Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1952-04-08
The World Today

routine was like Soft-ball game
compared with the Morris-to-Mc-
Grath-to-Truman double-play in
which the President has to make
the put-out
Newbold Morris and j. Howard
McGrath-the Presidents two top
investigators whose own conduct
has been investigated by Congress
haven't much in common except
years in politics and an ability to
get into jams.
Although Attorney General Nc
Grath's Justice Department ordi-
narily would be the chief investi-
gator of government corruption,
the Truman administration SEEM
ed TO think it necessary to bring
in an outsider
After, several better-known men
had turned down the job McGrath
suggested Morris and President
Truman appointed him special as
sistant to McGrath's department.
This in itself was interesting but
not any more SO than Morris per-
formance when he went before a
Senate committee which wanted to
quiz him about his law firms con-
nection with ship deal.
While Morris is a New York
city boy of so who batted we'll in
the political league there, he got
off to a country boys start shortly
after landing here where the poll
tical sluggers use lead pipes.
Morris insulted the senator's,
hardly the social thing to do be-
cause anyone could have told him
when any insulting is done at a
senate hearing it's usually done by
the senators.
You could almost hear them
count to 10 to keep their tempers.
What they said about him-some-
thing about observation-disclosures
mild compared with what they did
to him. They refused to let him
have the subpoena power Presi-
dent Truman asked for him.
This was the same as telling a
man to bunt to the outfield, for
his investigation could never be
more than half an investigation if
he lacked the power to compel
witnesses TO testify.
Still, he tried TO operate. He
called big news conference and
announced he was sending long
QUESTIONABLE to McGrath and the
key men in the Justice Depart
ment, demanding intimate infor-
nation about their financial af-
fairs.
McGrath went before a house
judiciary subcommittee which is
eager to check on the Justice De-
partment itself and wants look
at McGrath's income tax returns.
While McGrath and the con-
gressmen are batting the ball
around he said he ID not only
hadn't filled out Morris question
naire but didn't know whether he
would (2) hadn't distributed it to
the other Justice Department; and
90 wouldn't have recommended
Morris as investigator if he had it
to do over again.
Here was a double-play the like
of which the President hasn't been
mixed up in since he's been in the
White House. After all, Morris
was given his job with presidential
blessing and here was .McGrath
baking at Morris investigation.
Could he uphold McGrath and
let Morris go? If he did, how
would that look in this political
year when Truman knows corrup-
tion in government will be a cam
paign issue?
McGrath saw the president at
the White House and repeatedly
came away grim-faced and later
in the day newsmen who saw the
two men at the airport awaiting
the arrival of Queen Juliana said
they had hot words.
This was the second hot-spot
for McGrath within few months
When the income tax scandals
broke President Truman stepped
in over McGrath's head and fired
his assistant, T. Lamar Caudle.
When a house committee asked
him about Caudle and other af-
fairs in his department McGrath
revealed that he didn't know
much of what was happening in
his own department. AT that time
the president was reported, on
good authority, to be ready to
sack McGrath but changed his
mind.