Evening star., 1949-06-12
Confusion Confronts Both Sides Laurel tseapee Held
AS Hiss Trial Enters Third Week In Purse Snaehino
Continued From First PAGE

Continued From First Page
Chambers 10 scrap q sse .ooo-A-
year editorial career and risk q
Comparatively good recent reps1;a-
ton.
Ar. Chambers SAYS his motive
MAS 70 help the country by expos
ing q Communist conspiracy and
that he had q neutral" feeling
about A-. HISS. ASIDE from respect
for his ability and remembrance
Of lost friendship
The paradox that Mr.. Hiss must
unravel Is essentially one pro-
pounded oy Gilbert Chssisrton.
The paradox wizard once observed
;ha. q person cannot give untrue
answers 70 every question Of fact
without knowing . lot about the
true facts
That same paradox. Of course
applies 10 the Government in Of
tering Mr.. and Mrs. Chambers as
key witnesses against Mr. Hiss
and Mrs. Hiss who has been drawn
increasingly into the core Of the
case
Assistant United States Aitor-
ney Thomas r. Murphy must do
more than put together q piece
by-piece mosaic Of other people 8
recollections 70 substanilate de-
tails OF the Chambers story about
meetings and dealings with Mr.
Hiss.
Confusion Is Marked.
The very nature OF a perjury
trial breeds confusion and bewil-
derment, This one will rank Ions
as q prime example to challenge
the powers OF q professional
memory expert.
Even Federal Judge Samuel H,
Kaufman has slipped UP several
times in endeavoring to remind
the jury Of what previously had
been testified.
II is nothing less than q mental
feat, especially for q witness under
the verbal blows OF Defense Coun-
sci Lloyd Paul Stryker. TO remem-
Der what he or she said. or who
said what, during the last two
weeks at this trial. at grand Jury
sessions in October and December.
at Baltimore slander pretrial hear
ines last fall and spring. at confer
ences with FBI agents, at hearings
Of the House Committee on Un-
American Activities last summer.
or concerning talks with Govern
ment officials and others 10 years
ago.
The jury, then. might or might
not make some allowance for the
confusion shown by Mrs, Cham
bers last Friday when she tripped
up on q highly important question
concerning the last time she saw
Mr.. and Mrs. Hiss.
Party In Recalled.
First she said II was at New
Years Eve party at the Volta
place house December 81. 1896.
Then. when shown that the Hiss
family did not move there until
December. 1887. she corrected her
self and declared they both were
at the Hiss home on December 81.
1887 and January /. 1898.
In the light of assertions by Mrs.
Chambers that she and her hus-
band lived on unusually close
terms with Mr.. and Mrs. Hiss from
1894 to 1888. Mr.. Murphy is grap-
pling with q particular dilemma.
He must persuade the fury that
the relationship between the two
families was out OF the ordinary
as well as continuous during the
time Mr.. Chambers maintains he
siphoned Government information
from Mr.. Hiss,
But the prosecutor runs the risk
Of having the jury OF 10 men and
two women conclude that the issue
in this trial Is merely a plague-on-
both-your houses squabble or that
routine family fight caused the
Hiss and Chambers families 10 60
their separate ways years ago.
Personalities Interesting.
That is one Of the factors max
ing the personalities OF the parties
so vital and interesting. The back
fence backbiting that characterizes
many lesser cases Is absent here.
despite an obvious rise OF tempers
toward the breaking point.
At this stage OF the trial Mr..
Hiss as well as Mr.. Chambers Is
an enigma when 1t comes 10 de-
Gliding which one is truthful.
Mr.. and Mrs. Chambers have
exhibited extraordinary mental
quickr1ess and intelligent compo-
sure. This has not been Offset by
the few times Mrs. Chambers COM
planned about Mr.. Stryker's aues-
tions. indicated unfamiliarity with
courtroom procedure. or exclaimed
that she never was very good at
remembering particular dates.
Mr.. Hiss. Judging from his ap-
pearance at House committee
hearings last summer and his con-
duct In the courtroom and cor
ridors here. will be an unusually
intelligent. self assured and friend
ly witness.
Trial Moves Fairly Fast.
While the general spectacle
Of the trial has moved with rea-
s1pah hln srsnAH fairly finhrOk en-