Evening star., 1949-07-17
House Group Sustained
By Hiss Trial Evidence
Writer Sees Prosecution Vindicatins
Un.American Activities Committee
Rv Frank X. Kent

Un.American Activities Committee
By Frank r. Kent
The hung jury in the Hiss case has left
the issue created by the Chambers charges
not only alive but more vibrant than ever.
1t is not too much to say that there is a
deeper general interest now in getting at the
whole truth of this shocking business than
there was before. Whether this can ever be
done is doubtful, but the reasons it has
become more desirable from the standpoint
OF the American people are clear.
In the first place. the basic facts, as dis
closed more than a year ago by the House
Un-American Activities Committee have now
been fully proved in law court. When they
were first produced the professional liberals"
in Washington and elsewhere furiously de-
nounced the committee. screamed about the
reckless smearing" of innocent men, pictured
the proceedings as outrageous and farcical.
This view was raucously voiced by all the
left-wing journalistic and political spokes-
men. Particularly was this true of certain
conspicuous figures of the old Roosevelt New
Deal with which Mr.. Hiss was identified.
These held members of the committee up as
sinister ogres whose search for sensational
headlines had unhinged their minds.
Without excusing It's sometimes undigniied
and humble puppy methods the fact re-
mains that. in this case, the committee has
been vindicated by the court trial which the
liberals were SO certain would expose it as
devoid Of reason. justice and truth AS a
result these things now stand undsputed:
l. That acting as a Soviet agent, Mr..
Chambers had in his possession great many
State Department papers, some of them Of
top-secret nature. Neither this fact nor the
authenticity OF the papers is even questioned:
CD that they were transmitted to him by
persons in the department sympathetic with
communism, CD that Mr.. Hiss was in the
department. had access to these papers and
that copies of a number Of them were made
on typewriter owned by him; a. that no
motive. other than the one he himself asserts
(his reaction against communism has been
advanced for Mr.. Chambers disclosures
None OF this necessarily means that Mr..
Hiss Is guilty His counsel produced evidence
to show that the typewriter went out of his
possession before the copies were made. Also,
that there were other persons who might
have supplied Mr.. Chambers with the docu-
ments and other ways by which he could
have obtained them. though certainly the
contention that they could have been had
from charwomen who picked them out Of
Wastepaper baskets was ridiculous But 1t
does mean that the basic facts, as revealed
by the committee in 1948 and which were SO
vehemently denied, have been completely
substantiated. This puts those "liberalss
who wanted to sweep the committee up in
corner and strike match in position of
considerable Stiffness.
And 1t raises question the answer to
which should concern every American every
where-to wit: If Mr.. Hiss did not give Mr..
Chambers these documents who did? Quite
clearly. some person or persons holding po-
sitions IN our State Department were passing
out supposedly secret documents to the agent
OF foreign power. If 1t wasn't Mr. Hiss.
who was it? That is the vital thing Neither
the Un-American Activities Committees dis
closures nor the verdict in the trial answered
that question though the jury voted to 4
for Mr.. Hiss conviction Nor is there any
reason to feel sure second trial will provide
more adequate answer.
-
It is all very we'll to insist that we "get to
the bottom" Of this shameful affair, but how
Is that to be done? If the New York jury had
voted II to O for Mr.. Hiss conviction. his
devoted friends would have continued to
proclaim his innocence. If it had acquitted
him, there still would have been many all
over the country convinced of his guilt. The
Government asserts 1t will try the case again
as early as possible" Prosecuting attorneys
have said they think there Is little doubt
the second trial. The argument for this
view is that If. with his manifest advantages
In the first trial. the best Mr.. Hiss could
do was convince only 4 out of II jurors Of
his innocence. the odds are heavily against
his doing that well again. Among these
advantages are listed % the employment
as chief defense counsel Of the leading GRIM
inal lawyer in America with battery Of
high priced assistants and Investigators; Cd
. Judge who. to put it very mildly, was not
unfriendly; 90 jury foreman who, it is
charged, was prejudiced in his favor from the
start a. two Supreme Court justices and
the Governor Of Illinois as character wit
nesses; 60 the efforts Of Mrs Eleanor Roose-
velt and other liberal columnists to in
huence the trial in his favor; 60 his success
In barring certain witnesses against him
1t Is certain that in second trial Mr. Hiss
| will lose some of these advantages. It Is
| certain, too that those he retains will not be
| as effective. Realizing this, some Of his
| friends are dubious about the second trial as
they were confident about the first. Con-
| tending that as an innocent man 1t is ter.
rible for Mr. Hiss to bear the stigma of that
S-to-4 verdict. they argue it would be even
| worse to live under the conviction which
probably would come Of the second trial.
There Is no legal way for him to further or
retard. 1t is entirely up to the Government.
Nevertheless. there are those among his ad-
herents anything but eager for action now.
entered the breast but missed the spot. CO.
ings fell backward and moaned for an hour
before expiring" He had been convicted for
the murder Of an uncle, but the court had
granted respite SO that he might play base
ball with the Choctaw Nation team during
1898.