Evening star., 1948-08-04
Navy Intelligence Tried to Oust
Si|vermaster> Currie Saved Him.
Alleged No. Red Spy Testifies
Patterson Induced
To Write Letter,
Witness Admits
By Miriom Gutenberg

NdLlldu OIeSUIy ollVc1lIldotoi, !,
named by a self-styled former
espionage agent as leader of a
spy ring here, admitted today
that Naval Intelligence once
sought his removal from Gov
ernment service here.
Silvermaster, testifying before the
House Committee on Un-American
Activities, said he got Lauchlin
Currie, once administrative assist
ant to President Roosevelt, to inter-
vene in his behalf,
He said Mr.. Currie went to former
Secretary of War Patterson for him.
Silvermaster exhibited to the COM
mittee a letter which he said Mr..
Patterson had written for him.
Currie in Previous Testimony.
Miss Elizabeth T. Bentley, the
former espionage agent who made
the charges against Silvermaster,
has named Mr.. Currie as member
of the Silvermaster espionage group.
While refusing to answer most OF
the questions put to him by the
committee, Silvermaster, in pre-
pared statement, described Miss
Bentley as a "neurotic liar"
Il am not and never have been
q spy or agent of any foreign gov
ernment," he declared.
He refused to identify Miss Bent
ley in the nearing room, but she
promptly identified him when she
followed him on the stand.
Highlights of the hearing also
included:
l. Miss Bentley, on the stand,
described in detail the Photographic
equipment she said silvermaster
kept in the basement of his home
to microfilm secret and confidential
documemnts. Silvermaster had re-
fused to say whether he had pho
tographic equipment in his base
ment.
2. Committee Investigator Louis A.
Russell, testifying on an investiga-
ton he had made of Silvermaster,
quoted from Civil Service Commis-
sion records, which stated the COM
mission had considerable testi-
mony" that Silvermaster went into
the Communist underground about
1920 and from that time has been
everything from a fellow traveller to
a member of the Ogpu Russian
Secret Police)."
g. Chief Committee Investigator
Robert E. STRIPPING told the COM
mittee that Silvermaster's file had
disappeared" from National Ar
chives, although the files of other
employees working in the same
agencies as Silvermaster were there.
Rejects Many Questions.
Once Silvermaster had completed
reading his prepared statement, he
consistently refused to answer the
committees questions until he was
asked why Secretary Patterson was
called upon to clear him. He had
said in his statement that he had
been cleared by Mr.. Patterson,
among others.
Silvermaster promptly produced
Mr.. Patterson's letter, which was
not made public.
Did Lauchlin Currie see Mr..
Patterson in your behalf?" he was
asked.
The witness replied that he had
asked Mr.. Currie to have Mr.. Pat
terson look into the accusations
made against me-"
He was asked if Military Intelli-
gence had objected to his going to
the Board of Economic Warfare.
He promptly replied that it was
Naval Intelligence that had asked
for his removal.
They wrote a letter saying I
was a Communist and therefore
should not be trusted with work at
BEW," the witness said. obviously
the letter was smear letter, not
justified"
Letter Was Shown to Him.
He said the charges made by
Naval Intelligence were shown to
him by William E. Stone, then as
sistant administrator of the Board
of Economic Warfare, and that he
ICoo CDTEC Dooo A6l