Witness

by Whittaker Chambers

  I don’t care who gives the facts to me, whether a confessed liar, thief, or murderer, if it is facts. That is all I am interested in.

  MR. HISS: You have made your position clear. I would like to raise a separate point. Today as I came down on the train I read a statement—I think it was in the New York News—that a member of this committee, an unidentified member of this committee had told the press man who wrote the article that this committee believed or had reason to believe from talking to Chambers that Chambers had personally known Hiss, not that Chambers had had the conversation which is the issue here, that Chambers had been in Hiss’ house. That is not the issue before this committee. You are asking me to tell you all the facts that I know of people who have been in my house or who had known me whom I would not feel absolutely confident are people I know all about, personal friends, people I feel I know through and through. I am not prepared to say on the basis of the photograph—

  MR. HÉBERT: We understand.

  MR. HISS:—That the man, that he is not the man whose name I have written down here. Were I to testify to that, what assurance have I that some member of this committee wouldn’t say to the press that Hiss confessed knowing Chambers?

  In the first place, I have testified and repeated that I have never known anybody by the name of Whittaker Chambers. I am not prepared to testify I have never seen that man.

  MR. HÉBERT: You have said that.

  MR. STRIPLING: Have you ever seen that one (indicating picture) ?

  THE CHAIRMAN: What is the question?

  MR. STRIPLING: Have you ever seen the individual whose photograph appears there?

  MR. HISS: So far as I know; no.

  MR. STRIPLING: You have never seen that person?

  MR. HISS: No.

  Shortly after Hébert’s outburst, the sub-committee took a brief recess and Alger Hiss was left alone for a few minutes. They must have been terrible minutes. For during them, he reached the decision he had wavered over so long—the decision to recognize the man he had just denied knowing, but to recognize him as George Crosley. In his second sentence before the resumed hearing, he volunteered the identification—which was still tentative, still contingent, but a far cry from non-recognition. It was to lead much farther quickly. It was to lead almost at once to the 1929 Ford car.

  MR. HISS: The name of the man I brought in—and he may have no relation to this whole nightmare—is a man named George Crosley. I met him when I was working for the Nye committee. He was a writer. He hoped to sell articles to magazines about the munitions industry.

  I saw him, as I say, in my office over in the Senate Office Building, dozens of representatives of the press, students, people writing books, research people. It was our job to give them appropriate information out of the record, show them what had been put in the record. This fellow was writing a series of articles, according to my best recollection, free lancing, which he hoped to sell to one of the magazines.

  He was pretty obviously not successful in financial terms, but as far as I know, wasn’t actually hard up.

  MR. STRIPLING: What color was his hair?

  MR. HISS: Rather blondish, blonder than any of us here.

  MR. STRIPLING: Was he married?

  MR. HISS: Yes, sir.

  MR. STRIPLING: Any children?

  MR. HISS: One little baby, as I remember it, and the way I know that was the subleasing point. After we had taken the house on P Street and had the apartment on our hands, he one day in the course of casual conversation said he was going to specialize all summer in getting his articles done here in Washington, didn’t know what he was going to do, and was thinking of bringing his family.

  I said, “You can have my apartment. It is not terribly cool, but it is up in the air near the Wardman Park.” He said he had a wife and little baby. The apartment wasn’t very expensive, and I think I let him have it at exact cost. My recollection is that he spent several nights in my house because his furniture van was delayed. We left several pieces of furniture behind.

  The P Street house belonged to a naval officer overseas and was partly furnished, so we didn’t need all our furniture, particularly during the summer months, and my recollection is that definitely, as one does with a tenant trying to make him agreeable and comfortable, we left several pieces of furniture behind until the fall, his van was delayed, wasn’t going to bring all the furniture because he was going to be there just during the summer, and we put them up 2 or 3 nights in a row, his wife and little baby.

  MR. NIXON: His wife and he and little baby did spend several nights in the house with you?

  MR. HISS: This man Crosley; yes.

  MR. NIXON: Can you describe his wife?

  MR. HISS: Yes; she was a rather strikingly dark person, very strikingly dark. I don’t know whether I would recognize her again because I didn’t see very much of her.

  MR. NIXON: How tall was this man, approximately?

  MR. HISS: Shortish.

  MR. NIXON: Heavy?

  MR. HISS: Not.noticeably. That is why I don’t believe it has any direct, but it could have an indirect, bearing.

  MR. NIXON: How about his teeth?

  MR. HISS: Very bad teeth. That is one of the things I particularly want to see Chambers about. This man had very bad teeth, did not take care of his teeth.

  MR. STRIPLING: Did he have most of his teeth or just weren’t well cared for?

  MR. HISS: I don’t think he had gapped teeth, but they were badly taken care of. They were stained and I would say obviously not attended to.

  MR. NIXON: Can you state again just when he first rented the apartment?

  MR. HISS: I think it was about June of 1935. My recollection is —and again I have not checked the records—that is, I went with the Nye munitions committee in the early winter of 1934. I don’t even remember now when the resolution was passed. In any event, I am confident I was living on Twenty-ninth Street from December 1934 to June 1935 and that coincided with my service with the Nye committee. I say that because one reason we took the apartment was to reduce our living costs, because after I had been on loan from the Department of Agriculture for some months, I thought it would only be a 2-month assignment or so, it became evident that I was to stay on longer if I should complete the job, and my deputy in the Department of Agriculture was doing all my work and not getting my salary and I did not feel it fair, so I resigned from the Department of Agriculture to go on with the Nye committee work at the Nye committee salary and contemplated that and talked it over with my deputy in the Department of Agriculture for some time before I did it. So I am sure, from my recollection, that the Twenty-ninth Street apartment is definitely linked in time with my service on the Nye committee.

  MR. STRIPLING: What kind of automobile did that fellow have?

  MR. HISS: No kind of automobile. I sold him an automobile. I had an old Ford that I threw in with the apartment and had been trying to trade it in and get rid of it. I had an old, old Ford we had kept for sentimental reasons. We got it just before we were married in 1929.

  MR. STRIPLING: Was it a model A or model T?

  MR. HISS: Early A model with a trunk on the back, a slightly collegiate model.

  MR. STRIPLING: What color?

  MR. HISS: Dark blue. It wasn’t very fancy but it had a sassy little trunk on the back.

  MR. NIXON: You sold that car?

  MR. HISS: I threw it in. He wanted a way to get around, and I said, “Fine, I want to get rid of it. I have another car, and we kept it for sentimental reasons, not worth a damn.” I let him have it along with the rent.

  MR. NIXON: Where did you move from there?

  MR. HISS: Again my best recollection is that we stayed on P Street only 1 year because the whole heating plant broke down in the middle of the winter when I was quite ill, and I think that we moved from 2905 P Street to 1241 Thirtieth Street about September 1936. I recall that quite specifically though we can check it from the records, because I remember Mr. Sayre, who was my chief in the
State Department, who had been my professor at law school, saying he wanted to drive by and see where I was living. I remember the little house on Thirtieth Street which we had just got, a new development, was the little house I drove him by, and it must have been September or October 1936, just after starting to work in the State Department.

  MR. NIXON: Going back to this man, do you know how many days approximately he stayed with you?

  MR. HISS: I don’t think more than a couple of times. He may have come back. I can’t remember when it was I finally decided it wasn’t any use expecting to collect from him, that I had been a sucker and he was a sort of deadbeat; not a bad character, but I think he just was using me for a soft touch.

  MR. NIXON: You said before he moved in your apartment he stayed in your house with you and your wife about how many days?

  MR. HISS: I would say a couple of nights. I don’t think it was longer than that.

  MR. NIXON: A couple of nights?

  MR. HISS: During the delay of the van arriving.

  MR. NIXON: Wouldn’t that be longer than 2 nights?

  MR. HISS: I don’t think so. I wouldn’t swear that he didn’t come back again some later time after the lease and say, “I can’t find a hotel. Put me up overnight,” or something of that sort. I wouldn’t swear Crosley wasn’t in my house maybe a total of 3 or 4 nights altogether.

  MR. NIXON: You don’t recall any subjects of conversation during that period?

  MR. HISS: We talked backwards and forwards about the Munitions Committee work. He told various stories that I recall of his escapades. He purported to be a cross between Jim Tully, the author, and Jack London. He had been everywhere. I remember he told me he had personally participated in laying down the tracks of the streetcars in Washington, D.C. He had done that for local color, or something. He had worked right with the road gang laying tracks in Washington, D.C.

  MR. STRIPLING: Was his middle initial “L”?

  MR. HISS: That I wouldn’t know....

  MR. NIXON: You gave this Ford car to Crosley?

  MR. HISS: Threw it in along with the apartment and charged the rent and threw the car in at the same time.

  MR. NIXON: In other words, added a little to the rent to cover the car?

  MR. HISS: No; I think I charged him exactly what I was paying for the rent and threw the car in in addition. I don’t think I got any compensation.

  MR. STRIPLING: You just gave him the car?

  MR. HISS: I think the car just went right in with it. I don’t remember whether we had settled on the terms of the rent before the car question came up, or whether it came up and then on the basis of the car and the apartment I said, “Well, you ought to pay the full rent.” ...

  Then Hiss was asked about the second car he bought.

  MR. STRIPLING: What kind of car did you get?

  MR. HISS: A Plymouth.

  MR. STRIPLING: A Plymouth?

  MR. HISS: Plymouth sedan.

  MR. STRIPLING: Four-door?

  MR. HISS: I think I have always had only two-door.

  MR. STRIPLING: What kind of a bill of sale did you give Crosley?

  MR. HISS: I think I just turned over—in the District you get a certificate of title, I think it is. I think I just simply turned it over to him.

  MR. STRIPLING: Handed it to him?

  MR. HISS: Yes.

  MR. STRIPLING: No evidence of any transfer. Did he record the title?

  MR. HISS: That I haven’t any idea. This is a car which had been sitting on the streets in snows for a year or two. I once got a parking fine because I forgot where it was parked. We were using the other car.

  MR. STRIPLING: Do those model Fords have windshield wipers?

  MR. HISS: You had to work them yourself.

  MR. STRIPLING: Hand operated?

  MR. HISS: I think that is the best I can recall.

  The Committee had further questions about the car, which presently led to something destined to be almost as important—the fact that I had once presented Alger Hiss with a rug.

  MR. STRIPLING: On this man George Crosley, you say you gave him this car?

  MR. HISS: Yes, sir.

  MR. STRIPLING: Did you ever go riding with Crosley in this automobile?

  MR. HISS: I might very well have.

  MR. STRIPLING: I mean did you go around with him quite a bit, take rides?

  MR. HISS: You mean after I gave it to him did he ever give me a ride?

  MR. STRIPLING: Before or after.

  MR. HISS: I think I drove him from the Hill to the apartment.

  MR. STRIPLING: Did you ever take any trips out of town with George Crosley?

  MR. HISS: No; I don’t think so.

  MR. STRIPLING: Did you ever take him to Pennsylvania?

  MR. HISS: No. I think I once drove him to New York City when I was going to make a trip to New York City anyway.

  MR. NIXON: Was Mrs. Hiss along?

  MR. HISS: That I wouldn’t recall. She may have been. I think I may have given him a lift when I went to New York.

  MR. STRIPLING: Did you go to Paoli?

  MR. HISS: If Mrs. Hiss was along; yes.

  THE CHAIRMAN: Route No. 202?

  MR. HISS: Route 202 goes through that part of Pennsylvania, and that is the route we would take.

  MR. NIXON: Did you ever drive to Baltimore with Crosley?

  MR. HISS: I don’t recall it. I think he moved to Baltimore from here, as a matter of fact, but I don’t recall that I ever drove him.

  MR. NIXON: How did you know that?

  MR. HISS: I think he told me when he was pulling out. He was in my apartment until the lease expired in September.

  MR. NIXON: What year?

  MR. HISS: I think it was September 1935 and I think I saw him several times after that, and I think he had told me he moved from here to Baltimore.

  MR. NIXON: Even though he didn’t pay his rent you saw him several times?

  MR. HISS: He was about to pay it and was going to sell his articles. He gave me a payment on account once. He brought a rug over which he said some wealthy patron gave him. I have still got the damned thing.

  MR. NIXON: Did you ever give him anything?

  MR. HISS: Never anything but a couple of loans; never got paid back.

  MR. NIXON: Never gave him anything else?

  MR. HISS: Not to my recollection.

  MR. NIXON: Where is he now?

  MR. HISS: I have no idea. I don’t think I have seen him since 1935.

  MR. NIXON: Have you ever heard of him since 1935?

  MR. HISS: No; never thought of him again until this morning on the train.

  MR. STRIPLING: You wouldn’t say positively George Crosley and this person are the same?

  MR. HISS: Not positively.

  MR. STRIPLING: You would not say positively?

  MR. HISS: I think they are not. That would be my best impression from the photographs.

  It was at this point that Robert Stripling became convinced that the car and the rug were the keys to the Hiss Case—evidence so dangerous to Hiss that he had himself introduced them in an effort to fend off in advance their worst perils to him.

  It was at that point, too, that the Committee as a whole began to suspect that Hiss was covering up.

  XVII

  At the time, I did not, of course, know that Alger Hiss was appearing before the Committee. In those days, I was like a man becalmed by life. I lived at the dead center of the storm that was howling around me and deliberately sealed my eyes and ears as much as possible to the turmoil. Sometimes, I worked at my office at Time, shutting my door and talking to few people. And people, feeling helpless to do anything for me, kept away. Sometimes, I stayed at home, listless and undecided as to what I must do. My first sense of purpose had crumbled under the impact of the public spectacle that had developed and the human wretchedness that my testimony had caused. I suffered a similar wretchedness with those I had had to testify against.

  Every venture into public had becom
e an ordeal for me. One morning, I forced myself to leave the farm to go to New York. But by the time I reached Baltimore, I felt a curious need to go and see the Committee, as if its members were the only people left in the world with whom I could communicate. I had no purpose with them. There was nothing that I meant to tell them. But the impulse was so strong that, after buying a ticket for New York, I took the train for Washington.

  It was about noon when I started up the steps of the Old House Office Building. To avoid lurking newsmen, I made for an entrance that I had never used before. Out of the door, as I climbed the steps, crowded Ben Mandel, the Committee’s chief researcher, Donald Appell, an investigator and other members of the Committee’s staff. They were astonished to see me and greeted me with wild relief. They had been frantically trying to reach me at home, in New York and Washington. Stripling fixed me with a somewhat birdlike stare and said darkly, “I believe he must be psychic.” I sensed that he felt that among so many complicating factors that was one too many.

  No one would tell me why I was wanted. Instead, the subcommittee bundled me into a car crammed with its staff. As we rolled to the Union Station, Appell wrestled a newspaper out of his pocket and pointed to a headline: Harry Dexter White had died of a heart attack. He had appeared at a public hearing a few days before and sweepingly denied my charges. White’s appearance had been gallant. He had skirmished brilliantly with the Committee, turning their questions with ridicule and high indignation. He had uttered a credo of a liberal, his personal credo, a statement of democratic faith so ringing, that PM, the New York leftist daily, had printed it verbatim as something that every American should memorize.