Evening star. [volume], July 22, 1949, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Weather Forecast
Mostly sunny, high In middle 90s today.
Possible thundershowers late this after
noon or evening. Tomorrow fair and
warm. (Full report on Page A-2.)
Midnight, 75 6 a.m-74 11 a.m-86
2 a.m._75 8 a.m. —76 Noon-90
4 a.m_74 10 a.m. 84 1 p.m. —92
Late New York Marked, Page A-21.
Guide for Readers
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Amusements __A-14
Comics_B-14-15
Crossword_B-14
Editorial_A-10
Editor’l Articles A-ll
Finance _A-21
Pace
Lost and Found-A-S
Obituary-A-12
Radio _B-15
Sports-A-17-19
Women’s
Section_B-S-#
An Associated Press Newspaper
97th Year. No. 198. Phone ST. 5000 **
WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1949-THIRTY-EIGHT PAGES.
City Home Delivery, Daily and Sunday, $1.20 a Month, when 6 e» /''TT'M’T’Sl
Sundays, $1.30. Night Final Edition. $1.30 and $1.40 per Month A. O
Hunt's Diary Including Names
Of Influential U. S. Officials
Aids Probe of 'Five Per Centers'
——- 4
1,000-Page Account of
Day-to-Day Activities
In Senators' Hands
By Miriam Ottenberg
A diary giving a day-by-day
report of James V. Hunt’s activ
ities as a “management counsellor”
is being used to track down leads
in the Senate investigating com
mittee’s inquiry into “5 per cent
ers,” it was learned today.
• The diary, it was learned, is
nearly 1,000 pages long and is
spotted with the names of influen
tial Government officials and their
underlings.
A published statement by a
Massachusetts, manufacturer that
he paid Mr. Hunt $1,000 for help
in seeking a Government contract
prompted the Senate Expendi
tures Subcommittee's investiga
tion of charges that "5 per cent
ers” have tried to influence the
awarding of Government con
tracts. Mr .'Hunt has denied using
influence.
In Hands of Probers.
The origipal of the diary is in
the hands of the Senate investiga-1
tors. Photostatic copies have been
given to various Government j
agencies, including the military i
establishment and the War Assets
Administration, to track down in
cidents mentioned in the volum
inous diary.
Senator Hoey, Democrat, of
North Carolina, who heads the
investigating group, confirmed
that the committee has the Hunt
diary after seeing the story in
The Star.
“Mr. Hunt did keep a diary,
which the subcommittee has in
spected,” Senator Hoey told re
porters. “But I do not wish to
disclose or discuss its contents
at this time."
While contents of the diary are
a closely guarded secret, it was
learned that Mr. Hunt was ac
customed to dictate to his secre-l
tary even the most minute details
of his daily activities.
The account covers social as
well as business encounters. After
a cocktail party, for instance, Mr.;
Hunt would record that names of
the other guests, whom he talked
to and what they talked about.
In his dealings for his clients,
Mr. Hunt would give a chronologi
cal account of his activities. Hej
would state the problem brought
him by a client, the time of day
he started working on it, what;
agencies he visited, whom he saw,}
what they advised him to do and
what he accomplished. Fees re
ceived were duly noted.
Vaughan Expected to Testify.
The diary is expected to figure
importantly in the evidence when
the Senate group opens its public
hearings on the activities of “five
per centers.”
Meanwhile, a committee mem
ber predicted that Maj. Gen.
Harry H. Vaughan, "President
Truman's military aide, will
testify at thle hearing.
Pointing out that Mr. Truman
told a press conference yesterday
Gen. Vaughan was at liberty to
testify, Senator Mundt, Republi
can, of South Dakota said he con
sidered it a "foregone conclusion
that he will be asked to appear
and will accept ”
Gen. Vaughan has said he knows
"about 300 persons in Washing
ton” active in contract operations.
Senator Mundt wants him to name
the 300.
Representative Keating, Repub
lican, of New York, one of the
latest to speak up about Gen.
Vaughan, said the general ought
to be "pounding at the door, de
manding to be heard” by Con
7See ETVE PER CENTERS, A-37)
_
613 Million Approved
To Improve Bases
By the Associated Press
The House Armed Services
Committee today approved a
$613,815,682 bill for military con
struction to improve domestic and
foreign bases.
The action was taken by a
unanimous vote. The authoriza
tion bill does not provide the;
actual money.
The total includes:
$247,356,481 for the Air Force,
$200,862,801 for the Navy and
$165,596,400 for the Army.
The committee knocked out a
provision authorizing $25,000,000
for construction work of an
emergency nature.
It added $11,000,000 for a Naval
postgraduate school at Monterrey,
Calif., as the first step in a $33,
000,000 expansion program.
The Navy acquired a 1,500-room
hotel at Monterrey two years ago
for the establishment of the
school.
It is now proposed to add other
buildings, utilities and accesso
ries. Eventually the school will
accommodate 2,600 students.
Chairman Vinson suggested
that the school be used as a post
graduate school for /all three
armed services and be named in
honor of the late Secretary of
Defense James Forrestal.
Only Western High's Cadets
Rated'Satisfactory' by Army
Inspectors Dissatisfied With D. C. Schools;
No Direct Criticism of Corning in Reports
By Chris Mathisen
Representative Teague, Demo
crat, of Texas made public today
Army inspectors' reports on cadet
units in District public high
schools which reflect the Army’s
general dissatisfaction with the
scope and conduct of the cadet
program.
The reports, representing the
findings of inspection teams which
visited the high schools this
spring, revealed that only the
Western High School cadet con
tingent received an overall rating
"satisfactory.”
All other cadet units were rated
inspectors stated they found over
emphasis on close-order drill, with
Congress to Receive
Truman Message on
Arms Funds Monday
Barkley Expresses Hope
For Passage of Program
Before Adjournment
By J. A. O'Leary
The administration is ready to
move promptly to get arms
for Western Europe, following
Senate approval of the North At
lantic defense pact by the over
whelming vote of 82 to 13.
The White House anounced that
President Truman will send a mes
sage to Congress Monday asking
for an arms appropriation of $1.
450,000,000 to implement the pact.
Vice President Barkley, leaving
a cabinet meeting, said he was
hopeful the legislation would be;
passed at this session of Congress.
He said he doesn't expect as
much debate in the Senate on the j
arms program as occurred during
consideration of the pact.
Easier Path Predicted.
Amplifying, he said that when
the 12-nation defense alliance was
broached it involved a “fundamen
tal departure from our foreign
policy—or at least some people
thought it did.”
Now that the “fundamentality”
as he described it, has been dis
posed of, Mr. Barkley said he be
lieved the path would be easier.
Asked if the implementation
program would get “top priority”
in handling, Mr. Barkley said that
he didn't want to discriminate on
priority. He said it was hoped to
get all appropriations bills cleared
up this month so it would not be
necessary, to enact another con
tinuing resolution to finance
various agencies whose regular
fund bills have been tied up.
First Year Cut Backed.
There were signs on Capitol Hill
today that some friends of the
treaty would be willing to scale
down the size of the arms pro
gram for the first year to ease its
path through Congress. One in
fluential source, suggesting this
possibility, pointed out that the
taking of some step to implement
the treaty would be more impor
tant to the morale of the other
pact nations than the specific
amount authorized at this time.
The President’s arms aid mes
sage was originally intended to go
to the Capitol today but Press
Secretary Charles G. Ross said
Mr. Truman postponed action
until Monday to suit the con
venience of Congress leaders.
Mr. Ross denied the communi
cation had been held up to write
in atomic references in response
to questions raised on the Senate
floor as to whether the act obli
gates this country to furnish
atomic weapons to its new allies.
( See PACT~ Page A-5.)
Bank Bandit Walks Out
With $10,000 in Cash
By the Associated Press
NEW BRITAIN, Conn'., July 22.
A bandit casually walked out of
the Fidelity Industrial Bank with
between $10,000 to $12,000 in cash
today after a daring armed hold
up.
The bandit, about 30 years of
age, followed Thomas J. Higgins,
36, the bank’s credit manager,
ipto the building when the latter
opened the front door just before
9 a.m.
Forcing Mr. Higgins into the
vault at the point of a gun, the
bandit ordered the credit man
ager to dump the money into a
white canvas bag provided by the
intruder.
As the bandit left the building,
he met Miss Geraldine Curtin, 16,
a bank employe, at the front door.
She assumed he was a bank
customer and greeted him with a
“good morning."
The bandit replied with a “good 1
morning” of his own and casually j
walked out. . j
little or no attention being paid
"unsatisfactory.” In general, the
to classroom instruction in mili
tary tactics and weapon handling.
The inspectors reported, how
ever, that school principals in
dorse# the cadet training, l[or the
most part, with several of them
suggesting that summer camp pe
riods under regular Army instruc
tion be added to the program.
Most principals expressed the
view that drilling and other cadet
activities should be conducted dur
ing regular school hours.
The reports, furnished at Mr.
Teague's request, did not include
any over-all appraisal of the ca
det training program, since each
"(See CADETS, Page A-3.>
Mrs. Roosevelt Spins
Prejudice Web, Says
Cardinal Spellman
Columns on Barden Bill
Are Anti-Catholic, He
Charges in Letter
By the Associated Press
NEW YORK, July 22.—Francis
Cardinal Spellman today criticized
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt for
her opposition to Federal funds
for parochial and private schools.
In a letter to the President’s
widow, the Catholic prelate said:
"Your work of anti-Catholicism
stands for all to see—a record
which you yourself wrote on the
pages of history which cannot
be recalled—documents of dis
crimination unworthy of an
American mother.’’
The cardinal's attack was based
on articles written by Mrs. Roose
velt in her column, “My Day."
Mrs- Roosevelt's secretary said
at Hyde Park that the letter had
not yet been received and that
there would be no comment until
after its arrival, if then. Cardi
nal Spellman made the letter
public. He wrote that, after Mrs.
Roosevelt’s first column on the
Barden bill June 23, he had in
tended Ignoring it.
Charges “Web of Prejudice.”
“But, as the days passed and in
two subsequent columns you con
tinued your anti-Catholic cam
paign, I became convinced that it
was in the interest of all Ameri
cans and the cause of justice itself
that your misstatements should be
challenged in every quarter of our
country, where they have already
spun and spread their web of prej
udice,” his letter said.
“I have received hundreds of
messages from persons of all
faiths demanding that I answer
you. I am, therefore, not free to
ignore you.”
Federal aid to education is one
of the hottest issues now before
Congress.
The Senate already has passed
a bill providing fof such support.
It would permit those States that
so desire to use funds for aid to
parochial schools.
In the House, the issue still is
in committee. However, the bill
introduced by Representative Bar
den, Democrat, of North Carolina
would bar turning over any of the
Federal money to parochial
schools.
Column Is Quoted.
In her June 23 column, Mrs.
Roosevelt said: ‘‘The controversy
brought about by the request made
by Francis Cardinal Spellman that
Catholic schools should share in
Federal aid funds forces upon the
citizens of the country the kind
of decision that is going to be very
difficult to make.”
She went on: “Many years ago
it was decided that the public
schools of our country should be
entirely separated from any kind
of denominational control, and
these are the only schools that
are free, tax-supported schools.
The greatest number of our chil
dren attend these schools.”
Cardinal Spellman wrote: “I
cannot presume upon the press to
(See CARDINALTPage A-67)
Plane Victims' Ashes
To Be Flown to Hague
•y the Associated Press
THE HAGUE, the Netherlands,
July 22.—Royal Dutch Airlines
(KLM) said today the ashes of 22
victims of the July 12 crash near
Bombay will be flown to The
Hague early next week.
Earlier, it had been announced
in Bombay that the ashes would
leave for Holland today.
After arrival here, urns con
taining the ashes, including those
of 13 American journalists, will be
placed on i" bier in a candle-lit
chapel.
The Dutch Federation of Jour
nalists will mount a guard of
ljionor over them, and a short ccae
tnony will be held. W'
/
London Dockers
Vote to Return
To Jobs Monday
End Put to Walkout
That Crippled Port
For Past 25 Days
By tht Associated Press
LONDON, July 22. — Striking
dockers who have crippled the
Port of London for 25 days voted
today to return to their jobs
Monday.
The vote came at a huge mass
meeting in Victoria Park, where
the committee leading the walk
out recommended that the men
call it off.
A member of the Strike Com
mittee told the men of the de
cision.
15,000 Dockers Idle Now.
An average of 13,000 dock work
ers have been on strike since the
stoppage began June 27 in sym
pathy with the striking Canadian
Seamen’s Union. By the time the
strikers get back to work Monday
they will have lost about £400,000
($l,600.000i in wages. As the de
cision to return to work was made,
some 15.000 dockers were idle.
The stoppage tied up vital
British export cargoes, hamper
ing Britain’s drive to overcome
her severe dollar crisis. Troops,
concentrating on unloading food
ships, have prevented any severe
shortages in British food supplies.
In the House of Commons La
bor Minister George Isaacs was
asked if the government now
would call off the state of emer
gency the government had pro
claimed because of the strike. He
replied the cabinet “really must
wait until Monday, until we see
what has been the effect of to
day’s decision” by the workers.
Unions in Jurisdiction Fight.
The strike began when the Ca
nadian Seamens Union black
listed two Canadian ships, the
Argomont and the Beaverbrae, in
London. The CSU dispute with
the Canadian shipowners has
grown into a jurisdictional battle
between the CSU and its rival, the
International Seafarers Union,
which has manned some ships on
which the CSU had called strikes.
The dockers’ decision to end
their stoppage was reached after
consultation with an official of
the CSU, which a walkout «om
mittee member said had agreed to
clear the two blacklisted Canadi
an ships.
At one point the strikers in
sisted they were victims of a lock
out by the Labor government be
cause of the government’s In
sistence that they work the two
blacklisted ships. The govern
ment denied it was a lockout.
There had been signs earlier
that the strike-j-denounced by
the Labor government as Com
munist-inspired—was breaking up.
One group of workers had voted
to remove a cargo of wheat from
one of the Canadian ships. An
other group of 1.000 strikers yes
terday adopted a resolution ex
pressing willingness to return to
work if the main body of strikers
voted to do so.
The government, which is oper
ating the seized docks under a
state of national emergency,
meanwhile sent an additional 600
| troops to handle cargoes today.
That raised the total to 11,397
servicemen at work.
3 to Be Deported.
Home secretary James cnuier
Ede announced in Commons this
morning that two Americans and
a Dutchman who arrived in Lon
don by plane last night in con
nection with the strike would be
deported for the “public good.”
He identified the Americans as
Louis Goldblatt and John Malet
ta. He added that “after satis
fying myself their visit here was
concerned with the dispute at the
London docks. I decided it was
conducive to the public good they
should be deported.”
Mr. Ede said the men, who came
here from France, had been
picked up by police shortly, after
midnight.
The Communist - dominated
I World Federation of Trade Unions
recently held a dockers and sea
men’s conference at Marseille.
Ammon Ouster Demanded.
I Before accepting the back-to
j work resolution the dockers passed
jone demanding that 76-year-old
! Lord Ammon be dismissed as
! chairman of the National Dock
Labor Board.
Prime Minister Attlee fired Am
mon as deputy speaker of the
House of Lords last night in a
clash over board policy in handling
the strike.
The board had told the strikers
they were Jeopardizing the entire
dock labor scheme, which guaran
tees them a weekly income. The
cabinet repudiated that statement.
Ammon has more than a year
to serve on his appointment as
chairman of the Dock Board.
Technically there is no way the
government can remove him until
his term is up.
Hard Luck Champion
ZION, HI.. July 22 (/P).—Glenn
Taylor, 8, believes he is the hard
luck champion of Lake County.
Six weeks ago he fell while play
ing and broke his right arm. Be
fore the cast was removed he fell
and broke his left arm. This week
dirt thrown by a neighbor boy in
jured his right eye. A physician
to make sure of its recovery band
aged both eyes. *
JN CASE YOU USE
IT, MR. PRESIDENT,
your senate friends
_ WANT To
1 CONSULTED
Coal Miner Reported
Planning Suit Against
UMW Welfare Fund
Senate Banking Group
Labor Monopoly Probe
To Start on Monday
By James Y. Newton
A soft coal miner today was re
ported planning to file suit against
the trustees of the United Mine
Workers’ huge welfare and retire
ment fund, asking for an account
ing of its expenditures.
The miner, described as a dis
gruntled member of the UMW
from the Uniontown <Pa.> area,
reportedly will bring suit in the
District Court here within a few
days.' He is said to have filed
claim for a disability benefit
which was not allowed by the wel
fare fund administrators.
Trustees of the fund are John
L. Lewis, Ezra Van Horn, mine
operator representative of Cleve
land, and Senator Bridges, Re
publican, of New Hampshire.
Fund administratbrs have han
dled hundreds of thousands of
cases and UMW officials have ex
pected a court challenge of their
operations. They say that some
mistakes are unavoidable in the
administration of so large a
project, but that all errors are
corrected as soon as they are
spotted. The fund is supported
by a 20 cents per ton levy on all
coal produced. It brings in nearly
$100,000,000 a year.
Robertson to Direct Probe.
Meanwhile, Senator Robertson,
Democrat, of Virginia, announced
that his subcommittee of the Sen
ate Banking Committee will begin
investigation Monday, aimed pri
marily at Mr. Lewis and the UMW,
of the possible operation of labor
monopolies.
A statement said the inquiry is
aimed at finding out “the extent
of power industry-wide labor or
ganizations have acquired and the
manner in which that power is be
ing exercised.”
Senator Robertson, said neces
sity for the investigation was sug
gested by recent proposals for a
coal czar responsible for determin
ing wages and production levels,
the coal miners’ "stabilization”
strike, the three-day work week
which Mr. Lewis has put in effect,
the threatened steel strike and
the Hawaiian ship tieup.
“If it is found that the public
interest requires protection from
labor monopolies.” the committee
said, “in the same manner the
public is protected from industrial
monopolies, such a proposal will
be referred to the Judiciary Com
mittee.”
23 Asked to Testify.
The committee has invited 23
persons to testify. Those asked
to appear Monday are Harry M.
Moses, president of the coal-pro
ducing subsidiaries of the United
States Steel Corp.; George H.
Love, president of the Pittsburgh
Consolidation Coal Co., and John
D. Battle, executive secretary of
the National Coal Association.
Reports, later denied by all
sides, were published last month
to the effect that Northern and
Midwestern mine operators were
going to appoint Mr. Moses to a
position where he would control
the output of the coal mines.
Actually the operators offered
Mr. Moses a position as spokes
man and chief contract negotia
tor for the industiV. a plan which
still is expected to go through.
No representative of the UMW
has been asked to appear in the
investigation. However, Miss
Josephine Roche, administrator of
the welfare fund, is listed among
the witnesses.
Ah’ Defense to Be Tested
TOKYO, July 22 W.—Air de
fenses of the Western Pacific
command from the Philippines
through Okinawa to Japan will be
tested beginning the week of
July 25. Tokyo will be the prin
cipal target of simulated rafts.
Blind Man Killed
By Subway After
Fall to Tracks
By the Associated Press
NEW YORK, July 22.—Above
the roar of an approaching sub
way train, passengers waiting on
the platform heard the blind man
cry:
"Help me, please, some one
please help me.”
Louis Kerman, sightless news
paper vendor, stood on the tracks
of the subway line in a downtown
Manhattan station. Apparently,
he had made a misstep yesterday
and fallen from the platform.
His dark glasses and cane,
dropped in his fall, were several
feet from him.
He reached out his arms, grop
ing, as he cried for help. But
there was no time to help.
"What could I do?” Subway
Motorman Prank Marmier said
'later. "I locked the brakes; it
was too late.”
A police lieutenant telephoned
the dead man's wife.
"I hope he didn’t know what
happened,” Mrs. Kerman said.
Offshore Gambling
On Piers Creating
Problem for Virginia
Slot Machines Licensed
By Maryland Run a Few
Yards Out in Potomac
By J. L. Michael
Special Correspondent of The Star
COLONIAL BEACH, Va.. July
22.—Maryland slot machines op
erating only a few yards off the
Virginia shore today threatened
new complications in Potomac
River jurisdictional questions,
which have remained unsettled for
more than 150 years.
In buildings located on or along
side three piers jutting out from
Virginia, slot machines licensed in
Maryland are accessible to any one
who cares to walk a few yards
across a wharf.
At two of these places beer is
sold under Maryland licenses. A
few years ago a Virginia court
ruled that an establishment simi
lar to these was under the juris
diction of the Old Dominion.
As yet, no liquor licenses have
been issued to any of the three
establishments, but the owners of
at least two are known to be con
sidering package liquor sales, sales
by the drink or both.
All Across From Charles County.
Slot machines are illegal in Vir
ginia and State law limits the sale
of beer to places licensed by the
State Alcoholic Beverage Control
Board. Liquor is sold only in State
dispensaries.
The three places, all across the
Potomac from Charles County,
Md., are at Fairview Beach, King
George County, Muse’s Beach
near Potomac Mills, and at the
New Atlanta Hotel in the muni
cipality of Colonial Beach.
At the latter establishment a
wharf extends from the hotel’s
back porch into the river 100
feet or more past low water
mark on the Virginia shore. The
wharf is also accessible by steps
leading from the town beach
front.
Ralph N. Millen, a former mem
ber of the town council who owns
the hotel, only a few days ago
put up a 12-by-18-foot building
on the pier head and arranged
with a Charles County resident
to obtain a license for ten slot
machines. Nine of the devices
were in operation Wednesday.
Walkway Cat.
Since the building is beyond low
water mark, Mr. Millen claims, it
is legally in Maryland under the
premise that the Potomac belongs
to Maryland to low water mark
on the Virginia shore.
To avoid the possible question
of whether a severance of the
wharf is necessary, Mr. Hfillen cut
(See SLOT MACHINES, Pg. A-3.)
Florida Group Seeking
Transit Stock Calls
It 'Depression-Proof'
Prospective Buyer Tells
ICC Deal Would Make
'Fine Investment'
By Francis P. Douglas
Florida businessmen seeking tq
purchase controlling interest in
| the Capital Transit Co. look on it
as a “depression-proof” business,
| the Interstate Commerce Commis
; sion was told today.
ICC Examiner Vernon V. Baker
held a hearing today on the ap
plication by the Florida group for
ICC approval of the sale to them
of 109,458 shares of Capital Tran
sit stock by North American Co.,
a holding company.
The Florida group is headed by
L. E. Wolfson of Jacksonville, who
has contracted to buy 50,458 of the
transit shares. He was not pres
ent today, but he and his associ
ates were represented by Doran
S. Weinstein; also of Jacksonville,
who is listed as the prospective
purchaser of 5,000 shares.
Mr. Weinstein testified that he
and his associates felt that Capi
tal Transit “would make a fine
investment.” He said it is a
sound company, has had good
management and should yield a
good return. Saying that he and
his associates felt it would be
“depressionproof,” he explained
that in bad times people would
turn from private automobiles and
taxicabs to the transit company's
facilities.
No Policy Change Considered.
He testified also that the group
he represented, none of whom had
experience in the transportation
raid, had given no consideration
to any change in Capitol Transit
policy. „
Mr. Baker questioned him about
the attitude of the Florida'group
toward the company's conserva
tive dividend policy. Mr. Wein
stein replied that had not been
discussed and said he believed
that management and the direc
tors could determine that policy
better than he. The company in
recent years has been paying $2
a share in dividends, although last
year this was cut to 60 cents. So
far this year it has paid $1.
The contract between the Flor
ida group and North American
calls for a price of $20 a share or
a total of $2,189,160.
The sum of $250,000 already has
been paid as earnest money. The
contract provided originally for
additional payments on delivery
of the stock of $500,000 in cash
and a 30-day note for $500,000 and
a 60-day note for $939,160. The
notes have been secured by the
stock purchase.
Can Liquidate Holdings.
A new contract, however, a copy
of which has been filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commis
sion, calls for all-cash payments
for the shares on completion of
the deal. Mr. Weinstein testified
that members of the group have
holdings which they can liquidate
which will more than take care
of the cash payment.
Herbert C. Freeman, president
of North American, a utilities
holding company, was another
witness. The examiner questioned
him also about Capital Transit’s
(See TRANSIT, Page A-3.)
Romania Adds to Curbs
On Foreign Diplomats
By th» Associated Press
BUCHAREST, Romania, July
22.—Foreigp diplomats in Ro
mania have been requested to
inform the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs each time they leave
Bucharest to travel in the areas
of the country still open to them.
They must indicate their route
whether by train, plane or auto.
In the latter case they must give
route and number of the car.
Last spring regulations were
made restricting diplomats to a
certain small section of the coun
try, but reports on ^individual
journeys were not reqiyfed.
f
Hearing Favors
Home Rule Foes,
Hildreth Says
Harris Denies Charge,
Asserts Proponents
Receive More Time
By Don S. Warren
Melvin C. Hildreth, Democratic*
national committeeman for the
District, today charged that oppo
sition witnesses have been granted
more time than proponents at
home rule hearings.
He made his protest at the close
of a two-hour hearing by a House
District Subcommittee after most
of the time had been given to Rep
resentative Hobbs, Democrat, of
Alabama, who attacked home rule
here as constitutionally impossible
and termed the home rule legisla
tion “a phony.”
Representative Harris, Demo
crat, of Arkansas, chairman of the
subcommittee, promptly denied
Mr. Hildreth's protest and de
clared:
“As a matter of fact, we have
given more time to proponenta
of the home rule bills than we
have to the opponents.”
He told Mr. Hildreth that “you
have no more of. a favorable
position than any one else” when
it comes to testifying.
Tells of “Patiently” Waiting.
Mr. Hildreth was urging that
spokesmen for the Democratic
Central Committee of the District
be given a chance to testify. He
reminded the subcommittee that
members of the party group had
been “patiently” sitting at hear
ing after hearing waiting to be./
called.
He asked that they be called
at the next session which at the
conclusion of the flurry caused by
Mr. Hildreth’s protest, was
scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m.
In his testimony attacking the
constitutionality of the current
home rule proposals, Mr. Hobbs
contended that Congress does not
have authority—without a change
in the Constitution—to grant the
vote to Washingtonians. He is a
former judge and a member of
the House Judiciary Committee.
Called “Sinking Sand” Bill.
The pending legislation for an
elected City Council and for lim
ited home rule, Mr. Hobbs said, is
designed “just to kid somebody.
This is a sinking-sand bill.”
He Was seconded by the Rev.
Marshall L. Shepard, District re
corder of deeds. He said he was
for real home rule, but that the
pending bills would not achieve it.
“This is a quickie,” he said, as
members of the subcommittee
plied him with questions.
Dr. Shepard said he agreed with
Mr. Hobbs that an amendment to
the Constitution would be neces
sary to give the District true home
rule, and added:
If we have waited this long to
get home rule, then we can wait
for an amendment to the Consti
tution if the people of the 48
States will agree to change it.”
Batzell’s Authority Questioned.
Representative Abernethy, Dem
ocrat, of Mississippi said, “Then
you haven’t been taken in?”
“Ceratinly not,” replied Dr.
Shepherd.
“You should have been here be
fore,” remarked Mr. Abernethy.
Another witness was Elmer E.
Batzell, a former president of the
MacArthur Boulevard Citizens’
Association, who said the associa
tion approved the principles of the
home rule bills. He was questioned
as to whether he had authority to
speak for the association. Tha
subcommittee had received a let
ter from Robert R. Hershman,
current president of the group,
(See HOME RULE, Page A-3.) J
Temperature Climbs
Toward Record High
The temperature was climbing
toward the record high for the
year here today. The high is
degrees on July 6 and at 1 pjn. f
today the temperature stood at 92
and was expected to go a few
degrees higher before dusk.
The heat record for this date
was 103 degrees in 1926, the
Weather Bureau said.
The bureau saw 4 chance of
some showers tonight, but said
nothing about substantial relief
from the heat.
Sunday Reading ...
Washington observer Carl
Levin says our top Govern
ment men are overworked,
overentertained and over
criticized to the point of ruin
ing their health. Under the
heading “Are We Killing Our
Leaders?” he writes about this
situation in THIS WEEK Mag
azine, The Star’s Sunday sup
plement.
A busy little plant in South
ern Maryland is flourishing on
the production of such items
as popsickle sticks, mustard
paddles, tongue depressors,
ice-cream spoons, etc. How it’s
done makes an interesting pic
ture story in The Sunday Pic
torial Magazine.
These and many other special
features augment the usual
thorough and accurate news
content of