Ike's Chance

After all that has been said in the election campaign, it may be hypocritical to place our hope for the maintenance of civil liberties in the hands of the Republican President-elect. But it is nevertheless necessary. For only the President can attempt to control the new pack of witchhunters who have inherited investigatory power in the new Republican Congress.

If the past performances of these men are a guide, we can expect frightening things. First of all, there will be renewal of the un-American methods practiced by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Under the leadership of Democrat John Wood, the Committee has been efficient without being controversial as it has plodded through the country seeking Communists in labor movements. But things will be different now that Martin Dies is back in the House. It was Dies who originated the committee in the late thirties, in order, in his words, to "expose New Dealers and other subversives." Under his leadership, the Committee gained its reputation for legislative inquisitions and punishment by publicity. It became the archtype of later groups which trampled on civil liberties while looking for subversion. And what revitalizing influence Dies may lack will surely be provided by the Committee's new chairman, Rep. Harold H. Velde. It was Velde who wanted the Library of Congress to list all its "subversive" books, and plumped for a loyalty oath requirement for voting.

In the Senate, the key man will, of course, be Sen. Joe McCarthy. Only he will no longer be a lone wolf. As chairman of the Committee on Executive Expenditures, he will not only have broad powers to subpoena and investigate all Government officials, but can hold back the paychecks of employees whose loyalty does not fit into his peculiar mold.

So it is easy to see why Presidential containment of such men is a necessity. And if Eisenhower is true to his word, it might come about. From his presidency of Columbia to the height of his campaign activity, Eisenhower has not changed his verbal opposition to witch hunts and character assassination. He has respected, and with wisdom, that loyalty quests could be conducted not by congressmen who place votes above freedom, but by experienced security officials and the FBI.

Fortified by a tremendous personal mandate, the new President can check these men without little effect on his own popularity. If he tries to do this as soon as the new Congress sits, the world of 1984 may not seem so close when we reach 1956.