Evening star., 1949-06-02
Chambers on Stand Again in Hiss Trial
Continued From First Page

Continued From First Page
to which it can delve into the
background of the relationship
between the two men.
The Government has announced
that its entire case against Mr..
Hiss, who became president Of the
Carnegie Endowment for Interna-
tional Peace after he left the
State Department in ls4e. stands
or falls on the credibility Of Mr.
Chambers testimony. Mr. Cham
bers says Mr.. Hiss gave him secret
documents for Transmission 20
Russian agents. and Mr.. Hiss
stands accused Of falsely denying
to a Federal jury that he did SO
Called Deceptive Man.
Before Mr.. Chambers appeared
in the packed Foley Square court
room yesterday. he was denounced
to the jury by Mr.. Stryker as
furtive. secretive. deceptive
man destitute Of honor and des-
titute of credit, member Of a low
down. nefarious. filthy conspiracy
an income-tax evader. a liar. a
blasphemer. a moral leper and q
thug.
An audible thrill ran through
the courtroom. as the Govern
ment's key witness appeared in
the doorway beside the witness
stand-a portly. rumbled, weary
looking figure in a nondescript
gray suit. He took the oath. set
tied himself firmly in the witness
chair and answered the prose-
cutor's first question in that dis
tinctive scratchy. oddly diffident
voice which became familiar to
millions last August through radio
transcriptions OF his testimony
before the House Un-American
Activities Committee.
MY name" he said. 1s Jay
David Whitaker Chambers.
AS the prosecutor led Mr..
Chambers into a detailed recital
of his now-familiar career as a
young intellectual who turned to
communism after he took a trip
to Europe in 1928 and became dis
illusioned with the state of the
world, Defense Attorney Stryker
bobbed up with more and more
frequent objections, all Of them
sustained by Judge Kaufman.
Heated Legal Controversy.
Finally. the defense lawyer sug-
gested the Government had suf1i-
GENTLY established that Mr.. Hiss
accuser was himself Communist.
Further development of the point,
he said, was irrelevant.
This objection precipitated a
heated legal controversy which still
was in progress when the hearing
recessed. Judge Kaufman excused
the jury while the lawyers argued
the point-one which may deter
mine the extent to which this trial
will shed light on details OF the
disputed relationship between Mr..
Hiss and Mr.. Chambers.
Gone was the easy. almost
relationship between pros
ecution and defense which char
caterized selection Of the jury
when the trial opened Tuesday.
Prosecutor Murphy's walrus mus
tache bristled with anger. and the
back Of his neck turned brick red.
as MIR. Stryker repeatedly inter-
rupted his highly technical plea to
Judge Kaufman to "be patient
with the Government in this mat
ter"
Once he abruptly took his seat,
muttering. maybe Mr.. Stryker
wants to talk. ! can't out-talk
him"
Issue Declared Limited.
The defense lawyer argued that
the issue of the trial is severely
limited to a question as to whether
Mr.. Hiss lied to the grand jury
last December Is. Material not
directly connected with that
charge, he said, cannot go in just
because the Government thinks it
is fun to put it in"
II object!" Mr.. Murphy ex-
ploded. I'm not having as much
fun as Mr.. Stryker is"
Judge Kaufman admonished the
defense counsel to chose his words
more carefully.
II apologize" said the dramatic
little lawyer. His tone was de-
ceptively contrite. II shouldn't t
have said that" he continued. Il
don't think he's having fun at all" 3"
One fact clearly emerged from
the involved language Of the legal