Evening star., 1948-12-13
Mundt 10 Reveal
Evidence on Spy
1ypewriting
Disclosure Promised
On Where and When
Papers Were Copied
By Robert K. Walsh

The House Committee on I'm
American Activities promised to
disclose today evidence indicat-
ing when and where typewriter
copies of allegedly stolen State
Department documents were
made for transfer to a Commu-
mist agent here before the war,
The disclosure, a committee Of
ficial said, will be made by Acting
Chairman Mundt, who was due to
arrive here early this afternoon
after a weekend visit to his South
Dakota home.
Mr.. Mundt's plane was grounded
by bad weather in Kansas City early
today but he sent word he expected
to arrive before 2 pm.
The committee, hopeful of get
ting key witnesses from the grand
jury in New York before the new
Congress convenes, expected to
question one or two relatively minor
witnesses and also to examine the
typewriting evidence at a closed
session today. The meeting, orig
inally scheduled for noon, was post
poned until Mr.. Mundt's arrival.
Refuse to Comment.
Other committee members refused
to comment on the nature of the
evidence relating to the typewriting
on most of the documents received
from Whitaker Chambers, a vowed
former Communist agent. They in
dicated, however, that typewriting
analysts reports were obtained to-
day from Government experts who
compared the documentary copies
with samples Of other typewriting.
These reports, 1t was understood,
will be the basis of Mr.. Mundt's
announcement later today in behalf
Of the committee.
Committee investigators refused
to say whether they had located the
typewriter on which the documents
might have been copied 10 years
ago. They indicated, however, that
the machine itself, while important,
would not be indispensable as evil
dence II samples of typewriting
made on that machine at the time
were found to match the copies of
the documents. Other sources said
such samples had been found.
1t was recalled that committee
members quoted Mr.. Chambers as
having told them in New York last
Monday that Alges Hiss, former
State Department official, ,. took
secret documents from State De-
partment files and made type
written copies at hts home here
before returning the originals to
the department. MIR. Hiss has
denied without qualification" that
re did this or ever turned over any
thing confidential to Mr.. Chambers
or any other unauthorized person.
Proposals Discussed.
AS committee members prepared
for the closed session during the day,
the Capitol buzzed with suggestions
that the committee itself be abol-
ished or it's methods greatly
changed, and that the Nations es-
pionage laws be frightened and mod
ernized.
Warnings Of possible white
wash" in the spy investigation came
from Representative Nixon, Repub-
lican, Of California, a committee
member. Before leaving for New
York to show a Federal grand jury
the nicrofilms given committee in
vestigators by Mr.. Chambers, Mr..
Nixon declared:
AFTER the new Congress comes
into power, without question there
will be an all-out attempt by the
administration to suppress any fur
ther public airing of this case. If
the Justice Department succeeds
In keeping witnesses from the COM
mittee for the next few weeks and
grand jury returns no indictment,
1t will mean. in effect, that a
whitewash of the guilty people is
inevitable"
Mr. Chambers and Mr.. Hiss are
the main witnesses the committee
wants to question again as soon as
possible.
Subpoenaed by Jury.
Mr. Chambers and Mr.. Hiss. as
well as William w. Pigman, former
National Bureau of Standards en-
ploye also named by Mr.. Chambers
as a prewar feeder of secret docu-
ments to him, are under subpoena
to the grand jury. So far as the
committee knows, they will not come
here until the jury finishes its ex-
animation of them.
Mr. Pigman. as Mr.. Hiss has done,
has issued statement denying all
the Chambers charges.
Weekend developments in the
spy inquiry here included:
/. Representative Holifield, Dem
ocrat, of California announced he
would ask the new Congress in jan
uary to amend House rules so that
the committee would adopt basic
American principles of justice"
He suggested seven specific pro-
cedural changes such as issuance of
subpoenas for witnesses or docu-
ments only after majority vote of
the committee, right of witnesses
to be advised by lawyers and, to
cross-examine persons who make
charges against them, and ito give
any witness claiming the privilege
of not answering question the
right to argue the privilege through
counsel"
2. Representative Huber, Demo-
crat, of Ohio declared the commit
tee should be abolished. He added.
however, that in its current in