Evening star., 1949-07-03
By Robert K. Walsh

A~~>~
arguments by Government ant
defense counsel at the Alger His
trial may hit heights-and length!
seldom known to American
courtrooms.
The Federal Court proceeding
of the United States versus a for
mer State Department official. ex.
pected to go to the jury Thurs
day, has become many cases II
one.
Perjury. personalities, publicity
paradoxes. presumptions. psychia.
try, and the past, present ane
posterity have increasingly f1ittee
through the perplexing picture
since the trial started May 81.
Before the jury of 10 men ane
two women begins deliberatint
the fate of the 44-year-old de.
fendant. Assistant United State!
Attorney Thomas F. Murphy plan!
Ia full-day roundup in an at
tempt to pull everything together
Defense Counsel Lloyd Pau
Stryker will throw all he has into
an equally long and hard blast tt
tear the whole thing apart.
Summations Assume Importance
Those summations, both side!
agree, will be extraordinarily i'm.
portant. They may go far to per.
suade the jury whether to convict
or free Mr.. Hiss of charges tha1
he lied under oath in telling &
grand jury here last December he
never gave State Department
secrets to Whitaker Chamber.
and never saw the confessed for.
mer Communist courier from 1885,
to 1948.
A kaleidoscope of documentary
Photographic and other evidence
and the frequently diametrically
opposed testimony Of startling
range and variety of witnesses
has been arrayed for or against
Mr.. Hiss. 1t is of no less intimate
concern to Mr.. Chambers.
Many of the bits and loose ends
particularly in Mr.. Murphy s
painstaking presentation, need to
be strung together and stressed In
relation to the overall accusations
if the jury is to grasp whatever
weight and significance they have
Similarly, the defense summa-
tion will center on smoothing and
shaping its mass Of material into
an instrument that will not crack
under prosecution pressure and
close scrutiny In the jury room
Defense attorneys have indicated
they will spend a busy If not glo-
rious Fourth Of July striving for
a wind-up. puncture-proof speech
Job Is Difficult.
It must do more than punch
holes in the character, credibility
or possible cerebral condition o1
Mr.. Chambers. 1t must also con.
vince the jury that such obviously
existing exhibits as the copied anc
photographed documents-in the
admitted handwriting Of Mr.. His!
or the alleged typewriting Of 6
mcahine once owned by the His.
family-never got into the hand.
Of Mr.. Chambers by way Of Mr.
Hiss.
Other more or less extra-lega.
developments have made the sum.
nation job especially difficult fol
both sides.
Recently the trial has beer
plagued by utterances and dicts
Of a few " publicists" and some
publicity foreign to the idea o1
fairness to the Government anc
the defendant. ..-r
Many daily followers Of the tria
will testify. as did Judge Kauf.
man himself a week ago, that the
bulk Of the press coverage ha!
been as objective and accurate a.
it could be in view of the nature
and background of the case.
Whatever the outcome, Mr.
Hiss. in the opinion of practically
all close observers. has been treat.
ed with utmost fairness itself
And, irrespective of what may
have been written about him ir
some unfriendly outside quarters
he has had his unofficial but otter
loud advocates in other places IL
or out of print.
Going Is Rough.
The man with the open mind
has had rough going in this case
This is especially true of those
who have followed the Hiss.
Chambers controversy from it!
first public blow-off before tn.
House Committee on Un-Americar
Activities almost a year ago.
The trial has produced asser.
tions and material evidence thai
the committee never received, ane
in some instance never knew o.
suspected. The committee hear.
ings. on the other hand, and sub.
sequent FBI investigation, brought
out or dug up names, association!
and what-not that were excluded
from the trial as having no bear
ing on the indictment count.
against Mr.. Hiss.
Moreover. the up and dowr
course of the prosecution and def.
ense has caused many courtroom
spectators to revise or rearrang.
their opinions from day to day
Some who keep q box score O.
hits, errors-or evasions anc
omissions-by the defense o.
prosecution say they feel differ.
emily about the defendants gull
or innocence, or his chances o.
acquittal or conviction, than they
did a month ago.
Opinions on those points arr
as numerous as they are varied
but out-and-out productions are
generally reserved or qualified
even in these final stages of tht
trial.
On the way downtown to the