Sears Nomination Widely Protested

Nationwide protest mounted yesterday against the appointment of Samuel P. Sears '17, outspoken pro-McCarthy lawyer to serve as special counsel for the Senate Investigating Committee during the forthcoming controversial hearings between Senator McCarthy and the Army.

Democrats, including members of the Investigating Committee, yesterday complained on two counts: first, they charged they didn't know Sears had applied for the job; they had thought his services had been solicited. Secondly, Sears stated he had never taken a stand on the McCarthy issue, either "publicly or privately."

But Sears, who according to the Associated Press, telegrammed and asked for the job, had told the CRIMSON in a November, 1952 interview that he had attempted to start a fund drive to aid McCarthy's Senatorial campaign in Wisconsin. Praising McCarthy's value to the nation, Sears at that time called the possible defeat of McCarthy a "blow to the welfare of the United States."

"When I learned of the anti-McCarthy fund," Sears said, "I chased the Senator all over Wisconsin trying to reach him because I wanted to start a fund drive in his behalf.

"I feel that attempts to defeat Senator McCarthy are ill-advised and that the three Harvard professors were barking up the wrong tree in trying to defeat him." Sears referred to the campaign of Archibald MacLeish, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. and Mark DeWolfe Howe '28, all Harvard professors, to raise money to defeat McCarthy in his Senatorial campaign.

"There would undoubtedly be 200 more Communists in the government if it weren't for McCarthy. The Senator has done a great job and will continue to do so. He won't sleep on the job," the CRIMSON story said, quoting Sears.

Protests to Washington

Meanwhile, yesterday, telegrams and editorial protests were both headed towards Washington.

At least one Democratic member of the Investigating Committee who earlier had approved the choice, Sen. Henry Jackson of Washington, said he was waiting for more facts before deciding whether Sears' appointment should be reconsidered. The senior member of the Committee, Senator McClellan (D-Ark.) told reporters last night that he would not have approved the appointment had he known that Sears applied for the job and was a pro-McCarthy man.

Local Democratic leaders said last night they hoped to force either another appointment, or an impartial observer to oversee the whole investigation.

When Sears was interviewed by the Investigating Committee, it was emphasized that he had been solicited for the job, and no mention was made of the fact that he had telegrammed Senator Leverett Saltonstall requesting the job.

Queried by reporters in Washington yesterday, Sears said, "It's going to raise hob with my work in Washington. But I do not feel that any lawyer without special reason should say no."

When he was questioned by the Investigating Committee about the Lubell dispute last year in which Sears demanded that Dean Griswold fire twin Law students David and Jonathan Lubell for invoking the Fifth Amendment, the Boston lawyer said:

No Dispute

"That was no dispute. . . . I had objected to a scholarship fund at the Law School being used to support two students who took refuge in the Fifth Amendment."

But in Sears' public statement to Griswold last year, he made no mention of any scholarship fund, and charged that the Lubells have "proven themselves unfit for admission to the bar of any of our states and, of course, unfit to continue as students at the Harvard Law School. They have, it seems to me, clearly disqualified themselves from further membership in your student body."

Sears had also been scheduled to debate Rabbi Leo Shubow on March 11 on the question, "Is Senator Joseph McCarthy an Influence for Good or Evil." Shubow was asked to take the negative side. The debate, scheduled for a Columbus Forum, was called off by the Catholic Church.

"Incredible," Says Howe

Last night, Howe, a Law School professor who has more than once clashed with Sears, termed his appointment "incredible."

Referring to a debate he had with Sears on the Fifth Amendment, Howe claimed "McCarthy came into the debate very explicitly and Sears defended the Wisconsin senator. Sears was willing to excuse any McCarthy tactics."

Howe added that he "couldn't understand what the Democrats in Washington could have been doing--apparently they went to sleep." Claiming that he had heard Sears volunteered for the position, Howe said "the choice might be cancelled if there is a strong enough protest."

"This is likely to make a farce out of the hearing," Howe said. "Sears will claim impartiality, but the impression of those who know him and what he has said in the past will cause the public to have a lack of confidence in the hearings."

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. '38, professor of History and National Chairman of the Americans for Democratic Action, said he was "not surprised by that kind of appointment. It's exactly what the country can expect from this administration and Party which have no serious intention of fighting McCarthy. Sears is one more example of the Republican appointment policy."

First Clash in 1951

Sears first clashed with the University in 1951 when he charged that "it is about time Harvard clean house" and stop "encouraging and playing host to the Communist Party." He made these statements in a letter protesting Harvard's granting permission for a student-sponsored talk by Osmund Fraenkel, Vice-President of the National Lawyers Guild. He urged the Law School to "take action now to disband" the Harvard Lawyers Guild, then on the School's promises.

Dean Griswold, replying to that attack stated that "suppressing an organization is a very serious step. The local activity of this group of students does not seem to warrant such drastic action." Griswold also accused Sears of "highly discourteous action" in making his letter public