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THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY. S. C. Pressure Ends Probe W HEN good old Clyde Hoey, the swallow-tailed senator from North Carolina, announced there would be no more hearings on Gen eral Vaughan, John Maragon and the five-percenters, it didn’t sur prise anybody on the inside. For insiders have known how much pressure has been exerted by the White House to shut the investi gation up. About six weeks ago it was an nounced that public hearings would be suspended in order to give the committee staff a chance to do more investigating, also to give committee counsel Rogers a two- week vacation. Since then, however. White House pressure has been ter rific, with even staff investigators threatened with loss of government pensions. Since then, also, some sensation al leads have been glossed over by committee investigators or care fully stowed away in pigeonholes. One of the most interesting fig ures which Senator Hoey and his staff have turned their backs on is David A. Bennett, the perfume manufacturer, who sent seven deep freezes to General Vaughan, Mrs. Truman and other bigwigs at about the time Vaughan’s friend, John Maragon, was trying to smuggle Bennett's perfume into the United States disguised as champagne for the White House. Yachts & Deep Freezes There are some other interesting things about Bennett which the pub lic doesn’t know, and most of the record is in government files where any senate investigator could easily dig it out. This column doesn’t have the same power to subpoena records as does Senator Hoey of North Caro lina, but since the senate commit tee has decided to backslide on the job, this writer has done his best to take up where the senator from North Carolina left off. For instance, here are two inter esting things which the public has a right to know about. Bennett, at the time he was giving away deep freezes, acquired four government airplanes without competitive bid ding, and four luxury yachts, three of them from the U.S. government. Four yachts are a lot for any one man to have. For that matter, so are four airplanes. However, deep freeze-giver Bennett wasn’t satis fied with four yachts and wanted to buy another. To this end, a letter was written to John Maragon, care of General Vaughan at the White House, by one of Bennett's subor dinates. The letter, dated Novem ber 19, 1945, is in the files of Sen ator Hoey’s committee, but since be doesn’t seem interested in doing anything about it, this column is glad to publish the letter as fol lows: "Mr. John Maragon, c/o Brig. Gen. Harry Vaughan’s office. White House, Washington, D. C. "Dear John: — “At the request of Mr. Bennett, am sending you herewith reprint of an advertisement—on ‘yachting’ and ‘motor boating.’ Mr. Bennett would like you to contact Commo dore Moran, of the small boats di vision, maritime commission—Miss Barrett, sec’y.—and find out what condition this is iii, and what price they are asking for same. “Mr. Bennett is feeling fine after his little rest in the country, and is planning on leaving here again to morrow to spend Thanksgiving there. "Hope you are in the best of health, and with kindest re gards . . Parties on Yachts At the time this letter was writ ten to Maragon, Bennett already had the following luxury yachts: “Cartnan,’’ 600 horsepower, 121 foot, 221 tons; "Valerie V,” 85 foot, 124 tons; “Caroline," 45 foot, 24 tons; “Nedra B," 111 foot, 101 tons. All of these, except the "Valerie V,” were purchased direct from the maritime commission. And when the maritime commission was asked to disclose who else bid on the vessels, and how much was bid, the information was refused. When asked whether the bids had been advertised, Miss Mary Bar rett, referred to in the above letter to Maragon, flew into a rage. One reason why Senator Hoey may wish to deal lightly with the man who had so many deep freezes and yachts at his dis posal was because Harry Tru man, when Vice-President, was a guest aboard the Bennett yachts. In fact, the yachts were used for some of the famed Truman-Vaugh- an poker parties, and this long-time intimacy between the President ol the United States and the president of the Verley perfume company may be why Maragon felt that he could with impunity label his per fume as consigned to the White House and try to smuggle it through U.S. customs. At that time—around 1945—one Bennett yacht was moored on the Potomac, another at Saugatuck, Mich., and another in Florida. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS ‘ Harvest This Year Second Largest In U.S. History, Government Says; Reds Purge Czech Property-Owners (EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Union’s news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) HARVEST: Second Largest Witness America’s horn of plenty con tinued to go all out in its produc tion of food for the world. Latest crop summary of the U.S. department of agriculture showed that good harvest weather would assure the nation of its second larg est volume of crops in history, topped only by the record-breaking haul of 1948. EQUALLY important was the fact that a record supply of com was on tap for producing meat, dairy and poultry products. The month of September brought conditions sufficiently favorable to boost total production prospects 1 per cent, despite a slight decline in the com estimate. Total crop volume was indicated at 131 per cent of the 1923-1932 base level, second only to last year’s 137 per cent However, present Indications are that this may be the last year for some time that crop production reaches such astronomical heights. As surpluses were mounting almost alarmingly, the government was preparing to take action to reduce output next year. There was every likelihood that market quotas would be slapped on some of the basic crops which have been overflowing into storage in recent years. THIS YEAR’S huge output is the result of fairly large production of most individual crops, rather than record-breaking yields of just a few. Nearly 128 million tons of live stock-feed grains are being pro duced this year, including a com crop of about 3.47 billion bushels. Last year’s com crop of 3.65 billion bushels set an all-time record. The 36.5 billion tons of food grains now estimated, though exceeded in each of the past three seasons, is greater than in any earlier year. Included in this figure is a bumper wheat crop of 1.12 billion bushels, virtually all of which has been har vested. CONGRESS: Half a Loaf Admiral Arthur W. Radford took tile stand before the house armed services committee to testify that current defense plans and military setup rele gate the navy to a role "use less and Inadequate” in the event of an atomic war. CZECH PURGE: Slow Terror Slow terror, the kind that even tually is bom in persons living under any totalitarian government, was seeping through Communist Czechoslovakia. Cause of it was a Red purge, aimed primarily at supposed bour geois elements, but leaving no man —be he a Communist party mem ber or not—free from the fear that he may become a victim sooner or later. UNCONFIRMED reports of the total seized or marked for arrest in the Communist police roundups ranged between 30,000 and 40,000. No information was being given, either as to causes, results or any other details of the widespread ar rests. The pattern of the purge was clear. Landlords, architects, con-; fectioners and other small shop keepers were being picked up and their business confiscated. In some cases, their apartments were seized and families dispossessed. The first session of the 81st con gress headed toward an October adjournment with less than half of President Truman’s program writ ten into law. THE PRESIDENT could count 15 major accomplishments, by his reckoning, at least, on the part of the congress he helped ride into office last November. Left as unfinished business for the 1950 congressional campaign, however, were a number of highly controversial proposals among the 22 requests that Mr. Truman had laid before the present session without getting final action. Chief among these is the Taft- Hartley act repeal, which was turned down in both houses during this session. The President un doubtedly will revive the issue in January, and the outcome this time may depend upon how some special elections this year to fill senate and house vacancies turn out. SOME OF THE other requests which Mr. Truman is almost sure to re-introduce early next year will be for a system of compulsory health insurance, civil rights legis lation, standby price-wage controls and the passage of "Point 4" legis lation to guarantee U.S. support in developing backward areas of the world. PAY BOOST: In the main, it was a drive against Czechoslovakia’s proper tied classes, theoretically the mor tal enemies of Marxist communism. HOWEVER, the prosecution of the property owners was accom panied throughout Bohemia and Moravia by purges of government employees, the clergy, army and even the Communist ranks. Charges, where there were any, ranged from high treason and sympathy with Titoism or “western imperialism” to simple denuncia tions by snoopers who had over heard suspicious bits of conversa tion. Possible hint as to the reason behind the purge was the report that the government is having trouble not only in its campaign to control the Roman Catholic church, but also its efforts to prod higher production out of the workers. CHINESE REDS: Win Diplomats Was It a case of rats deserting a sinking ship? That might have been a plaus ible construction of the move as Chinese diplomatic-staff members in Paris deserted to the Communist regime at Peking and called on Chinese diplomats throughout the world to follow their example. : or Cabinet There was good news for cabinet members, who have been plugging along at the same old salary ever since 1925. A joint senate-house conference managed to arrive at an agreement to boost cabinet members’ sal aries from $15,000 to $22,500 a year. THE CONGRESSIONAL group also approved pay raises for some 200 other top-drawer federal offi cials—at a cost of $1,087,000 an nually. In addition to raising cabinet sal aries, the pay bill will: GRANT Undersecretary of De fense Steve Early $20,000 a year instead of $14,500, and the armed- forces secretaries $18,000 a year instead of $14,000. Most of the undersecretaries of the various departments will go up from $10,330 to $17,500. J. Edgar Hoover who, as head of the FBI, now receives $14,000 will get a raise to $16,000. GEORGE MONG, counselor of the Paris embassy, made the an nouncement. He reported that 11 diplomats, eight from the embassy and three from the consulate had walked out on Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government at Canton. The development posed a prob lem for the French foreign minis try’s Asiatic affairs section. They were particularly concerned by the threat of a rebel sit-in at the em bassy. However, the issue was re solved when the French moved firmly to back up the Nationalists and struck the dissident Chinese envoys off its diplomatic list. THE FRENCH difficulty was clear. While Paris still recognized the Nationalist government, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the western powers eventually may recognize the Communist re gime of Mao Tze-tung. Already there have been conversations on that subject IGNORANCE COSTLY Story of $200-Bills Trips Up Gambler It was not the first case where unfamiliarity with big money had tripped up an individual who was attempting to finagle with it, but navy petty officer James G. Strat ton, New York, might have made his story stick had he known more about money when he reported to police he’d been robbed. He said a tall, thin, mustachioed man held a knife to his back and took $31,900 from him while he and spectators stood helpless to do anything. The robbery, Stratton told police occurred on a Grand Central sub way platform. He even showed of- fleers where the holdup man’s knife had cut his shirt and under shirt. Then it all came out. He had lost all of the $31,500 but $500 in gambling while his wife thought ha had it safely stored away. \ BURLEY: U. S. Likes Quotas The government took first steps toward continuing existing rigid marketing controls on barley to bacco amid calls by agriculture secretary Charles Brannan for another three-year control pro gram and for views by interested persons on the question. BRANNAN’S REQUEST for the three-year extension of control on the burley crops stemmed from the fact that this year’s prospective production of about 590 million pounds is well above the current annual rate of disappearance. The leftover of burley on October 1, the beginning of the 1949-crop- marketing year, was estimated at 970 million pounds—about 7.5 per cent above that of a year ago. It was the highest on record. Brannan, in asking for expres sions of views by interested per sons, was acting under require ments of the law. The question is expected to be submitted to a ref erendum in December. Approval by at least two thirds of those vot ing would be required. QUOTAS for the 1947, 1948 and 1949 crops were voted in 1946. Brannan is also required by law to proclaim quotas by December 1 if he finds there is a surplus within terms of the law, and there would be few who would not concede that a surplus exists. BIG STEEL: Try, Try Again The government was pledged to do its best to bring peace into the steel Industry. MORE AND MORE meetings had been arranged in an effort to end the deadlock between workers and operators. Cyrur Ching, U. S. conciliator director, made the first peace move in the extended strike when he arranged informal meet ings with steel companies and the striking CIO United Steelworkers. Both sides had been holding doggedly to their pre-strike posi tions—the union for company-paid insurance and pensions recom mended by a presidential board, and the industry for welfare bene fits with workers helping to foot the bill. SOME COMPANIES had agreed to accept the union terms, but this did not mean strike’s end. The stakes were big in the con test. Where big steel went there would go most of U. S. industry, inasmuch as steel usually sets the pattern in wage and labor nego. tiations. NAVY: Blue Fading The man with the charming smile, the iron will and a weak ness for salt water and blue uni forms was no longer in the* White House. Top man in U. S. govern ment. Instead, was a hard-bitten captain of artillery in World War I, an army enthusiast with little in common w'th sailors. THUS THE NAVY, embattled against a horde of critics, de tractors. and air-minded big brass was literally fighting for its life before congress. The battle dragged on and on, while the huge B-36, world’s largest bomber, shook and bumped about in the verbal hurri cane raging in Washington. The U. S. air force, for the mo ment, at least, held the center of the stage, seemed assured of most support. The navy, according to one witness, would be relegated to the status of a convoy force if present unification plans for the armed services were carried out. Hitting out viciously at the air force, the navy declared building of the B-36 was an inexcusable waste of taxpayer money, claimed the big ship could. never do the job expected of it, argued and fought for a chance at a duel be tween the navy and the bomber, Conferee John L. Lewis, chief of the United Mine Workers, coal miners’ union, shown as ho met with mediators in Wash ington in an effort to settle the coal strike. BENEFITS: For War I Vets President Truman signed into law a bill Increasing disability and dependence payments to World War I veterans by an estimated 112 million dollars annually. Among its major provisions were: Provide full compensation, in stead of 75 per cent! for veterans whose disability is presumed to have resulted from war service. Increase the length of time for which payments may bo made. HOARY TALE . . . Major Gregory Gudlofsky, hero of the Polish under ground during the late war, who arrived in the United States recently, tells a war story to Deiders Janls, a two-year-old Immigrant from Poland. Major Gudlofsky was credited with killing General Kucera, son-in-law of the notorious Heinrich Himmler, during a raid in which he accounted for two other German generals also. His real name is Gutman, and he will make his new home with a cousin in the Bronx, DEB REPLACES STAR . . . Tongue-waggers of Broadway went into their specialty recently when William D. Pawley, Jr., son of the former United States ambassador to Brazil, escorted debutante Gloria Shannon to El Morocco, one of New York’s fashionable night spots. TITLED STUDENTS . . . The “Red Knight’s” niece and a princess enter United States as students among 78 German exchange students recently arriving in New York. They are Princess Eleanore Von Bayern (left) and Baroness Ingabord Von Rlchtofen, niece of famed Baron Man fred Von Richtofen, Germany’s World War I ace, who won fame as the “Red Knight” of the air. The princess will attend Catholic university in Washington, D. C. DEPENDING ON JOE . . . New York Yankees’ manager, who has been up to his neck in woes all season, puts a hand on the shoulder of his recuperating slugger, Joe Di Maggio, and tells him that the fate of the Yanks in the World Series rests on his shoulders. Joe returned to the field after a siege of virus pneumonia Just in time to help New York win the pennant and the series. The Yankees, now world champs, were hounded by injuries all season. NONCHALANCE ... Mrs. Mariam Mateswosian, 99, from Armenia, is oldest D. P. to enter United States. Here, she awaits in New York the next act in her ad venture. She and her 44-year-old son are enroute to Fresno, Calif. THE WINNER . . . Mrs. Romaine Dahlgren Simpson, New York di vorcee, will become the bride of the Marquess of Milford Haven, cousin of King George, recognized as Britain’s most eligible bache lor. "NO FRAMEUP” . . . Vicki Evans (above) denies at New York press conference charges by Lila Leeds that frameup was in volved in marijuana raid in which Misses Evans and Leeds and Rob ert Mitcham were caught. EMBARRASSED . . . The face of Andrei Vishinsky wears a self- conscious expression as he is sur prised by a photographer. He was leaving a meeting of the Big-Four foreign ministers at New York’s Waldorf - Astoria. An Austrian peace treaty was discussed. TROPHY WINNER . . . Miss Louise Suggs poses with trophy she was awarded as winner of the National Women’s Open Cham pionship golf tournament at Land- over, Md. In the final, she beat Mrs. Babe Didricksuu Zaharia CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT AUTOS. TRUCKS & ACCESS. FOR SALE—1946 Brockway 154W trac tor, sleeper cab; 1946 26* stainless steel Freuhauf trailer, insulated. Both ex cellent condition. Will '■eh separately. Zero Products, Inc., 1:1th and Donato*. Chattanooga, Tenn. Y-6557. ^ BUSINESS & INVEST. OPPOB. $5200 TOTAL price includes stock. 125 ft. drive in, 2 gas oumps, draft beer, short orders. 30' bar, dance patio. Htchen* bedroom, bath, shower. 3 years lease. 3 year option. Rent, electricity and g«.s $3.30 per day. Outside Inn, Sooth Fed- oral, Delray Beach, Fla FOR SALE One practically new 4 W. J. B. Feed Mill; Purtian Mixer, all direct, electric; tank, transformers and installation. J. L. Roberts, Abbeville. Ala. 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