Evening star., 1950-08-09

crime for anyone, with intent tt
interfere with the national de.
fense, to attempt to injure or de.
stroy any material, premises. OF
utilities which are important tt
the national defense.
Laws Against Conspiracy.
There are other laws which
make it crime for two or more
persons to "conspire to overthrow
put down. or to destroy by force
the Government of the Unitec
States or by force to prevent
hinder or delay the execution OF
any law OF the United States.
There are also laws which make
it a crime to advocate or teach
the overthrow of the United
States Government, or any State
or local government, by force Oh
violence. to organize any group
for that purpose, or to be a men,
ber of such a group, knowing its
purpose. In 1948, IL of the most
important leaders of the Commu-
mist Party in this country were
indicted under these laws. After
a long trial, all were convicted
and their conviction was affirmed
by an appellate court on August
/, 1850.
In addition to the criminal laws
outlined above, there is a set OF
laws governing immigration, ma
turalizatlon, and travel between
our country and others. These
laws permit the Government to
exclude or deport any alien from
this country who may be danger
GUS to our internal security, and
to forbid or to regulate the travel
abroad of United States citizens
who may be engaged in subversive
activity.
The laws I have been describing
apply to private citizens and
groups. A special set of laws and
procedures applies to Government
employees. Here our purpose is to
exclude or remove from Govern
ment service persons who may be
disloyal, even though they have
committed no crime, and to keep
from positions of Importance per-
sons who cannot be trusted to
maintain security regulations, ever.
though they may be loyal citizens
and satisfactory employees in all
other respects.
More than three years ago, the
Executive Branch revised and i'm
proved its procedures foT dealing
with questions of employee loyalty
and security. These new proce-
dures have proved effective in pro-
tecting the Government against
disloyal persons and persons whose
employment constitutes security
risk.
Strong Legal Safeguards.
The various laws and procedures
I have outlined make up a strong
set of legal safeguards against
acts by individuals and groups
which strike at the internal secur-
ity of the United States.
Over the last few years, we have
successfully prosecuted several
hunderd cases in the courts under
existing internal security laws. III
this process we have obtained a
great deal of experience in the
application of these laws. We have
discovered a few defects, some of
them minor and others of greater
Importance, in some of the exist
ing statutes. In view of the situa-
ton which confronts us, it is i'm
portant that these defects be re-
medied. At this time, therefore,
I wish to recommend that the Con-
gresS enact certain legislation be-
fore the close of the present ses-
sion.
First, I recommend that the
Congress remedy certain defects
IN the present laws concerning
espionage, the registration of
foreign agents, and the security of
national defense installations, by
clarifying and making more def
mite certain language in the
espionage laws, by providing an
extended statute of limitations Gin
place of the present three-year
statute) for peacetime espionage,
by requiring persons who have re-
ceiyed instruction from a foreign
government or political party in
espionage or subversive tactics to