Evening star., 1951-11-15
Author Victor lasky
Tesfifies al Trial Of
Peace Center Officers

VlCUOT LdSky, duIIlOT, IeSIlIlcO
today as a Government witness at
the District Court trial of the
Peace Information Center and five
of it's former officers accused OF
failing to comply with terms OF
the Foreign Agents Registration
Act.
Mr.. Lasky. who is co-author OF
the book. Seeds of Treason" tolo
of talking to Abbott Simon, one
of the defendants. who is de-
scribed as former executive direc-
tor of the center. Mr.. Lasky teS-
titled to receiving peace literature
and quoted Simon as stating that
Frederic Joliot- -Curie. French
atomic physicist and Communist
was head of the organization
which put out the Stockholm
Peace Appeal.
The next Government witness
was John J. Kearney of New York,
special agent of the FBI. who
testified to hearing Simon deliver
a speech at New York meeting
urging contributions to educate
American people on peace"
Trial Is Recessed.
The trial was recessed until
Monday after Mr.. Kearney testi-
fed.
The Peace Information Center,
which had its headquarters in New
York, is accused of failing to reg
lister under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act. The five indi-
vidual defendants are accused of
having failed to cause" the center
to register. The center disbanded
last year.
Besides Simon, the individual
defendants are DR.. w. E. B. Du-
Bois, Negro educator and writer,
described as former chairman of
the center; Mrs. Elizabeth Moos,
listed as former director; Kryle
Elkin, as former treasurer, and
Miss Sylvia Soloff, former secre-
tary.
Reporters Testify.
Among witnesses who testified
yesterday were two reporters for
the New York Times.
One of the reporters, Alexander
Feinberg, testified Simon tolc
him the Peace Information Gen.
ter was unaffiliated.
The Government is seeking to
prove that the PIC acted as pub
licity agent for the Committee OF
the World Congress of the De-
tenders of Peace, an international
organization established to pub
licize the so-called Stockholm
Peace Appeal.
The prosecution contends the
Peace Information Center acted
as an agent for a foreign prin-
cipal and. therefore, should have
filed a registration statement at
the Justice Department.
Literature put out by the PIC
was introduced as Government
exhibits during Mr.. Feinberg' S
testimony.
The second reporter, Will Liss-
ner. testified he asked Simon
what the PIC was going to do
with Stockholm Peace Appeal
petitions and that the latter said
they might be sent to the United
Nations.
Maddrix Heads Prosecution.
Secretary of State Acheson ha.
described the Stockholm peace
appeal as having a two-fold pur-
pose Of promoting unenforceable
Soviet proposals concerning atomic
energy and centering attention
on the use of atomic weapons and
ignoring other forms of Commu-
mist aggression.
Defendants on trial are being
by a battery of four at
torneys. headed by Chief Prose
cutor F. Kirk Maddrix, special as
sistant to the Attorney General
Former Representative Vito
Marcantonio Of New York is chief
defense counsel.
Judge Matthew F. Mcclure
who is presiding at the trial. sew
eral times has made it clear to
counsel that he plans to
conf1ne the testimony and trial
to the main issues IN the case.