Evening star., 1954-05-22
The Political Mill
McC Corthy Can't Afford
To Duck Witness Stund
Such Attempt Would Be
Entirely Out Of Character
The Political MiIf
By Gould Lincoln

Entirely Out Of Character
By Gould Lincoln
No one believes. no one could possibly
believe. that Senator Joe Mccarthy, in
vestigator par excellence. will decline
to take the witness stand when his
turn comes to testify in the Army Nc
Carthy row. It would be entirely out
Of character for the Wisconsin Senator
to duck such a test. Particularly, in
the light Of the fact that Secretary Of
the Army Robert T. Stevens has been
on the stand, undergoing a kind of
third-degree examination for more than
10 days himself. And Mr.. Stevens is,
like Senator Mccarthy, the other prin-
cipal in this controversy.
No one believes that Senator Nc
Carthy would prefer to have the word
go out to the American people he was
willing, for any reason, to back away
from an appearance before the Senate
investigations Subcommittee. BY no
means would he desire to have the COM
ment go forth that he was afraid to
take the stand. No excuse, no sugges-
ton Of strategy. no plea that President
Eisenhower's recent statement that de-
tails Of White House conversations are
not to be revealed-particularly the
conversations on January 21-make a
refusal on the part of the Senator to
testify justifiable.
Issues in Probe.
The issues in this investigation
within an investigation are: Q) Did
Senator Mccarthy and his chief counsel,
Roy M. Cohn, seek by improper pres
sure to obtain special treatment and
favors for Pvt. G. David Schine-a
volunteer investigator for the Nc
Carthy Investigating Committee-when
Pvt. Schine was drafted into the Army?
(2) Did the Army Department try
to "blackmail" Senator Mccarthy aE1
MIR. Cohn into giving up their investi-
cations Of subversives In the Army
using Pvt .Schine as q hostage" as
Senator Mccarthy and Mr.. Cohn have
charged? The question Is which side
is telling the truth. There is no ques-
ton here whether there are Commu-
niStS or fellow travellers in the Army.
The Army Department drafted a report
on the alleged activities of Senator
Mccarthy and Mr.. Cohn. It was long
and circumstantial report. It listed %
instances of threats or other improper
conduct of some member of his staff IN
behalf of Pvt. Schine. The demands
were that Pvt. Schine be given a COM
mission and that he be assigned to
service in or near New York, where his
home is.
Senator Mccarthy, replying to the
ANvna eknk
of his own, charged that Secretary
Stevens and Army Department Counsel
John G. Adams suggested that Senator
Mccarthy turn his investigation away
from the Army and into the adminis-
tration of the Navy and the Air Force;
that they offered to supply information
about those services. The Mccarthy
statement also charged that Mr.. Adams
made threat to Senator Mccarthy
and Mr.. Cohn to make public the report
which the Army Department had made
regarding the activities of the Wiscon-
sin Senator and his chief counsel in
connection with favors for Pvt. Schine,
unless the investigation of the loyalty
setup in the Army and Of subversives
in the Army were given up.
'''- Facts Are Sought.
The Senate Investigations Subconf-
mittee, under the acting chairmanship
of Senator Mundt, is engaged in trying
to get at the truth or falsity of these
charges. It is incredible that Senator
Mccarthy will refuse to take the stand
himself or attempt to keep Mr.. Cohn
or any Of the members of his staff from
testifying and SO make the subcom-
mittee's investigation incomplete. It has
been suggested that the Wisconsin Sen
ator, using his authority as chairman
of the full Senate Committee on Gov
ernment OperationS-of which the in
vestigating committee is subcommit-
tee-will recall the subpoenas issued for
Mr.. Cohn and others and so prevent
their being compelled to testify. The full
committee, however, does not have to
lie on its back and let the chairman
exercise such one-man dictatorship. It
could order the subpoenas reissued or
prevent their withdrawal.
If the full committee or the subcom-
mittee is willing to accept one-man die
tatorship, the Senate itself, which Gre
ates its committees. might have some
thing to say or do in the matter. Ger
tainly. however, it is entirely unlikely
that Senator Mccarthy will undertake
to obstruct the investigation now under
way, an investigation which has enlisted
the attention Of the country-at a time
when other and tremendous problems
might well have its attention. The de-
mand is for completion of the inquiry
and findings by the investigating COM
mittee.