Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-08-08

last appeal to Attorney General
Clark for information regarding
some aspects of the Remington
case.
This letter made the point that
sworn testimony had established
that while Mr.. Remington was
under loyalty investigation by the
FBI and grand jury he had been
transferred to three different top
confidential positions" in the Fed
eral Government. For this reason
the Ferguson Committee letter to
Attorney General Clark asked three
questions: Whether interested Gov
eminent agencies involved in che
transfers had been notified of Mr.
Remingtcn's alleged espionage &C
| tivitieS: in what manner, to whom
and when, such notice was given
and what action was taken by Mr.
Remington's superiors upon receipt
of such information.
Senator Ferguson said the re-
fusals in the Remington case were
in no wise isolated incidents. Rather
he contenoed, it was a part of a
growing pattern of executive Sc
crecy es to Government creations
which haze been develop ing for
some syears. ss's7'e s'"~'s s'"D'-~- s
sFirst Develo,reiSs y New neaf..
He said the first notices. ole COB
et~uction t. i1fc.n1ag: en- tGEc:o.:cd
wnen the "Ncw Eeal"s vas launch
ing its idea of "a planned economy.
The Senator said his Information
\ is that .stle Communists got tileil
flrst~ footnoffd ttffsa--- HgtfcuIture
Department and spread from there
to other agencies"
This was the time, he told the
Senate, when there came about the
installation of public relations and
publicity men on the Government
payroll ION an enormous scale"
At that time, he said, 1t was dis
covered that secretaries for infor-
nation were "just as useful for
twisting information" as they were
for giving it out. Z.
In the wake of this development,
the Republican Senator said, there
came people of every sort of tend
ency and program, Communists in
cluded." Bureaucratic EoWer, he
went on, was accu,nu aim laoo a,ld
the Communists we're ecccr to get
their hands on some CT X. not Ger
looking the advantages OF FEDERAL
meal ticket also
Hierarchy Built Up.
Senator Ferguson said a sort OF
political-military hierarchy was
built up" conferred in, the White
House with the late Harry Hopkins
as the chief.
"What these people said and did
was secret" he continued, Ito be
revealed to Congress, the press and
the people only if it seemed expedi-
ent."
Senator Ferguson said the Senate
Finance Committee had been denied
information on the reciprocal trade
program by Will Clayton, special
adviser to the Secretary Of State.
Congress came up agairs5 the
same stone wall when it attempted
to deal with the security problem
in respect to atomic energy he
said, and demanded:
How far must this trend go be-
fore the Congress and the People
must use drastic means to put a
stop to it?"
Truman Hit Secrecy as Senator.
Turning to MI. Truman, Senator
Ferguson contonded that when ne
was a Senator he had been in-
tensely critical" of Government bu-
reau secrecy, but that when he be-
came President "he became the will
ing prisoner and mouthpiece of this
power clique"
Senator Ferguson went back to
the congressional investigation OF
Pearl Herbor, which began in the
fall Of 1945. From the beginning
Of that probe, he said, the congress
sional group found that crucial wit
nesses declined to appear and that