Parti pris
Sir: Readers should be grateful to Mr Lowenthal (Letters, 30 November) for so graphically recreating the Alice in Wonder- land atmosphere that surrounded the Hiss case at the time; he should know that time well, having been Hiss's attorney during his trials and having devoted his life afterward to arguing the injured innocence of his client. The provenance of the Woodstock #23099 typewriter (or subsequently named models) was among scores of asides which were used by both prosecutors and the defence and which only confused observers who were trying to make sense of the case at the time. The typewriter debate was akin to the 'bloody glove' wrangle of the recent O.J. Simpson murder trial in California. It was a bit of embroidery which served not to illuminate but to distract from the basic question: who was telling the truth, Whit- taker Chambers or Alger Hiss? A jury of his peers and subsequent history have answered that question beyond reasonable doubt. Hiss was a spy without equal in the annals of American treason.
James Srodes
61010 Vernon Avenue, Washington DC
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