In the well of a federal courtroom in Manhattan sat the tall man in the neat suit, motionless but intent. Beside him sat his wife. For the better part of three days last week the eyes of the pair—Alger and Pris cilia Hiss—were fixed on the man in the witness chair.
Their accuser, Whittaker Chambers, quietly went back over his old story: that Alger Hiss, a trusted government official facing trial for the second time on a charge of perjury, had fed secret documents into ex-Communist Courier Chambers' spy ring. But to the familiar mosaic he added a few sharp, new fragments.
Transfer by Order. Witness Chambers testified that the original idea of stealing State Department documents for the Communist Party was Hiss's own. Even before Hiss had begun his meteoric rise in the State Department, said Chambers in a dispassionate voice, when Hiss was still on the Nye committee, Hiss said that he had "an angle" for getting State Department documents. The Hiss career remained under the watchful eye of the Red apparatus. In 1936 Hiss had the opportunity to transfer from the Justice to the State Department. Said Chambers: "He [Hiss] wanted to know the party's wishes on that ... I discussed the problem with J. Peters [Soviet spy-ring master] and told Mr. Hiss J. Peters wished him to enter the State Department."
Later, the apparatus wanted Hiss to speed up the flow of stolen documents. "I told Mr. Hiss that we wished to have papers brought out every night." Chambers said this was promptly done. Some of the secret documents were typed copies of originals. Then Chambers repeated another old accusation: "Mrs. Hiss typed the documents. Mrs. Hiss was always restless in the underground and sought activity for herself."
Arrangement with Peters. Bit by bit during previous congressional hearings, Alger Hiss had admitted knowing Chambers more than just casually as a magazine writer around Washington; finally he had admitted giving Chambers, his wife and daughter temporary haven in his home. Now Chambers reconstructed again a story of close intimacy between the two families, adding new details, recounting trips he had taken with the Hisses.
One piece of testimony, produced at a congressional hearing but barred from the first trial by Judge Samuel Kaufman, was admitted to the second trial by Judge Henry Goddard. Hiss, who had a Ford roadster, had bought a new Plymouth. Said Chambers: "He wanted to get rid of the Ford. He proposed to turn it over to the Communist Party for the use of some poor organizer . . . Later Mr. Hiss told me that he had turned the car over according to an arrangement made between him and J. Peters." If the Government could prove that such a transfer had actually taken place, the evidence would be a damaging blow to Hiss's case.
Conception of an Oath. In contrast to the first trial, proceedings went calmly and methodically. Once Hiss's lawyer, Claude B. Cross, suggested: "I don't like to interrupt, but I believe that is irrelevant." Big, austere Judge Goddard stroked his chin. "You are probably right. But it really isn't prejudicial to your client. Let's let it stand."