SMEARING OF CANADIAN AS FORMER RED LINKED TO M’ARTHUR VENDETTA
By HAROLD GREER
Star Staff Correspondent
Ottawa, Aug. 10 – The department of external affairs last night rushed to the defence of Dr. E. Herbert Norman, chief Canadian delegate to the U.N., with a statement which did little to clear the air following charges in Washington that he was a one-time member of a Communist party organization.
Accused by MacArthur Aide
The charges were made before the House of Representatives un-American activities committee Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby, chief intelligence officer to Gen. MacArthur in Japan, and Dr. Carl August Wittfogel, said to be a former German Communist. Dr. Norman is accused of having belonged to a Communist party student group at Cape Cod in 1939.
Earlier this week Wittfogel had described Prof. Owen Lattimore of John Hopkins’ university, a war-time U.S. government official, as having followed the techniques of secret Communists. Lattimore later denied this. He issued a statement describing Wittfogel’s testimony as showing the compulsion felt by so many ex-Communists in these times (Continued on Page 8, Col 3)
‘SMEARING’ OF DELEGATE SEEN AS RESULT OF VENDETTA
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of fear and hysteria not to lag behind in making denunciations right and left.”
The un-American activities committee has been notorious for its witch-hunting, and all unofficial information here indicates Dr. Norman’s reputation could easily have been defended. But when the Washington reports reaching here late in the afternoon sent Dr. Norman into hurried consultation with Hon. Lester Pearson, secretary of state for external affairs, and his undersecretaries, the following statement emerged:
“Mr. Norman was subject to the normal security investigation by the appropriate authorities of the Canadian government, according to rules laid down which apply to all members of the department of external affairs.
Given Clean Bill of Health
“Subsequently, reports reached the department which reflected on Mr. Norman’s loyalty and alleged previous association with the Communist party. These reports were very carefully and fully investigated by the security authorities of the government, as a result of which Mr. Norman was given a clean bill of health, and he therefore remains a trusted and valuable official of the department."
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Never on Cape Cod
Dr. Norman himself let it be known that he has never been in Cape Cod in his life. He declined completely, however, to reply to the charges further, preferring to have further comment come from the department.
Left unanswered were the questions: Had he ever been a Communist or member of a Communist organization? What were the charges, raised by the department’s statement, which reached the department subsequent to his joining it and which reflected on his loyalty and suggested an association with the Communist party?
Advice in Korea Rapped
The fact that Gen. Willoughby is involved is the basis for this fear. The general was one of MacArthur’s right hand men during the latter’s reign in Korea and it was his intelligence advice regarding Chinese Communist intervention which was strongly criticized in Britain and other U.N. countries fighting in Korea. When MacArthur was deposed, Gen. Willoughby left Korea with him.
Dr. Norman and Gen. Willoughby are no strangers. The Canadian diplomat was head of the Canadian liaison mission to Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters in Japan from August, 1946 until autumn of last year. He is known to have had no illusions about Gen. MacArthur and have reported fully to Ottawa on the “yes-man” nature of the MacArthur administration; in fact the information the government received from Dr. Norman was a major factor in determining Canada’s policy during the first months of the Korean aggression.
Vendetta Suggested
If Gen. Willoughby is now starting or aiding and abetting a vendetta against Dr. Norman, the department here believes the “say-as-little-as-possible” approach is the best one. There is a good possibility that further charges may come from Washington, since the U.N.-American activities committee is investigating alleged Communist influence on U.S. foreign policy and as part of this is looking at the Institute of Pacific Relations, where Dr. Norman once studied.
The Institute means little to Canadians, but in the U.S. it has become synonymous with a hotbed for Communists.
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Before it came under Communist control, the Institute was probably the best centre in the Western world for information and study on Far Eastern matters. Its opinions particularly as published in Pacific Affairs, carried great weight with the U.S. state department. Although many persons studied there completely unaware of encroaching Communist control, there have been many disclosures since the war showing how the institute aided the coming to power of the Communists in China.
Did Research at Institute
Dr. Norman did research on Japanese history at the Institute in New York and it may be this is the “Communist party student group” referred to in the Washington charges.
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