Evening star., 1949-06-28
The FBI's Confidential Files
The Decision to Release Certain Secrets the Coplon
Trial Shut OFF Vital Sources of Information
Br RSs Collier

suspected q mar down the street fruen hrs
home os rsrsonagv SIR was unable 10 ca
pain her suspicious sxceGs thai Tire rxn
Just LOOKED LIKE q spy TIE Actress wss
right The man sAs es~Fa,1ag Q ssoss-sase
radio In his cellar
Iip that helped ,rs FRl 10 round - and
convict seven members o. . German sSs
rtnx In Detroit cane fyoea , wersAn who
overheard the husband of err Of iAe specs
make q remark indicating his aomlrsisoc es
Adolf Hitler.
An Anonymous communication 10 fhs las
Angeles once Of the FBI told Of . mar viii
. German accent who stayed out al night
frequently The tip slet TO the arrest ane
CONVICTION Of . German Assent
Lanalady's Ttp Proved G~sA.
One member Of the notorious as~memo<s
German eSpsonage rms uncovered by tns
FBI in New York and vicinity early In The
var Vas arrested aS a resals Of landiAdy
It'd that one Of her roouers vas typEns and
mailing letters at all hours Of the day AND
nixht.
FBI agents had followed thea impulses
some OF these tips might nave been laughed
Of rs worthless Some Of the tips did mol
produce anything tangible until Iona after
they went into the nleS Then. as some
new report came IN. they began 10 mskr
sense.
There is nothing unusual or unethseA
about the practice Of accepting tips from
regular informants or from elsiSens SeneF-
ally. All Law enforcement agencies DO H.
And every Law enforcement agency has tn
its confidential files uneyaluated infoTma-
ton Of the type made public al the Coplen
trial
II the FBI were TO be restricted on The
sort OF information II could accept and
Nations chief baiwark against foreign es-
p,onage would be greatly impaired, And
such restrictions were proper for the Fhl
they would be proper also for the Central
Intelligence Agency and the naval and
military intelligence branches The euees
would be to hamstring our security forces
In q most dangerous way.
The decision TO compromise certain OF
his secret files was not Mr.. Hoosers lie
did no, even tacitly agree to the oecision'
despite reports TO the contrary. He Was "a
shocked as any one that his objections were
oyerruled by the Attorney General. He had
successfully resisted all previous Efforts 10
pry confidential matter from the nles. Even
LOYALTY boards have been denied access TO
such material-aithough careful abstracts
have been supplied
Hoover WIN Not Quit.
He was shocked. but he does not intend
TO resign.
How grave the publicity decision VIII prove
to be cannot be gauged until all the repercus-
sions are known. Perhaps some Of the anoef-
cover informants who have not been heard
from since the fiies became public viii re-
sumo their work. Perhaps more viii quit or
will disappear The fact that the infor-
mants were identified by code letters and
numbers did not guarantee protection. for
the information supplied often was 10 de-
tailed as to names. dates and places as 10
enable the subject OF the investigation to
identify the person who informed on him
One thing is certain: II will not be easy
In the future TO induce citizens to give IN
formation to the FBI. however vital 1t might
be TO the National security. In the past
the FBI could assure such informants that
the sources Of information would never Be
disclosed without their permission. Now
the FBI cannot give such . guarantee.
The decision TO proceed with the Coplon
trial was in the nature Of = calculated risk
Mr.. Clark thought the risk was worth tax
ing. Mr.. Hoover did not Only time VIII
tell which view was right. But enough has
happened to date to indicate that the de-
cision was q costly one ~ far rs the FBl
and its future efficiency are concerned.