Evening star., 1948-09-04
Communist Inquiry
Seen Having Definite
Beneficial Results
House Probers Proved
Underground Spy Ring
Exists in This Country
By Frank x. Kent


the professional liberals" VIII,
consistently denounce every revela
ton OF communistic infiltration il
our governmental departments a
witch hunting" red batting" ant
"smearing," the recent investiga
tons and more recent report Of th'
House Committee on Un-Americar
Activities have had definitely. bene
ficial effects
For one thing, 1t has been estab
1ished that there did-and does
exist a communistic underground
spy ring" in this country. This ma,
sound like something out of E
Phillips Oppenheim. but it is th'
truth and the evidence here. as il
Canada, is too clear to dispute, NJ
amount Of vituperative attack upor
the committee contradicts the facts
For another thing, it has beer
equally we'll established that con-
siderable number of individual
who, II not actually card-carryint
Communists, at least were sympa'
thetic with the Communist point
OF view and closely associated with
self H-confessed Communist agents
have acquired jobs in various Fed.
eral boards, bureaus and depart
ments.
For d third thing, it has beer
established that some of these
Soviet spies did secure positions fol
themselves in the State Depart.
ment. From these positions anc
while on the Federal pay roll they
were paid by the Soviet Govern
ment to supply it with secret in.
formation.
Proved Up to Hit.
None of these statements are de-
MED. The committee has proved
them all up to the hilt. 1t is true
the New Deal breast-beaters have
invoked the Constitution. the Bill
of Rights. the Magma Carta. the
Bible and the Koran to explain thai
the individuals mentioned by thu
self-confessed Soviet agents as hav-
ing co-operated sympathetically
had been slandered, libeled ano
"smeared," denied their rights,
permitted neither to meet their &C.
cusers nor defend themselves.
These allegations are not sus
tanned by the facts. No "innocen
young patriot" has been "smeared
without chance to face his &C
cuser or tell his side. Some, wher
they got the chance, refused Il
answer questions on the ground tina
they might incriminate themselves
Others simply denied the accuse
tions under oath. One of these wa
. young man lucky enough not t.
nave it brought out that prior tt
obtaining his State Department pos
he had spent f1ve years in Russia
where he married Communist.
The most highly publicized vic
tim" Of the investigation was Algel
Hiss, once a State Department Off
cial, now head of the Carnegie En-
dowment for Peace. Mr. Chambers
acknowledged former Communist
had said that Mr.. Hiss was Com
lnunist and 'co-operated" with him
All the liberal" Communists, com.
mentators and editors rushed to Mr.
Hiss defense, vehemently denounc.
ing the committee, MIR. Hiss per-
sonally appeared, vigorously denied
everything. issued statements, wrote
letters and employed counsel. Also
he met his accuser face to face. The
accuSer repeated the accusations
Mr.. Hiss repeated his denials. Each
called the other liar. The COM
mlttee knew one was perjurer
out could not prove which. That i,
the way the case ended.
Mr.. Hiss may be. as his friends
insist, a much maligned man, but
assuredly he had every opportunity
to defend himself and the chance
10 face his accuser. If his denials
and defense have not been general.
ly convincing 1t is partly his owr
fault. The committees report ex-
presses conviction that Mr.. Cham
bers rather than Mr.. Hiss is to bt
believed. The latter had superior
publicity facilities but he managed
them poorly. Two mistakes he Ger,
tainly made. One was in connection
with the lie detector test. Mr.
Chambers agreed to take the tes
but Mr.. Hiss questioned its scien.
tihc accuracy, said he could no
give a definite answer until he hae
made q thorough investigation
which would take time. In brief. h
refused. 1t would have made bet
Ter impression if he had said, Hell
YES. Ill take that test or any othel
test, however inaccurate scientifi
cauy, because l am telling th'
truth. And no matter what the tes
shows 1t will not alter that fact.
That kind of attitude would hav'
made better impression.
Second Mistake.
His other mistake was in chal
lenging Mr.. Chambers to make hi
accusations outside of the committe'
room, where he had prot ection anc
in some place where he could b.
sued for libel or SANDER Almos
Immediately, Mr.. Chambers did re
peat his accusations over a radio
station in Washington, which. un'
protected itself, could give him NJ
protection. But, so far Mr.. His
has not entered suit There is ,
general feeling that Mr.. Hiss shoult
not have made this challenge, with
Its implied threat, unless he in
tended to follow through; that h'
now stands In position Of having hi
bluff called.
However. aside from all this ant
conceding that the committee is no
ideal nor its method perfect, i
cannot be denied that 1t has dredget
up many"signiflcant facts and pro
duced much important information
to which the American people ar
clearly entitled and which the
would never have gotten in an
other way. At least one of its news
paper critics now admits this.
the committees 1000 word print
ed. report is neither violent no
extreme. 1t presents the fact!
makes assertions that hardly ca
be contradicted and insists 1t ha
been hampered by Mr. Truman an
his Attorney General, who hav
refused to turn over asked-for file
and information. Beyond dout