Capital Comment

Taking the now famous Wirt investigation as an object lesson, Representative John W. McCormack of Massachusetts, chairman of the Nazi propaganda investigating committee, has learned how not to conduct a Congressional probe.

Representative McCormack has been keenly interested in the methods employed in the Wirt investigation and as a result he has come to the conclusion that facts must come before publicity. On this basis he has already made it clear to his committee members that when the Nazi propaganda investigation gets under way there must be no publicity until after facts are established.

The best part of it all is that his committee has agreed to such a policy. And the thing works. Committee members refer all questions from newspapermen to their chairman.

Representative Sol Bloom of New York had his troubles in the House during the past week. After successfully steering legislation through the House for the construction of a $10,000,000 archives building which is nearing completion, Representative Bloom found hard sledding in obtaining passage of his bill, which would authorize the appointment of an archivist at a salary of $10,000 a year.

Representative Tom Blanton of Texas, “treasury watch-dog.” thought $10,000 a year for an archivist too much. He said that $7,500 would be enough in view of the fact that “Sol Bloom and United States Senators serve for $9,000.” Bloom reminded the Texan that the bill had been approved by the House Library Committee and Government officials concerned, and that many members of the House had been trying to get an archives building and an archivist for over twenty years. “We are the only country in the world that has no archives building and no archivist,” Bloom said. Tom Blanton’s heart softened and the bill was passed.

The Tydings resolution, which would have the Senate protest the treatment of Jews in Germany by the Hitler government, is apparently a thing of the past. Nothing is heard about the resolution on Capitol Hill these days. There was a time a few months ago when many members of Congress were all steamed up, anxious to have it passed.

But those days are gone. The resolution is for all practical purposes forgotten. This situation is made more evident by the fact that for the last few weeks, since the passage of the Dickstein resolution for an investigation of Nazi propaganda activities, no petitions in behalf of the Tydings proposal have been received by Congressmen from organizations interested in its passage.

Just as soon as press reports carried the news that Leon Trotzky, left wing Communist leader, was thinking about seeking refuge in North or South America after having been ordered out of France, inquiries began flooding the State Department.

Officials in the State Department said that they had not been informed of Trotzky’s intentions. If he should request admittance to the United States, it would be considered on the basis of any other request.

In the meantime the files on Trotzky are being dug out of hiding and their contents studied. It may be expected that should Trotzky make a formal request for admission to the United States, Government officials will think twice before making a decision.