davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28

breathingeSt Senator on Capitoi
Hill had screamed for the officers
scalp
What could the Army have
done?
Q 1t could have refused to take
Peress on active duty In the first
place because he pleaded Fifth
Amendment.
. Having taken him on duty. It
could have expedited his paper
work.
. Having determined him un-
suited for service, it could have
decided in far less than a month
to get rid of him.
Q Having taken as much time as
it did to get him indicted and in
vestigated, 1t could have taken a
little more time in letting him out
What about the promotion?
This is perhaps the most inter-
esting phase of the Peress case.
The Army contends that under the
law it had no choice but to re-
adjust Peress' grade from captain
to major. But in a letter to SEN
ator Mccarthy on February Is,
Secretary Stevens said
ut is admitted that this grade
adjustment took place while the
officer was under investigation. 1t
should not have taken place. {.
I have taken steps to insure that
such thing cannot happen
again."
Asked about the apparent con-
flict between the legal aspects and
Mr.. Stevens statement, a high
Army official said Friday that if
the Army had it to do over again,
it probably would have acted
"extra-legally" in holding up Pc
ress' promotion to major.
AS to the Peress case, only two
things were certain this week end:
Cd Maj. Peress would be filling no
more CT teeth for a long time to
come, and ~ the Army would be
giving its paper work little closer
attention from now on out.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28
And Down Again

About two hours after he sat
down to lunch at the Capitol
with Senators Mccarthy, DirkSen
of Illinois, Mundt of South Dakota
and Potter of Michigan-Mr. Ste
vens came again into public view.
When the doors of the conferees'
meeting place opened, Senator
Mundt read to reporters a memo
of understanding" The first two
of the four paragraphs caused
newsmen's eyebrows to rise:
81. There is complete accord be-
tween the Department of the Army
and the Senate Subcommittee on
Investigations that communism
and Communists must be rooted
out of the armed forces wherever
found"
There neDer had been any
argument on this point, iDhich
seemed merely to bolster Send
tor McCarthy's charge that the
Army pas "coddling" Commu-
niStS)
''2. There is complete agreement
among us that the Secretary of
the Army will order the inspector
general to complete the inveStiga-
ton on the Peress case as
rapidly as possible and that he
will give the committee the names
of every one involved in the pro-
motion and honorable discharge
. of Peress and that such individuals
will be available to appear before
the subcommittee"
fSince Secretary Stevens had
said that he, and not others in
the Army. Mould testify, this ap-
pedred on the face OF 1t to be a
complete bdckdotDn by the PEN
tagon.J
Newspapermen i'm m d tely
characterized the memo of un-
derstanding" as surrender on the
part of Mr.. Stevens. Though Mr..
Stevens and his close associates
at the Pentagon denied heatedly
that it was surrender, it seemed
difficult to put any other inter-
probation on the development.
The Thursday session of the Nc
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28

power to hasten or hinder Mr..
Warren's confirmation. He chose
to hinder it, ostensibly because the
appointment of a Chief Justice re-
quired careful consideration, more
probably because he had been hav-
ing patronage trouble with the
administration and wanted to
teach the White House lesson.
After a series of delays-all Of
which Senator LANCER justified in
a question of personal privilege"
speech on February l9-the chair
man called his committee into SEES
sion Wednesday. The 15-man
group heard Roderick j. Wilson, a
bitterly anti-Warren Californian
who was the principal author of
charges against the Chief Justice
which had been read into the pub
lie record by Mr.. LANCER. These
charges ranged from assertions
that Mr.. Warren, as Governor, had
been in the pocket of a liquor
lobbyist, to allegations that he was
a down-the- line Marxist thinker.
Mr.. Wilson scarcely impressed
the committee, which voted, 1913,
to report Mr.. Warren's nomination
for Senate action. Senator LANCER
voted with the majority.
Tipstaffs seized Mr.. Wilson on
telegram from California author
tiles citing him as a fugitive from
an indictment on a charge of
suborning perjury. Municipal
Judge Andrew J. Howard, jr., re-
leased Mr.. Wilson shortly there
after on the ground that the tele-
gram was insufficient evidence to
hold him.
The confirmation of Chief Jus
tice Warren was a cut-and- dried
certainty. But it would have to
wait until the coming week be-
cause of Cd Senator Langer's cam
paign, and (2) the late rush last
week to kill off the Bricker amend
ment (see below.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28

tial training, then to Fort Lewis,
Wash, and finally to Camp Kill
mer, N. J.
For the first 80 days of his Serv-
ice, Peress' loyalty forms lay un-
noticed in some ones in-basket at
lst' Army headquarters in New
York. 1t was not until early in
February-roughly 100 days after
he filled out the forms-that any
notice was taken of the fact that
he had used the Fifth Amendment.
An investigation was begun.
In October, under a law which
recomputed the civilian experience
of doctors and dentists, Peress-
along with about 700 other medics
got grade adjustment" and
became a major. BY then, almost
a year had passed since PeresS had
taken refuge in the Fifth Amend
ment. He already had been on
active duty more than 10 months
and under security investigation
more than nine months.
1t was not until November that
the investigation was completed.
In letter to the Pentagon, 1st
Army recommended that Peress be
separated from the service. This
letter touched off Pentagon
study of the matter On December
30-a month later-the Pentagon
decided to give PeresS discharge
effective March 81, 1854
PereSs was notified that he
would be separated on that date
unless he sooner requested sepa-
ration. He continued on duty as
dentist at Camp Kilmer
Meanwhile Senator Mccarthy
got wind of PereSs and hailed him
before his one-man investigating
committee. On January 80 Peress
took refuge in the Fifth Amend
ment when asked by Senator Nc
earthly about Communist activi-
ties. The Senator demanded that
the witness be court martialed.
Quickie Discharge
PereSs then went to Camp Kill
mer headquarters and requested
immediate relief from duty. The
Pentagon got word of Peress' de-
sire on February l, and authorized
his honorable discharge on Febru-
airy 2.
Thus ended the oriet military
career of Irving PereSs
What did the Army do wrong?
Just about everything:
1t granted commission to an
officer before determining his
loyalty qualifications. (The Penta-
gon has since changed this policy
Q 1t called the officer to active
duty without scanning his papers.
. 1t allowed loyalty data to
gather dust for 100 days before
taking any action.
. 1t investigated the case for 10
months before making any recon-
. mendations about what to do with
what Senator Mccarthy calls
Fifth Amendment Communist"
o It studied the matter at the
Pentagon for one month after the
recommendations were in before
making any decision whatever
about PereSS.
. Finally, a tactical error all the
more startling because OF earlier
red tape, the Army managed to
rush through the complicated
paper work of an honorable dis
charge within "a hourS-and that
only three days after the fire.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28

Carthy committee was called of,
OF course. There was serious doubt
that, once the chairman had won
his point, he ever would bother to
reconvene the hearing
SoIvoge Operations
The remainder of the week was
taken up by attempts to make Mr.
Stevens Wednesday activities look
like something less than capitula.
ton. An early explanation OF
what really happened at the
luncheon was that Mr. Stevens had
received verbal assurance from
Senator Mccarthy that witnesses
would not be bullied. The Senator
denied this categorically. explain
ing that to promise not to bully
witnesses would be tantamount to
admitting that he had bullied
some in the past.
But whether or not such an
agreement had been reached was
somewhat beside the point The
memo of understanding" as
legal document was hardly worth
the paper it was written on. 1t
was not meant to have any legal
value; it was meant only to have
publicity value-and all this value
accrued to the Senator. Whatever
tacit accords might have been
reached could not compete with
the plain black print on the plain
white paper.
The question on all lips this
week end was, What next? Figur-
ing the junior Senator from Wis
consin is far riskier game than
figuring the horses. No one was
willing to gamble on the next Nc
Carthy adventure. About all any
one could do was crib from Cassius
in Julius Caesar" and ask:
Upon whot meot doth this our Coesor feed
Thot he is grown so greet?
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28
Peress Case

It was suggested often last week
that the Army Secretary backed
down because the PereSs case was
a weak one on which to take a
stand. If this would mean relying
on the Peress case as monument
to administrative efficiency, the
Army's position certainly was a
weak one.
The story of Maj. Irving Peress
merits a place high in the annals
of bungled paperwork. BY any
standards, it was botch literally
from before the New York dentist
came on active duty until the
time he was discharged.
On Friday afternoon, the Army
finally decided to lay the Peress
case on the table. Here is how it
shaped up:
Peress was called to the colorS
in the fall of 1852 under the doctor
draft act. On October Is, 1852, he
was given the rank of captain in
the Dental Corps reserve, but re-
manned on inactive status.
About two weeks later, while he
was still on inactive duty, Peress
filled out two FORMS. on both of
which he wrote Constitutional
Privilege" in the blanks about
membership in subversive organ
izationS.
On January 7, 1851 days
after he pleaded Fifth Amendment
on his loyalty forms-Peress was
called to active duty. He went to
Fort Sam Houston, Tex, for ini-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28
Congress

WHEN THE CURRENT session
w of Congress opened, the
Bricker amendment to revise the
constitutional treaty making power
had "a formal sponsors in the
Senate-two-th thirds of the members
of that body, and enough to secure
approval of a constitutional
amendment.
The outlook was for passage Of
the amendment, perhaps with
notifications to make it more
palatable to the White House.
But last week the Bricker
amendment, already reduced to
tatters, was dead for 1854.
When the week opened, there
was nothing left of the original
Bricker amendment but some rela-
lively non-controversial provisions
which would reform Senate pro-
cedure and specify that inter-
national agreements cannot be
unconstitutional.
Senator Bricker sought to SAL
wage some of the principles of his
amendment by offering a provision
to make all international agree
mentS which touch on domestic
law subject to special action by
House and Senate. But the Senate
voted him down, so to AZ.
Then Senator George of Georgia.
spokesman for the conservative
Democrats, offered a substitute for
what was left of the pending bill.
1t would have provided that inter-
national agreements other than
treaties could become domestic law
only through special legislation.
The Senate supported that sub
Stltute, 81 to 30-a thirds
margin.
Next step was to give formal
approval to the whole bill. now
in the form of the George SUBJ
Stitute.
But the bill failed BY one vote
1t fell short of the two-thirds
margin. The count was so to 81.
Thirty-two Republicans Including
Majority Leader Knowland) and
70 Democrats voted yes; IA Re-
publicans, l6 Democrats and l
independent voted no. Conserva-
tive Republicans and Democrats
had outvoted the liberal wings in
each party, but by an insufficient
margin.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28
Review Of The Week. Mccarthy Hands Army Setback
TINE WEEK just past belonged

TINE WEEK just past belonged
to Joe Mccarthy of Wiscon-
sin by default.
In a rough-and-tumble week
that was hectic even by Senator
McCarthy'S standards, the Wiscon-
sin Red-hunter managed to face
down the redoubtable United
States Army and create in at least
one segment of the public mind
the notion that he alone was in a
position to eradicate a military
policy of Communist coddling.
Actually, Communist coddling
was not the issue in Joe McCar-
thy'S week. There was no evil
dence that the Army, or any of
its leaders, had any more use for
Reds than does Joe Mccarthy
himself. The issue was not even
whether Senator Mccarthy had
the right to investigate misman-
agement and/or subversion in the
Army-everybody recognized that
he does have this right.
The issue was, in fact, rather a
minor one over which to launch
a major battle: Legal rights en-
tirely aside, is a Senate commit
tee chairman justified in impugn-
ing the honesty, intellect and fit
ness to serve of general officer
whose only apparent sin is follow
ing the orders of his superiorS?
This week end, the answer
seemed to be yes, if he can get
away with it. And there was
ample evidence that this time, at
least, the junior Senator from
Wisconsin had managed to get
away with it very deity indeed.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28
Up the Hill

away WIFI IL very QeICly lnQeed.
Up the Hill
A week ago yesterday, the battle
lines were drawn between Senator
Mccarthy and the Army-or. more
precisely, between the Senator and
Army Secretary Robert Ten
Brock Stevens.
On February 10, behind closed
doors, Senator Mccarthy had in
terrogated the commanding officer
of Camp Kilmer, IN. Brig Gen
Ralph Zwicker ABOUT circum-
stances surrounding the discharge
of one Maj Irving PereSS Senator
Mccarthy had termed Peress
Fifth Amendment Communist"
because the former Dental Corps
officer repeatedly had refused on
80 occasions to answer questions
about Communist connections
Gen. Zwicker declined to answer
some questions citing orders from
above as his reason
"Details of the Peress case,
around which this storm de-
veloped, appear below
After the wicker hearing, the
general complained to the Penta-
gon that he had been subjected 10
humiliation and abuse by the Wis
consin Senator. whu had ordered
Gen. Zwicker to reappear the fol-
lowing Tuesday. Gen Zwicker
asked for comment and instruc-
tions. He included an affidavit
which recited his grievances
against the committee procedure
On February 20, Secretary Ste
vens issued an order to Army Of
ficers to ignore summonses from
the Mccarthy group, and said he
would appear on Tuesday instead
of Gen. Zwicker.
Stevens Hits Out
The Army Secretary dashed out
at ''unwarranted abuse OF our
LOYAL officers" and said he was not
going to stand by and see them
taken over the hurdles by the
rough-talking Senator Mccarthy.
While this initial sparring was
going on, the public was in the
dark as to exactly what it was all
about. But early last week, Sem
ator McCarthy'S subcommittee re-
leased the testimony taken from
Gen. Zwicker 1t was studded with
comments and admonitions from
the Senator along these lines:
Q EITHER your honesty or your
intelligence; I can't help impugn-
ing one or the other"
Q amy one with the brains of a
five-year-old child can under
stand this question"
. "You should be removed from
any command. Any man who has
been given the honor of being pro-
NOTED to general and who says, I
will protect another general who
protected Communists is not fit
to wear that uniform"
The reaction to the release of
this testimony was almost uni
versal: Senator Mccarthy had
gone too far Even his newspaper
supporters of the extreme right
chided lin for his handling of
Gen. Zwicker. AS for the Senator's
judgment on the generals fitness,
there was widespread opinion that,
on the record, the commander was
at least as fit to command as the
legislator was to legiSlate.
Sentiment Books Stevens
BY Monday afternoon, public
support was overwhelmingly with
Secretary Stevens. Television COW
erage of the Tuesday hearing was
scheduled.
1hen, suddenly the hearing was
postponed until Thursday The
unpredictable Senator from Wis.
consin took another tack Instead
OF meeting Secretary Stevens In
open combat he caLed speciaI
hearing to take testimony on the
activities of woman named Annie
Lee Moss, whom the Senator de.
scrlbed as top-secret code clerk
for the Army
(Mrs. Moss already was under
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-28

The House Ways and Means
Committee completed the final
pages of an inch-thick bill to
codify a weller of Federal tax
laws, brushed off Democratic
attempts to make the bill into a
broad tax-reduction program, and
began to wait for a propitious
time to send the measure on it's
journey through Congress.
Tax-cut advocates indicated
last week. however, that they
would not stop their efforts to
give individual taxpayers a sub
stantial break this year.
This was the situation:
Republicans in the Ways and
Means Committee, which writes
all the Nations tax laws, wanted
to finish their immense job of
codification before they tackled
any substantial tax cuts 'S2e
story by Robert K Walsh on Pig
A25D Democrats, however, saw
an opportunity to become popular
heroes by sponsoring anti-reces-
sion tax cuts for individuals.
Senator George of Georgia, rank
ing Democrat on the Senate
Finance Committee, introduced a
Continued on Page A-26.)
The Key West citizen., 1954-12-31
Slayer Judged
Insane; Sent To
Mental Hospital

BALTIMORE R-Erwin E. Ro-
den, 2S, was committed to a men,
tai institution yesterday at the con-
cluSion of his trial for beating to
death a part-time church organist
with statuette of the Madonna
and Child.
Roden was here from his Balm
bridge, Ca, home to visit a sister
at the time of the Staying of Ger
a'd Woodward McCaffrey, about
A, last May. He was born in Pen
sacola, Fla.
Chief Judge Emory H. Niles
ruled the battle-iniured veteran of
World War II was insane. 1t was
testified Roden suffered brain
damage in an explosion on Oki-
nawa which took the lives of six
of his buddieS.
He had pleaded innocent to the
murder charge by reason of In
sanity.
The Key West citizen., 1954-12-31
WHAT WENT ON
Continued from Page one)

the removal of the tolls from the
Overseas Highway commanded q
lot of space during the year, too.
Key West is fast becoming con-
vention center. Last year, there
were two important conclaves held
here - the meetings of the Flori-
da Civil Service Association and
the Jehovah's Witnesses.
here.
City's Finances
There was good news for most
city employees in July when the
city budget was made up - they
got substantial pay raises.
The county had no traffic fatali-
ties over the Fourth of July holi-
day, a very happy state of affairs.
Key West got lot of national
publicity - including a spread of
pictures in Life magazine - from
the national spear fishing tourney
held here during the summer.
Key Westers showed that their
hearts are in the right place when
an Emergency March of Dimes
fund campaign went over the top
in August.
In contrast, a newborn baby was
found dead, floating in salt pond
on Roosevelt Blvd. during the same
month.
Ferry Start
But, as was indicated earlier, the
start of ferry operations Oct. was
the big story. After several years
of negotiations, a Miami concern
known as the Caribbean Ferry sys-
tenn, finally put ship into opera
ton and was given a royal send
off by the city which sponsored a
Ferry Fiesta. The business of the
firm has exceeded expectations ard
is solidly booked through the sea-
son.
1t was on Oct. 16 that the sewer
system repairs came to an official
end, and with it the realization of a
dream of city officials to have an
efficient sanitary system to take
care of the cty's needs for many
years to come.
Meanwhile, Key Westers are
looking forward to 1855 as another
/ great year of progress.
The Key West citizen., 1954-12-31
Rather Protests
Picking Process

SAN FRANCISCO PA Texas
rattlesnake immersed in whisky
bit the hand of Chin Toy, 55, who
was trying to pickle the snake for
medicinal purposes.
Toy explained at Harbor Emer-
gency Hospital Wednesday he was
preparing potion according to
an ancient Chinese recipe that
would be valuable in curing any
number of ailments.
Major ingredients of the recipe
were bottle of whisky and a live
rattlesnake, both of which Toy
poured into a crock and covered
with lid. When he looked in TO
see how his mixture was coming
along, the snake bit him on the
finger.
Fortunately the rattler'S fangs
had been removed. Toy was treat
ed for cut finger and sent home.
The Key West citizen., 1954-12-31
Gloucester CITY
Fathers Weather
Diplomatic Storm

GLOUCESTER, Mass Up - The
City Council of this old fishing port
rode into calmer waters today aft
er weathering a storm OF protest
that followed an unfortunate slight
to a heroic Gloucester skipper and
crew.
The municipal ship of state ran
into a squan after Capt. Philip
F'ileto and his eight crewmen de.
clined to attend a banquet at which
they were to have received the
clty's mariners medal. They said
they didn't get formal invitation
Meeting last night, the Council
voted to make the awards-for the
Dec. 3 rescue of survivors of the
ioundered Canadian tug Rouille off
S. dney, N. Sat a date that
Capt. Fileto himself approves"
The Key West citizen., 1954-12-31
Any OldDay
MayBeNe
Years East

CAIRO R-Yod can say "Happy
New Year" almost any day in the
Middle East. So many different
calendars are in use that some
body's New Years Day is bobbing
ur almost all the time.
The Moslem calendar has its
New Year moving through the
seasons year after year Used by
the majority of the 40 million
Arabs in this region, the Moslem
calendar has lunar months, so that
the year is a few days shorter
than the Western year.
The Moslem calendar dates from
the Hegira, or flight of the prophet
Mohammed from Mecca 10 Me-
dina. This date corresponds with
July 16, 622, of the Christian era.
But Persian Moslems celebrate
their New Year March 21, the first
day of spring. Their calendar also
dates from the Hegira, but they
follow the solar instead of the lunar
system. The Persian year is 10
days shorter than the Hegira year.
New Years Day fell on Sept. %
for the Jews in the Middle East
this year. Dated from the "cre-
alton of the world" the Jewish
calendar is a compromise between
lunar calendar and a solar year.
The Jewish New Year varies be-
tween Sept. 6 and Oct. S.
Most Christians in Egypt don't
celebrate New Years tomorrow.
The Copts, who comprise the large
ma ajority of Christians in the Nile
Valley, have their New Years Day
either Sept. IL, IL or 13. This year
Is 1870 for the Copts, who date
their calendar back to the "Year
of the Martyrs" when Christians
we're masSacred by the Emperor
Diocletian.
The Coptic calendar takes its
form from the ancient Egyptian
year, based on three agricultural
seasons. These seasons still carry
their ancient Egyptian names in
Egypt. The ancient Egyptian cal
cndar goes back more than 5000
years.
Greek Orthodox Christians here
follow the Western calendar in
everyday affairs. but in church
matters their New Years Day
comes Jan. 13. following the Julian
Calendar.
The Key West citizen., 1954-12-31
Keys, Key West
Publiciized In
Ian. Ford Times

The entire January issue of Ford
Times, magazine published by the
Ford Motor Company, is devoted
to Florida, including the keys and
Key West.
The IL main articles, which in
clude photos and paintings, cover
the states tourist attractions, col
legeS, fishing, state parks, boating,
and cooking, among other things,
The fishing story includes bridge
fishing on the Overseas Highway
as well as freShwater fishing in
mainland lakes.
A four page story. including
three color photos covers the a
mazing development now under
way along the Florida Keys. An
other one-page story with two CO.
lor photos tells about the Key West
Cuba ferry.