Evening star., 1948-12-11
The Political Min :
Un-Americun Probe Unit
Abolition Held Unlikely
Truman Seen Facing Rude Awakening
if Committee Death Is Must

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Truman Seen Facing Rude Awakening
if Committee Death Is Must
By Gould Lincoln
President Truman doesn't like the House
Committee on Un-American Activities. 1t Is
constantly turning up with charges and in
formation which tend TO show that Q Com
munist ring infiltrated into the Government
itself and has been operating In this country
before, during and since the war. A Pres
ident might be expected to welcome any
assistance-even from q committee Of the
House-in the eradication of subversive forces.
But that has not been Mr.. Trumans attitude.
He called the activities Of the committee
red herring" drawn across the trail Of the
Eightieth Congress, before and during the re.
cent presidential campaign.
The latest and most startling revelations
Of the committee have again been referred
to by Mr.. Truman as red herring"
The Presidents remarks at his press con-
ference are construed as q challenge to the
continued existence of this House Committee
on Un-American Activities. Indeed, 1t seems
rs though Mr.. Truman regards the recent
election-his election-as O mandate TO get
rid of this committee If Mr.. Truman makes
the abolition of the committee must" on
his program for Congress, he probably will
be in for a rude awakening. The late Franklin
d. Roosevelt and many of his New Deal friends
had no more use for the committee, known
for long time as the Dies committee, than
has Mr.. Truman. In those days, the COM
mittee was . special committee, and every two
years its life had to be renewed and money
appropriated for it. Every effort to kill it
was Overwhelmingly defeated.
What the Facts Show.
The Chief Executive said that the House
committee was not prosecuting any one and
that 1t was merely after headlines He added
that Attorney General Clark was the man to
do the job, and that he had all the informa-
ton necessary. The facts to date, however,
show the Justice Department and Attorney
General Clark have accomplished little-ex-
cept the indictment of Representative J.
Parnell Thomas of New jersey chairman Of
the House committee, for receiving "kick-
backs" from the pay Of certain employees on
the payroll. It has been the Committee on
Un-American Activities which has thrown the
light Of day on the subversives at work in this
country. and which has brought a general
public demand that something be done about
them, and 1t was finally made q standing
committee.
1t was this same committee in the past that
turned up information on which the Gov
ernment ran down and dealt with both alien
and native enemies Of the Government of the
United States. The Justice Department made
= poor record, too, in the Kansas City vote
fraud case-which were developed by an in
vestigation carried on by the Kansas City
Star, after the primary election in which Pres.
Rllr ivn
Representative Slaughter, Democrat, who had
incurred Mr.. Truman's anger.
That the President and some of his Demo-
cratic supporters are giving the first place to
politics in this issue between themselves and
the House committee appears from a state
ment made by Senator McGrath of Rhode
Island, chairman Of the Democratic National
Committee. MIR. McGrath deplored the fact
that this House committee was at liberty to
continue its work-following the recent presi-
dental and congressional election. He said
that apparently the ghost Of the Republican
Eightieth Congress is still walking AL of
which has nothing to do with the merits Of
the Casa case In which 1t has now been
shown that valuable secret documents were
stolen from the State Department Almost it
seems, Mr.. McGrath is chiding the committee
for turning up any such information, and for
making 1t public
May De Sole Culprit.
What members Of the House committee fear
is that II the whole affair is left to the Attor-
ney General, the sole culprit will be Whit
taker Chambers, self-confessed former courier
for the Russian Communists and that the
men who actually turned over the dangerous
documents to Mr.. Chambers will 60 scot-free.
The members of the committee insist they do
not intend to let Mr.. Truman and Attorney
General Clark draw any red herrings across the
trails Of the guilty, II they can help 1t.
As the Un-American Activities Committee Is
at present made up it has five Republican
members and four Democratic. The control
will 90 to the Democrats in the new Congress,
and Representative Wood of Georgia, the rank.
ing Democrat, Is slated to be its chairman.
with Representative Rankin Of Mississippi as
second on the Democratic list If the Demo-
cratic administration seeks to eliminate Rep
resentatives Wood and Rankin, the fur will
ny.
Mr.. Rankin IL emphatic in declaring that
there is no chance Of eliminating the commits
tee. He insists that If the matter went to
the American people they would vote 10 to
In favor Of continuing the committee; that the
committee Is rendering the greatest service to
the country by exposing enemies within our
sates-and some Of them on our Governments
payroll"
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