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David Lowrence: WNL: eo t “Official Reply’ Called Misleading 1, + Records of Testimony Made Before Congressional Committees Contradict Snow’s Statement on State Department Reds To what extent have Commu- nists and Communist sympa- thizers infiltrated the United States Government and particu- larly the State Department in Tecent years? AM answer to this question is attempted in a speecn by Chair- man Conrad E. Snow cf the Loyalty Security Board of the State Deparitmeni. He has made some very significant statements Tents Which unquestionably Will attract the attention of Congressional Cammittees as they examine further what ap- pears to be an official repi; to various charges leveled in recent months. The first point that strikes the eve is the argument that, ever) if there were Communists or sympathizers in the State Department, they did very little harm ai most. Here is the exact language by Chairman Snow on " this point: “FT can say confidently that there are no known Communists in Government. If there ave any gecre. Communists—Commu- nists who join no Communist fronts and speak no Communist sentimenis—of course 1 cannot gay, Tor they are not known, “The Hiss case and the case of Jed:ith Copton in the Justice Department have done more harm in terms of public con- fidence than anv harm Hiss or Copic.. ever did in the delivery of classified papers. Both worked tn .absolute secrecv—their best friends were ignorant of their acts. Neither would have deen employed by Government for a day afier their acts were dis- covered. But a swallow does not meke a sSummer—neither do these lwo cases make out an Infiltration of Government by Communists.” The foregoing assertion will be chatienged, and, in fact. is contradicted by records of the testimony made before con- gressicnal committees. Thus, the declaration that Alger Hiss, for example, would Hever have been kept in Gav- ee ernment employ for a day after his acts were discovered, is not borne out by the testimony given by Whittaker Chambers, a con- fessed Russian spy. who has told congressional committees that as early as 1939 he notified the State Department that Hiss had given him secret papers. The record shows that Hiss not only continued in the State De- pariment for years afterward, but that he played a very im- portant part in the preparations for ang in the discussions which went on at the Yaita conference as recently as 1945. The statement by chairman Snow says also: “Since December 117, when the President's loyalty program Was implemented by directive of the Leyalty Review 1947, Board of the Civil Service Com- mission, the Loyalty Security Board of the State Department has had before it over 500 eases ol State Department emploves who have been investigated for loyalty by the Federal Bureau of Investigation—the FBI—and not one case has been found of a present Communist working in the State Department. “Over that period eight em- ployes have been. held to be fecurity risks, but not one of those admitted present member- ship in the Communist Party, nor was there evidence of pres- ent membership.” A leading of the foregoing Statement by those who have riot followed closely the con- troversy over the loyalty pro- gram would lead to the impres- sion that infiltration in the State Department hasn't oe- curred because na “present” Communist can be found. The Strongest argument of the anti-Communist group in Amer- ica has béen that former Com- mumists either stayed on in Government employ or were permitted to resign without an explanation af what harm they had done while in Government employ. Tn the statement above quoted, the words “present Comu:is.” or “present membership” were not underlined by the speaker, but there are many observers who insist that the presence of former Communists today in highly confidential posts is bad security. Chairman Snow reveals that since 1947 “about 40 other em- ployes have elected to resign during the process of investiga- Uon and adiddicatian of loy- aty.” He adds: “What migh. cave been :-und in their cases, had they gone to hearing, of course, I do not know, But this small numbe.-—less _than 50 in all—out of a depari- ment of 94,000 employes—who have either been held «ts be security risks ar who have for one reason or another desired mot to face investigation, does not indicate aay noticeabie in- filuration of Communists in Government." What is the importance of the word “noviceable’? It will be noted that Rigas Fuchs who was cleared il.rcugh a faulty system in which the State De- partment shares responsio.lity, stole AMervican atom-s.onb secrets. Yet iv can be said he is just one emplove out of the thousands of evagioyes of our own and foreign governments who have deait with classified information in recent years. To use 50 in ratio io 94,000 is mis- leading in itse.f. Not ali the $4,000 ermpioves of the Siate Department have anything to do with confidential informa- tion. It is a rather small group which has access to secrets, and there ‘is no wav of knowing -whether the 50 who have ether been dismissed or resignea nad such access. The public is en- titled to information on this point as weil as to inform.tion as to just what part was piayed by Alger Hiss and others who are admitteé ncw to have been bad security risks. wag {Reproduction Rights Reervedy! f° ae oo iF Tolse.. Ladd. Clegg Glavin _ Nichols Rosen Tracy Harbo Alder Belmozt irae Mobr ae _. Tele. Room _— Nease Gandy Pag -. T..u0S-Herald __ Waen. nial. Wasi.