Mud for Muckrakers

William Theodore Evjue, the firebrand, muckraking owner and editor of the successful (circ. 40,181) Capital Times of Madison, Wis., likes tough, independent reporters who are not afraid to talk back to him. Reporter Cedric Parker, 42, had measured up to the boss's standard almost too well. In his 21 years on Evjue's staff, Parker had earned a reputation as a crack reporter by such stunts as storming into tough gambling joints one jump ahead of raiding policemen. Reckless, hard-drinking Reporter Parker had also earned a left-wing reputation as a local C.I.O. official who had faithfully followed the Communist Party line.

In 1940, when "Wild Bill" Evjue was an interventionist and Communists were not, Reporter Parker publicly denounced his boss as a warmonger. Editor Evjue denounced back, and later in an open letter to the C.I.O., he called Reporter Parker "the Communist leader in Madison," added "I defy him to publicly deny it." Though Parker did not deny it. Evjue did not fire him. In 1948, he promoted him to city editor.

Rubbed Noses. Both Editor Evjue and Rebel Parker saw eye to eye on one thing. They had no use for Wisconsin's 40-year-old Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, an ex-Marine tailgunner who, in 1946, had defeated Evjue's good friend, Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. In 1947 Parker dug up, and Evjue delightedly splashed across his front page, the fact that McCarthy had been compelled to fork over some $3,500 in back income taxes on stock-market profits when the Treasury disallowed some of his deductions. Last week, it was Senator McCarthy's turn to rub both Evjue's and Parker's noses in some old muck of their own raking.

To 400 editors of Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers, McCarthy sent a blistering letter charging Evjue's paper with continually parroting the Daily Worker and asking whether it was not "the Red Mouthpiece for the Communist Party in Wisconsin." He cited Evjue's own 1941 accusation that Parker was a Communist and added: "There is nothing in his writing [to] indicate he has in any way changed his attitude . . ."

Skinned Knuckles. Parker denied last week that he was any longer a Communist and threatened to sue McCarthy. Editor Evjue snorted that McCarthy was simply getting ready for his 1952 reelection campaign by attacking his No. 1 newspaper critic.

Commented Wisconsin's biggest daily, the conservative Milwaukee Journal (circ. 319,126): "We have a feeling that no one will take Senator McCarthy's question very seriously. Politically, he'd probably do a lot better charging Mr. Evjue with being what he is--a capitalist. It would probably make Mr. Evjue a lot madder."

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