Evening star., 1950-09-15
On Pointing With Alarm

Now that the echoes of the debate over anti
Communist legislation have quieted down, it
may be profitable to examine some of the more
alarmist' criticisms that emerged from both sides
of the Senate aisle.
If the Democratic opponents of the McCar-
ran bill and the Republican critics of the Kigore
bill (they finally were combined1 had one thing
in common, it was this: They were able to find
the most alarming threats to our freedoms not
in the provisions of the bills themselves, but in
what might be done at some future time, in
uncertain circumstances, by unknown persons.
One of the abler critics of the McCarran
measure was Senator Douglas, Democrat of Illi-'
nois Before he had finished, however, he was
envisioning the most sinister consequences If the
bill should be passed. He was afraid that the
Attorney General mot Howard McGrath, of
course, but some future Attorney GeneraD might
persuade q Communist organization to register
falsely some political opponents as members.
These victims might be Republicans, or, worse
yet, Democrats. When their names were pub
lished these politicians, no matter how innocent,
would be discredited and ruined. Said Senator
Douglas: 1--WE could have a reign of terror by
prejudiced and insidious nformers, abetted by
the person or persons who controlled the Attor-
ney Generals Office. This is not a fantastic
danger. 1t is quite possible that it may happen
II the McCarran bill becomes law
A little later, Senator Ferguson, Republican,
of Michigan was ripping into the Kilgore bill.
He too had frightening visions of things which
might happen The bill, as 1t was at that time,
empowered the President to put It's provisions
into effect If there was Imminent danger" OF
invasion Of the territory of the United States or
It's possessions Senator Ferguson was afraid
that if the bill should be passed the President
might, at this time, find that there was imminent
danger of an invasion of Okinawa, thereby paw
ing the way for throwing American citizens into
concentration camps without charge or trial, and
without any of the traditional safeguards which
the Constitution throws around those accused
of a crime.
At this juncture Senator Kilgore (who had
done his share OF pointing with alarm at the
McCarran biD moved into the debate with a
very sensible observation. He did not believe
that the debate should hinge on far-fetched fears
as to what President or his agents might do.
81 think" he said, that we, as members of the
Senate, should confine ourselves to the reactions
Of reasonable man."
And that, really, is what this whole business
comes down to. If one wanted to be silly enough
he could postulate situation in which law
against murder, If administered by crooked
prosecutors, crooked judges and crooked jurors,
mlgnC become menace TO the civil rlgntS OF
innocent people. The same goes for any law,
but in society such as ours laws are necessary.
And when need for law arises, as in the case
of legislation to deal with Communists, the peo-
pie should not be too much alarmed by the cries
of those who set out fanciful hypothetical situa-
uonS and then distill from them grave and i'm
mediate threats to our freedoms. All laws, of
course, should be drafted with care to guard
against abuses. But when that has been done
we must expect that they will be administered
by reasonable men. If they are not so admin
istered there is always recourse to the courts
and then to the ballot box.