The
* Washington
Merry-Go-Round
By Drew Pearson and
Robert S. Allen
~ WASHINGTON — In his mes
sage to Congress, President Roo
sevelt laid down this dictum as a
fundamental tent controlling the
vast defense expenditures: “No
person should be allowed to get
•rich out of this program.”
The folowing day the "Big
Four” defense chieftains echoed
this emphatically with: “If there
are those who think they can em
ploy this emergency for any per
sonal advantages, they must dis
miss such thoughts.”
These are lofty and patriotic
* sentiments, but certain Army
brasshats don’t seem to be aware
of them.
In fact, their unawar ness is
so pronounced in connection with
^ the acquisition of a huge tract of
land in Indiana that Under Sec
retary of War Robert Patterson,
who gave up a lifetime job as a
U. S. Circuit Court judge to
come to Washington, ordered th
Inspector General to make an im
mediate and thorough investiga
tion. Further, a few days later
Patterson ordered that swe ping
changes be made in handling fu
ture land contracts.
. The Inspector General’s quiet
pribe uncovered some int-rest
ing information on how certain
Army officials have been doing
business. Here is the inside story:
Last October the Land Division
of the War Department decided
to deal with Paul L. McCord,
* leading Indianapolis realtor and
prominent Republican in acquir
ing 60,000 acres of land for the
Army in Jefferson, Ripley and
Jennings Counties for a project
to be known as the Jefferson
♦ Proving Grounds. Besides being
one of the largest land deals un
der the defense program, it is
also remarkable in that McCord
receives a 6'a percent commis
sion.
The Army has and is acquir
ing other large areas in Indiana,
but the highest commission paid
on them is 5 percent, which is
considered generous. The aver
age private commission rate on
the sale of of farm land in the
^ state is around 3 percent.
OTHER INSIDERS
Working with Paul McCord is
Willis Covall, president of the
Union Title Company of Indian
apois and head of the Willkie
Clubs in Indiana; also a crew of
agents rounding up the options
for McCord.
The Union Title Company is in
on the ground floor of the Mc
Cord set-up. Under the options
that McCord acquires from land
owners, Covali’s firm does all the
abstracting. Another feature of
the McCord options is the follow
ing phraseology:
“Upon ex:reuse of thus option
by the Government, the under
signed agrees to pay to Paul L.
McCord, of Indianapolis, Ind. a
commission of six and one-half
16 ’ 2) percent of the gross sale
price as full payment for the ser
vie'- of said Paul L. McCord in
procuring such sale, preparing
the deed or deeds for the convey
ance of such lands, eliminating
title objections, and arranging
for settlement and closing of the
transaction.”
This option, the Inspector Gen
eral’s office has discovered, is
not the only document sellers are
required to sign. There is another
docunv nt entitled “Order.”
The "Order” is an agreement
under which the seller of the
land assigns to the Union Title
Company the right to collect the
Government’s check, and tl?en
subtract from the check a series
of charges that go to make up the
gros price which McCord reports
to the Land Division.
These charges are taxes, ten
ants’ rights, Union Title fees, rev
enue stamps, “other necessary ex
ponses, and a p reent com
mission “of the total option price
to Paul L. McCord for services
provided by option.” These “Or
ders” have caused much eye
brow raising in the Inspector Gen
eral’s office on several counts.
NO RECORD
One is the fact that the Land
Division has no record of them.
Photostatic copies of signed op
tions are on file but no trace of
any “Orders.” The options show
merely the gross purchase price,
the amount of acreage and its
location—and that’t all.
For example: An option on a
tract known as the Wahlman
Place states merely that it con
sists of 165 acres, at such and
such a location, and the price to
the Government is $14,000. There
is no break-don of this sum; no
indication of what charges went
to make it up. These are a secret
between McCord, Covall and the
sellers.
A possible clue to the nature of
these charges is an “Order” in
the hands of authorities covering
the purchase of another tract.
These items are as follows:
Land S2.210.
Abstract 95
Taxes . 50.
Stamps . 5.
McCord . 166.
Total . $2,526.
The Inspector General’s office
found a number of interesting
things in this “Order.” One is the
fact that although McCord’s op
tion states that the seller is to
supply the Government with a
title “without cost” actually the
cost is included in the sale figure.
Another is the fact that the
Union Title Company is charging
the Government $95 for this ti
tle while Department of Agri
culture records show that the
cost of such document to the Gov
eminent in Indiana over a p riod
of years has been from $20 to $53
with the average around $35.
La-t, hut far from least, is the
item of McCord’s commission,
which is based not only on tlv
cost of the land, abstracting, tax
j es and r venue stamps, but ap
I parently also on his own fee. In
other words, he added his ow;
commission into the price and
| then took C1 o percent of the to
, tal.
That’s the on'y way investigat
ors can figure out th $166 charge
And even then it doesn’t come
; out exactly. Six and onc-half per
cent of $2,526 is only $164.19. Sev
oral hours of figuring left the in
vestigators stil stumped.
Sev r;<l totals, however, have
been definitelv established, name
ly that the project will cost the
Government around $3,000,000, on
1 which Me Cord’s commission
would b; bout $195,009.
REFORM
In striking contrast to this in
teresting situation is another
Army land acquisition In pro
gr ss at Charlestown, Ind„ where
■ the duPont- are building a giant
powder plant for the Govern
ment.
Immediately adjoining this pro
ject the Army is buying up 3,500
acres for a rubber-bag factory.
But this time Soil Conservation
Service appraisers ar_ handling
the deal. They are negotiating op
tions without any charges for
. fancy and compound commis
sions.
Why the Soil Conservation Ser
vice, with its staff of expert ap
praisers. was not used for the
Jefferson Proving Grounds ac
quisition is a mystery that still
remains to be explained. In some
circles it has been suggested that
the fact that the McCord con
tract was mad before the Novem
her election might have some
thing to do with it.
NOTE —Hard-hitting Assistant
Attorney General Norman Littell
j has notified the War Depart
ment that the Justice Depart
ment will not participate in the
closing of any government land
deals in which commission art
collected upon commissions.
The best way to lose your shirt
is to try to make some easy
money.
_
SOURDOUGH STATIONERY
Thr4 unique and humorous
and typical Alaskan stationery
Sourdough Roadhouse Letter
leads and Envelopes”, have beer
nought strictly uptodate, and art
ow available at the Nugget offl
ce.
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A ROCKEFELLER ENTERS THE ARMY
\
Winthrop Rockefeller (center), 28, one of the five sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., shakes hands with
Charles McCarthy (right), an unemployed hatter who is a fellow inductee. They met early in the morn
ing at draft board No. 20 in New York whose chairman, Charles Stone (left) looks on. Rockefeller en
listed for a year’s training under the Seective Service Act, and was ordered to Fort Dix for training.
NEWS ITEMS
Harry Johnson and Laura
Walker were married Monday by
U. S. Commission, r Tanner.
The Nome Fire Department
was called out yesterday fore
noon to extinguish a blaze just
opposite Slack’s machine shop.
No damage resulted.
Jack Humling writes that he is
still vacationing in the Pacific
Northwest and enjoying the
spring warmth of the charmed
i land. During Jack’s “vacation”
i h. has been employed by Horace
; Kelsey of the Pacific Construc
1 lion Co.
Jack's father w'ent to the Mayo
Bros. Clinic at Rochester. Minn.,
for medical attention and upon
his return to Sumner, Wash., in
March, Jack will return to Nome.
Fred M’. WeRster, widely
known resident of Unalakleet,
died r cently according to word
i received. Webster served as air
| way weather observer at Unal
1 akleet and his son Lawrence will
i carry on the w> ather work t nv
j porarily.
_
HOSPITAL NOTES
Mrs. Perry Bahnke of Bluff,
J and baby daughter were dismiss
1 ed from the hospital Sunday.
Harry Hepworth is a patient.
Martin Willoya is a patient.
New Signal
Corps Man
Plenty Proud
Walter L. Slack, a dy d-in-the
coil radio "ham'' was probably
| the proudest youth in Alaska.
In Fairbanks to join the staff
of the United States Army Signal
Corps the new soldier could boast
that Uncle Sam heard he wanted
to join the Army, so he packed
a coupl-e of majors, a flight sur
geon, and a recruiting officer in
to a Flying Fortress bomber and
dispatched the big ship on a 1000
mile round-trip flight from Fair
banks to Nome to sign him up.
Slack and bis entire amatcmr
radio rig were taken aboard the
big bomber from Ladd Fi Id in
Nome recently. In honor of the
Nome resident’s entry into the
Army, all the visiting officers
were guests of the Chamber of
Commerce at a special luncheon.
S<~>me skeptics mgiht point nut
that Major Dale V. Gaffney and
his crew brought back with them
a load of fur garments for Ladd
Field’s soldiers — but you can’t1
fool Walter, and you can't con
j vince the town of Nome.
They know that the four-motor
■ ed bomber hopp-d to the shores
of Bering Sea just to taxi Walt
Slack into the Army.
—Fairbanks News-Miner.
Lyons & Orton
Attorneys At Lew
Rooms 918-921 Alaska Bulletin
Seattle, Washington
Thos. R. Lyons Ira D. Orto»
NOME LODGE No. A-5
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CHAS. CAVEY
Carrying an Assortment
of Fine Liquors, Win
es, and Bei l.
FRONT ST. NOMR.
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FAMOUS IIORSE GETS NEW HOME
Beau Pere. one of the most famous stallions of all times and sire of
many world-renowned racehorses is greeted by his new owner,
Louis B Mayer, movie magnate and sportsman, on arrival in San
Francisco from Australia aboard the SS Mariposa. Beau Pere cur
rently is the leading sire of New Zealand and Australia.
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Department of Commerce Weather Bureau
FORECAST, NOME AND VICINITY
Fair tonight and Thursday, not m uch change in temperature
Data For 24 Hours Ending 1:00 pm Today
Highest temp — 37 Lowest te mp — 28 Precipitation — T
Total precip this month 0.67 Tota lsino? Jan. 1, 1941, 0.86
Temp. Humidity Wind Weather
12 Midnight...—- 31 78 ENE 12 Cloudy
Sam __'... 31 71 ENE 19 Cloudy
12:30 p m..... 36 58 NE 11 Cloudy
Tomorrow: Sunrise 7:44 a. m. Sunset 4:49 p. m.
One Year Ago Today
Highest temp — 31 Lowest temp — 2 Precipitation — 0. 03
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