'Bugging'

The New York subway strike and the ensuing controversy about the microphones the Transit Authority had placed in the offices of the Motormen's Benevolent Association has always been an edifying spectacle. The latest development is a statement which ought to endure as a classic in the field of civil liberties.

One Joseph O'Grady, a member of the Transit Authority, said, "I haven't given a thought to whether it is immoral or not." Mr. O'Grady made the statement after Assemblyman Monteleone called "bugging" legal but immoral. Mayor Wagner said that he was none too pleased, either.

The legality of the Authority's action is an open question. It claims the microphones were installed by its police in the interests of tranquillity on the subways. The Transit Authority claimed that it wouldn't have dreamed of using the material thus gathered in strike-breaking or anti-union pursuits. But legal or illegal, the behavior of the Transit Authority in this matter can only be condemned. Assemblyman Savarese, who started the investigation, probably hit the nail on the head when he called it "loathsome," "shoddy," "disgraceful," and "a dirty business."