Misfit in Mufti

For Major General Edwin A. Walker. facing enemy fire was obviously less unnerving than confronting a public audience. During his 30 years in the U.S. Army, Walker had often proved himself a cool and courageous combat soldier. But last week, making his first public speech since his Nov. 4 resignation from the Army, he seemed a misfit in mufti. Before a crowd of 5,600 gathered to celebrate "Texans Welcome General Walker Day" in Dallas Memorial Auditorium, Walker was visibly nervous, with shaking hands and a real facility for misreading passages from his 90-minute speech.

Considerable Glory. But Walker, by resigning after official crackdowns on his efforts to indoctrinate troops with John Birch Society ideas, has already gained considerable glory among the right wing. His native-state Texans last week loved him in spite of his speechmaking. They interrupted him more than 100 times, cheering at his attacks on "Reds and Pinks." booing at his every reference to such subversive influences as the U.S. State Department and the United Nations.

Principally, Walker waded into "censors" and "censorship" of the sort that had landed him in hot Army waters. Said he: "Censors dislike and distrust the military mind, and want to change it or get rid of it." Censorship, to Walker, is "the paralysis or denial of everything mental or physical that a commander, his command or a soldier requires for the full employment of his weapons and entire capability--the wherewithal of victory. To investigate censorship thoroughly is to defend States' rights. The responsibility rests with the individual to be knowledgeable, conditioned, and alert to identify unAmericanism and possible infiltration of the press and other media, such as radio and television. I have little doubt that a knowing public, having read TIME, LIFE, Newsweek and Drew Pearson, will see through their propaganda and recognize their purpose. Our national security rests on your proper evaluation of the media."

Ground Rules. Before his speech, Walker held a press conference. Under Walker's ground rules, only Texas newsmen were allowed to attend, and Walker, wrote out both questions and answers beforehand. Sample question: "General Walker, we would like to know how important is censorship." Answer: "I feel that censorship is very important. It is indicated by the title of the book published by The Bookmailer, Censorship and Survival [which is actually a pamphlet version of Walker's statement of resignation from the Army]. Censorship can be a line through words or a line through a country. Both have affected preparedness and the national security. Censorship can also be accomplished by little or no funds, and has been for 16 years in fourth-dimensional warfare training." Asked one puzzled newsman: "Does this mean you're advocating censorship, or did I miss the boat some place?"

As a member of the John Birch Society, Walker applauded the organization's leader, former Boston Candymaker Robert Welch, found nothing offensive in Welch's attacks on Dwight Eisenhower as a "conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy." Said Walker, scowling: "The future will tell why Joseph F. Barnes* was permitted to write Crusade in Europe."

*A onetime secretary to Wendell Willkie, Moscow correspondent and foreign editor for the New York Herald Tribune, and faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College. Barnes is a longtime leftist who said under oath before the McCarran Committee that he had never been a Communist. Barnes synopsized Crusade in Europe into 30 installments for the Herald Tribune, which, with Doubleday & Co., Inc., published Dwight Eisenhower's memoirs. Barnes was consequently tagged by Robert Welch in The Politician as Ike's "Communist ghostwriter." He is now an editor for Simon & Schuster.

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