The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1954-07-02
HERBERT BROWNELL'S
MESS
By WILLARD SHELTON
In LABOR'S DAILY QTU)

Brownell a supposedly ingenious politician,
appointed out of Governor DeWeys wing of
the Republican Party as attorney general to
"clean up the mess" in the Justice Depart
ment
AS of now, Brownell's Justice Department
has won just two major cases.
1t successfully convicted some down-trod-
den little AFL farm union members of
scheme to rig prices so that they would get
decent return on their labor and investment
in growing strawberries. COncurrently, the
Justice Department entered numerous "cOn-
sent DEGREES that ended antitrust cases
against giant corporations on terms deeply
gratifying to the giants.
The Brownell Justice Department also
won" case in the Supreme Courts decision
outlawing school segregation. But Brownell
and his aides had little to do with it.
They simply filed document accepting
as correct brilliant brief and the oral argu-
ments previously presented by Philip Perl
man, solicitor general, who served the Tru-
man Administration through more than one
attorney general.
BroWnells Justice Department did not ap-
pear on oral rearguments to file a new written
brief except in the sense of endorsing Perl
mans brief. The negative credit to be award
ed is that Brownell did not try to reverse
Perlmans written and oral arguments.
1heSG are BrOWnelIS VICTORIES. Some OF
his failures must also be considered.
He procured an Indictment of Herbert
Bergson, former Democratic assistant in the
Justice Department under a novel and mex
plicable claim that Bergson had violated the
conflict of interests" laws.
The Indictment was more political perse-
cution than legal prosecution. No attorney
general previously had considered that such
facts as those alleged against Bergson could
involve anything remotely constituting a vio-
lation of law. But Brownell nevertheless got
his aides to get grand jury Indictment.
The Judge, although by reputation pref
ty tough judge towards defendants, threw
Brownell's case out of court without even
bothering to ask Bergson to make defense
on the merits. BrownelPs Interpretation of
the law, in short, was phony and incompetent.
The Justice Department also procured last
December, an indictment of a former State
Department official, Val Lorwin, accused by
Senator Mccarthy of being a Soviet sypa-
thizer.
Brownells lease" against Lorwin blew up
when even the department had to confess that
the attorney generals assistant handling the ,
grand jury had misrepresented facts and COM
mitted other gross improprieties.
Brownell did not have the decency to adj
NIT that Lorwin's name ought to be forth
rightly cleared He just had the indictment
quashed at his own initiative.
Who has Brownel convicted since he be-
came attorney general? few Communists,
whose investigation and prosecution was be-
gun under Mr.. Humankind a dead man,
Harry Dexter White
He hasn't really convicted" White;
against White, he has not proved malice or
an intent to injure his country. He has merely
uttered political charges that the dead cannot
answer.
Brownell apparently was taken to the
woodshed by Dwight D. Eisenhower when the c
White accusations impugned the integrity of
former President Truman himself. BrOWnell
has been, in any event, curiously reticent about
expanding the accusations. d
Let us face it: Brownell has created more
of mess in the Justice Department than he !
has CLEANED up" 1t would appear he is def h
nitely short of being an indispensable man. If r
Mr.. Eisenhower ever learns to be President a
in his own right, Herbert Brownell, Jr, would [