The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1954-02-05
By JOSEPH and STEWART ALsOP

WASHINGTON-Since he return
ed from France to seek the Presi-
dency, Dwight d. Eisenhower has
been sold good many lemons in the
name of 'smart politics." But about
the worst lemon he has been sold
yet is the strategy, worked out by
certain of the Administration anna
teur Machiavellies, for dealing with
the Communist issue"
AS an example of this strategy in
action, take the Administrations re-
peated boasts about the 1,456-now
2,200-people who have been fired
from the Government as security
risks" The privately admitted pur-
pose of these security firings" has
been to grab the Connie issue away
from Joe Mccarthy"
The idea has been to undercut Nc
earthly by broadcasting the notion
that the new Administration found
the Government crawling with subver-
sives; promptly fired the lot; and
thus left Mccarthy with nothing fur
Their to do but twiddle his thumbs.
The story of the State Departments
security firings demonstrates how this
was to be accomplished.
A grand total of 800 State De-
partment security firings have been
announced. According to reliable re-
port, this impressive-even fright
ening-total was arrived at in the |
following manner. In the first place,
the word was passed down through
Assistant Secretary Scott McLeod's
Security and Personnel Offices that
what was wanted was the largest
possible total of such firings.
TWO TECHNIQUES = both pal
pably dishonest-were therefore used
to swell the total. The files of those
State Department employees who were
in the process of resignng-
considerable number, since there is
a constant turnOver-were carefully
scrutiniZed. In the raw files of any
Government worker who is not a
zombie, there is pretty sure to be
some morsel of gossip which can be
labelled ''derogatory information.
Wherever the raw files provided
the slightest excuse for so doing,
the names of those who were re-
signing anyway were added-with-
out their knowledge-to the grand
total of State Department security
firings.
About half the State Department
total was arrived at in this way. If
the same proportion holds through
out the Government, there must be
more than a thousand workers who Z
have resigned with a clear conscience
and what they thought to be clear I
record, and who were nevertheless f
as security risks. +
The second technique was just as
dishonest. Large numbers of people {
were being transferred from the ad- y
control of the State De- ,
partment to Harold Stassen's For $
eign Aid outfit and to the newly q
Independent Information Agency. +
Many of these people were trans e
TERED with the warning flag up" v
and then listed as State Department e
security although the great
majority were cleared on further in S
and never fired at all. n
III
IN THE VAST majority of these o
,ases there was no question whatso- u
,ver of disloyalty or pro-Communism. n
n about 10 out of 20 cases, the
'eason, if any, for the firing was p
leavy drinking, temperamental un- o
or the like. Where there b
vas some proc Communist charge, it
vas often on the order of the charge \
Igainst one female Government work h
II, who was accused of sympathetic o
association" with her husband. "
This woman appealed the charge, =
nd on further investigation her hus- u
,and turned out to be rather mousy q
elbow, who had never taken an in -
crest in politics. n
In short, there was not a single a,
case of actual subversion in all the o,
State Departments security fir q,
ings-and it is doubtful if there If