Nuisance Value

Bertie McCormick's isolationist Chicago Tribune usually has no more use for the Christian Science Monitor than it does for any other global-minded U.S. newspaper. But last week the Trib found something in the Monitor that it endorsed 100%.

Monitor Correspondent Joseph C. Harsch had reported from Paris that the Trib was a "special asset" to the Administration for its "nuisance value." U.S. diplomats negotiating at European conference tables, he said, could always turn down a proposal with the explanation that "Congress wouldn't stand for it," or the "Tribune would butcher us over that one." Wrote Harsch: "Considering the less than affectionate attitude which has long characterized relations between the State Department [and the Trib], it may come as something of a surprise to readers to learn that the Trib was regarded by American diplomats . . . as one of their major assets, second only to Congress itself, as a bargaining weapon."

The Trib, delighted with Harsch's backhanded compliment, nevertheless could not resist an improved version for its readers. Said a Trib editorial last week: "From what Mr. Harsch has written, it is clear that, dangerous and costly as the Acheson policies have been, they would have been a great deal more dangerous and a great deal more costly except for the Administration's fear of The Tribune . . . We have [Harsch's] well-informed word for it that The Tribune is the only newspaper in the United States with the strength, the vigor, and the purpose always to serve the American cause at whatever the risk."

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