Mr. Liebeler.

When did you first become interested in the Quaker religion; was it about the time you met your wife or was it before that.

Mr. Paine.

No; I think she was instrumental in bringing me into that circle.

Mr. Liebeler.

Give us a brief description of the outside interests that you and your wife and that your wife had during the time subsequent to your meeting and until the time you left Philadelphia. Was she active in church activities?

Mr. Paine.

No; I wouldn't say so. She was active in the Young Friends Committee of North America which was making an effort to bring a group of Russians on tour of this country. It was in the first flush or enthusiasm of East-West contacts, and after a couple of years they did succeed in bringing those Russians on tour. That was the beginning of her interest in Russian, learning the Russian language. I think that was her only activity that I am aware of or remember right now.

Mr. Liebeler.

Do you know whether your wife engaged in a writing campaign or a pen pal campaign between people in the United States and people in the Soviet Union?

Mr. Paine.

That was another part of this East-West contacts committee's duties or tasks they took upon themselves and I think she was chairman, accepted the chairmanship of that committee.
For a while, it was almost moribund, very inactive.

Mr. Dulles.

Which committee was that, the committee to stimulate letters between Russia and the United States?

Mr. Paine.

Yes; to find names and addresses on each side to connect people together.

Mr. Liebeler.

Did you yourself ever take part in any activity of that group?

Mr. Paine.

No; I didn't.

Mr. Liebeler.

You spoke of the East-West contacts committee as being active in trying to bring a group of Russians to the United States. Did they engage in any activities other than this attempt to bring Russians to the United States that you know of?

Mr. Paine.

That is the only one I know of, yes.

Mr. Liebeler.

Did they succeed in bringing some Russians to the United States?

Mr. Paine.

Yes; they did. They brought three Russians, and then the Russians reciprocated by taking a group of Quakers who knew Russian on a tour of Russia.

Mr. Liebeler.

Were you married to Ruth Hyde Paine at the time these Russian people came to the United States under the auspices of the East-West contacts committee?

Mr. Paine.

I might have been; I don't know.

Mr. Liebeler.

Do you know whether she actively participated in the program to bring the Russians to the United States?

Mr. Paine.

Well, she participated insofar as going to the meetings. I don't believe she did most of the writing to the State Department and what-not to try to arrange clearances and itineraries and things like that, but she was at the meetings at which those things were discussed.

Mr. Liebeler.

Did she ever discuss them with you in any detail?

Mr. Paine.

We, I would often--I went to several of those meetings myself.

Mr. Liebeler.

Do you know the names of any of the Russians who came to the United States in connection with this program?

Mr. Paine.

I might recognize them if I saw them again, but right now the names have escaped me.

Mr. Liebeler.

You say there were just three of them?

Mr. Paine.

I think there were three; yes.

Mr. Liebeler.

Are you a member of the American Civil Liberties Union?

Mr. Paine.

Yes.

Mr. Liebeler.

When did you become a member of that organization?

Mr. Paine.

I suppose you become a member as soon as you contribute money, and I may have contributed money a good many years back. I didn't start going to a meeting of the organization until I was--I have only been to about four perhaps, in Dallas, four meetings.