Evening star., 1949-01-15

Peacetime Curb
0nSpiesSought
Clark Asks Powers
To Tap Wires and Lift
Limitations Statute
BY the Associated Press

A sweeping revision of the
espionage laws has been pro-
posed by Attorney General Clark
as protection against "the
treacherous operations of those
who would weaken our Nation
internally.
He asked Congress for unprece-
dented peacetime power to press spy
charges no matter how long ago the
offense occurred, and said law Of
ficers should have the legal right to
tap wires for evidence in such cases.
Use of information obtained by wire
tapping as evidence in court is now
barred by law.
The bill Mr.. Clark sent last night
to House Speaker Rayburn and
Chairman McCarran of the Senate
Judiciary Committee embodied the
unanimous recommendations of an
Interdepartmental Committee made
up of FBI, Army and Navy intelli-
gence experts.
Follows 1S-Month Inquiry.
Their submission to Congress fol-
lows an 18-month investigation by
special Federal grand jury in New
York into alleged foreign spying in
this country, and a lengthy and sem
satlonal inquiry into the same sub
ject by the House Committee on Un-
American Activities.
The New York grand jury returned
no indictments for espionage, and
Justice Department officials asserted
that it was hampered because exist
ing laws place a limit on the time
for prosecuting suspected spies.
/ The grand jurors did indict Alger
Hiss, former State Department off,
cial, on charges that he lied when
he told them he never gave secret
state papers to unauthorized per-
sons in 1888.
Whitaker Chambers, an admitted
! former member of Soviet es-
pionage ring, had testified before
both the grand jury and the House
committee that he received impor-
tant documents from Mr.. Hiss for
delivery to Russian agents.
The Attorney General made no
specific reference to the 1948 spy
hunt in his recommendations to
Congress. But his proposals placed
heavy emphasis on measures de-
signed to prevent any stealing &
Government information.
Other Changes Asked.
Besides the request for power to
get evidence by tapping wires and
bypass the statute of limitations
in spy cases, he asked changes in
the espionage laws to:
l. Make the unauthorized possess
sion of restricted Government docu-
ments felony.
2. Require the surrender of such
documents to proper authorities
without demand
3. Make illegal the unauthorized
handling of national defense infor-
nation which could be used ito the
advantage of any foreign nation
instead of requiring intent to injure
the United States, as at present.
4. Punish failure to report the
loss, theft, abstraction, destruction
or unlawful transmission" of re-
stricted information.
S. Punish conspirators involved in
the gatherings. transmission or loss
of defense information.
Registration of Agents.
6. Require the registration as for
eign agents of all persons in this
country who ever received instruc-
tions or training in espionage and
sabotage under a foreign govern
ment "or foreign political party"
7. Make the failure to so register
continuing offense-to remove any
possibility of an offender could fall
back on the three-year statute Of
Limitations.
8. Require the surrender of radio.
telegraph and other communica-
tions records to authorized agents
of the Government in connection
with Investigations involving the
national security.
9. Make permanent the wartime
laws providing $1,000 fine and one
year imprisonment for violating
military orders aimed at protecting
the Nations aircraft, airfields, ships,
harbors, ports or other waterfront
facilities.
The final section of the proposed
bill said:
Nothing in this act shall be
construed to require or establish
military or civilian censorship or
in any way to limit or infringe
upon freedom of the press as guar
anteed by the Constitution of the
United States"