The communist underground is designed to carry forward phases of the Party’s program which cannot be conducted openly and lawfully. In addition, it contains weapons of attack which must always remain hidden (the permanent part of the underground), such as aid to Soviet espionage, attempts to place members in strategic positions in industry for potential sabotage, techniques to discredit law enforcement, and endeavors to infiltrate the armed forces. Lenin taught that the enemy must be weakened in advance. To wait for something to happen is not the way to achieve revolution. The way must be prepared. The enemy must be softened up: weaken his will to resist, nullify his capacity for counteraction, impair his morale. Then, as in November, 1917, in Russia, when the crisis comes, communists can march to power through the ranks of a demoralized enemy. The Party’s relation to Soviet espionage is one of the most potent weapons in the communist underground arsenal. As past events have proven—for instance the Harry Gold-Klaus Fuchs combination and the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, executed in 1953 on espionage charges—Moscow-directed spying represents a vital danger to the integrity and safety of free government. Espionage is utilized not only to secure information but also to weaken the “enemy” from within. The Soviets very early instituted espionage operations against the United States with the full cooperation of the Communist Party. In 1919 the Comintern was established and, as we have seen in Chapter 4, Comintern “reps” became common figures in Party circles. In January, 1919, Ludwig C. A. K. Martens, a member of the Russian Communist Party, was appointed as the first Soviet representative to the United States. Although never recognized by the American government, he set up an office in New York City. Arthur Adams, later identified as a Soviet atom spy, was a member of Martens’ staff. In the light of today’s well-organized, efficiently operated spy apparatus, the Soviets in the early days were crude and clumsy. Many of the Russians were not proficient in English. They lacked knowledge of our customs and possessed no special espionage training. Many were propaganda as well as espionage agents and could be identified by their rabid preaching of communism. Often the security of their communications was not of the best. In late July, 1920, a seaman on the SS _Stockholm_ walked up Pier 95 in New York City. Noticing customs officials searching two other seamen, he turned and ran down the pier. Later, after the seaman’s apprehension, a package was found concealed in his trousers. Inside was a series of envelopes, one inside the other with the smallest containing over 200 uncut diamonds valued at 50,000 dollars. The smuggling of diamonds was one of the early Bolshevik techniques of financing operations in the United States. For whom was the package destined? Inside was a typewritten letter starting, “Comrade Martens.”