Evening star., 1953-11-12

search chemist for a big oil COM
pany, a shoe salesman, a trans
lator in the Office of. postal CEN
sorShip, an agent for a big pc
troleum company. a clothier, a
morale officer in the United
States Army, an expert in electri-
cal communications. What was
called the NKVD-Comintern ap-
paratus also included the wife
of a well-known Communist
writer who had personal in
come of $4,000 per year, and
was said to have become the mis-
treSs of the top Soviet operative
in New York.
Other officials named included
employees of the Office of War
Information, of the War Man
power Commission. the Foreign
Economic Administration. the
American Embassy in France.
the Department of State. the
United States Treasury, the
United States Navy, the Depart
ment of Agriculture.
Women Taken in Ring.
Red Army intelligence, after
the United States dropped the
first atomic bomb on Hiroshima
and before the surrender of
Japan, ordered its agents in the
United States and Canada to get
the complete data on the atomic
bomb on Hiroshima and before
the surrender of Japan, ordered
it's agents in the United States
and Canada to get the complete
data on the atomic bomb by the
end of December. 1945. They
went to work with renewed vigor.
A woman employe of the So
Wet naval attache in Washington
established espionage contacts
with women employees in the
Foreign Economic Administra-
ton, the French military mis-
sion, the United States Treas
ury, and a WAVE lieutenant in
the communication intelligence
group of her organization.
A radio correspondent who had
served in Moscow, and one of the
editors of a large Eastern news
paper, were named as part of
the spying apparatus.
Many Soviet agents were ar
irving in the United States as
refugees.
Story UnfOlds Slowly.
The foregoing is the substance
of what the FBI told Mr.. Tru-
man and the conclusion is hard
to escape that it later became
the basis for virtually all of the
disclosures made in congressional
Investigations.
Bit by bit. the story was un-
folded as one committee after
another got some hint of a new
witness who might tell a little
more, or add to the mystery by
refusing to say anything. Long
after indignant denialS, a few,
like Lee Pressman, former Agri-
culture official and later general
counsel of the CIO, came forward |
to acknowledge they had been |
Communists and that they had |
associated with those the FBI |
were in the underground |
apparatus.
AS each new chapter was
written the total of former Gov
ernment employees who would
not testify on grounds of in
eliminating themselves mounted
to approximately 180. A great
many of them were those named
to Mr.. Truman by the FBI.
Challenged by Clarke.
But the atmosphere then was
not conducive to vigorous prose-
cutting methods. AS late as l948
General Tom c. Clark
described the Communist scare
as Islander against all Fed
eral employees in the Govern
He challenged those
who were crying Communist"
to name one."
Several hundred names had
been included in the FBI report.
1t was prepared for the purpose
OF presenting in concise form
the picture of Soviet espionage
and was divided into
three sections, Soviet espionage
between World War I and World
War II. espionage during the
war, and espionage as it then
existed on November 27, 1945.
Major prosecutions ultimately
coincide with or follow the re-
port. One was the AmeraSia
case, others included the prose-
cution of dozens of leaders of
the Communist Party for viola
ton of the Smith Act prohibit
ing the teaching of overthrow of
the Government by force or vio-
lence. The Hiss case, however,
grew out of a congressional in
vestigation. Not a single addi-
tional person of the 20 or more
named in connection with Hiss
and his associates has been
prosecuted.