Evening star., 1930-04-08
CRAMTON ANSWERS
LAWYERS CHARGES
Representative Denies lad
win Report on Potomac Pow.
er Was "Suppressed."

Attacking a recent statement of Elisha
Hanson attorney for the Potomac River
Corporation, who charged that the mi
nority report of Gen. Edgar Jadwin, as
a member of the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission, favortng
power developments at Great Falls, had
oeen Suppressed" Representative Cram
ton of Michigan, today said in a state
ment that the only suppression has to
do with Mr. Hanson's views. Represen-
tative Cramton is the author of the bill
to keep the Potomac Valley for park
way.
In his statement. Hanson, whose
client is urging congressional approval
of park-power development project In
the Great Falls area, charged that the
Jadwin report was suppressed notwith-
standing the fact that Gen. Jadwin was
chairman Of the Planning Commission
at the time.
Representative Cramton today denied
that the Jadwin report was suppressed
and said that he had caused to have
printed in the Congressional Record all
opposition views obtainable before the
House passed on the matter.
Cramton's Statement.
Mr.. Cramtons statement follows in
full:
THE attorney for the Potomac River
Corporation, which company seeks a
permit to develop power at Great Falls,
gives much emphasis to what he calls
the suppression of the minority state
ment of Gen. Jadwin last August as a
member of the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission. Inasmuch
as Gen. Jadwin was himself the chair
man Of the National Capital Park and
eefA 81 H. Ill @f
the last fiscal year, 1t is to be presumed
that he could have secured the in
cluSion of any minority statement he
desired in their report for that fiscal
year. Evidently he did not care to en-
phasize his opposition to the views of
the other 10 members of the commission
to that extent. Certainly until Gen.
Jadwin indicates some feeling that his
views have been suppressed by the
Planning Commission, Mr. Hanson does
not need to worry about it.
so far as the House of Representa-
tives is concerned, the views of both
Gen. Jadwin and Maj Somervell were
brought to the attention of the House
as fully as possible before H. r. 26
the bill in controversy. for the estab-
lishment Of park at Great Falls, came
up for consideration in the House. The
bill was considered in the House on
Thursday, January 80. In the Con-
greSSional Record of Tuesday, January
%, and again in the Congressional Rec
ord of Thursday, January 80. appears
the Gen. Jadwin statement in full, once
inserted at the request Of Representa-
tive Wilson of Louisiana and again at
the request OF Representative McDu61e
Of Alabama.
I'm my principal address on this bill
DO fI1~
1 referred to the views of Mai Somer-
veil and placed in the Record in full
the letter of Maj. Somervell to Repre-
sentative William E. Hull of Illinois, in
which letter was thus first given to the
public by me the S100,000,0o0 waste
conclusion Of the majcr. Both the
Jadwin and Somervell views we're,
therefore, before the House, and not
withstanding on Thursday, January 80,
the House proceeded to pass H. r. 26
by vote Of 1919 to "a.
Hearings Year Ago.
"I have wondered that the power
company that is fighting this park bill
has not made complaint at the sup
preston of the Hanson views with ref
erence to H. r. 26. The identical prede-
cessor of this bill was the subject of
hearings in the Seventieth Congress, a
year ago, before the committee on pub
lie buildings and grounds of the House
and the committee on the District of
Columbia of the Senate, both hearings
being publicly announced in advance,
but no one appeared in opposition to
the bill and the views Of Mr.. Elisha
Hanson, attorney for the Potomac River
Corporation, appear to have been sup
pressed at that time. In this Congress
H. r. 26 was the subject of an an
nounced public hearing before the COM
mittee on public buildings and grounds
OF the House and also the committee
on rules Of the House, in December,
1929, and January, 1890, respectively,
and still the views of Mr. Elisha Hanson
of the Potomac River Corporation con-
tinued to be suppressed One may have
suspicion that Mr.. Hanson thought
that his own quiet and unobtrusive per-
sonal activities had killed the bill, but
this did not prove to be the case, and
it was not until the bill had passed the
House and was pending before the Sem
ate committee that Mr.. Elisha Hanson,
attorney for the Potomac River Corpo-
ration. gave any public expression to
his very definite and positive, but not
disinterested. views concerning the pro-
posed park at Great Falls. 1t is ap-
parent that the real suppression of
views in connection with this legislation
has to do with the Elisha Hanson views,
which were only presented publicly to
Congress after he was surprised by the
great victory gained by the legislation
in the House and driven to abandon his
more unobtrusive methods and take up
a public activity In behalf of his cor
noration"