Evening star., 1954-05-11
Jackson, Like Many Of Us, !,
Finds Hearing Is Confusing
But Young Senator
Refuses to Let His
Temper Flare Up
BY Mary McGrory

OF Dlame lOrs 20 per cent OF
what's going on here" He is, Of
course. still going after the re-
naming 5 per cent with his usual
vigor.
Every day that it lasts the
Senator looks more like the
matador who tried to fight
Ferdinand, the bull who pre-
ferred to smell the flowers. A
very frustrating role for one
whose work with cape and sword
in the ring has been so dazzling
in the past.
A more rewarding part in the
incredible Capitol Hill drama is
being filled by Senator jackson.
Democrat. of Washington, who.
if Cecil B. de Mile were cast
ing, would be played by James
Stewart.
The former boy prosecutor Of
Snohomish County is Stocky
where Mr.. Stewart is the gan
Cling type, but he has the voice
for the part, and a good deal Of
what he says sounds as though
it came right out of the script of
Mr.. Smith Goes to Washington, +"
or some other Stewart vehicle in
which the earnest young man
seeks the facts against tre-
mendous. odds.
Committees Youngest.
The youngest and the most
cheerful of the senatorial ploW-
men who have addressed them
selves to "the long, hard furrow"
that Army Counsellor WEIGH has
termed the course of the hear
ings, Senator Jackson has set
himself a number of modest
goals which he temperately
seeks.
Very often he speaks for the
man in the street.
II am confused" he will con-
fess candidly after some par
ticularly intricate go-around on
some obscure point. "The
American people," he ventured
again, II think are pretty con-
fused"
Senator Jackson speaks every
day more WiStfully of hoping to
clarity the record. He has taken
to adding IF it is possible"
Yesterday he sounded like q
man who is trying to cut his
way through dense jungle armed
only with manicure scissors.
IF the word logic has any
meaning any more :" he be-
gan at one point during a pro-
longed wrangle over "expedit-
ing" the hearings.
Adds a Bit Himself.
But if Senator Jackson has
made an honest admission OF
confusion" he has added little
of that commodity to the hear
ings. He and Senator Mcclellan
are the lawyers on the Demo-
cratic side-Senator Sy1nington
has said often he is not one
and together they try to intro
duce a judicious note into the
proceedings.
Frequently. when Senator Nc
Carthy tries to reduce the case
to a quibhle over Pvt. Schine's s
shoeshine, Senator Mcclellan, in
his voice Of doom reasserts the
gravity Of the charges on both
sides. I Senator Jackson points
out the equally dire conse-
quences.
1t was he who. early in the
hearings. asked Secretary Ste
vens for true" or false" an
swers in regard to eight specific
charges made by the Mccarthy
side.
MY questions" he said, "are
intended as interrogatories on
the. issues, which, if contradicted
by the parties to the dispute,
will lay the groundwork for
clean-cut perjury action"
No Young Man Label.
Senator Mccarthy has not yet
called Senator jackson, who is
younger than he. "a young
man." which is something of a
negative tribute, since it is a
favorite derogatory phrase Of
the junior Senator from Wiscon-
sin. He often applies it to Army
Counsellor Welch, who is 20
years older.
He has, however, shown a dis
position to order Senator jack
son, like everybody else. around.
Mr.. Jackson resists. When he
was quizzing Roy Cohn about
the doctored picture and press
ing him hard about the word
alone" which Mr.. Conn missed,
Senator Mccarthy intervened to
suggest that Mr. jackson re-
phrase the question.
Since when did ever sug-
gest to other members OF this
committee or witnesses what
questions they ought to ask?"
Senator jackson demanded.
Under heavier fire from the
Junior Senator from Wisconsin
last Thursday morning. Senator
jackson kept his head and his
temper. Senator Mccarthy was
out of sorts because his famous
FBI letter" was still unread. He
turned on Senators Jackson and
Symington and told them he was
sorry they had come back to
the committee because they had
done nothing but "obstruct" his
red-hunt since their return
Senator Jackson retorted. u
am not surprised at the state
ment by the Senator from Wis
consin. That is his stock in
trade. I am not disturbed by
what he says. He made lot OF
statements in the 1862 cam
paign against Senator Syming-
ton and myself. The people re-
pudlated them"
The Senator periodically
presses for the admission Of the