Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-15
CONTINUED From First Page,

Court directing thes witness ts
testify. although the testimony
might be self discriminating. II
return, the witness is granted
immunity from prosecution
Should be refuse to testify, hi
could be held in contempt OF
court. If he testif1es falsely, he
would be subject to perjury
charges.
The Justice Department re-
portedly is not planning special
case for court test. Instead
it is said to be proceeding on a
broad front, on the assumption
the law is constitutional.
Good Results Seen.
Oficials believe that a careful
administration of the statute
could obtain one or more OF
these results:
/. Indictments of individuals
involved through new evidence
corroborating the testimony of
Mr.. Chambers and Miss Bentley.
There has been no statute of
limitations on wartime espion-
age. And just last month, the
l0-year limitation on peacetime
spy cases was removed when a
new law made that crime pun
ishable by death.
2. New testimony which might
identify other members of the
above spy rings hitherto unknown
TO the authorities or whose iden-
tity has been uncertain and
which would help internal Sc
curity officials determine whether
any such persons still are work.
ing in the Government,
3. Testimony which might lead
to the uncovering Of other spy
rings-the existence of which
have been unknown to the FBI.
4. The bringing Of contempt
OF court charges against wit
nesses who refuse to testify even
though granted immunity. Pun
ishment would be at the discre-
ton of the court.
U. s. Has Strong Cases.
At least part Of the determi-
nation to crack down on men,
bers of these World War II
Soviet spy rings is the fact that
the Government already holds
proof of the completely of many
of the individuals. But prose-
cutions have not been possible
because the strongest evidence
has been obtained by wiretap
and other means of technical
surveillance not admissible in
court.
An indication that the Govern
ment has proof is contained in
this statement FBI Director j.
Edgar Hoover made to the SEN
ate Internal Security subcom-
mittee concerning the reliability
Of Miss Bentley's testimony:
From the very outset, we
established that she had been in
a position to report the facts
relative to- Soviet espionage,
which she has done.
"All information furnished by
Miss Bentley, which has been
susceptible to check, has proven
to be correct. She has been SUBJ
jected to the most searching of
REPRESENTATIONS; her testi-
mony has been tevaluated by
luries and reviewed by the courts
and has been found to be ac-
curate." ~
Justice officials apparently are
counting on many prospective
witnesses to Cooperate with the
Government by testifying fully
as to their knowledge of Com
activities.
And Mr.. Hoover has indicated
that the outlook in this regard
may be bright. After confer
ence with President Eisenhower
and Attorney General BroWnell
N Denver on Sunday, he dis
closed that bureau agents already
had talked with some Reds who
expressed willingness to CO.
operate.
OBJECTIONS Sought.
Yesterday, Mr.. Brownell called
IN reluctant Communists who
nave important information to
come forward under the protec-
ion of the immunity law and
make their peace with the Gov
srnment.
Congressional committees, too.
ire expected to lose no time in
applying for court orders to COM
pei witnesses to testify. The
House Un-American Activities
Committee. which heard $40
witnesses during the SD Con-
yress, 269 of whom took refuge
n the fifth amendment, con-
using the new law in the
current hearings at Dayton,
Ohio. But then it was remem-
oered that a tworthirds vote of
he full nine-man committee
would be necessary to approve a
'equest to the court. A subcom-
nittee of five is conducting the
Dayton hearings.
It is more difficult for a con-
yressional committee to get
-