Evening star. [volume], August 10, 1948, Image 1

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96th Year. No. 223. Phone STerling 5000 WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY. AUGUST 10, 1948—THIRTY-SIX PAGES. 5 CENJS
House Probers Call Red Teacher,
Subpoena for Second Restricted;
Lee Denies Disclosing Secrets
State Department
Backs Immunity of
Soviet Consulate
BULLETIN
Subpoenas were served to
day on Michael Ivanovitch
Samarin and his wife to ap
pear before the House Com
mittee on Un-American Ac
tivities. Chairman Thomas
announced this afternoon at
the resumption of hearings on
Communist aspionage activi
ties.
The House Committee on Un
American Activities was advised
by the State Department today
that it can serve a subpoena on
Mrs. Oksana Stepanona Kosen
kina, a Russian woman school
teacher now in the Soviet con
sulate in New York, if commit
tee agents can reach her.
Law enforcement agencies could
go into the consulate after her only
if they had sufficient reason to be
lieve a crime is being committed
there to obtain a warrant, a depart
ment spokesman said. As a prac
tical matter, a subpoena apparently
could be served on the woman only
if she is found outside the consu
late property*
It was indicated that as a result
of this decision no subpoena would
be sought.
The Ho*ise committee is seeking
to question Mrs. Kosenkina in its
investigation of a reported Russian
spy ring operating in this country.
Opinion Given to Mundt.
Press Officer Michael McDermott
told reporters that the State De
partment's legal division had given
the opinion to Representative
Mundt, Republican, of South Da
kota, a committee member, in an
swer to his request for an official
ruling.
Mr. McDermott said the school
teacher "has no immunity at all.”
“She is not a member of the Am
bassador's staff and is subject to
our laws,” he explained.
Safe From Subpoena in Consulate.
Boiled down, the whole thing came
to this:
1. Mrs. Kosenkina. the Russian
teacher W'ho wras the center of a
furore last w^ek end over "kidnap
ing” and ‘-rescue" charges, has no
diplomatic immunity. If the House
committee can reach her. it can
serve a call for her to appear and
testify before it.
2. The Soviet consulate in New
York can be entered only if war
rants are obtained alleging the com
mission of some crime on the prop
erty.
As a practical matter, it all means
that Mrs. Kosenkina can be served
with subpoena if she leaves the
consulate, but is safe from sub
poena as long as she remains there
Won't Attempt Service.
Mr. Mundt interpreted it in that
light. He told reporters no attempt
will be made at this time to serve
a subpoena since a process server
could not serve papers in the Sov iet
consulate. Although the teacher
herself has no diplomatic immunity,
he explained, the Soviet consulate
does.
"In view of the announced inten
tion of the Soviet consul not to per
mit a subpoena to be served." he
said, "it would be useless to issue
one.”
This development came as the
Soviet Embassy failed in its efforts
to get its hands on another Russian
school teacher scheduled to testify
soon before the House committee.
Envoy Demands Surrender.
Soviet Ambassador Alexander S
Panyushkin got a polite reception j
but no immediate action when
he delivered to Undersecretary i
of State Lovett" late yesterday a
formal demand for custody of
Michael Ivanovitch Samarin, the
teacher who already has told his
story to the FBI.
Mr. Samarin and his wife staved
in hiding, their whereabouts ap
parently known to the FBI and the
House committee investigators.
Committee subpoenas already is
sued lor them may be served today,
it was reported in New York.
The committee wants to question
the Samarins to see if they have
any additional information about
Communist intrigues in this coun
Booked to Sail Home.
Mr. Samarin and Mrs. Kosenkina
have been in this country teaching
children of Soviet officials assigned
to the United Nations in New York.
The school was disbanded and stu
dents and teachers were booked to
sail home last month. But the
Samarins and Mrs. Kosenkina
"missed" the boat for reasons so
far not cleared up.
In his formal note to the State
Department, Ambassador Panyush
kin asserted that the two Russian
teachers had been "kidnaped” by
the Tolstoy Foundation, which runs
an anti-Communist Russian retreat
at Valley Cottage. N. Y. Officials
of the White Russian organization
deny the charge.
Mrs. Kosenkina. according to the
official Soviet version, was "res
cued" last Saturday and now is
"resting” at the New York Soviet
Consulate General. The White Rus
sian story is that she fled to them
in fear of her life and was taken
away against her will.
Surrender Demanded.
The Soviets obviously don't know
where to find the Samarins, who
hid out after Mr. Samarin went to
the FBI office in New York Sunday
and requested an interview.
Ambassador Panyushkin asked the
State Department to see that Mr.
Samarin and his family "be given
(See RUSSIANS, Page A-5.;
t
Clay's Watch on the Rhine
Reds May Force Berlin Decision
During U. S. Political Confusion
W. II. Shippen, jr.. a Star staff reporter, has just returned,
from following a squadron of American jet fighters across the
Atlantic to Germany. He made the ”grocery run” to Berlin and
a 10-day survey ot American installations in the occupied area.
Mr. Shippen returned oh a B-29 which flew nonstop from Wiesbaden
to Selfridge Field. Mich. He reports his findings in a series of
stories, of which this is the first.
By W. H. Shippen, Jr.
Will the hour of decision In Europe be timed this fall to
exploit the current political confusion in the United States?
The question in one form or another confronts the traveler
everywhere—in London pub or bus. at RAF bases on the English
Channel, in Yank non-com clubs around Munich and Frankfurt,
on the grocery run up the Corridor, and at the Berlin Press Club.
This also is the narvesi season nr
Northern Europe, one- of bountiful
promise. Peasants who sweated
grain and potatoes out of the ground
this year will long remember the
rich if fateful yields they gathered
in the waning summers of 1914 and
1939.
The harvest moon of 1948 could
be a time of returning plenty to a
beaten, half-starved country like
Germany, or it could be an invi
tation to march again for armies
that live off the land once trie
crops have been gathered.
These things are of grave con
cern in England just now, and
graver still or the Continent. The
center of gravity, of course, lies at
the center of pressure—the Western
sectors of Berlin. There at the
end of a land-blockaded corridor
250 miles and more from the nearest
friendly effectives, the answers to
such questions could spell the dif
ference between life, death or even
slavery.
Berlin at this time is no place for
a man or woman with unsteady
nerves, according to Gen. Lucius D
Clay, American commander, and
there's nothing on the surface to
indicate uneasiness. The Western
ers are fully informed and ready
to face what may lie ahead, but
Americans there are entitled to the
assurance that the folks back home.
Democrats and Republicans alike,
are fully behind Gen. Clay and his
military and diplomatic chiefs.
Gen. Clay's recent statements on
his return^ from Washington that
(See SHIPPEN. Page A-4.)
M'Arthur Aide
Suspended for
Loyalty Check
By the Associated Press
TOKYO Aug. 10— A $10,000-3
\ ear official in Gen. MacArthurs
headquarters ha.s been suspended
without pay pending a loyalty check.
He is Harry F. Alber, 32, of Los
Angeles, head of the Price and Dis
tribution Division which directs the
rationing and pricing of Japanese
food and other essential commod
ities.
T know I am loyal and am con
fident I can be cleared " he told re
porters today. He said he had been
investigated twice before while
working for Government agencies
and had been cleared.
He declared he is not and never
has been a Communist or a member
of any "Communist front" organ
ization.
Army officials here told him the
order for his suspension had origi
nated in Washington. He was not
permitted to see the order, he said.
He prepared to leave for Washing
ton Friday to face the investigation.
Mr. Alber has worked previously
for the Government with TV A. the
Civil Aeronautics Authority and
OPA. After three years in the
Army he was discharged in Japan
as a lieutenant and began serving
with the military government.
The Army Department said Mr.
Alber ls being returned here under
provisions of Army Regulations au
thorizing such action on instructions
of the Secretary of the Army.
In such cases, the regulations pro
vide that the individual concerned
be notified in writing of his suspen
sion as “warranted by the demands
of national security," a spokesman
said.
The spokesman would not discuss
what action might be taken here
on Mr. Albers return.
The Army Department has no
information on Mr. Alber's back
ground or previous Government con
nections. the spokesman said, be
cause he was not hired here for the
work in Tokyo.
Mr. Alber told correspondents in
Tokyo that his suspension is for 90
days, the Chicago Daily News for
eign service reported.
Brig. Gen. W. A. Beiderlinden.
personnel chief of the supreme com
mand for the allied powers, said
“less than 40 —under 1 per cent
of the 4.000 American civilians em
ployed in Tokyo—have been sent
home for similar investigations in
the past two years.
He also revealed that the mili
tary loyalty board meets here once
a month to check qualifications of
civilian personnel.
Mr. Alber was a close friend of
James S. Killen, SCAP labof chief,
who recently quit in protest against
Gen. MacArthur's new labor policy.
Mr. Alber couldn't recall having
been associated with “anything more
sinister than the Boy Scouts,'' the
Chicago Daily News said.
B-29s at Texas Base
Damaged by Storm
By the Associated Press
PYOTE. Tex.. Aug. 10.—Tomadic
winds caused “major damage to
many planes at Pyote air force base
last night, the provost marshal said
today.
Several of the planes were blown
through fences snd off the field.
Lt. Everett Phillips of Hutchinson.
Kans.. said.
The major damage was to numer
ous C-46 twin-engine transports,
while lesser damage was suffered by
a number, of B-29s at the field. Lt.
Phillips said.' The B-29s were being
prepared for flight, possibly for the
Berlin air-lift.
W. S. O'Brien, 86, Dies
BUCKHANNON. W. Va.. Aug. 10
t/P,.—William S. O'Brien, 86. serving
his fourth term as West Virginia
Secretary of State, died today at his
home here.
Kremlin Conferences
On Germany Reported
Still Bogged Down j
Molotov Declared to Have
Offered New Formula
For Currency Problem
BERLIN FOOD DIRECTOR Ousted
by Reds May Get West Zone,
Quarters. Page A-3.
By th* Associated Press
LONDON, Aug. 10.—Informed
government sources reported
today that the East-West Krem
lin talks on Germany are still
bogged down over what should
be done to achieve an immediate
settlement in Berlin.
These sources said Russian For
eign Minister Molotov, in his third
session with the Western envoys
yesterday submitted a Soviet form
ula for solving the currency tangle
in the German capital and indi
cated its acceptance would be fol
lowed by removal of traffic restric
tion?.
The Russian Foreign Minister
Friday had raised objections to a
Berlin settlement plan proposed by
Berlin Discounting
Rumors That Soviet
May Reopen Railway
By the Associated Press
BERLIN. Aug. 10.—Vague
rumors that the Russians were
about to lift the Berlin block
ade by opening the railroad
to the West were discounted
today.
W. T. Babcock. American
deputy commander in Berlin,
said he had heard from a us
ually "fairly accurate" German
source that the Russians have
ordered German rail officials to
stand by for possible reopening
of the railway.
The British-licensed German
press service quoted the Ger
man supervisor of the line as
denying the rumors.
the American and French Ambas
sadors. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith
and Yves Chataigneau. and the
British envoy, Frank Roberts.
(The State Department said a
new report had been received
from Gen. Smith and that
further conferences would be
held in Moscow.)
Bevin Sees Douglas.
Foreign Secretary Bevin conferred
today with American Ambassador
Lewis W. Douglas, and planned to
see the French Ambassador. Rene
Massigli. on Mr. Roberts' report of
the meeting in the Kremlin yester
day.
The government sources said es
~Tsee~CONFERENCES, Page A-4.>
Bridges Asks Ban on Shifting
U. S. Workers in Blast at Ewing
By Harold B. Rogers
Chairman Bridges of the Senate
Appropriations Committee demand
ed today that transfers of employes
to •'circumvent” appropriation cuts
be banned in the future.
His comment, in a letter to Budg
et Director James E. Webb, was
the latest in a series of congressional
blasts' aimea at Federal Security
Administrator Ewing who had
transferred a Government cook
from St Elizabeths Hospital to his
official private dining room. Sen
ator Bridges today called the cook's
transfer ' absolutely improper.”
Mr. Ewing has said he personally
paid the cook for the time he was
employed in the FSA dining room.
The New Hampshire /Senator
criticized the General Accounting
Office for approving transfer of the
cook. He called on the Budget Bu-I
1 I
reau for a comprenensive repon on
such manipulations throughout the
entire Government. /
"The Senate Appropriations Com
mittee does not relieve," the com
mittee chairman wrote Mr. Webb,
' that the transfer device should be
utilized in masking the true facts
about, employes’ duties on detail to j
ether than their normal assign
mt nts."
The Senator's attack on the prac
tice followed his sharp threat yes
terday to "go after" all agencies
and departments which misrepre
sent congressional appropriation
cuts.
In his letter to Controller General
Lindsay C. Warren, Senator Bridges'
pointed out that the chief cook at j
St. Elizabeths Hospital. Neaser J.
Kelly, had been actually employed
for long numbers of hours during
tSee TRANSFERS, Biage A-4.) 1
I
Ex-OSS Adviser
Also Asserts He Is
Not a Communist
By Miriam Ottenberg
Duncan C. Lee testified under
oath today that he had never
been a Communist and “never
'divulged classified secret and
restricted information to any
unauthorized person.”
Mr. Lee. who was legal adviser
to Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan
while at the Office of Strategic
Services, told the House Committee
on Un-American Activities that he
had known Miss Elizabeth T. Bent
ley. avowed ex-spy. socially. He de
nied. however, ever giving her any
war secrets.
Miss Bentley, called back to the
witness stand, told the committee i
in detail what information she said
she had received from Mr. Lee.
Among other things, Miss Bentley
said. Mr. Lee told her what hap
pened at a secret meeting of top
officials, including Admiral W'll
DUNCAN C. LEE.
Pictured as he testified.
—Star Staff Photo.
liam Leahy and FBI Director J
Edgar Hoover.
Told About Oak Ridge, She Says.
She said Mr. Lee also tipped her
in November, 1944, that "something
very secret” was going on at Oak
Ridge, Tenn., where the atom bomb
was developed.
Before Miss Bentley was recalled.
-Mr. Lee told the committee flatly:
"Miss Bentley never asked me for
information and I certainly never
gave her any.”
When Mr. Lee and Miss Bentley
had completed giving their dia
metrically opposed testimony. Rep
resentative Hebert, Democrat, of
Louisiana declared that the com
mittee's hearings are "filled with
perjured testimony.”
"I don't know who is a liar and
who is r.ot a iiar.” Ml. Hebert de
clared, "but the Government cannot j
escape the fact that perjury has
been committed before this commit
tee and I demand that action be1
taken to prosecute those who have
committed perjury."
Under questioning, the 34-year
old lawyer who rose to lieutenant1
colonel in the OSS and is now in
private practice here, willingly ad-^
mitted that he had twice met Jacob
Golas. whom Miss Bentley previous
ly identified as an important Soviet
go-between in the relay of this
Government's war secrets to Mos
cow.
Relieved Him Refugee Author.
Mr. Lee said he was under the
impression that Golas. now dead,
was a refugee author. Miss Bentley
testified later that Golas introduced
himself to Mr. Lee as "a high func
tionary of the Communist Party.” I
Mr. Lee gave the committee a
picture of a social relationship
which gradually changed from one
of mutual attraction between. Miss
Bentley on one side and Mr. Lee
and his wife on the other, into a
relationship that both the Lees
tried to end.
He said later that the ending
came after the Lees decided Miss
Bentley was "an emotional weight
around our necks" whose "left-wing,
intemperate and extreme" political
views might prove “embarrassing.'
<Continued on Page A-6, Col. 2.)
HEY,BOSS, <
WHAT DO YOU (
WANT TO DO <
WITH THESE?
X
V'
50 Approved by Commissioners
As Members of Draft Boards
Appeals Group Nominees Also Accepted;
Final Recommendations Due Thursday
The Commissioners today ap
proved the names of 50 District
residents to serve as members
of 10 local draft boards which
will begin registering men 18
through 25 on August 30.
Fifteen others, to be members of
three appeal boards, also were ap
proved on the recommendation of
William E. Leahy. District selective
service director. Members of five
additional five-man local boards are
expected to be submitted to the
Commissioners Thursday.
Final approval of the recommen
Idations is up to President Truman,
but it is believed that the Commis
sioners' stamp of approval has
paved the way for White House in
dorsement.
Frank D. Norton of the District
office of Selective Service Records,
who submitted the names to the
city heads today, explained that 15
boards will be set up to handle the
same duties performed by 25 boards
during World War II. Some of the
15, however, will be expanded to
cover the same over-all area.
Many of the members served dur
ing World War II and "thus possess
the knowledge and experience we
feel to oe essential," Mr. realty said
in a letter to the Commissioners.
Mr. Norton said names of the
five board members till to be rec
ommended have been delayed be
cause officials want to appoint "ex
perienced" members whenever pos
sible. Members must serve on
boards in areas in which they live.
'See DRAFT, Page A-5.i
Reds Beat Down West
On Effort for Free
Danube Navigation
Vote of 7 to 3 Defeats
Attempt at Amendment
Of Pact Preamble
By the Asjocioted Press
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia, Aug.
10.—Eastern Europe's solid Com
munist bloc today beat down a
western power effort to win free
dom of navigation guarantees
on the Danube.
By a vote of 7 to 3 a conference
called to write a new convention
governing transport on Central Eu
rope's major waterway rejected a
French attempt to substitute a pre
amble of their own for one prepared
by Russia for the new pact.
Controversy Over Preamble.
The controversy centered chiefly
around the French effort to omit
from the preamble a Russian clause
which would place the conference on
record as recognizing the “sovereign
rights” of the Danube states.
The conference by the same 7
to-3 vote defeated a proposed
amendment to the preamble.
Then it accepted the Russian
preamble draft intact, 7 to 2, with
the United States and France vot
ing no and Britain abstaining.
The key section of the Russian
preamble placed the conference on
record as favoring “free naviga
tion of the Danube in accordance
with the .interests and soveicign
rights of the Danube states and in
order to strengthen the economic
and cultural relations between
themselves and other nations."
The western powers objected to
this. They held it to be the foun
dation for later articles to the con
vention giving the Danubian states
specific powers over navigation in
waters along their shores.
Link lo L. .V Opposed.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Andrei Y. Vishinsky earlier had
opposed a western plan to tie the
Danubian commission closely to
principles of the United Nations.
He said there is no need of such
action. Mr. Vishinsky said he noted
no such clause in the alliance treaty
of Brussels between Britain.
France, Belgium, Holland and
Luxembourg.
The American amendment to the
j preamble provided that the interests
| "of all nations" would oe protected
| on the Danube.
In rapid order, however, Yugo
slavia. Bulgaria, the Ukraine and
Romania served notice that they
would insist on pseserving the Rus
sian preamble intact. This fore
shadowed probable unity of the
Communist bloc of seven pn all
terms of the proposed convention.
Late News
Bulletin
Tobin Decision Due Soon
Maurice J. Tobin, former
Governor of Massachusetts,
said after a half-hour con
ference with President Tru
man today that he would de
cide within 48 hours whether
to accept appointment as
Secretary of Labor.
r
U. S. Prepares Report
On Crops, Expected
To Top All Records
Big Corn Harvest Likely
To Lower Retail Meat
Prices Next Spring
D. C. GROUPS Planning to Join
Nation-wide Meat-Buying Strike
Page A-2.
«y the Associoted Pres*
The Government prepared a
progress report today on a crop
season that looks as though It
will put more foodstuff Into
harvest bins than ever before In
history.
Major interest in the report cen
tered on corn—the major raw mate
rial for meats, dairy products and
poultry. A month ago. the Agricul
ture Department predicted this crop
would be the largest on record. To
day's corn estimate seemed likely to
be higher than previously forecast.
A record corn crop is expected to
help bring lower retail meat, milk,
butter, egg and poultry prices next
year. Prices of these food items are
at, or close to, record levels now be
cause last year's corn crop was a
near failure. As a result, farmers
were forced to curtail production.
Price Cuts Seen In Spring.
A big corn crop—with accompany
ing lower grain prices—would en
courage farmers to expand livestock
output again. Under normal con
ditions, this increased production
should begin to show up in lower
retail prices next spring.
A month ago, the department
forecast corn at 3.328.862.000 bushels.
This topped the 1946 record of
3.249.950.000. The weathpr has been
so favorable since then that experts
would not be surprised if todays
estimate were not close to 3,450,
000.000.
Likewise, a further increase in
the wheat estimate appeared pos
sible A month ago. the crop was
indicated at 1,241,751.000 bushels,
the second largest of record. It
would not take much of an increase
in the estimate to exceed last year's
record crop of 1,364,919.000.
Record Grain Crops Expected.
It appears certain now that the
combined production of all grains—
corn, wheat, oats, rye. barley and
rice—will far exceed that of 'any
previous season._As a result, the
• See~CROPsTPage A-4.)
Girl Killed in Maryland
By Speedboat Propeller
By tht Associoted Pr«»
ELKTON. Md.. Aug. 10. — Miss
Linnea Borsz, 16, of Philadelphia
died in Union Hospital last night
of injuries received when she fell
from a speedboat and was caught in
its propeller.
Miss Borsz had been visiting
friends at Charlestown. Md.. and
they went out in the speedboat yes
terday. She was sitting in the bow
when she slipped and fell overboard.
A companion pulled her from the
water almost immediately but both
her arms were deeply hacked near
the shoulders, one hip was severely
lacerated and her left foot was al
most severed. She died about six
hours after the accident.
* *
Transit Plan Too High,
PUC Expert Says in
Proposing 13c Fare
Accountant Outlines
8-Point Study of Fair
Return for Company
By Jerry O'Leary, Jr.
The Capital Transit Co.'s pro
posed increases in streetcar and
bus fares are too high, a Public
Utilities Commission financial
expert testified at rate hearings
today. He recommended a lower
schedule based on a 13-cent
cash fare, three tokens for 35
cents and a $1.75 weekly pass.
V. A. McElfresh. executive ac
countant and auditor of the PUC.
advanced his program as a substi
tute for the transit firms request
for an increase of the 10-cent cash
fare to 15 cents, two tokens for a
quarter and an increase in the $1.50
weekly pass to $1.85.
Under questioning by Assistant
Corpoiation Counsel Lloyd B. Har
rison, counsel to the PUC. Mr. Mc
Elfresh said his study of Capital
Transit's case had led him to these
conclusions:
1. On the basis of the firm's in
come 'in the year ending May 31.
1948. it is not earning a fair return.
2. There is no indication of im
provement, but rather a further de
cline in prospect.
Backs Fare Structure Change.
3. A change in the fare structure
is necessary to establish Capital
Transit in good financial position.
4. The 13 cents, three tokens for
35 cents and *175 rate would pro
vide a base rate of return of 5.76
per cent for the year ending June
30, 1949. This is well below present
definition of a fair return but an
expected patronage decline might*
fore* service cuts which would re
duce the company's expenses.
5 The 13 cent, three for 35 cents
and $1.75 schedule maintains the
same balance between types of fare
as before the 1947 rate increase, but
the use of pennies might slow up
service.
6. A straight cash fare would be
better than the cash-tok^n-pass
setup.
7. In view of the widespread use
and acceptance of the weekly pass,
he hesitated to recommend its ab
! olition.
8. He did not touch on a zone
I fare system but said it probably
■ would be more equitable than the
others.
Mr. McElfresh declared he would
! not recommend adoption of Capital
Transit's proposed rate schedule be
cause his independent study of com
pany records indicated the proposed
fares would give a base rate of re
turn of 8.58 per cent.
; He pointed out also that the PUC
,ruled three years ago that l'j per
cent was a fair rate of return for
Capital Transit on its $30,000,000
investment. *
The witness introduced an exhibit
forcasting the results if the pass
were eliminated and straight cash
fares substituted by the company.
If rt had a 10-cent cash fare—
(See TRANSIT, Page A-4j
Ross Denies Marshall
Threatened to Resign
By th« As»ecio»ed Pr»%%
Presidential Press Secretary Charles
G. Ross said today a published re
port that Secretary of State Mar
shall had threatened to resign "is
certainly news to me."
The report, published by the New
York Star, was brought up at Mr.
Ross' news conference.
A reporter told Mr. Ros6 the
story said Mr. Truman has pro
posed a three-point pro-Israel pro
gram and that Gen. Marshall had
threatened to resign as a result.
"That is certainly news to me
Mr. Ross replied. He added he had
not seen the story.
The New York Star (formerly
PM i said its sources reported that
"the President, at a recent meeting
with his closest political advisers,
advocated the following three-point
crogram:
‘ l. Granting of a $100 000,000 loan.
2 Extension of he jure recogni
tion.
3. Support for Israel s expected
application for membership in the
United Nations.
De jure recognition meaas recog
nition of a government as the le
gally constituted authority.
Truman Signs
Housing Bill,Hits
G.O.P. 'Neglect'
New Blast Charges
House Leaders With
Blocking Taft Plan
By Joseph A. Fox
President Truman today
signed the Republican housing
bill passed by the special session
of Congress with an attack on
House leadership for refusing to
give members an opportunity to
vote on the full-scale Taft
Ellender - Wagner bill which
cleared the Senate in April.
The President described the meas
ure as “an emasculated housing
bill,” and declared that In its pas
sage Congress had "deliberately neg
lected” the large group of people
whose need for adequate housing is
greatest--“the people who are forced
to live in disgraceful urban and
rural slums.”
“The record shows clearly where
the responsibility lies for this denial
of the democratic process,” the
President said in a statement assail
ing the House leaders.
Will Give Limited Federal Ain.
The new legislation provides lim
ited Federal aid for low-cost hous
ing and large rentil projects, but
makes no provision for subsidized
public housing and slum clearance
which the President had stressed
as outstanding needs.
As Mr, Truman acted on the
housing measure. White House
Press Secretary Charles G. Ross
said the modified anti-inflation bill,
which Congress likewise passed,
would be handled by the President
“well in advance" of August 20,
which is the deadline for action
This measure also falls far short
of the President's proposals and is
expected to be signed with another
attack on Congress.
Text of Truman Statement.
The text of the President's hous
ing statement follows:
“I have today given my approval
to H. R. 6959. the so-called Housing
Act of 1948.'
"When I addressed the special
session on July 27, 1948. I strongly
urged the Congress to complete
action on S. 866, the comprehensive
Taft-Ellender-Wagner housing bill,
which had passed the Senate on
April 22, 1948. The Congress ha»
instead passed an emasculated
housing bill, which fails to include
several of the most Important pro
visions of the Taft-Ellender-Wagner
bill.
"The new bill fails to make any
provision for low-rent public hous
ing. It fails to make any provi
sion for slum clearance and urban
redevelopment. It fails to include
any provision for special aids for
farm housing. It includes only lim
ited provision for research to bring
down building costs.
Deplores Lack of Action.
"In short, the Congress in enact
ing this bill has deliberately neg
lected those large groups of our
people most in need of adequate
housing—the people who are forced
to live in disgraceful urban and
rural slums. •
"The mast astonishing part of
the process by which this result
was achieved is that the members
of the House of Representatives
were never permitted to consider
and to vote on the Taft-Ellender
Wagner bill. Even though all the
main provisions of that bill were
favorably reported by the House
Committee on Banking and Cur
rency. the Republican leaders re
fused to let the full membership
of the House consider it.
"The record shows clearly where
the responsibility lies for this denial
of the democratic process. As the
Republican chairman of the Senate
Banking and Currency Committee
(Senator Tobey of New Hampshire'
stated on the floor of the Senate last
Friday, the members of the House
of Representatives 'have been denied
by their House leadership the right
to vote on the Taft-Ellender-Wag
ner bill.’
"It is a matter of great regret to
me. as it will be to millions of ill
housed families, that a measure
which would have helped to provide
them with decent housing has been
blocked by the Republican leader
ship in the House of Representa
tives.” •
Water Seepage Knocks Out
New York Cable Circuits
By th« Associated Press
NEW YORK. Aug. 10 -Seepage of
water into four underground cables
knocked out 406 teletype circuits of
the American Telephone and Tele
graph Co. early today.
Fifteen of the circuits are used
oy news services. All of those were
restored within four hours.
Most of the circuits, however,
serve brokerage houses and commer
cial firms in the financial district
and Midtown Manhattan. The tele
phone company said it would take
"a number of hours” to get them all
in operation.
The water penetrated the lead
sheath covering the cables and
grounded the cables, the company
said.
The failure put out of commission
all the Associated Press news wires
operating out of New York except
ing regional circuits serving New
York State, New England and the
South. However, the main load of
early top news had been moved
when the wires went out.
The A. T. & T. said transmission
was cut off in a portion of Midtown
and Lower Manhattan areas.
Actor Franchot Tone
Is Sued for Divorce
|y til* Auotiaud Pr«i»
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug 10.
—franchot Tone’s platinum blond
wife, the former Jean Wallace of
Chicago, sued him for divorce yes
terday. But in spite of this they’ll
leave next month for Prance wher#
they will play opposite each other
in a movie.
J