Evening star., 1947-08-08
Criticisms Of Trial
By Communist Paper
Read 10 EisIer Jury
By NewboId Moves, Jr.

the passport-fraud case Of Gerhart
Eisler, alleged Kremlin agent,
learned today what the Communist
the Daily Worker. thinks
about the trial.
Attempting to show that de-
fense witness, Joseph Starobin.
Daily Worker foreign editor, is
in the case. William Hitz,
Assistant United States Attorney,
read to the court portions Of Mr..
Starobin's articles on the EiSler trial.
Eisler is charged with fraudu-
lently neglecting to mention when
he applied for an alien exit permit
to return to his native Germany
that he had Communist Affiliations,
had used aliases and had been in
the United States in 1885 and 1896.
Mr.. Starobin had testified that he
was the Hans Berger" who wrote
for the Daily Worker and other
Communist publications during the
war. The Government contends
Eisler wrote these articles.
you have the deepest contempt
for the way this case has been tried,
don't you?" Mr.. Hitz asked the
witness.
Amazed at Theory of Case.
Mr.. Starobin said that was not
true, but added:
Il have been amazed at the theory
of this case and the kind of effort
that has been made here to harm
a man in way he didn't deserve
from us Americans"
AS Mr.. Hitz pulled several recent
editions of the Daily Worker from
his briefcase and prepared to read
parts of them, Abraham J. Isser-
man, chief defense counsel, warned
that If the prosecutor cited the
articles in part the defense would
seek to introduce them in their en-
tirety.
The first article selected by Mr..
Hitz was in the August 3 issue
under the headline Atmosphere at
Eisler Trial Soaked With Prejudice
Fear"
Ambitious Prosecutors Hit.
Ths story referred to ambitious
district attorneys working with FBI
Chiefs" and observed: For this
Americans pay taxes. Just
so. by just such rottenness are en-
tire peoples corrupted and debased. -
Did you write that?" the prose-
cutor asked.
That's right" Mr.. Starobin said.
The next day, the jury learned,
Mr.. Starobin wrote that Just how
the FBI frames up innocent men
can be seen graphically in the
record"
You realize, do you not, that the
plaintiff so to speak in this case is
the United States of American" Mr..
Hitz asked.
That's my country" Mr.. staro-
bin answered.
Questioned About Byrnes.
The prosecutor then asked the
witness whether he had ever had
occasion to refer in print to former
Secretary of State Byrnes as "the
enemy"
Mr.. Starobin said that was a
ridiculous" Interpretation of his
words.
II meant" he said, "that the
foreign policy foisted on my coun-
try Is inimical to our interests"
In his dispatches on the trial, Mr..
Starobin has made numerous un-
complimentary references to Mr..
Hitz, and the antagonism of the
two was evident throughout the
prosecutors cross s-examination.
Mr.. Starobin's chief job as a de-
tense witness was to try to refute
the prosecutions contention that
Eisler was Hans Berger" a lead
ing Communist writer of the wal
years. whose articles appeared in
the Daily Worker and the maya
zine, The Communist.
Says He Wrote Articles.
Mr.. Starobin took the stand late
yesterday and said he himself wrote
the Hans Berger, articles. Eisler
Mr.. Starobin added. furnished him
with some of the material for those
writings.
The Government witness who
identified Eisler as the author o1
the Hans Berger" material was
Louis Budenz, former managing ed
itor of the Daily Worker. whr
abandoned communism when hi
returned to the Catholic faith ir
1945.
7 Mr.. Budenz also testified, earlier
In the trial, that Eisler virtually
ran the Daily Worker when he was
in this country in the 1930s. He tolo
of a meeting of Daily Worker ed
itors at which Eislcr, as Edwards,
violently upbraided Clarence Hath
away, then editor in chief of the
paper, and criticized his policies.
Abraham B. Magil, former po-
litical editor of the Daily Worker
who now serves as executive editor
of the Communist magazine, New
Masses. was the defense witness
who gave the lie to Mr.. Budenz or
this score. He said Mr.. Hathaway
was "at that time one of the three
top leaders of the party" in Amer.
lea. and that an incident such as
that described by Mr.. Budenz coulo
not have taken place.
Never Attended, MagiI Says.
Eisler never attended a meeting
of the Daily Worker editors, Mr.
Magil asserted.
What in the world do we want
to 60 into the philosophy of Marx
for?" the jurist exploded.
Another defense witness was
Avrom Landy, former assistant
chairman of the Communist Party
in Ohio. He contradicted prosecu.
ton testimony by Joseph Zack
Kornfeder of Detroit that Eislel
once handpicked entire states oi
candidates at a national conven-
ton of the Communist Party and al
convention of the party's Ohio
branch.
Cross-examining Mr.. Hitz elicited
the fact that the witness was still q
member of the Communist Party.
Admiral 6ingrich Heads
H. fsl n.ss