Evening star., 1954-09-27

tive OF the pIuCSSSeS OF tuo
Senote, FOR no formal order
or subpeno should be neees-
sorry to bring Senators be-
fore Senate committees
when their own honor and
the honor Of the Senate are
at issue.
The matters against Senator
Mccarthy under investigation by
the Gillette Hennings subcom-
mittee were Of q serious nature.
Apparently, Senator Mccarthy
knew the nature of these matters
since he testified:
Il know all about this matter:
y have been living with it. It
had been underway. They had
been going far beyond the reso-
luton, investigating things they
had no right to investigate: go
ing back beyond the time that I
was even old enough to run for
Senator, investigating the income
tax returns of my father, who
died before I was elected. So I
knew those facts"
Furthermore, Chairman Gil
lette specified one of the matters
against Senator Mccarthy (that
of the Lustron payment), in his
letter of May z. 1852, to Senator
Mccarthy and Chairman Hen
nings specified all six of the mat
ters in his letter to Senator Nc
Carthy of November 81. 1852.
A Senator's Duty.
The mere reading of these
matters without deciding or at.
tempting to decide whether they
are true or not, makes it clear
that the honesty, sincerity, char
acter, and conduct of Senator
Mccarthy were under inquiry. It
is the opinion of the select COM
mittee that when the personal
honor and official conduct of q
Senator of the United States are
in question before a duly conSti-
tuted committee of the Senate.
the Senator involved owes a duty
to himself, his State, and to the
Senate, to appear promptly and
cooperate fully when called by
a Senate committee charged with
the responsibility of inquiry.
This must be the rule if the dig
nifty. honor, authority and powers
of the Senate are to be respected
and maintained. This duty could
not and was not fulfilled by
questioning the authority and
/ jurisdiction of the subcommittee,
by accusing its members of the
dishonest expenditure of public
funds, or even by charging that
! the subcommittee was permit
ting itself to be used to serve the
cause of communism. When
persons in high places fail to set
and meet high standards, the
people lose faith. If our people
lose faith, our form of Govern
ment cannot long endure.
The appearance which we be.
lieve was necessary was before o
subcommittee of the Senate it
self, to which subcommittee the
Senate, through its normal proc-
esses, had confided matter at.
fecting its own honor and in
tegrity. In such case legal
process was not and should not
be required.
9. The request Of November n,
1852, to Senator McCorthy
to oppeor did not form a
legal bosis for contempt,
but his reply Of December
!, 1852, wos, in itself. con-
tumocious in character.
AS appears from the findings
of fact, Senator Mccarthy was
formally requested to appear by
letter and by telegram from
Subcommittee Chairman Hen
nings, dated November 81, 1852.
The request was that he appear
before the subcommittee between
November % and November Is.
1852.
Senator Mccarthy testified
that he was in Wisconsin, on q
hunting trip. and that he did not
see the letter or telegram until
November %. 1852. The select
committee accepts this testimony
as true.
Considering this request as q
formal request, and Senator Nc
Carthy being unable to appear
in the dates fixed because he
did not know of the request in
time, we believe that this re-
quest, considered Independently.
would not be contempt in the
ordinary legal sense. but we
think the letter which he wrote
in reply to the request was con-
tumacious in its entire form and
manner of expression when di-
rected at a committee Of the
Senate seeking to act upon q
matter referred to it.
10. The conduct Of the junior
Senator from Wisconsin to-
word the Subcommittee on
Privileges and Elections wos
contemptuous. independents
Iy Of his failure to appear.
we have considered carefully
all of the correspondence and all
the conduct, relation, and at
titude of Senator Mccarthy
toward the Subcommittee on
Privileges and Elections. We be-
lieve it fair to say on the evidence
in this record that the junior
Senator from Wisconsin did not
intend to appear before that SUBJ
committee for examination.
He first questioned the juris-
diction of the subcommittee to
inquire into any but election
charges. Later he contended
that the subcommittee was in
vestigating conduct preceding