Evening star., 1933-05-30
MELLON-MI[LS TAX /
I INQUIRY IS ASKED.
McKeIIar Proposes Probe to
Senate-McFa adden At
tackS Blair.
BY the Associated Press.

Nv the Associated Press.
A resolution for digging into the in
come tax reports of Andrew w. Mellon
and Ogden L. Mills, heads of the Treas
ury during the past three Republican
administrations, was put before tne
Senate Yesterday by Senator McKellar
democrat, of Tennessee in the latest
of a series of attacks on these officials.
The proposal is that the Treasury
NAV be asked to report income tax as
sessments and payments on more than
a score of big companies allied with the
Mellon fortune, and also full data on
the tax assessments, refunds, abate-
ments, etc, on the estate OF ogden
Mills. sr for which the younger Mills
Is executor. Big abatementS to the
State were announced at the last ses-
sion of Congress.
simultaneously with introduction OF
this resolution. Representative Nc
Fadden Republican, of Pennsylvania) :.
who previously has sought Impeachment
of Mellon. Mills and others, put state
ment in the Congressional Record citing
data which he claimed was evidence
bearing on his charges of strange con-
duct by Treasury officials, including an
apparent evasion of personal income
was Secretary of the Treasury OF
well over a million dollars"
Cites Cannon Refund.
AS the additional evidence he said he
had been told he should offer. McFad-
den quoted at length from an account
in the Raleigh IN. CO, News and OBJ
server, of December 20, 1928, of
81 ,081 ,o26 compromise tax refund to the
estate of James w. Cannon, textile
magnate.
He quoted that con agreement Of at
torneyS for both sides, Federal Judge
/. M. Meekins, sitting in chambers here,
yesterday signed compromise judg-
ment, compromised at so per cent, by
which executors and trustees OF the
estate recover $1,0S1 ,o26, alleged to
have been overpaid in 1918 and 1919
income from the United States Gov
ernment."
=, The suit was brought by Charles A.
Cannon and David II. Blair executors,
and by them and the Wachovia Bank
ing 8, Trust Co. trustees, against j. w.
Bailey, former collector of internal rev.
enue, and Gillian Grissom, collector on
that date.
: McFadden quoted from the story
that: AN interesting feature of the
case was that Mr.. Blair, one of the ex-
ecutors, is United States commissioner
of internal revenue at Washington and
consequently in charge of the defense
Of the case, although he delegated the
matter to subordinates"
Yes, he delegated the matter of de-
tending the interest of the people of the
United States to NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
climates who were working under his
orders and wished to hold their jobs
Through matrimonial relationship,
Mr. Blair is himself a principal bene-
ficiary OF the Cannon estate. He made
his choice between public duty and
private profit and having made that
choice, he followed it in no half-hearted
fashion. He turned his duty over to
his subordinates and devoted his own
attention to his profits.
Charges Blair Was Present.
Under the law, no compromise in
a matter of income tax payment or
refund can be entered into without the
consent of the commissioner of internal
revenue.
: This case did not get to trial and
a verdict, it was compromised in the
judges chambers, Mr.. David H, Blair
was present in that chamber at that
compromise.
"In his office at Washington, the
commissioner of internal revenue issued
a ruling which made this compromise
and payment assume the appearance of
a legal transaction. Once the deal
had been consummated, he hastily
withdrew that ruling The terms of
that ruling have never been applied
TO the case of any other taxpayer in
similar circumstances.