Evening star., 1933-08-16
Frank S. Walker, John Ma
gill, Jr., and Isaac w.
Heaps Named.
CHAIRMAN KING MAKES
CHARGES AGAINST GROUP
Senator McCarran Rebukes One
Official for Failure to Re-
member Facts.

The price Of milk in the Washington
milk shed has been fixed over a period
of years by three men, Chairman King
of the Senate District Committee
charged today upon resumption fof the
milk investigation hearings.
The men named by Senator King
are Frank S. Walker. president of the
Maryland Virginia Milk Producers As
sociation; John Magill jr., secretary
treasurer of the same organization, and
Isaac w. Heaps, president of the East
efQ States Distributors Association.
Senator McCarran, Democrat, of
Nevada enlivened the hearing by sharp
" rebuking Magill for his difficulty in
remembering many of the facts the in
yestigators sought to bring out.
Asks Definite Statement.
"I would like to hear one definite
statement from you that you do re-
member something" Senator McCarran
told Magill. He declared also he did
not believe the witness was showing the
proper spirit toward the committee and
admonished him to be candid
Senator King and other questioners
endeavored vainly to draw from Mag1ll
an admission that he and Walker were
responsible for bringing DR. Clyde L.
King into the Washington milk area in
1928, in an effort to promote a plan
for fixing milk prices. 1t was de-
veloped, however. that DR.. King, now
special milk advisor to the Agricultural
Adjustment Administration, came to
Washington to act as an Arbitrator
after the Charles Bowman Dairy, which
controlled the bulk of the milk in the
Baltimore area, had acquired the Chevy
Chase Dairy and several other smaller
dairies in the District.
%I,a+ ~ hnI
been employed as arbitrator at a salary
of 5000 a month to be paid half and half
by the distributors and producers and
that two distributors objected, the Al
derney- Green Valley and Fairfax Farms
and the Simpson Dairy. He admitted
also that DR.. Kings plan had been gone
over by the MarylandVirginia MIX
Producers Association and some OF the
distributors before being presented at
the general conference. At that con-
fe. .ence Henry M Brawner. representing
the Chestnut Farms Dairy, declared he
could not be party to such a price
fixing scheme and left the meeting. Ma
gill said he heard Mr.. Brawner make
such a statement repeatedly.
As a result of an effort to put into
effect the plan proposed by DR.. King,
the Department of Justice in 1929,
issued a rebuke against the attempt to
fix prices in the Washington market,
which the department ruled, constituted
a violation of the antitrust laws.
The rebuke was signed by j. Lord
O'Brian, then an Assistant Attorney
General.
Darr Conducts Questioning.
Most of the questioning during the
morning session today was done by
Seton Darr, counsel for the Alderney-
Green MedoW-FairfaX Farm Dairy, an
independent concern, who drew from
the witness that he had engineered
diversion of 1900 gallons of milk from
that independent dairy as a result OF
which the Department of Justice had
ordered the Maryland-Virginia Pro-
ducers Association that they must stop
such diversion.
Darr also drew from the witness an
admission that he had endeavored to
persuade producers not to ship any milk
on trucks which we're handling milk to
the Fairfax Farm Dairy and that he
had asked the Thompson Dairy to CO.
operate in this Magill also admitted
that all farmers who are members of
his association do not get the same price
for the same quantity. and quality OF
milk.
Darr, as counsel for the independent
Fairfax Dairy, argued that the diver
sion of milk from that dairy which Mr..
Magill testified was sent to the Chevy
Chase and other dairies, was done while
the association had an agreement to re-
imburse the Chevy Chase Dairy for the
difference between what it paid for the
basic milk supply and what it received
in disposing of surplus milk. The testi-
mony yesterday showed that upward Of
$4,000 had been paid to the Chevy
Chase Dairy under that agreement.
Darr also endeayored to show that
the diversion of this milk was done at
the suggestion or order of DR.. Clyde
L. King. Senator King continued the
cross examination along this line.
Senator King also sharply questioned
Magill regarding how he. Walker and
Heaps agreed on the price to be paid
for the basic milk supply for Wash
ington" Magill answered that I'VE
finally got everybody to pay the same
price" Senator King then confronted
him with the printed schedule of
prices agreed upon by the association
and distributors.