Evening star., 1947-08-19
No Need for Hysteriu

II the atmosphere attending Inaugural
ton of the Governments new loyalty pro-
gram is criterion, there need be no fear
that the administration is engaging in
witch hunt. Just as the executive order
setting up the security plan was conserva-
lively conceived and worded, so are the
instructions issued by the Civil Service
Commission for the guidance of the Fed
eral agencies.
Neither the Presidents order nor the
detailed instructions for carrying it into
effect leave room for hysteria on the part
of those charged with the responsibility of
wedding disloyal employees from the Fed
eral establishment. Every reasonable pre-
caution seems to have been taken to
reconcile the necessity for protecting the
integrity of the Government with the
necessity for protecting innocent employees
against haraSsment and injustice.
The program is far less drastic than
that provided in the bill which passed the
House by an overwhelming majority during
the past session, but which failed to reach
the Senate. It follows substantially the
recommendations of the Presidents Com
mission on Employe Loyalty, composed of
high officials of the Departments of State,
War. Navy, Justice and Treasury and CT
the Civil Service Commission. That COM
mission, after careful investigation re-
ported 1t had found sufficient EVIDENCE
ito convince fair-minded person" that
threat to Government security exists in
the failure adequately to guard against
employment of "disloyal or subversive
that safeguards then in existence were
woefully weak and incomplete, with large
loopholes opening the way for infiltra-
ton by Communists or other undesirable
elements.
There is no contention on the part
OF sponsors of the new program that
1t will work to the satisfaction of every
body. AS matter of fact. it is being
launched under the serious handicap OF
insufficient funds. The President, basing
his estimate on figures submitted by the
Civil Service Commission and the FBI,
had requested an appropriation of $685.
100000, but Congress granted only SILL
100000 for the undertaking. This means
that the program originally proposed by
she President must be considerably modi-
ded to reduce expenses. For example,
special investigations of employees in So
called sensitive" positions will have to
be curtailed. Other parts of the program
will suffer- too.
Nevertheless, it is incumbent on the
agencies which share the responsibilities
of the program to try to make it work
to the limit of their facilities. Much of
the responsibility for the success of the
plan will, in the end, rest upon agencies
other than the Civil Service Commission
and the FBI. For the best efforts of the
latter two agencies could be frustrated by
indifference on the part of the various de-
partments whose employees are under in
veStigation. Some personnel officers have
been singularly apathetic to loyalty meas
ures of the past. A similar lack of sincerity
now could nullify those phases of the
program which place full discretion on
department officials as to final action
against employees regarded as disloyal by
the FBI or csc. The way in which the
various departments accept their RESPONSE
bilities under the program should be a
subject of close scrutiny by the President
and bv Congress.