Evening star., 1954-11-10

" CUNlku1ptcS u t1A0 OAAAbcu StdtC6
Congress.
<"On the sixth anniversary Of
the 'purging' of DR.. William A.
Writ before q congressional spe-
cial committee, Of which I was
an active member, I desired to
relieve my conscience Of o mat
ter which has long brirdened it.
The pack" he said, referring to
the Bulwinkle Committee, "got
the smell or blood and tracked
down the prey! A great job was
done. Little did we know that
most Of the happenings which
DR.. Writ said the plotters had
predicted would come to pass.
Most Of them came to pass even
before DR.. Wirt's untimely and
regrettable death.
"Or maybe. in our hearts, we
knew the plot was not idle
gossip and we lunged at the
discloser to appease our con-
sciences.
Many times privately have
I apologized for my part In turn
ing the thumb-screws, and 7
take this occasion to do 50
publicly.
May DR.. Wirt,s honest, pa
triotic soul rest in peace"
"A National Tragedy"
This is not just q story Of
personal tragedy. It was a ma
tional tragedy. Because a con-
gressional committee allowed it
self to be used as a tool of Com
munist propaganda, Congress
and the American people as early
as 1884 were denied important
knowledge Of the Communist
conspiracy they might have had
knowledge that might possibly
have prevented the disasters Of
later years.
Most Americans are well
enough acquainted with Com
munist purposes. But far too
few appreciate Communist pow
er. Most Of us are aware that
Communists as q matter of
course attempt to discredit those
who hurt them. But too few of
us realize how often such at
temptS are successful.
There is nothing remarkable
in the fact that the Communists
sought to discredit me in 1850
when ! first charged that Com
munists had managed to infil-
trate the State Department in
force. It is remarkable. how
ever, that they were successful
in preventing even an investiga-
ton of those charges. The
Tydings Committee was given
this job, but instead Of investi-
eating the State Department, II
investigated me. Paying not the
slightest attention to the evil
dence I presented, it labeled my
charges a fraud and a hoax. u
This success Of the Communists
is indeed startling in the light OF
the fact that over a score of the
cases / gave the Tydings Com
mittee were later discharged on
disloyalty grounds.
Cites Benton Custer Move.
1t is not surprising that after
my Tydings charges were vindi-
Gated the Communists supported
the efforts Of Senator Benton to
have me expelled from the SEN
ate. But it is very significant
that the Gillette Committee
spent year and a half trying
to put some substance into
Benton's trumped-up charges.
It is neither significant nor
newsworthy that the Communist
Party has attempted to discredit
the Senate Permanent Subcom-
mittee on Investigations ever
since I became its chairman. It
Is significant, however. that they
have to q large extent succeeded
in discrediting it.
It is not significant that the
Communists claimed my COM
mittee's investigation Of the
State Departments information
service was a failure. But it is
significant that large numbers
Of Americans really believe that
nothing was accomplished-de-
spite the fact that as q result
Of the committees work the
State Department in the person
Of Secretary Dulles reversed its
policy of subsidizing Communist
books with the money Of Ameri-
can taxpayers.
It is not significant that the
Communists claimed the COM
mittee's investigation at Fort
Monmouth was q failure. But
1t is very significant that the
majority Of the press. many Of
our national leaders. and 80
many individual Americans have
bought this 1ie-in the teeth of
the nncontrovertible fact that SO
security risks at Fort Monmouth
were suspended after the COM
mittee got on the Job.
Says Lawton Was Silenced.
It is not significant that the
Communists should want men,
bers Of the military who are ac-
quainted with the Fort Mon
mouth situation to be silenced
But 1t Is frighteningly significant
that they have succeeded in this
that Gen. Lawton to this day
is still forbidden by his superiors
In the Pentagon to tell the story
Of his own long and unsuccessful