Evening star., 1947-02-01

Outstanding among the lessons which
Canada learned from her experience,
with a deep-rooted Russian espionage
network, directed from Moscow, is thatj
it is dangerous to give Communists posi-
tions of trust in democracy.
In move suggestive of locking the
door after the horse has been stolen, the
Royal Commission recommended "addi-
tionaI security measures to prevent the
infiltration into positions of trust under
the government of persons likely to COM
NIT acts such as those described in this
(the commission's) report"
To what extent the security OF Cam
ada-and of the United States rs we'll
was compromised by the "communica-
ton to a foreign power Of secret and
confidential information" the commits
sion could only guess.
OF particular concern to the commits
sion was the fact that the Soviet-con-
trolled fifth column" sought-and OBJ
tained-not only top secret information
about the atom bomb, electronically op-
Grated missiles, radar and the like, but
military, economic and political data of
postwar significance.
In this connection the commission re-
ported:
1--WE can say that much vital technical
information which should still be secret
to the authorities of Canada, Great Brit
ain and the United States has beensmade
known to the Russians by reason of the
espionage activities reported herein. The
full extent of the information handed
over is impossible to say. AS we have
fal
going on for some time.
Data on Postwar Defenses.
"We should emphasize that the bulk
of the technical information sought by
the espionage leaders related to research
developments which would play an i'm
portant part in the postwar defenses Of
Canada, the. United Kingdom and the
United States"
Apart from the technical data col
lected, the commission pointed out, was
economic information" regarding such
matters as industrial production, loca-
ton of industries. transportation facil-
tiles, finance and industrial planning.
"It is sufficient to say here" the re-
port states, that the amount Of ma
terial in this category which was handed
over was very great indeed, and that
much of it was classified as secret or
top secret.
Regarding the evaluation of this ma
terial, we will say only that this infor-
nation appears to have been such as
would be designed to facilitate detailed
estimates of Canada's postwar economic
and military potential.
Parts of this information could also
be useful in connection with possible
sabotage operations"
A third category of information which
the spies sought eagerly was of political
and diplomatic nature.
Agents Of the ring employed in the
Cipher Division of the Canadian Depart
ment of External Affairs ounterpart of
our State Department-and in the regis
try Of the Ofdce of the United Kingdom
High Commissioner at Ottawa, the COM
mission says, divulged highly secret in
telligence relating mot only to the pol
icies of the Canadian government, but
to those of the government Of the United
Kingdom and the United States"
Citizenship documents, passports, mar
riage or birth certificates were sought
for illegal purposes The records of the
agents disclosed that such papers were
for use in the United States as well as
Canada at some time in the future.
Possibility Of Sabotage.
Such forged papers. the commission
comments, could in time be used by
planted agents not only for espionage.
but for sabotage, leadership Of subver-
sive political groups and other purposes.
1t is unnecessary to comment on the
possible gravity of these operations"
The fact, in all this, that should not be
lost sight of, the Royal Commission
stresses, is the apparent ease with which
the Russian military intelligence agents
were able to recruit native-born Ca
madam citizens for what the commission
is convinced was a potential fifth
column"
"Of paramount Importance" the re-
port states lis the fact that Canadians
were willing to give secret information,
no matter what its Importance, and were
carrying out their agreements. Some
gave all they had or all they could get:
others apparently gave only some of
what was in their possession; some had
not much to give, but were in positions
where they would, in the future, have
been able to give more, and they un-
doubtedly would have done so.
"The most important thing Is the
agreement of certain Canadian Com
munists to work under foreign orders in