 It's time for the Lawn Jean Chronoscope. A television journal of the important issues of the hour brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A presentation of the Lawn Jean Wittner Watch Company. Maker of Lawn Jean, the world's most honored watch, and Wittner, distinguished companion to the world honored Lawn Jean. Good evening. This is Frank Knight. May I introduce our co-editors for this edition of the Lawn Jean Chronoscope? From the CBS television news staff, Larry LeSere and Don Hollenbeck. Our distinguished guest for this evening is the Honorable Homer Ferguson, Chairman of the Stenet Republican Policy Committee. Senator Ferguson, it's a fortunate news coincidence that you should be here tonight on our regularly scheduled Chronoscope program. And we've just seen and heard President Truman's speech. And now I know you can't answer for the whole Republican Party, but as a lawyer and as the chairman of the Senate Republican Committee, do you think he made a good case for himself tonight? Well, I realized that the President tried to make a case for himself. The thing that puzzles me more than anything else in this whole matter that the President has discussed is the fact that he leaves the people, draw the conclusion that he used the Senate of the United States in order to create a decoy, as he calls it now, so that they could get a certain amount of evidence. Let me point to one place in his address tonight, where he said it was originally planned that Mr. White would be elected to a managerial position in the International Monetary Fund, that of managing director. And then he goes on and says that after the receipt of the FBI report and the consultation with members of the cabinet, they decided to change that and make him only a member of the board of directors. That indicates that he knew when it was sent to the United States Senate that the Senate would be allowed to act upon a man whose record is now indicated by the FBI's files to be that of one who should not be named. Now, the rules of the senator clear that the President of the United States indicates that they had confirmed this man in an afternoon and that he knew it immediately following that. Under the law, he could have sent that name back to the Senate, and then a reconsideration could have taken place because the rule says that it's for two days they can make such a reconsideration, and it could have been withdrawn. Now, not one word has was ever told to the Congress of the United States is indicated by the President. Well, Senator Ferguson, didn't he say just directly after that statement that an intensive FBI investigation was in progress at that time? Yes, but here's the thing that surprises I think everybody. It was allowed to leak out as if FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had planned this to use this man as a decoy. Now, he doesn't say one word about that in his present talk tonight. He doesn't combine Hoover with any of his people that he consulted. He leaves that to the imagination that an FBI was to investigate. Now, here's another thing. Well, may I add though, sir, that he does say he does mention Attorney General Tom Clark. He doesn't mention, see, Mr. Clark refuses to come as a witness. Therefore, he names Tom Clark all right. But what I'm concerned about here tonight is the fact that he doesn't name J. Edgar Hoover. Although it was leaked out that Hoover had a specific agreement on this matter. Now, Mr. I asked 10 questions last Saturday when I knew that Mr. Truman was going to speak. And he hasn't answered those questions. Would you care to say just what some of those questions were, sir? I want to say what they are. One of them was, for instance, if Mr. Truman learned in 1947 that White was disloyal and fired him, why did he continually refer to the investigations conducted by the Senate and the House Committee of those Espinaw dreams of which White was a member as a red herring? The next question, which is all vital. Why did Mr. Truman write a letter dated April the 30th, 1946, several months after he now says he saw this report that branded this man as it did? Saying this, you will be able to carry forward the work you so ably began at Bretton Woods, and you will have increased opportunity for the exercise of your wide knowledge and expert in a field which is of utmost importance to world peace and security if he knew that White was disloyal to his country. Now, the way the president wasn't satisfied with writing that letter, he wrote another one when he left the employee of the monetary fund. And here's what he said. He said he, the president, would feel free to call on White for later assistance because, quote, your background and abilities make you peculiarly able to help us. Now, I just want to know why, under these circumstances, the Senate of the United States, one of the bodies that the president speaks about, being an independent branch of government, was allowed to do this to confirm this man when this record was before the president of the United States. Well, you don't think that he covers that in his comment tonight that they were restricting the duties of Mr. White and that they were doing this deliberately with the collaboration of the FBI and that they couldn't take the Senate into their confidence? Or any senators or any Senate leaders? Well, I know of no one in the Senate was taken into the confidence, and here is the difficulty in this whole case. This is only an isolated incident. I want to know why Mr. Coe, Frank Coe, was placed in the same monetary fund. And when, just recently, a few months ago, he was called before the committee, he refused to testify as to whether or not he was a communist, whether he was engaged in communist activities or subversion. And he was very similar in his answers to what they accused White of. Now, how do they explain that? Why was he allowed to remain in the monetary fund all the time? Well, Senator Ferguson, do you think that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover should now be called upon to testify? Well, he doesn't. Here's the queer thing in this whole analysis tonight. He never once mentioned Mr. Hoover's name. And as I said before, he allowed it to leak out that Mr. Hoover was the man who agreed to watch it. Now, who was the people that watched this man? He doesn't say. The Secretary of the Treasury? Well, the Secretary of the Treasury changed. Who was to watch this man as to whether or not he was actually carrying out these activities? Well, doesn't he say an FBI investigation was in progress of Mr. White and hundreds of other persons? And he says following an FBI report. Well, he says that the report was made. Yes. And that there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. But what I want to call the people's attention to, that no one in that case before that grand jury was indicted for espionage, they only indicted the 11 leaders for conspiring to overthrow the government by force or violence or teach the overthrow. Now, I come back to this case that when here, for instance, in these subversive activities committee of which I was a member up until last January, there is a finding the conclusions on page 49. I want to read them to the people tonight because here was the Congress of the United States trying to point out that there were communists in government. And not one case did the President of the United States or any of the executive branch give us help to ferret them out. He called it a red herring when I was working on the Remington case. He referred to that as he did the his case on as a red herring. Does he tell us tonight that they had his in as a decoy and that they were watching him? He was named in this report in 1946 and remained in there until 1947. But going to read this. In general, the communists who've infiltrated our government work behind the scene, guiding research and preparing memorandums of which the base basic American policies were set, writing speeches for cabinet officers, influencing congressional investigations, drafting laws, manipulating administrative reorganizations, all was serving the interest of their Soviet superior. Despite the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other security agents had reported extensive information about this communist penetration, little was done by the executive branch to interrupt the Soviet operations in their assent in government until congressional committees brought forth the public light, the facts. Is this the grand jury indictment that you're reading now? No, I'm reading the report of the internal security which was signed by the Republican members and Pat McCarran, a Democrat, Jim Eastland, a Democrat, and R&D Johnson, a Democrat. Now listen what they say. Powerful groups and individuals within the executive branch were at work obstructing and weakening the effect effort to eliminate Soviet agents from positions in government. Now, of course, you can now criticize any disclosure of any communist in government, but let me say this. I honestly believe that the people are entitled to the facts. If there were communist spies or agents in our government, the only way that you're going to preserve this country of ours is to let the people know, and if the people know it, then they will be able to cope with the situation. Well, Senator Ferguson, tonight Mr. Truman called Attorney General Brownell, a man who was using political demagoguery. Can you tell us as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, were there any political reasons for the timing of Mr. Brownell's charges against Mr. Truman? Well, certainly none that I knew of. Now, let me say this, that it was a quarter after 12 on the day that this speech was made in Chicago before I knew it was going to be made. So as far as I was concerned, I knew of nothing, and I know of nothing to this day that was used in this timing. Was the final question, Senator Ferguson? May I ask you this? We've spent a lot of money abroad now to build up American leadership. Do you think that we're losing a great deal of this prestige through these violent partisan attacks abroad, I mean? Well, let's look at Mr. Truman's attack tonight. Mr. Truman had a right to take the radio and say what he thought. I go back to when Ben Franklin said that we had a republic if we could keep it, and I think the only way that we can keep our republic is to debate these matters out on the anvil of debate so that the American public can decide these issues. And we can't watch 60 other nations to determine what they may think. I'm satisfied that Mr. Truman didn't consider tonight what any other nation would think as to what he was saying about the present administration. Thank you very much, Senator Homer Ferguson. It's been a pleasure to have you here tonight. The opinions that you've heard our speakers express tonight have been entirely their own. The editorial board for this edition of the Laund gene chronoscope was Larry Lesser and Don Hollenbeck. Our distinguished guest was the honorable Homer Ferguson, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. This is Frank Knight. Now, in order not to interrupt the discussion with Senator Ferguson, the Laund gene Wittner watch company has admitted its usual commercial message. However, may I remind you that Laund gene and Wittner watches are sold and service from coast to coast by more than 4,000 leading jurors who proudly display this emblem, agency for Laund gene Wittner watches. This is the CBS television network.