The Lincoln times., 1953-11-23
WILL THE WHITE
CASE BE SOFT
PEDALLED, TOO?


the top Communists of this country.
So said two ex-Communists, Whit
taker Chambers and Elizabeth
Bentley. The FBI informed Presi-
dent Truman's aide, Maj. Gen.
Harry H. Vaughn, in 1945 and again
in 1916 that White probably was
disloyal. But instead of kicking him
cut of his job of assistant Treasury
secretary, Truman promoted him
to U. S. director of the International
Monetary Fund. This was the ac-
cusation made last week by At
torney General Brownell.
White is dead. But his memory
fingers on in Washington, to the
great discontinue of the Demo
cratic hierarchy, including Demo
cratic national chairman Stephen
A. Mitchell and ex-President Harry
S. Truman.
Mitchell has labelled Brownell's
charges as a low-down political
stunt, designed to offset recent Re
publican reversals of fortune. Shar-
ing Mr.. Mitchell's sentiments is
Moscow which looks upon the furor
in Washington as a ridiculous
comedy"
Mr.. Truman had been subpoena
ed to appear before a Congressional
investigating committee, and this,
thought the Russians, is a new ''re
cord of stupidity and political cynic-
ISM" They are probably right, in
their light, since they have a way
of disposing of opposition without
fuss or fanfare.
Whether anything constructive
will come of the matter remains to
be seen. There will be those who
will insist that the White case
should be made a test case, so that
the whole pattern of Communist in
filtration into government may be
revealed once and for all.
But in top government echelons
there is already evident an inclina-
ton to back up and take a fresh
look at the whole thing. That the
Roosevelt and Truman administra-
tons were thoroughly infiltrated
with Communists and fellow travel
lers is well known. But when oc-
caSion arises, such as the one pre-
cipitated by Attorney General
Brownell, when facts must be dug
out and aired before the American
people, government officials begin
to show marked symptoms of cold
feet.
Perhaps it's because the Com
munists have given the dictionary
new word. It's "McCarthyism. "
Everyone, it appears, from Eisen-
hover on down is afraid of that
label. Many eX-government Of
ficials have been guilty of the vilest
sort of disloyalty; perhaps some
still remain in office despite Eisen-
hower's house-cleaning They have
escaped prosecution because the
Communist propaganda has sold
, the American people the idea that
to prosecute a Communist is to
perSecute an American citizen-to
deprive him of his civil rights. This
is one of the big reasons why Nc
Carthy became known as the mean
est villain on the face of the earth,
and why his efforts to ferret out
Communists were, in; the main,
unsuccessful. He had no coopera-
ton from those whose duty it was
to cooperate with him.
The Harry Dexter White case
should be subjected to the most
minute scrutiny and the findings
reported to the American people.
The Eisenhower Administrator has
started something that it is duty
bound to finish. Just what was the
pattern of early and later Com
munist infiltration in the Roosevelt
and Truman Administrations? 1t
isn't something still shrouded in
mystery. Many knowledgeable per-
sons know how that pattern origin
ated and how it was put into execu-
ton. The Eisenhower Administra-
ton already knows about that pat
tern. But it is political dynamite to
: attempt to put the blame where 1t
belongs, for it would ALLEVIATE a
large bloc-voting segment of the
population to whom Eisenhower al
ready has yielded once in the mat
ter of additional Iron Curtain
immigrants. (Mooresville Tribune)