U.S. Senator Leverett Saltonstall '14 and the Boston Herald yesterday united in defense of Federal District Judge Bailey Aldrich '28, who was attacked Thursday by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for being reluctant to sign a Massachusetts non-Communist affidavit last summer.

Their action followed a special news conference Thursday night in which Massachusetts Governor Christian A. Herter '15 said Judge Aldrich had signed the affidavit willingly after being told it was a routine requirement.

In a Senate floor speech Saltonstall said he hoped the Senate would "not make a mountain out of a molehill" over McCarthy's charges. He explained that Aldrich had at first refused to sign because he thought doing so would be "inappropriate" and redundant.

The Herald said in its lead editorial yesterday morning, "Mr. Aldrich's record as a loyal citizen, lawyer, and judge is uninpeachable." The newspaper charged that McCarthy was seeking to intimidate the judiciary by attacking on "trivial" grounds, "a judge whose decision he disapproved."