Evening star., 1952-01-08
Service Asks Truman
For Impartial Review
As Board Denies Plea

John Stewart Service today
pressed an appeal for an "impar-
tial" review of his loyalty record.
Through his attorney, Charles
E. Rhetts. Mr.. Service said in a
petition to President Truman that
a revelation" by Senator McCar-
thy, Republican, of Wisconsin
"hrings into grave doubt the fair
ness of the entire machinery of
the Loyalty Review Board"
Mr.. Service, a career diplomat
long one of the targets of Senator
McCarthy's communism-in-G Gov
ernment charges. was fired by the
State Department last month
after the Loyalty Review Board
reported a reasonable doubt"
existed as to his loyalty.
Reconsideration Denied.
The petition to President Tru-
man, duplicated to the Civil Serv-
ice Commission and Attorney
General McGrath, was made late
yesterday as the review board
notified Mr.. Service that an ap-
peal for reconsideration of his
case had been denied.
While not finding that Mr..
Service actually was disloyal. the
review board said that his furnish
ing of documents on China to
Philip j. Jaffe, editor Of Amerasia
magazine, in 1945 raised a "rea-
Sonable doubt" about his loyalty.
The decision by the review
board, the Governments top 10y
atty tribunal, reversed earlier
clearances of Mr.. Service by the
State Departments Loyalty Sc
curity Board.
Mccarthy Statement Cited.
In challenging fairness" of the
review board, Mr.. Rhetts cited in
his petition to the President
Senator McCarthy's release to the
press Saturday night of what the
Senator said were excerpts from
the transcript of a meeting of
the board held on February 13
and IA. 1851.
Mr.. Rhetts said that, according
to the Mccarthy excerpts, Loyalty
Review Board Chairman Hiram
Bingham had reported protesting
to Secretary of State Acheson
that the department twas out of
step" with other Government
agencies because it had not dis
missed any employees for disloyalty
while other agencies had dis
missed an average of six per cent
Of all those examined.
Newspaper accounts of the Nc
Carthy release, Mr.. Rhetts added,
further reflect that the members
of the Loyalty Review Board con-
ceived it to be their function to
devise ways and means of achiev-
ing large numbers of dismissals
of employees on loyalty grounds
rather than to consider and judge
individual cases solely upon the
evidence in judicial spirit of
fairness to the individual and to
the Government in matters of the
utmost gravity to BOTH"
Fairness Is Questioned.
The petition continued:
"If accurately reported, this
revelation obviously brings into
grave doubt the fairness of the
entire machinery of the Loyalty
Review Board.
I'm particular. it is obvious that
no individuals loyalty to his coun-
try should be judged by officials
who in any degree are or may be
affected in their judgments by the
necessity of achieving a statistical
quota of diSmiSsals of Government
employees on loyalty grounds"
Mr.. Rhetts asked the President
to designate an impartial indi-
vidual or individuals, not connected
with the Loyalty Review Board, to
review the entire case, to hold
hearings and take testimony and
reach a conclusion as to whether
any reasonable doubt exists as to
Services loyalty to the United
States"
The board chairman, Mr.. Bing-
ham, said when told of the petit
tion that Il am not surprised that
he (Mr. RhettS) should make
every effort to win the case for
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