The Courier News from Blytheville, Arkansas • Page 13

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1954 BT.YTHEVILLE (ARK.) COURIER NEWS The McCarthy Story-3 Sen. McCarthy Wasted Little Time Before Tangling with Colleagues By BEM PRICE WASHINGTON (AP) Less than three months after physical torture to extract confes-, to show Tydings talking to Com- fights in the Senate was the effort sions. On March 29 a subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Com- he was seated, in Jr.iuary, mittee of the Senate Armed Servi- 1947, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy tangled with his Bible-quoting Republican colleague from New Hampshire, the late Charles E.

Tobey. By the end of his first term McCarthy had in succession fought Senators Roymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut, Millard E. Tydings of Maryland, and William Benton of Connecticut. From Sen Margaret Chase Smith of Maine and six colleagues his activities promoted a much-publicized "declaration of co- ncience." also attacked Gen.

George C. Marshall, the man who master ces Committee reports. Three months later-July 26, 1949 McCarthy said in a Senate speech that he had studied the trials and had come to these conclusions: "I felt very strongly that because of the actions of vengeance minded irresponsible men representing this country in Western Europe, our government had been placed in the position of a brand of brutlitarian- ism worse than any practices by the morally degenerate in either Hitler's or Stalin's camp." no evidence of physical torture but had criticized some parts of pretrial investigations, such as mock trials. mined U. strategy during World BALDWIN WAS chairman the War II and later served as secretary subcommittee investigating the trials of defense and secretary of state.

Truman had discribed Marshall as one of the greatest living Americans. Marshall came in to the line of McCarthy's fire in 1950 by defending the integrity of Ambassador at-Large Phillip C. Jessup. McCarthy had said Jessup had an "unusual affinity for Communist causes." ON JUNE 14, 1951, almost a year McCarthy in a speech linked Marshall's name to what he called "a conspiracy of infamy so blacK that, when it is finally exposed, its principals shall be forever deserving of the malediction of all honest men." At the time, McCarthy was discussing "the questions of why we fell from our position as the most powerful nation on earth at the end of World War For all practical purposes Marshall ignored the attack. Of the five senators who crossed Republican Baldwin re- Benton were defeated for re-election and Tobey died.

Mrs. Smith, a Republican, is tip for re-election this year and is opposed in the primary by a friend of McCarthy's who says that "McCarthyism" is an issue in Maine senatorial campaign. In Maine, victory in the Republican is usually the same as being elected. It was March 27, 1947, that McCarthy and Tobey clashed over sug- are rationing. McCarthy, supporting a 20-pound increase in the annual ration, said he had been told by an Agriculture department official this amount was feasiable.

Tobey left the Senate floor and telephoned Secretary of Agriculture Clinton Anderson, Upon his return he said: "The Department of Agriculture's announced position was misrepersented by the senator form Wisconsin today." McCarthy said: "I do not give a tinker's dam what not a member of the subcommittee, McCarthy participated, with full rights of cross examination the motives of the committee, say- McCarthy repeatedly impugned a shameful episode in the history of ing it was attempting to "whitewash our glorious armed froces." McCarthy also questioned Baldwin fitness to sit on the committee at a hearing at which Baldwin's former law partner, Maj. Dwight Fanton had been one of the investigators. Ultimately the subcommittee un- Army, that the investigators em- animously concluded, as had the ployed nonjudicial means to gain information but not physical torture. The subcommittee said too that the agitation in Germany and America over the fate of the convicted Germans appeared to be part of an organized movedment to discredit Americans abroad. None of those sentenced to death has ever been executed.

Just before his row with McCar- Imunist leader Earl Browder. The fake picture showed up in a campaign tabloid which accused Tydings of "whitewash" in the communist in government investigation. The elections subcommittee of the Senate Rules Committee said, "The implication of such tactics as a threat to our American principles should be obvious and frightening." Three Democrats and two Republicans made up the subcommittee. One of the Republicans was Mrs. Smith.

After the subcommittee report was submitted, McCarthy observed: 'I am not surprised at the action of the two Republicans. After all, they went on record last year approving the Tydings 'whitewash' and condmening me for getting tough with Communists." McCarthy alone may not have swung the Maryland election, but whatever the reasons for Tydings' gave McCarthy stature. Tydings himself said in 1950 he believed the reason for his defeat was that the Maryland Democratic party was badly spli'. by local issues. He added that he didn't think McCarthy personally did any damage.

"I think the issue raised and the propaganda about it had some effect, but it would be secondary," he said. The' Tydings' campaign was to have echoes in McCarthy's bid for re-election in 1952. Tydings offered McCarthy $25,000 if he would go before any federal grand jury and offer evidence sufficient to convict anyone who was in the State Department in 1950 as a Communist. McCarthy did not accept. But even before McCarthy became embroiled with Tydings he was greeted in the Senate June 1, 1950, with a document that the author, Mrs.

Smith, called "a decla- thy, Baldwin nad been offered a ration of conscience." It was matter. The sugar is here." Tobey retorted: "On a question of veracity I do not choose between the two genelemen, but on a quest- Ion of fact I take the secretary of agriculture any time." IN THE END the Senate approved Tobey's proposal for a 10-pound increase, but with an amendment by McCarthy ending rationing five months earlier than provided. Until 1949 McCarthy remained relatively quite. Then came the investigation of the series of massacres in Belgium in 1944 in which 350 American prisoners and 100 Belgian civilians were slaughtered. Seventy-four Germans accused of participating in the horror were convicted.

Forty-three were sentenced to execution. Early in 1949 rumors made the rounds of the Senate cloakroom that the Americans who investigated the massacres had used mental and seat on the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors by Gov. Chester Bowles, a Democrat. Baldwin agreed to accept, reconsidered and then took the appointment after all. When he resigned from the Senate, he said it was for health and family reasons, and a desire to return home.

A friend reports Baldwin was very much upset by the McCarthy fight and that in all probability "It weighed much in his final decision to resign." McCarthy started his next fight in February 1950, when he charged that the Democratic administration, especially the State Department, was riddled with Communists and fellow travelers. He kept up a barrage of charges and countercharges that were to figure in the 1952 elections and which were to lead him into fights with Tydings and Benton. McCarthy led off by accusing Tydings of a "whitewash" in the investigation of McCarthy's charges of communism in the administration. Tydings accused McCarthy of making false accusations. The bitter fight between McCarthy and Tydings, veteran of 28 years in Congress, evolved into a personal feud that spilled over into Tydings' campaign for re-election in 1950.

In that year Tydings lost to John Marshall Sutler, a Republican. McCarthy personally went into Maryland on Butler's behalf and there followed what a five-member Senate subcommittee described in a unanimous report as a "despicable, back street type of campaign." There appeared in Maryland ai composite photograph purporting-1 signed by Mrs. Smith and six other Republican senators Tobey, George D. Aiken of Vermont, Wayne L. Morse of Oregon, Irving M.

Ives of New York, Edward J. Thye of Minnesota and Robert C. Hendrickson of New Jersey. While the declaration did not mention McCarthy by name, it was almost universally conceded to be aimed at McCarthy and his methods. The declaration said: "We are Republicans.

But we are Americans first. It is as Americans that we express our concern with the growing 'confusion that threatens the security and stability of our country. Democrats and Republicans alike have contributed to that confusion. Certain elements of the Republican party have materially added to this confusion in the hopes of riding the Republican party to victory through the selfish exploitation of fear, bigotry, ignorance and intolerance. There are enough mistakes of the Democrats for Republicans to criticize constructive ly without resorting to politica: smears It is high time we stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques The gray-haired Mrs.

Smith is running for re-election this year Only opponent to announce agains' her so far in the Repjublican pri mary is Robert L. Jones, a per sonal friend of McCarthy's. Jones has said that McCarthyism will be the basis of his fight againsi Mrs. Smith. He defines his term: "Americanism consists of McCarthyism.

McCarthyism represents to me the ferreting-out of Communists." The toughest of McCarthy's early Democratic successor to Baldwin, to unseat him. On Aug. 6, 1951, Sen. Benton, introduced a resolution calling; for an investigation to determine counterattacked with a resolution to investigate Benton. The results were embodied in another report of an elections subcommittee.

McCarthy refused throughout to testify before the committee. Benton testified twice, once during investigation of himself and once when the subcommittee was delving into McCarthy's activities. On Sept. 28, 1951, Benton appeared before the committee and in a long statement cited 10 cases 'Hmmm! Still cold! Did you know that an automatic Gas water-heater is so fast that a 30-gallon tank actually gives more service than an 80-gallon tank run by any other all-automatic fuel? Come in and talk about this economical solution to your hot water worries. You'll be glad you did.

automatic water-heaters give hot water 3 times faster Ark-Mo Power Co. lying, of accepting "influence money" and of practicing fraud and deceit upon the Senate. Benton specifically waved his senatorial immunity both before the committee and later. Subsequently McCarthy filed a two-billion-dollar libel suit against him, but when trial neared, early this year, McCarthy dropped the matter. McCarthy said he couldn't prove he had been damaged because he couldn't find anyone who believed Benton's charges.

Benton said 2,000 persons had written him that they would volunteer to say they believed the charges. In the end, the three-man subcommittee investigating McCarthy said the matter transcended partisan politics "and goes to the very core of the Senate body's authority, integrity and the respect in which it is held by the people of this country." The subcommittee raised a series of questions which it said only McCarthy could answer. Since he had refused to appear, it said it could do nothing but report the matter to the Senate without recommendation. The subcommittee said Mc- Carthy sat during the 80th Congress on committees which had jurisdiction over the Reconstruction Finance Corp. and the housing agencies.

One 01 the interested parties appearing before the subcommittee was the Lustron which was indebted to RFC. Lustron paid McCarthy $10,000 for an article on housing. The subcommittee asked whether there was any connection between sale of the article and McCarthy's recommendation for government aid to housing prefabricators. It found that McCarthy had sold 1,000 shares of Seaboard Air Line railroad stock tor a net profit of $35,614.75 and that he still held 950 shares. It asked whether there was a relationship between McCarthy's position on the Banking Committee and "his receipt of confidential information relating- to the stock of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, which was indebted to RFC for sums in excess of The subcommittee asked, too, whether any of the funds received by McCarthy to fight communism had been diverted to his own use.

McCarthy said "no" in a letter, but the subcommittee noted he had not made himself for further explanation." The subcommittee asked the source of $17,600 reported as contributed by relatives to McCarthy in 1944 for his unsuccessful primary campaign against Sen. Alexander Wiley, These relatives did not appear to have that much money. It wanted to know whether the $17.600 was in reality McCarthy's own money and, if so, was he in violation of state law setting a $5,000 limitation on personal campaign expenditures? McCarthy denounced the subcommittee's report as a "new low in dishonesty and smear" and de- fied the su'ucummiuee to challenge his seat. There wns no challenge. As for the Benton investigation, the subcommittee found he had improperly accepted a $600 contribution from an ex-RFC member for campaign funds but called the charges "moot" since he no longer See MCCARTHY on Page II Opening Soon! We Will Feature a Complete Line JH Floor Covering (All Types Resilient).

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