Last week President Conant, seeking Senate confirmation as High Commissioner in Germany, ran into one of the most unique of modern U.S. political institutions--the congressional committee.

This was not one of the hyper-suspicious hunting parties which have been ferretting communists out of every corner of American life--from the movie industry to the school system. It was the relatively staid Senate Foreign Relations Committee which though it includes a number of highly conservative Republicans--treated Conant with great respect and restraint. Nevertheless, the committee record, released this week, typifies the fantastic, often ridiculous testimony which is an evidence of the fear gripping this country today.

The committee voted unanimously last Wednesday to approve Conant's appointment and the Senate accepted the recommendation by confirming him on Friday.

As new composed, the Foreign Relations Committee consists of eight Republicans (including chairman Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin) and seven Democrats. On the Republican side are semi-reactionaries Taft of Ohio and Hicken-looper of lowa, moderates Knowland of California and Langer of North Dakota, semi-liberals Smith of New Jersey and Ferguson of Michigan, and in a category all his own, Tobey of New Hampshire, an enigmatic character in the political spectrum. Chairman Wiley is decidedly as internationalist. On the other side of the table are Democrats Green of Rhode Island. Fulbright of Arkansas, Sparkman of Alabama, Gillette of Iowa, Humphrey of Minnesota, Mansfield of Montana, and George of Georgia. Senator Humphrey was absent during the hearings.

Woman Opposes Conant

The committee held its hearings on the appointment of February 2 and 3. During that time it heard two witnesses against confirmation, one for it, and Conant himself. Appearing against Conant were Mrs. Beatrice Brown, chairman of the Women's Committee for Clean Government of New York and John T. Flynn, Boston journalist and radio commentator. The one witness for confirmation was Joseph M. Dawson executive director of the Public Affairs Committee of the Baptists of the United States.

Off all testimony the committee hears, Mrs. Brown's was probably the most surpassingly ridiculous. Describing the committee she represented, she said, "It was originally a group of women who got into politics in our district. We get into fights and help do things. We are the ones who put through a coalition and defeated Marcantonio . . . We are supposed to have accomplished more in three years than most organizations have in 50."

Listing her objections to the appointment, Mrs. Brown said, "As a prominent American educator, Mr. Conant was a founder of the National Citizens Commission for the Public Schools. This group lined up four-square with the National Education Association. One aim of this association is to control the thoughts of our children from primary grades up, to a concept of world government, entailing a breakdown of the national consciousness. This is socialism on a world scale, as envisioned by Nazis and Communists alike, only with a change of bossmen. Mrs. Conant has also been a member of the policy-making body of the National Education Association, its educational policies commission, whose principles are not consistent, as I have shown, with the program of the Republican Party."

Soft-Headed

Mrs. Brown went on to day, Certainly it appears that Mr. Conant is soft-headed toward communism. Only a week ago he openly declared it would be better to have a crypto-Communist on the staff of Harvard University than to have distinguished United States Senators investigate communism at Harvard. We would like to know if Mr. Conant would also be willing to have a crypto-communist on the staff of the United States High Commission in Germany? . . . Well, there are some of the members on the staff of Harvard who have long, long lists of connections that are not too lily-white . . . Mr. Conant dopes indeed appear to be soft-headed--much too soft to lead freedom's cause in the vicious East-West fight in Germany today."

In talking about the none "too lily-white" professors here Mrs. Brown cited only a "Professor Matheson" and offered to let Senator Tobey have a "look at his record." Mrs. Brown was evidently referring to F. O. Matthiessen, one-time professor of History and Literature, who committed suicide in the spring of 1950.

When she emphasized once more her committee's record in fighting against Vito Marcantonio in New York City, Mrs. Brown was interrupted by the unpredictable Senator Tobey who said, "Let's leave Mr. Marcantonio out for the present time. You are down here to appear against the nomination of the man whose name is a household word across the country for integrity, character and ability, professionally as an educator, and as a man . . . Don't link Marcantonio with James B. Conant . . . It strikes, me frankly, as unusually presumptious for an organization to come in here and protest the nomination of this outstanding American. I think he is far above his critics . . . I value the man so highly that I resent inferences that are being passed out about Mr. Conant. I think he is tops in this country . . . (The criticism) is unfair, unfounded and un-American."

A Stout-Hearted Pragmatic

Mr. Flynn, the second witness against Conant, told the committee that in Germany, "where the agents of every important State are gathered, and where all sorts of social philosophers are scheming for the soul of Germany . . . (America needs) . . . as our representative some stout-hearted pragmatic American who believes in the American system, and not an agreeable philosopher who is talking about making over the American system."

Flynn rested most of his argument, on this point, on an article by Conant in the Atlantic Monthly for May, 1943 entitled "Wanted: American Radicals."