Evening star., 1954-10-03

AoTiSon, OemoCEoI oteRniSs kePuDtiCu
Gen. Ralph w. Zwicker, one of the
officers in the famous Peress case.
The charges against the Senator
originally had been leveled by Sem
ators Ralph E. Flanders, Repub-
lican, of Vermont; j. William Full
bright, Democrat, of Arkansas, and
Wayne Morse, Independent, of Ore
gon. They had been referred by the
Senate to the special committee
under Arthur v. Watkins, Repub-
lican, of Utah for study. Also on
the committee were Republicans
Francis Case of South Dakota and
Frank Carlson of Kansas and Demo-
Gratis Edwin c. Johnson of Colorado,
John c. Stennis of Mississippi and
Sam j. Erwin, jr., of North Carolina.
Unanimous Report
They held nine days of hearings.
Their report was unanimous.
Senator Mccarthy was criticized
for his actions on the five counts
taken up by the committee. In three
cases mitigating circumstances were
found that saved him from a
recommendation for censure. Some
"a other charges filed by the three
complaining Senators were passed
over for a variety of reasons: They
were not sufficiently serious; they
were too vague; they were not
readily susceptible of proof; they
were actions within the bounds of
senatorial free speech and so forth.
Censure actions are rare in the
Senate. Two men in 1902 were
censured for fighting and use of
abusive language on the Senate
floor. Another was censured in 1929
for bringing lobbyist into closed
committee meeting.
But. those we're not, of course, the
only instances where Senators had
gotten out Of hand. Strong Ian
guage is not uncommon on Capitol
Hill. In fact, it is probable that
a good many Senators in the 165
years since Congress first met on
March 4, 1889. have abused wit
nesses, refused to cooperate with
committees, vilified their fellows
and f1outed executive orders.
Why Mccarthy?
Why was Senator Mccarthy sin
gled out for censure action? There
probably were several reasons:
/. Senator Mccarthy has carried
on his ''contumacious" actions long
er and more persistently than any
other Senator. There is a limit, in
other words, to the Senate's pa
tience.
2. Senator Mccarthy has charged
or implied treason and disloyalty on
the part of respectable persons at
time when treason and disloyalty
are regarded as more reprehensible
than ever before.
3. Senator Mccarthy attacked his
own party. Thus he lost the partisan
protection other Senators have en-
joyed.
The next step will be taken No
vember 8. On that day, the Senate
will be recalled to consider the rec
cancellations of censure.
McCorthy's Stond
An outline of his defense was
handed to the Watkins Committee
last week by his attorney. In gem
eral this was the Mccarthy position:
Clearance on all but two charges
was a virtual vindication; the Wat
kins subcommittee violated legal
and senatorial precedent; he was
being deprived of his right Of free
expression as Senator.
Senator Mccarthy can be de-
pended upon to make strong de-
tense, and he will be helped by
several Senators who spoke up for
him last week--includin Repub-
licans Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois.
Herman Welker of Idaho, Frank A.
Barrett of Wyoming and George w.
Malone Of Nevada. Another sup
porter, Democrat Pat McCarran Of
Nevada, died Of heart attack
Tuesday night.
But statements by many other
Senators were either anti-McCar-
thy or, at least, were Watkins
Committee. So betting last week
was that Senator Mccarthy would
be censured unless he could produce
better defense than was so far
indicated.
And then what?
II he is censured, that might end
the incident. In the previous cases,
the chastened Senators returned to
to their jobs without further pun
ishment. But Senator Mccarthy is
not likely to be at all chastened.
There is a possibility, therefore, that
further action will be urged by Sem
ator McCarthy's enemies custer
from his committee chairmanship