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* \ O-19 (Rev. 9-7-56} Todey-in National Affairs ee ‘Court Ruling Called Blow . To Congressional Inquiries i By DAVID LAWRENCE \N - WASHINGTON, June 18.—The Supreme Court of the United ) States has crippled the effectivenes’ of Cong? “investiga. ons. By one sweeping decision the court has opened the way to Communists, traitors, disloyal citizens and crooks of all kinds -~in business and in labor—to refuse to answer any questions which the witness arbitrarily decides for ttim- self are not “pertinent” to a legislative purpose. This means that every time a Bena-| tor or a Representative asks a ‘question in an investigation the witness must be given a clear explanation of what the “legislative Purpose” is and this may even have to be confirmed by a resolution adopted in each! case by the Senate or the House. Then tt’ sjiiay have t be passed upon in #° decision (by the Supreme Court before it is really valid, This cumbersome procedure kills future investigations that seek to expose the ways and means by which the Communists in- { Nitrate America. It Kills amy searching investigation of racketeers in the labor-union ‘ movement, or any other kind of corruption. Lawrence Had the Supreme Court's new “law” been inj effect during the Harding administrations it; would have killed off any exposure of the Teapot Dome scandills. ‘Had it been rendered in 1950 Alger Hiss could have avoided answering questions asked by the House Committee on un- T= ican Activities, whose “charter” of authority held ever since 1928 ‘a ts torn to shreds by the Supr Court. Must Anticipate Queries Legal Vacuum Seen the justices, of course, are rable men and cog- scientious in the pursuit of thar duty, But for the most pat they live in a iegai vacu awareness of the actual o perk. tions of Communist subversion, Td them, apperently, there is io Communist menace, eh thing as infiltration by "stooges| f the Communists, and if s| man admits he has worked and “co-operated” with the Com- munists and then refuses to tell who else he met in such activi- ties, this is construed now as a “right of silence” derived from . . Sen. McClellan of Arkansas, bik cnatee | Sen, Kefauver of Tennessee, §ho Lees 4} Eastland of Mississippi and the . chairmen of varlous House in- vestigating committees might as well shut up shop. The power to investigate has been curtailed drastically on the ground that ‘Congress has to particularize in ‘every case and specify in its resolutions exactly why it wants certam questions answered, It ’. must somehow anticipate all the questions the investigating co This mittees may wish to ask. is, as Justice Clark, a former attorney general, declared in his| dissent, both “unnecessary andiithe First Amendment which, unworkable.” He added: now added to the Fifth Amend- j The resulting restraint im-|ment, makes it easy for treason Posed on the committee system/to be protected, appears to cripple the The Supreme Court majority beyond workability.” ealized, to be sure, the gravity This is because the Suprema f its decision and tried to soften , (Court has now set itself Wo a the blow br by minimising the fu- knowing more about what Con- pure danger. All the Congress gress needs to know to legislate, suggests, is ° doe In the words of Justicefa€Jed care” In authorizing the Cle use of compulsory pr ne ner abo’ pitte-andtn- _— er Tolgop diag» ‘ _ Boardman nei 7) Mohr Le wp te Yh x! eo n-Gemenist filtration in order to pass laws ito safeguard the nation against | destruction. The ruling waz vro- expressed is merely “abstract' Nease —________ “ and not subject to Tele. Roam punishment by any law Congress fet loman —___. might pass, fy fistle Called « Fateful Day Uprdeonsy There vere ener significant . cases decided: by the Supreme “ ‘> Court on Monday, June 17, 1957, BAUMGARDAER which will make that day a fateful one in American history. | Y E legislatures were told that. ca — jt gives crooked labor they, too, cannot investigate and eteers, shady business op@ - require witnesses to answer their iaters, financial manipulatgrs questions except where it can arg other wrongdoers a megs be proved that the state has an of scape from Congressional }x- “ e, overriding interest in . sub- Naturally Moesoe should bel BGs Say, sO oes All they need do now gomalesnt} donot of 3 VOLMFe individual which out- weighs his right to silence, and this, in turn, might have to be teviewed. in each instance by the Supreme Court of the Unit- ed States. +h vt In another case, the cou didn't decide the merits of th | disloyalty” charges against John Stewart Service but said the Secretary of State covldn't reverse his Under Secretary who had ruled favorably to Mr. Scrv- ‘happy. : is to instruct their Communist ‘party in the United States how to adapt themselves to the new' ruling. The Communist “Daily iw rker” editorials have ass ed along that ihe court WwW ld ide some day as it did fr: e cb o d k, that a man can beta country and in certain cumstances get away with it. ice. In still another case involv- foc. ing fourteen persons convicted ‘ of Communigt activity under PP eee the Smith law, five were set free NOT RECORDED and nine ordered to stand trial 44 ~ so ag to ascertain the facts as JUL 2 195; to activities of the defendants] relating to one word—“orga- -_—, 4 nize"—In the existing law. It ——e could mean activities with ref- Wash. Post and erence to a new party or oe Times Herald versive group or a continuing | process of organizing in Com-| Wash, News thunist Darty eireles as the De- Wae Star = Lil ash. be? Eh partment of Justice has con-| 1 tended, . Y. Herald i Since organization work in the| _ /tibune Communist party now is ruled] N. Y. Journal- by the court to happen only at! = American the party in! ; N. Y. Mirror 1945 and is adjudged not to be. —____ N. Y. Daily News __._| N. Y. Times a “continuing” proces, certain defendants are pet free because ‘they were not prosecuted within Daily Worker The Worker New Leader the creation of the time prescribed ‘im the ptatute, i Sees Escape fer Crooks «These decisions cause IHate.SUNT 9 i957