Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-01

himself. Mr.. cohn, andMr Carr
he offers what they consider s'tol
be pertinent data concerning the |
attempt by Robert r. Stevens |
and John g. Adams, TO discredit
the Investigations Subcommittee.
and to force a discontinuance Of /
our hearings exposing commu-
mist infiltration In their depart
ment."
In either direct language or BY /
implication they charged that |
the Army's report chronological
Series of Events) was dis i
honest was launched" in bad /
faith" and has had the planned
effect Of derailing the inquiry /
into security matters pertaining
to Communist infiltraSion in the |
Army and to Secretary Stevens
administration thereof"
Another. and possibly the most |
serious among the charges
against Secretary Stevens and
Mr.. Adams. is that "as soon as
the probe turned to the infinitely
more important question Of who
was responsible for protecting
Communist infiltration, and pro-
| tecting Communists who had in
filtrated, every conceivable OBJ
stacle was placed In the path Of |
the subcommittee search for
the truth"
In "The Case Of Senator Nc
earthly and Mr.. Cohn," supra, we !
pointed out the relationship be-
tween the investigators and
those being investigated as a
strong factor that yields weight
and influence in any proper
evaluation of the facts" Cogni-
zance of that relationship must
continue as we examine the
countercharges.
Conclusions justified.
Whether justified or not, Sec
rotary Stevens and Mr.. Adams
evidently believed that the in
vestigation being conducted by
Senator Mccarthy Of alleged
subversive infiltration and influ-
ence in the Army was harmful |
to the Army and the Nation. The
record fully warrants the con-
clusion that Secretary Stevens
and Mr.. Adams did undertake to
influence or induce the subcom-
mittee to discontinue at least
some parts of its investigation
of the Army. On various occa-
sions they attempted to persuade
Senator Mccarthy and the staff
to allow the Army to handle its
own problems in this respect.
This is clear from the testimony
of both Secretary Stevens and
Mr.. Adams.
The proposed Fort Monmouth !
press release, and the circum-
stances attending it's preparation
and consideration, leaves no |
doubt that Secretary Stevens
and Mr.. Adams not only pre-
ferred but sought to persuade
and induce Senator Mccarthy to
discontinue or change the type
of the hearings in the Fort Mon
mouth Investigation and permit
the Army to take over. That eff
fort failed. +
If no improper means were
used, the efforts of Secretary Ste
vens and Mr.. Adams to persuade
Senator Mccarthy that the Army
could do the job without subcom-
mittee Investigations may be un-
derStandable and are not in
themselves subject to criticism.
However, Secretary Stevens
and MIR. Adams were accused Of I
both improper means and mo-
tives. For example, it is charged
that Pvt. Schine was discrimi-
mated against by being denied a
commission; that he was used as
q hostage in an attempt to
blackmail the subcommittee out
of its investigation of the Army.
There is no evidence whatso-
ever that Pvt. Schine was dis
eliminated against regarding a
commission. On the contrary, his
application for direct commits
sion before induction was given
extraordinary attention. It was
considered and rejected by the
Army Transport Service, the
provost marshal general, the
chief Of psychological warfare.
and by special board of the
1st Army Command. Inquiries
also were made of the Navy and
of the Air Force. His application
was also brought to the personal
attention of the Secretary Of the
Army and the Undersecretary
of State. There is no evidence
that his application was not con-
sidered in conformity with the
prevailing standards and policies
and a decision rendered on its
merits.
Unsubstantiated- Charges.
The charges Of holding Mr..
Schine as q hostage and Of
blackmail regarding him were
made public Immediately fol-
lowing the Army's release of the
Chronological Series Of Events"
These charges are wholly un-
substantiated. Mr.. Carr admitted
writing to Senator Mccarthy the
interoff1ce memorandum con-
tanning these charges. Senator
Mccarthy and Mr.. Cohn adopted
them as their own and made
them public on March IL.
Mr.. Carr testified he was un-
able to specify any incident that.
might be regarded as a threat
Of blackmail. Some Of his replies |
to questions addressed to him
on this score are set forth in the
summary Of evidence and need
not be repeated. The real base
lessneSs of these charges. how
ever. is summed up in Mr.. Cars |
answer to the question:
did you have any informa-
ton that the Army was misuSing |
Pvt. Schine in any way?"