Evening star., 1950-06-20
The Political Min
Mccarthy Issue Called
Hot Campaign Pototo
6. o. P. Governors Hosten
To Denounce Methods
The Political Min
By Gould Lincoln

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. w. Va,
June 2o,-The chief political hot potato
today is Senator Joe" Mccarthy. Re-
publican. OF Wisconsin and his charges
Of Communist infiltration into the
State Department and other agencies OF
Government. Too hot for q lot Of Re-
puolicanS to handle, and 50 hot that he
has caused defenders of the Truman
administration TO literally sixzle.
Republican Governors here for the an
nual Governors conference have hurried
to denounce Senator McCarthy'S meth
DDS" his large scale charges against
men in the Government service. without,
as these Governors see 1t. Sufficient data
to back up the charges.
The three Republican Governors who
are regarded as most likely to figure on
the party's national ticket in 1882. Gov
ernors Warren of California, Dun Of
PENNSYLVANIA and DriScoll Of New Jersey.
have, figuratively speaking torn the hide
OF Mr.. Mccarthy. At the same time
they have hastened to add that undoubt.
edly something decidedly wrong is ths
matter with the State Department. and
the administration has failed utterly to
act in the matter. and has, indeed. been
engaged in a whitewaShinG expedition.
Wishful Thinking Seen.
All three Of these Governors suggested
that the better thing to do would be
the appointment Of a bipartisan COM
mission. to take over the investigation
OF the Mccarthy charges. and any other
charges. from the Senate Foreign Re-
lations subcommittee headed by Senator
TydingS Presumably such a commits
sion would be expected to conduct an
inquiry. on a high plane. and with all
the data which the White House has
denied to the Senate investigators laid
open to the commission
This sounds like wishful thinking,
Why. II the White House is seeking to
cover up. would it give any vital in
formation to q commission any more
than 1t would to the Senate subcom-
mittee? But the Governors insist that
commission inquiry would be valueleSs
II the commission did not have all the
facts laid before 1t. Furthermore, past
experience has shown that only by
drastic methods - including violent
charges-has an inquiry into subversive
activities been able to get anywhere.
ANY pink tea affair Is out, II there are
to be results.
Gov. DriScoll frankly said that a chief
Jersey will be communism, here and
abroad. He included the Mccarthy
charges. Also Gov DriScoll expressed
the opinion that the Mccarthy inquiry
would be Of political aid to the Republi-
cans. This Is further than some other
Republicans have been willing to go
even II they have thought 1t.
Will Go In Campaign.
The Mccarthy charges will 20 into
the campaign because too many people
have come to believe that the Senate
subcommittee started out to get" Sena-
tor Mccarthy rather than to get to the
bottom Of his charges. This has led to
the conclusion that the Truman Demo-
Gratis and the administration have some
thing. and some people. to conceal They
are inclined to believe that this Is some-
thing the subcommittee should have un-
dertaken to look into and this is doing
the Democrats no good. Yet 1t is slightly
unpleasant to observe men Of McCarthys
party willing and hoping to gain poll
tically by what Senator Mccarthy has
been doing. and at the same time COM
menting on the Wisconsin Senator as
something the cat dragged in"
There Is one bet the critics of the
administration seem to have overlooked.
They might have suggested that the in
quiry into Communist infiltration In the
Government be turned over-not to a
new commission-but to the standing
committee Of the House on un-American
activities. This committee has been In
existence for years. First known as the
Dies committee, 1t has obtained results
where other agencies have failed and
1t has aided the Justice Department in
dealing with lot of subversives. 1t was
this committee which dug so far into
the Alger Hiss case that Hiss was finally
brought into court and convicted. Its In
qulries have brought to light the Com.
munists and fellow travellers in Holly
wood.
The Committee on Un-American Ac-
tivities should, in the opinion Of q mum.
Der OF Republicans, 60 into the Amer
asia case. among others, and the charges
made by Senator Mccarthy against
Owen baltimore. It is stated and uuali-
fed by experience to make such investi-
cations. 1t has q record of no white.
washes. Senator Mccarthy is scarcely
in position to ask that the inquiry be
turned over to House committee. But
other Republicans could do so-or the
Committee on Un-American Activities
could undertake the job on Its own
initiative.
Ouesfions md Aneware