathies.
Lilienthal Gives Views.
Then, when Senator McKellar
called on him to give his views on
"communistic doctrine" Mr.. Lilien-
thai settled down in his seat, faced
his questioner, and let 60.
At another pereiod, Senator Nc
Kellar, Mr.. Lilienthal's sharp critic
through his service on the IVA,
drew a rebuke from the nominee
for bringing his mother and father,
into the discussion.
Senator Mcclellan wanted to know
where Mr.. Lilienthal's parents were
born. The witness replied in an
area now part of, Czechoslovakia,
but then a part of Austria Hungary.
"And Czechoslovakia is under the
domination of Russia?" Senator
McKellar pursued
That's a complicated question; I
wouldn't know" Mr.. Lilienthal said.
"They were born in this area long
time ago. My father is 78 and my
mother is To-"
He told Senator McKellar the
Senator had given his parents
great pain by this maltreatment in
public"