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a, * ’ one’s arm, most of whom did not show { ' a Clipping From Norfolk Virginian Pilot Date__ 8-10-42 | Needless and Fruits —~ Many Americans ‘must have “hoped, before the’ trial of William Dudley Pelley, king of the Silver Shirts, passed into history, for a better explan. of *; the strange episode of Charles A Lid ppearance as & witness, on Pe €y's summoning, “to corroborate,” Relley_ said, “certain statements I have made.” When Lindbergh took the witness , 4 chair, he was asked the usual Mentify- t ing questions and thereafter (so far as available accounts show) only four. questions which have any connection | whatever with the issues of the case. One question dealt with Lindbergh's | activiles on the America First [om- mittee, He admitted the activities. The other dealt with his opinion of the atu: tude of Americans toward the war. He thought “the majority of the people of . this couniry were opposed io getting ‘into war—that is, before we were gt- | tacked.” A third question about his opinion of the American atUtude now brought the reply that he was too busy , to know. <A fourth question as to what he advocated brought a protest and | Was not answered, . The defense counsel ‘aid not ¢ross- examine him. Total time he was in the witness chair—15 minutes. (By one |: account, 14 minutes.) Since Pelley had plans to subpoena a list of celebrated names as long as }; 7 up, it is not surprising that he called for Lindbergh. But the result suggests, ' without any reflection on Lindbergh, that this grandiose campaign was in > reality a farce. It required Lindbergh, who is now a consultant in the Ford mber plant and presumably engaged mportant war work, to travel from it to Indianapolis for 15 minutes |) To 14) of needless and fruitless testl- } mony. . What the jury dia with the charges against Pelley is now in the record. But this whole business of summoning I. Lind. bergh remains an extracrdina: ry fut le— not (By -wtily—performance, PO ne bs-My9g-A en o a al NOT RecoRDED ava