THE BATTALION
Thursday, September 10, 1970
College Station, Texas
Page 3
Senators, representatives
taking illegal contributions?
ulz
WASHINGTON (JP) — Secret
Justice Department files show
two ship lines gave nearly $6,000
in illegal campaign contributions
for key members of Senate and
House committees that control a
rich flow of federal subsidies for
the firms.
The largest contributions to
taling $1,500 went for Rep. Ed
ward A. Garmatz, D-Md., chair
man of the House Merchant Ma
rine Committee. Another $1,000
was given for Sen. Warren G.
Magnuson, D-Wash., chairman of
the Senate Commerce Committee.
In addition, both House Re
publican Leader Gerald R. Ford
and Democratic power Hale Boggs
were among 15 congressmen and
senators to whose campaigns the
shipping firms have pleaded guil
ty to giving illegal donations.
The Garmatz and Magnuson
committees approve subsidy pro
grams which pay $200 million a
year in federal aid to American
cargo and passenger ships. A
House appropriations subcommit
tee actually votes the subsidy
funds, and other checks went for
the top four members of this
panel.
The legislators’ names were
kept secret when the two firms,
American President Lines and
Pacific Far East were fined $50,-
000 each—the maximum penalty
-in federal court Feb. 6. They
were charged under the Corrupt
Practices Act, which forbids cam
paign donations by corporations.
Among those identified in the
closely guarded files is Rep. L.
Mendel Rivers, D-S.C., chairman
of the House Armed Services
Committee, who is listed as get
ting a $300 campaign check, al
though it was left out of the
court case.
The Justice Department had
shielded the names of the con
gressmen and senators because,
government attorneys said, there
was no indication they knew the
contributions they received were
illegal.
The checks were funneled from
a special bank account through a
public relations man and two lob
byists.
1 Asked about the checks, most
'of the various congressmen told
The Associated Press they were
unaware of accepting any un
lawful contributions.
One check for $500 went for
Rep. Robert L. F. Sikes, D-Fla.,
when he was unopposed for re-
election in 1966.
The check, payable to Sikes’
campaign committee, appears to
have been endorsed by Sikes when
it was cashed through Congress’
own bank in the Capitol.
The $500 did not show up that
year in a list, published in the
Congressional Quarterly, of the
campaign contributions reported
by candidates in sworn statements
to the House.
Sikes said he would have to
check his records, but added, “If
I accepted an illegal contribution,
I intend to refund it.”
The Justice Department files,
which includes copies of the can
celed checks, also list a $100 con
tribution made for Ford; $200
for Boggs, who is House Demo
cratic whip; and $100 for the
GOP whip, Rep. Leslie C. Arends
of Illinois.
Ford said, “It is my policy
need a Be ?
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never to accept a contribution
from a corporation and I have
followed that policy religiously.”
The two San Francisco firms’
contributions, counting the small
er checks to Ford and others not
on the shipping committees, to
taled at least $8,500 and ranged
from 1966 to 1968. They included:
—$1,000 for Garmatz from
American President Lines and
$500 for Pacific Far East. Gar
matz has represented Baltimore’s
waterfront district in Congress
since 1947 and took over the
House Merchant Marine Commit
tee half a year before the illegal
checks were given in 1966.
—A total of $1,000—half from
each firm—for Rep. William S.
Mailliard, the top-ranking Re
publican on Garmatz’ committee.
Mailliard, a Navy Reserve rear
admiral from San Francisco, said
he never handled campaign con
tributions personally. He said,
“If my campaign committee re
ceived a check signed by an in
dividual, they would have as
sumed it was legal.”
—$1,000 for Sen. Magnuson
from American President Lines
prior to his 1968 race for re-elec
tion. An aide to Magnuson said
all his contributions also were
handled through a campaign
treasurer and added, “The sen
ator has no personal knowledge
of receiving any such check.”
—$800 for Rep. John J. Roo
ney, D-N.Y., a Brooklyn veteran
of a quarter-century in Congress,
now chairman of the House ap
propriations subcommittee which
funds the flow of subsidies for
shipping firms. Rooney said he
didn’t recall ever receiving checks
from any corporation.
—$800 for Rep. Frank T. Bow
of Ohio, the senior Republican
on both Rooney’s subcommittee
and the full Appropriations Com
mittee. Bow said the checks, sign
ed by the public relations man as
an individual, were brought in by
the two lobbyists and turned over
to his campaign committee. He
said, “We have no knowledge
whatsoever that this was a cor
poration contribution.”
—$300 for Rep. Elford A. Ced-
erberg, R-Mich. Sikes is the sec
ond-ranking Democrat and Ced-
erberg the No. 2 Republican on
the same appropirations subcom
mittees.
—$500 each for Sens. Daniel
B. Brewster, D-Md., and Thomas
H. Kuchel, R-Calif., both of whom
were beaten in their 1968 races.
Brewster, currently under indict
ment for bribery in an unrelated
case, was a key Senate supporter
of shipping interests.
—$500 for the late Rep. Gle-
nard P. Lipscomb, R-Calif. Iron
ically, American President Lines
pleaded guilty to this count along
with the others, even though the
indictment was in error and listed
the Lipscomb check as involving
a congressional race in the wrong
state, Colorado.
—$100 each for Reps. Thomas
L. Ashley, D-Ohio, and Jack Ed
wards, R-Ala., both members of
the House Merchant Marine Com
mittee when the contributions
were made. An Edwards aide said
the check would not have been
accepted if the campaign staff
had known it came from a cor
poration.
American President Lines is
currently receiving $34 million a
year in federal subsidies for 24
cargo ships and two luxury cruise
ships.
Pacific Far East is getting
nearly $9 million a year in fed
eral aid for 10 cargo ships.
The subsidies go mainly to
make up the difference in the
higher wages for American sea
men as compared to foreign
crews.
The Justice Department took
the cases against the two firms
to a grand jury after the Inter
nal Revenue Service found the
companies had deducted the po
litical payments on their tax re
turns.
The companies, which had sim
ilar ownership in 1966 when most
of the contributions were made,
had channeled the money through
a special bank account set up in
the name of a public relations
man in San Francisco.
The public relations man then
signed and forwarded the checks
to two lobbyists in Washington
who distributed them.
“All I ever was was the inter
mediary. They would send checks,
I’d have a congressman to lunch,
and present him the contribution,”
said Noah C. Brinson, now retired
as a lobbyist for American Pres
ident Lines.
The Justice Department attor
neys handling the case expressed
surprise when told a lobbyist had
said checks were given person
ally to some congressmen. They
conceded that they made no ef
fort to ask the legislators wheth
er they knew the checks were
coming from the corporations
through a special bank account.
The department drew up the
indictments so that they would
deliberately include 10 checks for
Republicans and 10 for Demo
crats.
As a result, the check for $300
for Rep. Rivers was left out. The
last Democratic spot in the list of
charges against American Presi
dent Lines went, instead, to the
larger $500 check for Sikes.
Lard now Ag dean
Dr. Curtis F. Lard, associate
professor of agricultural econom
ics at Texas A&M University,
has been appointed as assistant
dean in the College of Agricul
ture.
Dr. H. O. Kunkel, dean of agri
culture, said Lard’s duties will
cover resident instruction. The
economist will work closely with
Dr. R. C. Potts, associate dean of
instruction.
Lard also will keep his associ
ate professorship in agricultural
economics, Kunkel said.
“Dr. Lard has demonstrated
that he has a sincere interest in
students and their development,”
Kunkel said. “He has served as a
member of scholarship commit
tees, co-chairman of career days,
club advisor, Agricultural Council
representative, and advisor to
undergraduate and graduate stu
dents.”
The professor came to Texas
A&M in 1967 from the University
of Tennessee. His teaching spe
cialty is agricultural production
economics, and his research cen
ters on financial management and
farm and business firm growth.
The agricultural economist is
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Grady
W. Lard of Savannah in Tennes
see. He received his BS degree
from the University of Tennessee
in 1957 and his MS and PhD de
grees from Michigan State Uni
versity in 1959 and 1963.
Lard has 20 publications to his
credit. He is a member of the
American Agricultural Economics
Association, Southern Agricultur
al Economics Association, Ameri
can Economics Association, West
ern Farm Economics Association,
the Institute of Management Sci
ences, Operations Research Soci
ety of America, and is listed in
“American Men of Social Sci-
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