Experts Needed

Much of the criticism of Senator McCarthy's type of investigation centers around his practice of disclosing raw charges by unnamed informants as if the information were a proven fact. On the other hand, when loyalty boards and department heads get the same kind of information from the FBI, some of them lean too far in the opposite direction. They say that they have no way of estimating the reliability of the FBI sources or of putting together the bits and pieces of data. Sometimes the accused employee is such a trusted worker (e.g., Alger Hiss,

Harry White) that his superiors arbitrarily refuse to believe the charges.

After the McCarthy-Army hearings ended last week, Committee Chairman Karl Mundt disclosed that he had been thinking about this problem, and he tentatively offered a solution. Mundt suggested setting up in the Justice Department a "Bureau of Personnel Security" to evaluate FBI reports. In cases where the bureau finds disloyalty or subversion, it would have the power to order an employee's suspension. Where a finding of security risk is based on evidence less dangerous to the nation (e.g., drug addiction, excessive gabbiness), the bureau would only be able to recommend that he be suspended.

Mundt's proposal might close the gap created by the FBI's quite proper refusal to evaluate its own reports. Unless some central agency is created, Government departments will continue to handle security evidence by inconsistent standards.

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