Evening star., 1934-04-24
THAYER DEFENDS
UTILITIES LETTER
Declares 1t Obviously Was
Written for Political
Purposes.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press
ALBANY, N. Y, April 24.-State
Senator Warren T. Thayer, Chateau
gay Republican, answering charges Of
misconduct because Of correspondence
with utility company. last night de-
cleared that q statement In q letter
which said II hope my work was
satisfactory to your company" was
obviously made for political pur-
poses"
The Senator, whose acts now are
being Investigated by q Senate COM
mittee, declared:
TT is similar to other statements
which were being sent out by me to
individuals and organizations inter-
ested in different measures which
had supported or opposed"
Letters exchanged between the Sen
ator and officials of Associated Gas
and Electric Co. were written in 1927
and 1928 when Thayer was chairman
OF the Senate Public Service Com
mittee. That body passed upon legis-
lation affecting the utilities.
There was no formal denial of mis-
conduct in the Thayer answer which
was made public by Senator William
T. Byrne, Albany Democrat, chairman
Of the Judiciary Committee which is
conducting the Thayer investigation.
The Byrne Committee, which began
It's inquiry two weeks ago, will hold
its next public hearing on May z.
Thereafter it will report to q special
session OF the Senate which will de-
termine If Senator Thayer was guilty
OF misconduct and should be ousted
from the Senate.
Explains Connection.
After long explanation Of his coz
nection with the Chasm Power Co.,
which was sold to the Associated,
Thayer took up discussion Of letters
made public by the Federal Trade
Commission. Referring to "the letter
purported to be written by me to Mr..
Magee on March %, 1927" he said.
The next and last sentence in the
letter Is as follows:
hope my work during the past
session was satisfactory to your COM
pany. not so much for the new legis-
lation enacted, but from the fact that
many detrimental bills which were in
troduced we were able to kill In nv
committee
This statement was obviously made
Tor political purposes. It is similar
to other statements which were being
sent out by me to individuals and or
ganizations interested In different
measures which I had either supported
or opposed. The Associated Gas &
Electric Co. and its subsidiaries had at
tnat time q substantial number of
employees and bondholders in my dis
trict. I have found from experience
that the attitudes Of the heads of
companies and different organizations
having employees and members in nv
district are generally known by the
employees and members Of these or
CARNATIONS and the interested parties.
and that their attitude Is important
70 me from a political standpoint.
Declares Statements Typical.
$50 far as the other letters are con.
cerned, and so far as additional let
ters to officers and representatives of
tnese companies are concerned, the
statements contained In these letters
are similar to statements sent out by
me to different persons and organiza-
tions In reference to enactment.
amendment and defeat of different
measures In which they were In.
terested.
II was elected to the Assembly In
1919, and served there continuously
until 1921. was elected to the Sen.
ate In the Fail Of 1920 and have been
reelected six times since then. Dur
ing this entire period from 1915 to
1925 was vice president and general
manager Of the Chasm Power Go. and
my attitude in reference to measures
enecting electrical power companies
mas always been consistent and has
always been well known to my con-
stituents."