Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-24

ing which he adhered to his prac-
tice of avoiding any mention Of
Senator Mccarthy by name and
confined himself to comments on
principles involved.
Shortly after the news confer
ence, at the request Of reporters,
the White House released for di-
rect quotation Gen. EiSenhower's
remarks about Senator McCar-
thy's role in the investigation.
Question and Answer.
The question, asked by Merri-
man Smith of the United Press.
was:
1.-THE Republican leadership
has said that Senator Mccarthy
should not participate in an in
vestigation In which he is in
volved. Yet the Senator insists
on the right Of crosS-examira-
ton in an investigation of the
dispute between his committee
and the Army. What are your
feelings, sir, in this matter?"
The President replied:
well, I have no feelings at all
about a particular situation, or
technicality of which I know
nothing. I am perfectly ready
to put myself on record fatty,
as I have before, that, in Amer
lea, If a man is party to a dis
pute. directly or indirectly. he
does not sit in Judgment on his
own case. And I don't believe
that any leadership can escape
responsibility for carrying on
that tradition and that practice"
Mundt VIII Preside.
Senator Mccarthy has stepped
down from the Craftsmanship of
the subcommittee in favor of
Senator Mundt, Republican, Of
South Dakota. He also has an
nounced that he will not take
part in votes or other Subcom-
mittee decisions in the matter.
But the Wisconsin Republican
has insisted he should be per-
mitted. as other Senators sitting
on the subcommittee. to cross
examine Army witnesses-and
has said Army officials should
have the right to rosS-examine
him when he testifies.
A reporter told Gen. Eisen-
hover that this was the posi-
ton taken by Senator Mccarthy.
But the President declined to
comment on the Senator's in
Sistence on having the right to
cross-examine witnesses. The
President said he did not know
the details of this particular
situation and had given the prin-
ciples on which he stands.
Words Read Back.
During the conference Gen.
Eisenhower had turned down
temporarily the request to quote
him directly. However, the
official reporter read back to the
news conference the Presidents
words so all reporters could get
them exactly. The President in
sisted on putting in the word
escape where originally he said
he did not believe the leadership
could duck the responsibility.
The President told another
Questioner that certain types of
Government files will never
be released by the executive
branch. He said FBI files are
inviolate and are going to re-
main that way. He made this
reply when asked to comment
on complaints that some con-
greSSional inquiries are being
hampered because Government
files are not made available to
them.
Has Urged Fair Play.
In the past, Gen. Eisenhower
has hit out at disregard Of the
standards Of fair play" in con-
gressional inquiries and said it
was the responsibility Of Con-
gress to establish proper pro-
cedureS.
The President also has voiced
full confidence in Secretary of
the Army Stevens. He did this
after the Army released a report
charging that Senator Nc.
Carthy and Roy M. Cohn, the
(See MCCARTHY, Page A-4.)