Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-05-18
The Prospect

Inc Prospect
The right Of the Senate to expel
Mccarthy II 1t sees fit is unoues-
tionable. OF this right, the Con-
stitution says, Each House may
determine the rules of its proceed
ings, punish its members for dis
orderly behavior and, with the
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a
member"
The steps leading up to the ex-
pulsion of Senator are not
spelled out in the Constitution.
But because of the seriousness of
such move, expulsion proceedings
usually are preceded by long Sc
ries OF fact-finding steps. Except
for a case in no way parallel to
McCarthy's, there has not been a
Senator ousted from membership
since Civil War days. Attempts
were made to get" "Old Bob
La Toilette, a Mccarthy predeces-
Sor, in World War l days. They
failed, as did an effort to bar North
Dakota's William LANCER just before
World War II. The last previous
case was against Theodore Bilbo
OF Mississippi, in 1947. He died
before action was taken.
Precedent ond Politics
Entirely aside from the serious
ness of expulsion, there are other
reasons that make Senators reluc-
tant to proceed against one an
other. One, of course, is the reason
of precedent. If the rules should
be relaxed in order to get" Nc
earthly, such relaxation might be
duplicated later to expel some one
else.
Another consideration is the po-
litical one in this intensely political
year. Republicans have high hopes
for presidential victory in Novem-
Der. They are unlikely to go out Of
their way to ALLEVIATE Mccarthy
voters. Republicans also know that
even though they may breeze home
in the race for the presidency, they
will have hard time capturing a
Senate majority. Every Republican
Senator counts, and Mccarthy APP
pears to stand a good chance Of
being reelected. Under these cir
cumStanceS, even those Republic
cans who have the utmost contempt
for Mccarthy would hesitate to vote
against him in showdown. There
are enough Republicans-and to
spare-to turn back an custer even
if no Democrats at all voted for Nc
Carthy.
And supposing some of the Re-
publicanS did vote against McCar-
thy-Republicans like Margaret
Chase Smith of Maine whose
declaration of conscience" scored
McCarthyiSm. Some conservative
Democratic help can be relied on
by Mccarthy.
No Hopes, No Worries
The fact is that neither party
is either particularly hopeful or
particularly worried about the Sem
ate committee hearings on the
Benton charges-nor about the
lawsuit that grew out of them.
Benton entertains no real hopes
of getting Mccarthy kicked out of
the Senate. The most ne can expect
is that Mccarthy will be censured,
and that the resulting publicity
will discredit Mccarthy and cause
his defeat this November. AS far as
the libel suit is concerned, the
Connecticut respondent is not los
ing any sleep over McCarthy's
chances of collecting. In fact, he
is anXiously awaiting the day when
he can subpoena Mccarthy and
put him on the witness stand.
Mccarthy, on the other hand,
obviously has no hopes of becoming
millionaire at Benton'S expense.
Just as he characterizes the expui-
sion move against him as a nui-
sance action, he freely admits that
his lawsuit is primarily aimed at
embarrassing Benton. His attitude
toward the hearings is effectively
characterized by his non-attend-
ance. He is not at all worried
about the prospect of expulsion.
He does not even expect 10 be dis
credited with the voters. lie counts
himself ace-high in Wisconsin, and
his estimate of the situation may
well be entirely accurate.
So it seems that about all that
is likely to come out Of the McCar-
thy hearings and their attendant
libel suit is a large quantity Of
thick, black mud, all of it suitable
for singing in the coming Gam