Evening star., 1948-08-15
House Probers 10 TN
To Stiff Contrary Spy
Testimony Tomorrow
By Robert K. Walsh


By Robert K. Walsh
The House Committee on Un.
American Activities in CLOSED
session tomorrow will try to gel
to the bottom of totally conflict.
ing testimony of a self-stylet
former Communist agent and .
time Government official he
described as q prewar Com.
munist underground leader here
Committee of1cials yesterday dis.
closed only that the executive meet.
ing has been called for 2 pm. and
that no open hearings are ,sched.
uled for tomorrow. There were re.
ports that Whitaker Chambers
the avowed former Communist
agent, And Alger Hiss, former State
Department official accused by Mr.
Chambers of past Communist con.
nections, would face each other al
that time. -
Mr.. Hiss. now president Of the
Carnegie Endowment for Inter.
national Peace, has said he&enever
laid eyes" on Mr.. Chambers. As one
OF the star witnesses at the COM
mittee's current inquiry into Com
munist spy activities and infiltra-
ton into the Government, Mr..
Chambers, senior editor of Time
magazine, declared he knew Mr.. Hiss
and visited him at the time of the
alleged Communist underground op-
erations.
Face -to-Face Meeting Seen.
A face-to-face meeting between
Mr.. Chambers and Mr.. Hiss has been
indicated almost since the start Of
the public hearings more than two
weeks ago.
There has been some discussion
also that a Gle detector" be used
to help the committee determine
who is telling the truth. 1t is be-
lieved unlikely. however, that this
method would be employed even if
the witnesses offered to submit to
such test.
Staff investigators have been at
tempting to find other persons or
independent evidence that would
support or refute the Chambers al
legations. They are particularly
concerned with the Chambers
charges against Mr.. Hiss and his
brother, Donald, a Washington at
torney who formerly had an off,
cial position in the State Depart
ment.
Mundt Scores Freeze on Files.
The Hiss brothers have denied
they ever knew Mr.. Chambers or
that they engaged in Communist
activities. They appeared volun-
tarily at the hearings, waived their
constitutional rights and answered
all questions.
Representative Mundt, Republi-
can, of South Dakota, declared
when the committee hearings re-
cessed for the week end that there
Is strong corroborative evidence OF
the existence of wartime spy ring
In Washington. He asserted that
President Truman's freeze on Gov
ernment files has stymied commit
tee efforts to get that evidence.
Some of that evidence, he said,
was even more convincing than the
$4,000 payoff which Miss Elizabeth
T. Bentley, an avowed ax-Commun-
ist spy, said she received in New
York in 1945 from the first secretary
of the Soviet Embassy. Miss Bent
ley, key witness in the inquiry,
has listed a large number OF former
Government officials among those
she said worked In Communist es-
pionage rings or gave her informa-
ton during the war.
Although Committee Chairman
Thomas said last week that public
hearings will continue for some
time, there were signs yesterday
that the committee might recess for
several days or perhaps weeks after
tomorrow's closed session. This
would give investigators an oppor-
tunity to pursue new leads or spe-
eial lines Of inquiry.
Mr.. Thomas was in New Jersey
last night and Mr.. Mundt left earlier
yesterday for South Dakota. Most
of the other committee members
were away from Washington for
the week end. Chief Investigator
Robert E. STRIPPING was still in New
York where he served q subpoena
earlier in the day on Mrs. Oksana
Stepanovna Kosenkina who escaped
from the Soviet consulate in New
York by jumping from q window.
Another former Russian school
teacher who refused to return to
his native country and fed from
Soviet officials in New York is also
under committee subpoena. He is
Michael Ivanovitch Samarine. He
testified Thursday before the COM
mittee in closed session here but Ia
not expected to be called as q wit
ness in public hearings. Most of his
testimony was not pertinent to the
committees investigation, members
said.
Continuation of the spy hearings
was demanded yesterday in John L.
Lewis newspaper. the United Mine
Workers journal. An editorial
criticized President Truman for call
ing the investigation red herring
It said that even If the inquiry
might smell of fishing expedition
1t certainly has yielded a bountiful
catch"
Possible political damage or ad-
vantage should not be permitted to
stop the probe. the editorial stated
Lnaar:os paI;>a Eti1h :