Evening star., 1948-12-10
Truman Seen Riskinq
Loss Of Public BACKING
In Spy Probe Blasts
Muy Not Have Meant
New Red Herring Gibe
To Be Token Seriously
Bv David Laurence

By David Laurence
President Truman allowed himself
10 be .cornered on the red herring
question at his press conference. He
had fenced with the correspondents
on their queries about the latest de-
velopments in the Spy" case and
had answered satisfactorily all the
points raised until some one taunted
him with the inquiry as to whether
he still felt that the whole thing was
q red herring"
Mr.. Truman, with characteristic
tenacity, said, of course, that the
members of the House Un-American
Activities Committee were just seek
ing headlines and that he still felt
as he did during the campaign
about the "red herring" He then
went on to refer to the House Un-
American Activities Committee as q
dead committee and implied that
the new Congress should abolish it
Unfortunate impressions may be
derived from these off -the-cufi
answers to the queries from the
press. They might be construed by
some people here and abroad to
mean that the President condones
Q loose system which permits SO
many documents from the State
Department files to come into the
possession of unauthorized persons
It might also appear as If Mr.. Tru-
man is quite casual about the SEN
sational disclosures and is attempt
ing to minimize their significance
Clash Is Natural. .
There is no political campaign
on now-nor any presidential cleo
ton for four years. Just why the
House Un-American Activities Com
mittee would be endeavoring to
drag q red herring" across the
trail Of current events to divert at
tention from anything Is a little
difficult to understand. Mr.. Truman
is right when he says that men,
bers of Congress are headline hunt
ers, but he must be charitable IN
that respect. for when he was at
the head OF the Truman investi-
eating committee he didn't object
to the headlines he got. And, Incl
dentally, the President made quite
number of headlines yesterday when
he reiterated his red herring
charge.
The clash between the Depart
ment of Justice and the House Un-
American Activities Committee is
perhaps a natural one. The depart
ment looks at violations of the Law
from a technical angle. 1t cannot
ask for indictments except for spe-
cific violations and can do nothing
about events which are barred from
prosecution because the criminal
statutes require that cases must be
filed within a certain number OF
years after crimes are committed
The House Un-American Activ-
ities Committee, on the other hand
looks at the public interest from a
broad policy standpoint. Thus 1t
investigates to learn whether any
new legislation Is needed or whether
administrative officers are perform
ing their duties efficiently and faith
fully. It does not have to follow
the complicated procedures Of the
courts.
rh>cL ~ Tumansa VaIus
This check which the founding
fathers provided, whereby congress
sional committees may look into
the acts of executive agencies, has
been of immense value to the
cause of honest government. 1t Is
something which executive agencies
feel Is sort Of nuisance-they
frankly don't like It, But always
the judges of whether the in
quiries are justified are the Ameri-
can people.
Mr.. Truman apparently wants the
House Un American Activities
Committee to be discontinued. But
this Is not q special committee-it
is a standing committee now Of the
House of Representatives. 1t has re-
ceived a substantial majority each
year on every issue that has
arisen concerning its continuance
It has been in existence more years
under Democratic than Republican
control of Congress. Nearly all the
Southern Democrats will vote with
the Republicans to continue the
crusade against communism. Mr.
Truman is not likely to get his
wish-if he really wants the COM
mittee abolished.
The committee could stand q
good deal Of improvement as to
methods and techniques of pre-
senting evidence to the public. Un-
doubtedly innocent persons have
been hurt by the loose procedures
Public opinion has manifested itsel1
on this point, and the corrective in.
huence is already at work.
Can't Squelch Inquiry.
Mr.. Truman, on the other hand
cannot afford to make an issue oi
the work of the House Un-Ameri.
can Activities Committee and try te
squelch such a legislative inquiry
1t may seriously be doubted wheth.
er his chance remark was meant
to be taken seriously.
For Mr.. Truman cannot afford tt
lose the approval Of the people
Nothing would contribute so rapidly
TO the deterioration of the mex
Truman administration as his los!
Of control Of Congress or a loss o.
the confidence of majority. Ono,
Congress gets the idea that public
support has left Mr.. Truman, 4
will be hard shedding for his meas
ures. 1t Is regrettable, therefore
that the President became en-
meshed In the red herring" ques
ton once more and that he dtdn'
turn 1t aside and merely declar,
that he, like all other citizens
would await the disclosures by con
gressional committees and tn
courts before passing judgment Of
what is obviously O rather en-
tangled spy story.
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