The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-08-13

well, Cnlnk these pTall trus' ters are babes in the woods com pared with you," interpreted Rep Adolph Sabath, d., Ill.
 q don't want to get into any argument with you or the chair man. am trying to tell tho truth" Hopson snapped.
 Later, he said, he and Mangt formed Massachusetts trus' which held the entire capital stock of A. G E. This trust, the As. sociated Gas Properties, Is the top" he told the committee, and controls the assets of the Associ. ated Securities Corp, Delaware corporation.
 Asso ciated Securities, he went on controls A. c. k. which in turn controls or owns the various oper. ating companies.
 Hopson said the purpose in ac. quiring 300 companies since 1922 was to insure operating economies which could be ."passed on to con. sumers lin lower rates and to in. sure dividend and interest pay. ments to investors, who put ur their money"
 Hopson said the 800 companies were all types of organizations in the chain, of which 198 were oper. ating companies.
 "Of that number" he explained, sixty were merged into the New York State Gas and Electric Cor poration alone"
 Hopson said that his company did not own or control some of them "because we usually don't go into 8 minority situation"
 Prominent Men There
 Prominent congressional figures in the utility floor fights were in the audience.
 Among them was Rep. Andrew J. May, d., ky, arch foe of the IVA yardstick program, Rep. D, J. Driscoll, d., Pa., and Rep. John E. Rankin. d., Miss.
 Joseph Mccarthy, former "G' man and ace of the senate investi- gators, sat in a front row seat pre-. pared to serve Hopson with . subpoena for that committee.
 A score of photographer boomed flashlights at tho door upon Hopson's entrance.
 Chairman John J. O'Connor, q. N. r., of the house rules commit- tee, occupied the presiding off, cer's chair. He consulted with committee counsel, William H. Collins.
 A flashlight bulb broke as Hop. son was swearing to tell the truth.
 "All right boys, get 1t over with,' '' O'Connor admonished.
 Appearance of William Hill, Hopson's counsel, was noted" by O'Connor but the chairman said he could not participate in the pro- ceeding.
 Can Consult Attorney
 "Mr Hopson may consult with you," O'Connor said.
 T live in Andover, N. J., Hop. son said in reply to o'Connor's first question.
 That's in Sussex county near Lake Hopatcong."
 He said he did not have . resi- dence in New York city, and that he had returned from . winter in Florida about the first of June."
 He admitted in reply to . ques- tion from o'Connor, that while in Florida 1T kept e close track of pending utility legislation as l could"
 "I'v been connected with utili- ties all my life,' he said, land 1t was natural should be interest ed."
 He told of 20 years experience in the utility field and said he had been lin touch" with B. B. Rob- inson, Chicago securities dealer, working in Washington to defeat the utility bill.
 T was eager for him to under take the work" Hopson said.
 Held Various Offices
 He told the committee he was a native of Wisconsin and related his various offices in. the com plicated associated gas system.
 Hopson leaned forward and spoke clearly into the microphone.
 He raised his finger occasionally as he emphasized a point.
 He spoke earnestly of associat- eds complicated set-up and said he had dissociated himself from routine work about March, 1888.
 He told of various subsidiary ore ganizations formed by A. O. E. to carry out detailed operations such as handling of stocks, stock cou- pons. and tax returns.
 He said he first became identi- fled with A. c. D. in 1889.
 The company at that time was under the management of the !. c. White management corp, he said
 Hopaon said he wac retained by the firm Go carry out consultations, auDerVfao laR work. and ssHeutrai-