The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-09-26
KEEPING UP
With
THE NE WIS
BY LUDWELL DENNY

NM ASh4NG4ON' oepV' ~ no
w has been a bad week for
Uncle Andy Mellon. The old gen.
tleman likes the peace and quiet
of the rich man and the govern
mental official who runs the show
without getting into the limelight.
But more or less everything this
week has run into trouble, and OF
publicity there has been no end
This jinx hits him in all his char
acters. For, of course, he is not
only the Secretary of tie Treasury
He is also Republican boss of Penn
sylvania, and one of the wealthies;
men in the country, and his family
controls the Gulf Oil Company and
the aluminium trust"
The Colombian government start
ed the trouble by cancelling $780,
000-acre Gulf Oil concession. Then
the Democrats began to blast the
G. o. P. Notifications in the usu-
ally safe" State of Pennsylvania.
Candidate Smith followed through
with a Helena, Mont, speech, which
was radioed all over the country,
raking up Uncle Andy's knowledge
of the oil bonds and campaign con-
tribution scandal And now the
Government after three years sud-
denly increases its charges against
the aluminium corporation for al
legged violation of the anti-monopoly
laws.
IN the aluminium case, which the
l. Federal Trade Commission has
under advisement today, the COM
missions counsel charges:
That practices of the company
tend to create a monopoly.
That the company has been guilty
of price determinations, not made
'in good faith to meet competition
nor in the selection of customers in
bona fide transactions"
That it tries to acquire a virtual
monopoly on bauxite deposits.
That it tries to prevent COMPETE
tors from acquiring water power or
riparian rights.
That "it seeks and endeavors to
and does control the market for
foreign aluminium within the United
States, thereby restricting substan-
tial competition"
The matter of the Colombian oil
dispute is even more disturbing.
When the Mellon company bought
controlling interest in the huge
Barco concession, its value was
doubtful because the neighboring
Venezuelan government would not
permit the necessary pipeline outlet
Where others had failed the Mel
Ion company somehow speedily sue
ceeded with the Venezuelan gov
eminent. But then the Colombian
government cancelled the conces-
sion, and now has reaffirmed the
cancellation.
When the State Department tried
to help the company by asking the
Colombian government to permit
the company to file a bill of errors
it unwillingly created IAN interna-
tional situation" That is, the Co.
lombian cabinet told the State De-
partment to mind its own business
and the Colombian congress pro-
tested against the alleged unwar-
ranted interference by the United
States in that country's sovereign
and domestic affairs.
AS the Upited States could not very
well take such rebuff from one
Caribbean country, while all the
other Caribbean governments were
looking on in ill-disguiSed glee, the
State Department sent back a SHARP
answer reasserting its right to pro-
tect the legitimate interests of Mel
lon and other companies.
60, Alfred f. Smith chose a mos
~ unfortunate time-at least Sc
far as Uncle Andy's feelings are
concerned-to rehash the Secretary
of the Treasury's relation to Sin.
clair oil bonds and old Republican
campaign funds. The Democratic
presidential candidate at Helena
said:
ut was the handwriting of a deat
man that disclosed to the people o.
the United States to whom these
bonds (of the Sinclair oil scandall
were offered. They were offered Il
the Republican Secretary of the
Treasury in an amount of $4,000
The Secretary OF the Treasury wa,
unwilling to be a party to this fraud
and, instead contributed $4,000 Il
the Republican national committee
and reelected the bonds.
ut stands admitted in the rec
ord that the Republican Secretary
of the Treasury concealed from the
Senate investigators his knowledge
of the manner in which these bonds
were being put into the treasury Of
the Republican party"