Evening star., 1950-02-28

Stute Department Head
Cought in Cross-fire by
Stand on Communism
By David Laurence
Secretary of State Acheson
stands In the middle Of a cross
fire which unfortunately may
have an adverse effect on the de-
velopment Of world policies at a
critical time in history.
The secretary. on the one hand,
Is accused of expressing friend
ship for a man convicted of per-
jury in a case involving the trans
mission Of secrets to the Commu-
mist government in Moscow while,
on the other hand, he is ac-
cused of standing too firmly
against renewed discussions with
that same Communist government
and of being opposed to a new
approach in Russian-American
relations. On top of this come
the criticisms directed toward the
State Department for alleged
1eanings toward the Communist
regime in China and a consider
able hullabaloo in Congress about
disloyal employees in the Depart
ment of State said to have Com
munist sympathies.
Inconsistency Apparent.
The inconsistency of these diff
ferent forms of attack is appar-
ent, for obviously Mr.. Acheson
couldn't be a friend of commu-
nism in the Far East and opposed
to it in Europe. The truth is
that he is as deeply hostile to
communism as anybody inside or
outside the Government. The
policy being adopted now in the
Far East is one originating in
military expediency rather than
theology and it was decided on
long before Mr.. Acheson became
Secretary Of State-in fact, when
General Marshall was at the helm.
Perhaps the most direct criti-
cism of Mr.. Acheson has come be-
cause of what he said after Alger
Hiss was convicted. Many people
hold that he has a right, of course,
to entertain views Of sympathy
toward his friend and to doubt
the guilt of Hiss but that, as Sec
retary of State, he shouldn't have
commented at all. This is tanta-
mount to saying that, when a
man becomes a public official, he
must cease to have human feel
ings and that a Secretary of State
or any other public official is pro-
hibited by political expediency
from expressing himself on any
moral question that arises.
Actually, when the Acheson
nomination was up for confirma-
ton, the Senate Foreign Rela-
tions Committee interjected the
personal issue and asked Mr..
Acheson about his friendship for
Hiss, for whom he had acted for
a brief interval as counsel before
a House committee.
Didn't Try to Dodge.
When the jury rendered its YER
dict Of guilty, Mr.. Acheson didn't
attempt to dodge the inevitable
recurrence of the same question
wlen put to him by the reporters.
He didn't say, however, as has
been misrepresented since, that
he believed Hiss innocent. He ex-
pressed no view on that phase of
it but simply pointed out, in eff
feet, that, irrespective of whether
Hiss went to Jail or not, he would
continue to give him his friend
ship.
This is a far cry from condoning
treason or any other crime. It
assumed merely that Hiss, by the
verdict if nothing else. had al
ready received more punishment
before his countrymen than a jail
sentence could inflict. It assumed,
too. that the rehabilitation of a
man gone wrong is an obligation
imposed on society as a whole
now recognized as an enlightened
attitude in penology. It assumed
also that the Christian spirit is
not something to which men may
pay lip service on Sundays but
which they sometimes forget on
week days because it might bring
down upon them cynical charges
OF mawkishness or softness. There
are many things more precious to
Dean Acheson than public Office,
and one of them is the belief that
a man must live with his con-
science for years to come.
1t is a sign of progress-not
decadence-wl1en public officials
begin to have respect for moral
values, courageously eschew hy-
pocrisy and are ready to take the
consequences of their utterances.
1t would be discouraging indeed,
if, amid all the professions of
Righteousness as contrasted with
the atheistic world of communism,
democracy which is so eloquent in
its espousal of Christianity in the
abstract should become critical of
its concrete practice by high Of
ficials in the happenings of every
day life.
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