The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-05-11
By JACK BELL.

WASHINGTON a. Efforts to
shorten the McCarthy-Army dis.
pute hearings appeared headed for
collapse today barring an unex.
pected change of mind by Secre.
tary of the Army Stevens.
Stevens apparently was standing
fast on his insistence that all the
principal figures in his row with
Sen. Mccarthy (R-Wis) should be
heard in public, televised sessions.
And Sen. Mundt (R-SD) put a
virtual clincher on the collapse Of
hearing shortening efforts by say.
ing he would not vote for any pro.
posal eff any side feels it does
violence to justice and fairness. -
Mundt is presiding at the hear.
ings.
The Senate Investigations sub.
committee scheduled a showdown
at its 14th day of hearings on al
ternate proposals by Sen. Dirksen
(R-nl) and Sen. Mcclellan ID.
Ark. The group includes four Re-
publicans and three Democrats.
Stevens objected yesterday to
Dirksen's plan to recess public
hearings after hearing testimony
by Mccarthy and to postpone a
decision on whether to resume
them until after a months rurvey
Of testimony and witnesses by Ray
H. Jenkins, special subcommittee
counsel.
This would have the effect of de-
laying-if not washing out entirely
testimony by four other princi-
pals to the dispute: Army Coun-
selor John G. Adams, Asst. Sec
rotary Of Defense H. Strive Hen
sci and two aides to McCarthy's
subcommittee, Roy M. Cohn and
Francis P. Carr.
Mcclellan said the effect would
only be to prolong the inquiry and
would deny the right of some prin-
cipals to reply in public to charges
made against them publicly.
Mccarthy blasted at McClellan'S
alternate proposal to limit future
examination Of witnesses to one
hour for each senator, four hours
for opposing counsel and unlimited
questioning by Jenkins. He said it
would present witnesses with can
invitation to filibustering"- giving
long and unresponsive replies to
questions.
Senators and lawyers have had
unlimited opportunity to question
Stevens about his charges that Nc
earthly and his aides brought i'm
proper pressure to bear on the
Army to get favored military treat
ment for a former subcommittee
consultant, Pvt. G. David Schine.
Mccarthy, who would supplant
Stevens on the stand Immediately
under Dirksen's motion, has &C.
cused Stevens and his aides of
using Schine as a ''hostage" in
Efforts to halt or divert the Nc
earthly subcommittee hunt for
Communists in the Army. Nc
earthly has stepped off the sub
committee for his inquiry.
Much Of yesterdays session was
taken up with discussions as to
how the hearings could be speeded
up, and to arguments over who
has been responsible for the slow
pace thus far.
Mccarthy sought to bring out,
in questioning Stevens, that the
Army secretary had brought
smear" charges against him be-
cause he himself had been "dere-
lict in his duty" in cleaning sus-
pected Subversives out of the Army
and was afraid the Wisconsin SEN
ator would expose him.
Stevens disputed this Indignantly
and said he was just as much in
terested in getting rid Of Commu-
nists as Mccarthy. He accused the
senator Of giving "a very unfair
impression" and declared:
cts a great Army. It's not full
OF Communists. We don't coddle
them"
At another point, he said there
are "doggone few" Communists in
the Army, but Mccarthy said the
secretary had a "selective men,
DRY" and was "naively and unin-
telligently anti-Communist."
Mccarthy said he intended to
show that at the instant he was
speaking, there were persons of
Communist connections and back
ground" in the Army's personnel,
research and procedures division, :"
which he described as key spot
in the Army.
Stevens looked puzzled. After
consulting with aides, he told Nc
Carthy there was no such division.
Mccarthy then handed the secre.
tary a slip of paper he said bore
the name of a man having cal
legged secret connections" but still
permitted to direct secret pro-
grams.
Stevens consulted his aides again
and said they could not identify
the person Mccarthy named.
During a discussion yesterday of
ways to shorten the hearings, Ste
vens brushed aside a suggestion