Two Above the Law

The nation's news was dominated by two names: Joseph R. McCarthy and J. Robert Oppenheimer. In most respects they are poles apart; hardly anyone admires both. Yet last week's news about them called attention to a characteristic that Oppenheimer and McCarthy have in common: the tendency of each man to put his own judgment above the law.

The nub of McCarthy's controversy with Eisenhower and with a growing number of Republican Senators is his insistence that his crusade against Communists justifies any tactics, including those that disrupt the executive branch of the Government. Contrary to law, Roughneck Joe McCarthy ("I am going to kick the brains out of anyone who protects Communists") gets classified information from executive-branch underlings, boasts that he will continue to do so, and dares the Justice Department to indict him.

The defiance of gentle, scholarly Robert Oppenheimer is less noisy, less candid. But the Atomic Energy Commission's Personnel Security Board refused to restore his clearance partly on the ground that he has a basic disrespect for security regulations. (Item: he continues to associate with a man who once tried to pry out of him secret information that the Russians wanted.) McCarthy's friends say that all's fair in the fight against Communism. Oppenheimer's friends say he symbolizes freedom of thought and that his acts are prompted by his loving regard for the long-range interests of humanity. In short, the defenders of each man say that he obeys a "higher law." Admittedly, the lines of permissible freedom are hard to draw in the areas where McCarthy and Oppenheimer operate. But the lines must be drawn. President Eisenhower's defense of executive-branch rights is necessary because McCarthy's operation, if unchecked, would paralyze the Administration. Gordon Gray's carefully reasoned strictures against Oppenheimer have a parallel basis.

In the 20th century free governments have enormous responsibilities. Their citizens look to them for protection against aerial attack, internal treachery, economic depression. Governments, in turn, must make harsh demands upon citizens.

Conscription, enormous taxes, interference with business and labor unions are all justified in the name of national interest and national survival. Freedom must always be tailored to the facts of life--and the 20th century facts of life demand great sacrifices. Neither Senators nor scientists can be exempted. The task of statesmanship is to allow the maximum freedom consistent with the Government's responsibilities. In the McCarthy case Eisenhower is trying to enforce rules that are reasonable in the circumstances. In the Oppenheimer case Gordon Gray is trying to enforce rules reasonable in the circumstances. These rules are not threats to freedom. The cry of defiance, however noisy, however muted, is not always the voice of liberty.

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