Evening star., 1949-06-04

the situation and preventing a possible
insurrection.
Senator HickenIooper's Cose
Up to now Senator Hickenlooper has
failed TO present convincing case In sup
port OF his charge that there has been
incredible mismanagement" in the Atomic
Energy Commission. He has put the spot
light on certain weaknesses certain errors,
certain laxities, but he has yet to SUBJ
stantiate the extreme nature of his criti-
cism or justify his demand that Chairman
Lilienthal be called upon to resign.
1t may well be, of course, that Mr.. Hick-
enlooper will have much stronger evidence
to offer when the Senate-House Atomic
Energy Committee resumes 1t hearings on
Monday. But right now, on the basis of
what he has offered 50 far, it seems fair
to say that the investigation has disclosed
something not much bigger than a mole
hill despite his having led us to expect the
unveiling of mountain complete with
thunderclouds.
Thus, We have learned a few things
about the ounce of uranium 235 that van
ished from the Argonne National Labora
tory. We have learned that the disappear
ance involved q measure OF carelessness
and neglect, that the Acc was wrong
headedly laggard in notifying the FBI
and that Chicagos security safeguards
need some tightening up. Otherwise, how
ever, the case apparently has no sinister
implications. At least, none has been
revealed 50 far.
Another thing we have learned-and
Mr.. Lilienthal has learned it, too, and
poor judgment in granting atomic fellow
ships, in nonsecret fields, to Communist
and some others lacking loyalty clearance.
We have also learned that a man with a
police record has been employed In the
Chicago laboratory and that Mr.. Wilson,
the commissions general manager, has
on his own responsibility given jobs to
few persons against the advice OF the
Aces security officer. But these instances,
though open to sharp criticism and cor
rection are too limited In number to fortify
Mr.. Hickenlooper's position to any marked
degree 800 o.
And much the same may be said OF the
Aces emergency clearances Such clear
ances- which thes law permits ana under
which people 3axe hlreas sconditionally dur-
ing the 80 81 DO days. required fora com
plete FBI estigation-numbered over
1000 last year. But Mr.. Lilienthal has de-
Tended them rather effectively. Without
them, he has SAID, our atomic project
would have been Slowed down and we
would not have as many A-bombs as we
have today. Mr.. Hickenlooper has chal-
lenged that claim, but he has yet to dis
prove it. Similarly, his attack on the COM
missions personnel turnover turnover
cited as an example Of Incredible mis-
management to have been fac
tually inaccurate. At any rate, the turn
over apparently has been no worse than
that prevailing in other Government
agencies and certain private industries.
All this adds up to merely>a broad out
line of the case Mr.. Hickenlooper has pre-
Sented so far. On its face, it Is not strong
case Nor has 1t been bolstered any by his
suggestion that the investigation ought
not to Judge the work of the Acc by COM
pairing 1t to the condition that existed when
Mr.. Lilienthal took over the project two
and half years ago. Certainly, neither
the joint congressional committee nor the
American people can possibly determine
whether there has been good management
or bad management unless there Is such a
comparison. A fair evaluation Of the COM
missions overall stewardship simply can
not be had If we do not take into con-
sideration such questions as whether
production today is better or. worse than
in 1947, whether morale Is higher or lower,
and whether security safeguards are tighter
or looser
Mr. Hickenlooper will be standing on
decidedly weak ground If he holds fast to
the idea that measurement of that sort
has no bearing on his charges As matters
stand today, his case Is less than per-
suasive. II he resists making comparisons,
and If at the same time he cannot produce
better evidence than he has produced to
date, then his whole argument will fall
apart and he will have to back away from
it as gracefully as possible.
With that said, however. it is worth add
ing that the inquiry launched by Mr..
Hickenlooper will have served useful
purpose no matter how 1t ends The Acc
is an extremely powerful and necessarily
very secretive agency run by human beings
who, like the rest Of us. are prone to err.
Such an agency needs to be investigated
periodically, even though that may hurt
a bit, or irritate or infuriate. There Is no
other way that our democracy can keep
this essentially undemocratic enterprise on
It's toes and properly controlled against the
danger of grave mistakes or reckless high
handedneSS.
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