Elizabeth Bentley, moreover, has given testimony as to how she collected dues from secret members of the Party when she came to Washington as a courier of the Soviet espionage system. Among those from whom she has stated she collected dues were officials of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Department of Commerce, the Air Corps, the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, the Treasury Department, and others. In some instances one person would collect dues for a group and hand them over to Miss Bentley. One such individual was Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, who, according to Miss Bentley, headed a group. (Silvermaster denied the disclosures initially and later invoked the Fifth Amendment.) On occasions a member of a group when coming to New York would deliver the Party dues collected to Miss Bentley there. The Party also benefited, as disclosed by testimony, because, as in some instances, information collected for the Soviets was made available to the leadership of the Party for review. In 1945 the defection of Igor Gouzenko, cipher clerk assigned to the Soviet Embassy in Canada, revealed close tie-ups between Soviet espionage and Canadian communists. Then the appearance of FBI informants at Smith Act trials shocked the Soviet Union as to the amazing extent to which the FBI had penetrated the Communist Party, USA. These, among other revelations, encouraged even more the Soviet tendency to lessen its direct dependence on the Party. Today, with some exceptions, the Soviets are attempting to operate their espionage networks independent of the Party, staying away, as much as possible, from Party assistance. This does not mean, however, that the Party is today not playing an important role in Soviet espionage. As we shall see, the Party is doing much to prepare the way for Soviet espionage and, when the need arises, will unhesitatingly supply vital assistance. The present “drawing away” from direct Party assistance is strictly a Soviet tactical maneuver, subject to instant change. Soviet espionage is no longer a clumsy, crude affair, as it was in the days of the rollicking “reps,” but a deadly efficient profession, skillfully directed from Moscow, with well-trained agents supplied with money, modern technical equipment, and experience. To the Soviets, espionage is a part of over-all state policy. On an April night in 1951, just two minutes before seven o’clock, a tall man wearing a tweed sport coat walked through the darkness toward the Washington Monument in our nation’s capital. Brilliant lights played on the famous shrine. The usually bustling place was deserted. Everything was quiet.