Evening star., 1950-03-22
Administration 10 Stiff
McCarthy's Charges
Wisely and JudiciaIIy
Trumon Knows Incident
Can Cause Real Trouble
In Coming Campaign
By David Laurence

By David Laurence
KEY WEST. Fla, Mar. o.
Just where Is the episode of the
loyalty files and the Senate in
quiry into Communist sympathiz-
ers in Government departments
getting us-what Is back of it,
and what direction will it take?
1t could stiffen the back OF the
Secretary Of State and prevent
the development Of the very hexi-
bility Of approach toward Russia
which may be found necessary
In these critical times.
To brush the entire incident
aside as the charges of just a
single Senator is to take a super
fetal view. The affair has too
many political aspects to be dis
missed as irrelevant, and it has
some international aspects as well.
Senator Mccarthy is regarded
by his colleagues in the Senate as
the kind of person who usually
has backing for charges he makes,
and 1t is significant that several
Republican Senators-to whom he
has conf1ded some of the things
he claims are to be found in the
loyalty flles-are standing by him.
Advised To Be Cautious.
So far as President Truman is
concerned, he is a more-than-in-
terested bystander. He knows
the incident can make political
trouble. To him it can be "red
herring" again and divert at
tention from other issues in the
coming campaign. So the Presi-
dent has been advised to be cauti-
GUS and not to take an adamant
position against revealing what is
in the files. For if he didn't
authorize some form Of inspec-
ton, then Senator Mccarthy
would just take the floor in the
Senate some day and spill more
details that would force the re-
velation of all the files rather
than simply those records con-
cerned with particular persons.
The policy Of letting Senate
committee members see the files
will satisfy them as to what is
there. If, by chance, anything
damaging is in them, it will be
confined to those particular cir
cumstances and not smear in
nocent persons.
But everyone here is in the
dark as to what's back of it. The
principal surmise is that Senator
Mccarthy isn't really concerned
about individuals as such and
that he hasn't any persons like
Whitaker Chambers or any
pumpkin papers to produce. What
the Wisconsin Senator undoubt-
edly is trying to do is show that
Communist sympathiZers influ-
enced the formulation Of State
Department policy from the days
when Patrick Hurley, American
Ambassador to China, publicly
charged that certain individuals
In the State Department were un-
dermining American aid for
Chang Kai-shek. ar
Charge Stirs Up People.
It so happens that large group
OF church people in America-Pro-
testant as well as Catholic-think
Chang was weakened by Amrican
policies In the last few years.
Some Of the Republicans have
taken up this cause. Their effort
now Is to show that the State
Department really gave up China
to Russia. Hence the political
procedure appears to be to tie in
the alleged Communist symathiz-
ers with scuttling Of Chang
Kai-shek in the Department of
State.
The China problem. by itself
isn't a good political issue. It is
something too remote for the
average man to bother himself
about. But a charge of COM
munistic influence in a Govern
ment department is something
else. 1t has in 1t more drama
and it stirs up people, especially
with the CHARACTERISTICS case as
a background Of disloyalty.
Curiously enough, the House
Un-American Activities Commit
tee started off with charges
against innocent persons and was
ridiculed and bitterly criticized,
but it wound up with couple of
jury trials and a conviction for
perjury which in the popular mind
has been translated into treason.
Under such circumstances, the
wise course is to sift the charges
carefully and judicially. The ad-
m1nistration is prepared to 60
ahead on that basis, even if in the
course of the inquiry some dam
aging information does emerge. It
counts on the common sense of
the American people to evaluate
these matters fairly and in per-
spective.
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