Trial by Ordeal
The trial of Alger Hiss for perjury, which has provided the American public with the bulk of its reading material for the past weeks, has ended with a two to one verdict against him. Eight of the twelve jurors believed him guilty ; four believed him innocent. In the stubbornness with which they held to their convictions the members of the jury reflect accurately the passion which this case has aroused—a passion which will not only make any fair retrial an Impossibility, but which turned the first trial itself into * Gallup-poll of opinion rather than a judicial enquiry. Alger Hiss
has become the main symbol in the current haphazard war which Americans are waging against the Communists in their midst. To half the country he is the epitome of treason in high places, plausible, unsuspected and cunning ; to the other half of the country he is a tragic example of the havoc which can be caused by a witch-hunt, when no man is safe against the informer, and no reputation proof against suspicion. But one thing is perfectly clear, and that is that no new trial will bring conviction of his guilt or innocence to the world, which has already made up its mind on the subject according to its particular prejudices, and that the only way to avoid a repetition of the hysteria which has grown up in the last few weeks is for the Administration to drop the whole business.
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