The Daily Alaska empire., 1951-04-05
T H E s E D A Y s By GEORGE E. SOXOLSKY

A Congressional committee which sets out to investigate a witness should complete its job or announce to the public that it has not com- pleted the investigation. Otherwise it betrays it's trust and it places the witness in false light. It does not take full advantage of his appear ance b.i9re it and at the same time. 1t gives to the public the im- press ion that his answers were in- adequate.
 The House committee on Unam- erican activities, which under the chairmanship of Martin Dies and J. Farneli Thomas served this coun- try well, in spite of all left-wing criticisms, has proved itself to be inadequate during the past two veal }. under the chairmanship of John S. Wood.
 Take, for instance, the investiga- tion of Larry Parks. He appeared before the committee in executive session and answered all the ques- tioTe that were asked of him. AS far as it went, his testimony was adequate. He confessed to his own Communist participation; he named names where asked to do so. This is tough doing, when one works in an industry which is over anxious to protect the property value of advertised names, no mat ter what the owners of those names have done to damage their country
 Just as Parks's testimony was becoming important, a bell rang calling the members of the House of Representative to a roll-call Such routine does not take long and the committee could have and should have resumed it's hearing.
 Instead, Parks was excused and the committee never called him back to an executive session. Thus his testimony was never completed He was never asked essential ques- tions leading to the present situ- ation. He was never given an op- portunity to explain positions which he and his colleagues took subse- quent to 1945 when our alliance with Soviet Russia terminated. I The injustice is as great to hin as 1t is to the people of the United Statee. Those who have read re- ports of the public session of the committee, at which Parks ap- peared, are naturally of the opinior that all he tried to do was to square himself by pathetic recital of hi. background. What they do no know is that the House committee on Unamerican activities failed te get the most information out of { witness and that when they had { friendly witness before them wht was willing to testify they shu him off because bell rang.
 This committee is coasting alonf on the great work done by Martin J Dies. Robert Stripling, J. B. Mat thews, J. Parnell Thomas, an, Richard Nixon. It is not doing comparable service It is a lazy. in adequate committee that submit to pressures by the Department O justice. which is apparently seek ing to prevent second Alger His case from developing.
 A committee of Congress shoul, be absolutely independent of tn executive branch of government. I is not expected to recognize tn, political necessities or to respec the chicaneries of those in office The story goes that this committe, confars with Deputy Attorney Gen eral Peyton Ford, or as another account has it, Ford's task is to set that no new Alger Hiss case breaks The Department of Justice is de. signed to be law enforcement, no political, agency.
 II Precisely what happened to tht Tydings committee is that it sub mitted to executive pressure. Tha is why I have said that the McCar. thy charges stand. The Tyding. committee did not investigate them When it's counsel, Edward Morgan came to my house, he told me tn, story as it never was permitted te be told to his committee. And there was little difference between tht , story he told me and that whicl Senator Joe Mccarthy was shout ing from the housetops. Someon' reached that committee to kill thu evidence.
 I am not convinced that the in. adequate functioning of the House committee on Unamerican activi ties is altogether fortuitous. Some thing queer goes on when witness like Larry Parks is shut off by bell when he provides evidence which the committee badly need' to make its case. It looks as though someone were. waiting for that bel to ring-and that someone was no Larry Parks.
 This column has been supporting this committee since it was organ ized. But if it plays sl,ch tricks A,