Evening star., 1954-11-12
| -etters to | heStor.
Mccurthy's Case

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Mccurthy's Case
In the heated exchange Of accusa-
tioflS and counter-accusation In the
dispute arising from the Senate COM
mittee investigation of communism in
the United States Army and, specifl-
cally. from the questioning Of Gen.
zwicker by Senator Mccarthy concern
Ing Mai. Peress, two questions of vital
Importance to the American people
have been ignored generally. The first
concerns the legal position of the United
States Army with reference to the three
branches of our Government; the Sec
Communist infiltration Of the Army.
Under the Constitution the President
Is Commander In Chief of the Army.
The Amy, however, under the same
Constitution, is raised and supported
I by Congress. The national legislature
makes rules for the government Of the
Army both In peace and war. 1t alone
can declare war. 1t decides the size Of
the Army and the number and ranks of
Its officers. Every officer from five-star
general to second lieutenant holds his
Office by act Of Congress. Moreover,
appointment to the higher Army ranks
must be approved by the Senate. The
Army exists only by an act Of Congress
fixing It's size and appropriating funds
for its maintenance. The Army Is not
above the law, but is its creature. The
Congress can pass an act abolishing
the whole Army at any time it chooses.
In such case the Presidents title Of
Commander in Chief would be mean
ingless one.
There are sound reasons for the
constitutional provisions regarding our
armed forces. They were drafted at q
time when memories of the first Ameri-
cans were bitterly fresh with regard to
use Of the Army by royal heads Of
state and royal governors against the
people of the American Colonies. Those
reasons for legislative control Of the
armed forces are just as valid today.
Have we already forgotten the sub
servience of Hitler's officers to their
"Fuehrer'' and the awful consequences
of that subServience? We see in Rus
sia and her satellites in Europe today
the terrible results Of national armed
forces being the tools Of the heads Of
state, whatever that head may be.
It is obvious that under the Ameri-
can system of government the Army
was never intended to be q part of the
executive branch Of the Government
and thus available for use by the
Chief Executive for purposes not speci-
fically authorized by law. It seems
therefore that when an officer Of the
United States Armed Forces appears be-
fore>a committee Of Congress to answer
inquiries regarding the administration
and conduct of the Army, he Is duty
bound to answer. Gen. zwickers an
sWer to the questions put to him were
not responsive. In plain words. he
lodged answering properly and laid
himself open to censure by the commit
tee. Whatever one may think Of the
language used toward Gen. Zwicker
by Senator Mccarthy. there is no doubt
in the minds of impartial observers that
Gen. Zwicker by his evasive replies,
showed a lack of respect for COM
mittee of Congress which was due to
it by one holding commission estab-
lished by that Congress.
As to the infiltration Of communism
into the Army, the Congress has every
right to investigate the situation fully
and to obtain information from every
officer in the Army, If need be. The
people Of this country want to know
for certainty that the Communists
and their fellow travellers who were
commissioned In the Army under the
Roosevelt and Truman administrations
have been completely eliminated or
whether there Is nucleus lying low
and awaiting their big chance. The
American people are fully aware of the
danger Of communism, even II the
intellectual "elite" choose to shrug it
of in noncommittal neutral" man
ner.
Eleanor II. Finch.
4
am for Senator Mccarthy and
do not think he should have used kid
gloves in his attempt to penetrate the
iron curtain which the Army had built
around itself in the Peress case. ] do
not think that the Army is sacrosant,
for officers in the Army are merely
Government employees. The officers who
passed and promoted Peress should be
denoted for gross inefficiency.
We shall see whether the Republican
Party is foolish enough to censure
Senator Mccarthy and stop his patri-
otic work as. Representative Martin Dies
was defeated by his own Democratic
Party with the aid of Mr.. Roosevelt.
American Teacher.
II Senator Mccarthy will consent, the
Senate should drop the charges against
him with all possible speed. The recent
election loses Mccarthy his chairman
ship. A long trial Of the charges
against him win serve to advertise their
propriety or improperly. At their con-
clusion verdict sustaining the charges
will place Mccarthy in the role Of a
martyr. # not sustained, Mccarthy
viii gain additional prestige. In view
of many, the Senate, and, not Nc
Carthy, has been badly advertised and
hurt before the country and the world
and appears even now in q rather ludi-
crous light. Should the Senate vote to
censure one of its members on such
trivial charges it would be straining at
a gnat and swallowing a a,camel. Be-