Off the Record

Former President Truman, on a filmed television program with Columnist Drew Pearson last week, gave his version of the famed "red herring" crack about congressional spy hunts in 1948. Said Harry Truman: "The facts of the case are that, in a press conference one morning, some young man . . . asked me if the action of the House Un-American Activities Committee was not in the form of a red herring to cover up what the Republican Administration in the 80th Congress had not done, and I said it might be.

"I never made any statement that there was a red herring, although the Republicans when they're in power always try to cover up their mistakes by attacking somebody or some institution."

Quick were newsmen to look at the record. The record: at a press conference on Aug. 5, 1948 (the. day Alger Hiss swore to the Un-American Activities Committee that he had never been a Communist), Truman was asked: "Mr. President, do you think the Capitol Hill spy hearings are a good thing, or do you think they are a red herring to divert attention from the anti-inflation program?" Mr. Truman's reply: the hearings are a red herring. Then & there he made an exception to the rule banning direct quotes from presidential press conferences. Said Mr. Truman: "Yes, you can quote me. I said they are simply a red herring. They are using this as a red herring to keep from doing what they ought to do." The further record: Harry Truman subsequently criticized G.O.P. "red herring" tactics on Aug. 12, Sept. 2, Sept. 13, Dec. 9, Dec. 16. all in 1948, on May 26, 1949. and on Feb. 13, 1950--nearly a month after Alger Hiss had been convicted.

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