Evening star., 1954-01-16
Nicely Demands U. 5.
Be More Specific in
Reasons for Firing
By J. A. o'Leoy

Senator Nicely, Democrat, Of
West Virginia was on record
today as demanding the admin
istration give more specific rea-
sons for dropping Government
employees instead Of grouping
2,200 dismissals under the broad
heading of security.
In his state-of-the- Union mes
sage on January z President
Eisenhower told Congress that.
under the standards established
for the new employe security
program more than 1900 en-
ployes have been separated from
the Federal Government"
In a statement issued last
night Senator Nicely charged
that:
THE administration, in an
effort to escape criticism for
removing faithful Civil Service
employees of the Government for
purely partisan reasons, has in
defiance of all reputable lexi-
cographers-living or dead-or-
dained that the word security
or the term security risk in
cludes such wholly unrelated
denominations, frivolities and
miSfortunes as Communistic con-
tamination, gossiping. indul-
gences, or child birth within
fewer than 8 months after the
date Of the mothers marriage.
Sees Irreparable Injury.
"Under the shelter of this ver-
bal monStrosity and the protect
ing. ample folds of this polit-
ical linguistic Mother Hubbard
dress, the President in his recent
message to the Congress in
formed the world that his ad-
ministration had removed 1900
from the Federal payroll. Re-
gardless of the Presidents in
tentions and Notwithstanding
the unlimited latitude to which
his administration has extended
the meaning of the word Sc
curity' so far as indicated public
opinion is concerned. he has ir-
reparably injured and indelibly
branded as disloyal or dangerous
to the Government every one of
the 1900 whom he has had de-
prived of employment"
A top administration official.
however. told reporters that in
his opinion the Government
never should give a breakdown
Of how many employees were
fired for disloyalty or for the
broader and general reason of
being a security risk. This Of
f1cial said specific charges against
dismissed persons tended to
smear them for life. Anyway. he
said, the administration in dis
missing employees has not al
ways specified whether a per-
son was dismissed as disloyal
or as a security risk.
Senator Nicely said that nearly
all who have given this matter
study are of the opinion that
more than half Of the persons
dropped ARE as free from Com
munistic Contamination as the
President himself and are as
innocent of disloyalty to the
United States as any member of
the Presidents official family"
Opposed to ISLANDER"
mo one can 60 before me in
desiring the complete
and irrevocable eradication of
every Communist and every other
traitor from every department of
the Government and from every
one Of its subdivisions. But
am unalterably opposed to the
ruinous slandering of any inno-
cent American by calling him or
her a Communist either directly
or by innuendo," Senator Nicely
continued.
''It is my sincere hope that
the President will, so far as
possible. redress the injury he
and his administration have
done the many loyal and faith
full innocent ones they have re-
moved from the payroll by
promptly supplying the public
q candid statement of the rea-
sons for these numerous dis
charges and also by specifically
reporting the number of those
included in the 1900. if any,
whom the administration by any
just procedure. found to be
tainted with communism or any
other species of disloyalty.
"Mr. President, justice to the
innocent demands that you or
your administration respond to
this request, and that the people