Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-07-14
to The Star
The Matthews Incident

The Matthews Incident
Tyrants cannot yield and remain
tyrants!
The Communists in East Germany
have had to give, and Senator Nc
Carthy has had to give.
The obligation of all of us now is
to press harder against their correlative
tyranny, lest they renew their grasp
to the detriment Of mankind and each
one of us.
Permit me to add my congratulations
to you and those of your staff who
elaborated on the excellent piece
dissecting j. B. Matthews.
Unquestionably. the publication of
this article on July 9. coincident as
it was with the kilograms between the
three clergymen and President Eisen-
hover and the news from Moscow, was
of real public value in accomplishing
this senatorial surgery.
trust you win carefully observe and
inform your readers which of the Texas
oil corporation executives puts Mat
thews on private payroll for McCarthy's
continued use.
Ted F. Silvey.
was very much pleased by the
fortnight and methodical manner in
which The Star used front page ar
ticle to lay Mr.. j. B. Matthews out for
public inspection.
I was also glad, of course, to learn
the next morning that he Is not to be
Staff Director of the Senate Investiga-
tionS Committee.
F. Reid Wallace.
My congratulations on the very en-
tightening article regarding the devious
history Of j. B. Matthews. who has
just been obliged to resign as staff
director Of Senator McCarthy's Perm
anent Investigating Subcommittee.
The history of Matthews association
with radical and Subversive organiza-
tions raised major aspect of his ap-
pointment which has been overlooked
in the furore over his article attacking
the clergy. This is why person with
such former associations should have
been in the employ of the House I'm
American Activities Committee and
recently McCarthys committee, both
of which have bounded hundreds, if
not thousands, of Government en-
ployes who innocently and often NOM
inally belonged to such organizations
many years ago.
For example. I have been denied
employment in foreign service in any
Federal agency because in 1889 paid
81 to join the League against War and
FasciSm (then called the League for
Peace and Democracy of which j. B.
Matthews was formerly executive Sec
rotary! AS soon as I learned that the
organization was controlled by Com
munists, I resigned, but this has made
no difference
Loyal Federal Employe.
Your lead editorial July 10 says that
the most important fact emerging from
the j. B. Matthews incident is that
Senator Mccarthy has been challenged.
differ: The most important fact is
that Matthews has been denied the op-
portunity to be proven right or wrong
in his statement about the Protestant
clergy.
Matthews is much more Of an au-
thorlty about Communists activities
than the President, the editors and the
several Senators who have attacked
him. 1t is popular to stone scapegoat,
but would like to have the facts es-
tabliShed before heaving one myself.
This is the American way.
j.. P. Story, jr.
DR.. Matthews is an authority on COM
munism, having studied it for over 20
years. How long has your editorial
writer or the people who have written
letters supporting your views studied
communism?
Like DR.. Matthews, I, too, have been
a Protestant all my life. In fact, am
today an usher and vice chairman Of
the junior deacons, First Congregational
Church. Washington. D. c. It's time all
ProteStants wake up and support DR..
Matthews in his effort to wake up the
public to the ministers that have so
denied religion to support communism.
Dewitt o. Burke.
1t is amazing how few people there
seem to be who have the character and
competence that, in the eyes of many
of us. appear to fully qualify them to
participate in the task of exposing sub
verSive activities. For the dismissal of
j. B. Matthews, when viewed against
the full background, is merely one cpl
sode in a long standing drive to destroy
or weaken those engaged in this type
of work.
Martin Dies, first chairman of the
House Un-American Activities Com
mittee. was numerically castlgated for
his efforts to throw back the curtain
concealing Subversion. So also was his
Committee Counsel. Robert Stripping.
When the Mundt Bill, which called for
registration of Communists and Com
munist fronts, was introduced, its author,
now Senator, was pilloried through
out the land. For his leadership in the
House Committee investigation which
finally led to the conviction of Alger