The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-06-02
Acc TAKES UP
CONTINUED from PAGE One)

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were Gordon Gray and Thomas A.
Morgan. DR.. Evans argued open
heimer had been cleared oe the
charges in 1947.
Black Marx"
"Al people are somewhat Of q
security risk" he asserted, adding
that Oppenheimer was no excep.
ton, but that:
II personally think that our fall
ure to clear DR.. Oppenheimer win
be a black mark on the escuteheon
of our country"
Gray, former secretary Of the
Army and now president Of the
University of North Carolina.
joined with Morgan, former presi.
dent of the Sperry Corp, In "a
clear conclusion" that Oppenheim-
er els loyal citizen"
Nevertheless, they said, they
could not recommend Oppenheim.
er's reinstatement because Of
these four controlling" consider.
atoms:
Considerations
1. A "serious disregard" By Op-
penheimer for security require
ments.
2. susceptibility to influence"
which could hurt national security.
3. Disturbing" conduct toward
the H-bomb program.
4. Lack of candor by Oppenheim-
er at times during the boards
hearing, such as in discussing the
extent of his opposition to the n
bomb program.
Among early reaction 10 the
boards recommendation was q
statement issued by the Atomic
Scientists of Chicago last night.
They called it unfortunate y. dis.
turbing %. frightening"
The 33-page report filed with the
commission by Gray and Morgan
dealt with "A charges, apparently
Investigated by the TBI, against
the scientist who was in technical
charge of creation of America's-
and the, worlds - first atomic
bomb. > z
Allegations Made
Twenty-three of the charges al.
legged such things as this: that OPP
penheimer loanded his name to
Communist fronts, contributed hun.
dreds of dollars toward Communist
causes, admitted belonging to prac-
tically "every Communist front on
the West Coast" was the husband
of a Onetime party member and
the brother of another, associated
with such West Coast Red leaders
as Steve Nelson.
The oath charge accused him of
opposing in 1919 the development
of the H-bomb on moral and tech
nical grounds and, after the project
was launched, continuing to oppose
it.
While conceding that he did op-
pose going ahead with H-bomb re-
search while the matter was In
the discussion stage, Oppenheimer
has insisted that he dropped that
opposition after President Truman
ordered a go-ahead on the project
in 1850.
Majority Opinion
The majority opinion said Of the
first q charges:
"There remains little doubt that,
from late 1896 or early 1887 20
probably April 1912, DR.. Open.
heimer was deeply involved with
many people who were active Com.
munists. The record would suggest
that the involvement was some
thing more than an intellectual and
sympathetic interest in the pro-
fessed aims Of the Communist
party. -
although Communist function.
aries during this period considered
DR.. Oppenheimer to be q Commu.
mist, there is no evidence that he
was a member of the party in the
strict sense of the word.
"Using DR.. Oppenheimer's own
characterization of his status dur.
ing that period, he seems to have
been an active fellow traveller"
Loyalty Upheld
While the board said 1t frowned
on this, it nevertheless ruled: "Dr.
Oppenheimer is a loyal citizen"
As to his opposition to the H
bomb program in 1s4s, the board
said it saw in this ''no lack Of
loyalty" It stated:
"The board was impressed by
the fact that even those who were
critical of DR.. Oppenheimer's
judgment and activities or lack Of
activities, without exception, testi.
fled to their belief in his loyalty.
But the majority held that, what
ever Oppenheimer's motivations,
"the security interests Of the Unit
ed States were affected" by his
actions. Gray and Morgan wrote,
with Evans dissenting:
1--WE believe that, had DR.. Open
heimer given his enthusiastic sup
port to the program, 4 concerted
effort would have been inflated at
an earlier date"
Contentious Rslsessd
At the same time they rejected
contentious that Oppenheimer CON.