Hurley-Burly

Histrionic Patrick Jay Hurley got what he wanted: a chance to flail away at the State Department in the full spotlight of a Congressional hearing. A crowd jam-packed the big chamber. Ex-Ambassador Hurley had promised to pull no punches, to name names and dates and places, to expand his charges that career diplomats had done "an inside job" of sabotaging U.S. foreign policy, particularly in China (TIME, Dec. 10).

His audience was not disappointed in the show. Pat Hurley came out with a roar, both fists swinging. His white mustache bristled, his black-ribboned pince-nez wobbled on his nose. He pounded away on his main theme: that Career Diplomats George Atcheson Jr. and John S. Service (formerly in China posts, now political advisers to General MacArthur in Tokyo) had worked against him and the avowed U.S. policy of upholding Chiang Kai-shek's Central Government. Most specific of his accusations:

P: That Atcheson, as Charge d'Affaires in Hurley's absence from Chungking, had recommended a policy of furnishing Lend-Lease arms to the Chinese Communists. That, said Pat Hurley, would have made the collapse of Chiang's Government inevitable.

P: That John Service, as an adviser to General Joseph Stilwell, had recommended that the U.S. let Chiang's Government fall. That report, said Hurley, "was circulated among the Communists with whom I was negotiating" (for an agreement with Chiang).

Asked for proofs, Pat Hurley said that State Department documents would bear him out.

"All Over the World." By the second day, Pat Hurley was tired, and he hit back testily at Senators who tried to trap him. But he was not through. He charged that U.S. policy was being defeated "all over the world." He narrowed the accusation down to Iran. Many in his audience had forgotten that Pat Hurley had ever been in Iran. Ears perked up. Hurley was swinging again. He startled his hearers by naming Under Secretary of State Dean Acheson as having taken "the leading part" in "interfering with and destroying" U.S. policy in Iran.

The Senators wanted to know how. General Hurley referred vaguely to documents, then finally exclaimed: "All right, square yourself--here she goes."

But the expected sensation which Pat Hurley pulled out of his pocket was merely a copy of the Declaration of Teheran (which he said he had authored in the original draft).

Next day Secretary of State James F. Byrnes rushed to his Department's defense. Calm, low-voiced Lawyer Jimmy Byrnes said he could find nothing in or out of documents to support any Hurley charge of insubordination, let alone inter ference or disloyalty, by State Department men.

One Man's View. Explained Jimmy Byrnes: George Atcheson had submitted "a broad and thoughtful analysis of the [China] situation as it appeared to him ... an honest effort to assist the Department of State in the formulation of its future policy." John Service had written, in "forceful language" and with some "rather drastic" conclusions, "recommendations for a basic change in U.S. policy" toward Chiang's Government. But this, purred Jimmy Byrnes, was merely one foreign-service man's view, expressed through the proper channels.

As to Iran, Dean Acheson himself testified that he had done nothing to wreck policy but he had been "in part critical" of Hurley's policy suggestions. He described a Hurley-burly in his office in which, he said, one of his assistants and the General had nearly come to blows--not over Iran but over an "unfortunate remark" by the General.

At week's end it seemed certain that the threatened Congressional investigation of the State Department would not come about. Pat Hurley's stick of dynamite had fizzled at the fuse. But the fizzling had been sufficient to smoke out Secretary Byrnes on future China policy. The accent of U.S. policy would be on seeking Chinese unity by all factions, through frank and friendly relations with the recognized Government of China.

On two counts Pat Hurley had put up a good fight. His charges (and the Byrnes defense) had clearly shown that the State Department had been confused and divided about China. His accusations had clarified confusion and forced a clearer expression of policy.

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