Lots of people have said sharp things about the Dies Committee on Un-American Activities. Few have been more vitriolic than goat-bearded William Dudley Pelley, leader of The Silvershirt Legion of America. Last June, one of the Committee's investigators, Robert B. Barker, investigated his nation-saving activities and reported back that Pelley was just the Committee's dish. With its sizzling frying pan all ready for Pelley, the Committee tossed out a line and hook to catch him. But Mr. Pelley dived for deeper water, and disappeared.
As other fish were caught and dropped into the pan to splutter, the Committee's appetite for...