Last January there were quite a few state legislators in a hurry. They were answering a "mandate that literally screams for action"--they were doing something about the Communist Menace in Massachusetts. The Legislature set up a Committee to Curb Communism and gave it the task of finding the best anti-red legislation in the country and a way to graft it onto Massachusetts law. Meanwhile, Representative Paul A. McCarthy and Court Clerk Thomas H. Dorgan could not wait for such a study; they presented two bills to the General Court just before the 1950 legislative session came to an end.

One of their bills impowered the Attorney General to investigate any group suspected of being subversive, and if he should gain any proof, to bring it before the courts. "Subversive" was defined as anyone who aids or teaches violent overthrow of the government. The other bill instructed college presidents and school principals to expel all communists or communist sympathizers from their teaching staffs on pain of losing their charters. McCarthy and Tom Dorgan were too late; they had to file their bills anew at the next session.

The Committee to Curb Communism went about its job with an equally avid sense of the urgent. The committeemen burrowed into old FBI files, heard testimony, drew up organizational charts, and delved into the history of the Communist Party. Their 84-page report submitted March 29, 1951 pointed out that Boston was the Headquarters of all subversive activities in "District 1"--Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

The bills did not get a hearing until March and April. Their recommendations were essentially the same: they all outlawed subversive groups and established heavy penalties for anyone who teaches or aids the overthrow of the government. They all left it up to the Attorney General to ferret out the subversives (although many a legislator would be glad to help) and prosecute them before the courts. The McCarthy-Dorgan education bill and the Curb Communism bill also included loyalty oaths for all state employees--notably teachers.

The Curb Communism Committee based their bill on the Maryland Subversives Act, better known as the Ober Law, even though it had yet to be reviewed by the Supreme Court. This made it punishable to advocate "alteration" of our form of government or to knowingly belong to a subversive organization. It permits firing state employees if there is "reasonable grounds" on which to suspect any applicant for a public job.

The McCarthy-Dorgan bill to outlaw the Party came up first in a hectic March 14 hearing before the Committee on Constitutional Law. Dorgan accused President Conant of refusing "to remove Communists from his teaching staff," and mentioned Harlow Chapley, Professor of Astronomy, as unfit to teach because of alleged Communist affiliations ("alleged" referring to Senator McCarthy's charges against Shapley.) Representative Meyer Peterson sounded the keynote: "What is the Supreme Court worry about the constitutionality of this bill? It's about time we took some positive action."

A few weeks later on April 2 McCarthy and Dorgan had another chance to sound off on Communism--this time specifically the college-bred variety--before the Committee on Education. Beliefs were as important as lectures, said Dorgan. "Don't be led astray," he warned, "by that hackneyed phrase, 'academic freedom'." "Freedom," he said, "is freedom to do what you ought to do." He left any further definition of what a free citizen ought to do for the audience to grasp by implication.

Two weeks and a day later the Curb Communism Committee's recommendations went before the Committee on Constitutional Law. The Special Committee's Vice-Chairman, Representative Michael J. Batal, further elaborated on the philosophy behind the spate of red bills. "The purpose of this is that if any person is found guilty, he could not perform any of his teaching duties. This would shut him up until he was found guilty."

All this was too much for the Committee on Constitutional Law, which on April 26 recommended deferring all red bills for one year. The legislature seemed to have had its fill as well and the recommendation was accepted.

But with the end of summer, pressure began to grow for a faster perusal. As the longest legislative session in Commonwealth history was slowly grinding to a discordant end, foes of the red bills realized that the proposals would have to be reported out and voted on. They thought they might tie up proceedings by fomenting a quarrel between the House and the Senate over their respective bills, an argument that would extend beyond the current session's closing time.

The strategem did not work--if in fact it was ever seriously considered. The House passed the McCarthy-Dorgan education bill, with slight changes. The revised version cut out "Communist or Communist sympathizer," substituting "any professor seeking the overthrow of the government." College presidents were made personally responsible--colleges would not lose their charters.

Last Thursday the Senate passed a combination of the Ober bill and the two McCarthy-Dorgan bills, along with several amendments thrown in for good measure. The House accepted this version and the bill now lies on the Governor's desk. It looks as if the hasty legislators who began work last January may get their way after all.