Evening star., 1954-12-01
81 Mail Check
Part Of Probe,
Hayden Says
BY Robert K. Walsh

= A1C AAJ0tC4 Va tAlC lAhll
cover Senator Mccarthy COM
planned was put on his corre-
spondence by the Senate elections
subcommittee in 1862 was
cleared up in the Senate today.
Democratic Senator Hayden Of
Arizona said a mail check was
applied at that time but added
that it was legal and did not
cause the opening Of any of the
Wisconsin Republicans mail.
Senator Hayden's explanation,
as former chairman Of the
Senate Rules Committee, was the
first official admission at the
current Senate debate on CEN
sure that the incoming and OUT
going mail Of Senator Mccarthy
was checked. The Rules Com
mittee Is the parent of the cleo
tions subcommittee which inves-
tigated Senator McCarthy,s A.
nances in 1852.
The explanation differed ma
terially from the version previ-
ously given to the Senate by
Senator Mccarthy and also used
by him in the Iowa election that
resulted in the defeat of Demo-
cratic Senator Gillette last
month.
Affects Censure Count.
The question is tied in directly
with the censure debate because
one of the counts in the resolu-
tion to be voted on held that
Senator Mccarthy ignored the
elections subcommittee and in.
temperately criticized one Of its
members. Senator Mccarthy has
charged that the special COM
mittee headed by Senator Wat
kins, Republican, of Utah, rec
commended censure on that
count despite his disclosure that
q mail cover" was put OH his
Office.
Senator Gillette, d former
chairman of that subcommittee,
and Senator HendricksOn, Re-.
publican, OF New Jersey, q for
n1er member, told the Senate
today they knew nothing of such
q move by the subcommittee at
that time and never author
ized il.
Senator Hayden then In
formed the Senate that q mail
check was applied for a short
time In 1852 on Senator Me-
Carthy's mail. He indicated it
was employed by an inspector
in the Senate post Office.
No Letters Opened.
The Arizona Senator explained
that the check did not include
the opening or reading Of any
Of Senator McCarthy's mail, but
only a determination OF its ORR
gin and destination. w
"One charge that the subcom-
mittea had received against
Senator Mccarthy Senator
Hayden continued, was that he
received money to be used in his
fight against communism but
that he used the money to-
speculate on the commodity mar.
ket. The purpose Of the mail
check was to determine the
names Of brokers with whom he.
might have been dealing \
Republican Leader Knowland
interrupted to ask whether the
mail check" disclosed any evi-
dence Of wrongdoing. Senator
Hayden replied that according
to his understanding, it did not
Senator KnoWland went on To-
say that il there had been any
evidence or strong indication Of
Wrongdoing the Internal Revenue
Bureau then would have investi-
gated and found 1t. Senator
Hayden agreed.
Senator Hayden's insistence
that the device was "a logical
way for an investigator to obtain
facts and that Post Office inspec-
tors frequently used it was dis
puted BY Senator Jenner, Re-
publican, Of Indiana. The IN
diana member declared that
such q device was justified only
to get criminals and that So
far as he knew it had never been
used against d Senator.