Evening star., 1948-08-02
Political Ammunition
For 6. 0. P. Is Seen in
Spy Ring Testimony
Voters Are Called More
Sensitive to Communism
Than to Cost Of Living
By David Laurence

Politically speaking. President
Truman can't be very happy ovel
his maneuver In calling an extra
session of Congress in the midst O.
the campaign. For the Republican,
have certainly struck vein Of po
litical ammunition in their exposure
OF the Communist "spy ring" ane
the apparent looseness in tn.
checking of loyalty inside the Gov.
ernment.
There are few things more spec
tacular from the standpoint Of
headlines than spy stories. Like.
wise, there is nothing on which the
American people are more sensitive
than the alleged inroads that Com.
munism has made in the politica,
and economic life of the United
States.
True enough, much Of the stuff Is
uncorroborated and could conceiv.
ably be the result Of exaggerations
that once in a while come with the
detective approach. But there is
nevertheless enough substance to
cause political capital to be accumu-
lated on the Republican side.
Substantiation Unimportant.
It doesn't matter too much how
many of the charges are substan-
tiated in the end-from the stand
point Of politics. The headlines
have already told that things of
military Importance could be OBJ
tained rather easily and that the
check as to the loyalty Of Govern
ment officials was not overly eff
cient-in fact was loose enough to
let certain persons through the net
work of checks prescribed by Con-
gress and the executive agencies.
Most important of all is the fact
that all the information was
available a couple of years or more
ago and nothing was done by the
Truman administration to expose
1t. The Justice Department may
argue that it tried to get indict-
ments before a New York grand
Jury recently and failed. This will
hardly be accepted as a good ex-
cuse, as the same department
doesn't hesitate to move from one
court jurisdiction to another when
it wants to indict some big business
men on antitrust charges.
The presence of Congress in
extra session permits two important
committees of investigation to func-
ton in the biggest limelight that
could be desired for headline pur-
poses.
Innocent Suffer With Guilty.
Now the Republicans will want
to know why the Democratic ad-
ministration suppressed all the in
formation it had. The spotlight will
turn on key officials and by infer
ence others will be smeared.
It Is most unfortunate that In
every controversy about who is or
who Is not Communist many in
nocent persons suffer with the
guilty. Miss Bentley, for instance,
mentions innocent contacts she
made to get news in the guise of a
news reporter and she also men,
tions persons who were Communists
and paid their party dues through
her. All the names are given out
together in hodgepodge OF In
nuendo.
1t is this type Of thing which
has caused so much criticism ap1
the House Un-American Activities
Committee. But the answer made,
on the other hand, is that invest1-
eating committees work under con-
siderable handicap They are being
refused the information in the files
of Government agencies and Presl-
dent Truman himself has declined
to cooperate with Congress on
such matters.
So it is natural, for the Congress
sional committees to explore IN their
own irregular way and to attempt
by grilling first one witness ana
then another to piece together bits
of evidence in the hope OF bringing
into the open the full pattern OF
disloyalty.
Administration in Hot Spot.
The Administration is in a not
spot politically as a consequence OF
the revelations. For every dis
gruntled vote on prices or the cost
of living, there are 10 votes that can
be aroused emotionally when 1t is
considered that information OF value
to the Russian Communists Is per-
mitted to get from the Government
to Communist agents. This is about
as sensitive a spot as can be deVel-
oped in politics and the Admins
tration will have to move fast and
aggressively to disentangle itself
from the web of inference which
the charges of looseness and lnef-
ficiency, made before the Congress
sional committees, have woven into
a general pattern affecting many
agencies of the Government.
MANY a criminal indictment has
been made by grand juries on much
less evidence than has already been
uncovered and it would not be sur
prising if the convening OF special
grand juries in Washington may yet
be required to bring about through
judicial processes the sitting of truth
and falsity. guilt and innocence.
Canada had her spy ring expose
and America may have the makings
of another, though it would be wise
for dispassionate observers to wait
till all the evidence Is in before
jumping to conclusions about par
ticular individuals whose names have
been in headlines.