U.S. SPY HEARINGS ONLY ‘RED HERRING’ OF REPUBLICANS ?

Grey River Argus, 7 August 1948, Page 5

U.S. SPY HEARINGS ONLY ‘RED HERRING’ OF REPUBLICANS ?

Truman Says Nothing New is Disclosed

(Rec. 9.55). WASHINGTON, Aug. 6. President Truman to-dav commented on the hearings in regard to spies in the United States being conducted by the Congressional Committee on Un-American Activities. Mr Truman said that they were nothing but a “red herring”, and were designed to take the pressure off Congress to act on the inflation legislation. Mr Truman said that the hearings were serving absolutely no othei' purpose, and that nothing had been disclosed by them that had not been long known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and been presented to the New York Grand Jury. He said that all that they were doing was slandering a lot of people who dicl not deserve to be slandered, and weakening the faith of the people in their Government. Conflict of Evidence at the Hearing PERJURY CHARGE MAY RESULT (Rec. 9.55). WASHINGTON, Aug. 5. The Congressional Committee which is investigating un-American activities. announced to-day that it has located a witness who may “crack wide onen the whole spy case”. But the Committee refused to give details. To-day Alger Hiss, a former highranking U.S. State Department official. who is accused by the ex-Com munist. Whittaker Chambers, of having headed the pre-war Communist “Underground”, appeared before the Congressional Committee at his own request. Hiss denied” the charges. He called them “complete fabrications”. iWhittaker Chambers, who has admitted. that he was himself a Communist from 1924 to 1937, is now a senior editor of the “Time” magazine Hiss to-day said: “So far as I am aware, I have never laid on him (Chambers). I should like to have an opportunity to do so”. He added that he had never beer a member of the Communist Party, and that he never had adhered to their tenets. Hiss left the Government service in 1947, and he is now the head of the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. After hearing the testimony of Hiss, the Congressional Committee went into a closed session, and it was indicated that the possibility of an action for perjury was under consideration. The acting-chairman of the Committee, Mr Karl Mundt, said: “There is a prima facie case of perjury action against someone”. The Committee noted that Hiss and Whittaker Chambers gave directly, contradictory testimony under oath, and the Committee indicated it may recall Whittaker Chambers to confront Hiss to clear up any possibility of mistaken identity. 12 U.S. COMMUNISTS ARE INDICTED

NEW YORK, Aug. 5. , Twelve: leading American Communists, including the party chairman, Eugege Foster, were indicted by a grand jury on July 20 for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the United States Government by force. The twelfth indicted member of the Communist Party surrendered to the police to-day. He was Gus Hall, also known as Arno Gus Halberg, chairman of the Communist Party in Ohio, who has been the object of a nationwide search by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The New York State Federation of Labour, at its eighty-fifth annual convention to-day, denied seats to 20 delegates suspected of Communist activity, and amended its constitution to bar Communists from future conventions and from holding union office.