Evening star., 1935-08-07

Continued From First Page)
mean know where the various Gov
ernment departments are and who to
see"
Haig, in addition, said Frederick H.
Payne, Assistant Secretary of War un-
der President Hoover, and Bert Brown,
head Of the Federal secret service in
Detroit, hac both told him Silverman
was "a fine fellow" although he was
later warned by Speicher that he (Sil-
verman) was not honorable.
What was Silverman's proposal to
split the $1o,o0o,oo0 contract?" Nc
Swain asked.
His proposal" said Haig, twas
that We bid at the regular discount
and split the business between Chew
rolet and Chrysler''
How much commission did he
want?" McSwain inquired.
Il think 1t was ia per cent" he
answered.
"Silverman said he had to have
such q large fee because he had a
horse to feed He meant he had q
number of people to take care Of"
"Silverman said you had a rabbit
to feed" McSwain interrupted. Did
you hear him say it?"
NO" Haig responded. He further
insisted he was not to receive any
commission.
Says Silverman Went to Detroit.
Haig later testified that Silverman,
upon his invitation, went to Detroit
to present "a proposition" to General
Motors officials so the corporation
could get one-half Of the War De-
partment's business. He said, how
ever, he avoided seeing Silverman
alone there because he believed there
was something funny or crooked" ."
about the deal.
Knowing the sort of a character
Silverman was, why did you invite
him to Detroit?" asked McSwain.
Il invited him to. Detroit at the
request of Speicher." he replied.
You don't do everything Speicher
says, do you?" McSwain inquired.
NO" he said.
Haig, however. said he could not
understand why Speicher asked him
to invite Silverman to Detroit, later
warning him that he was mot hon.
orable"
Woodside Next on Stand.
J. P. Woodside, manager of the
Washington Office of General Motors
Fleet Sales Corp, followed Haig and
told how he left a position in the
controller generals office to take his
present job at $1,000 a year.
Woodside said he knew Silverman
before he resigned from the General
Accounting Office and in his new po-
sition he met him frequently.
Il wanted to get something out of
Silverman," he admitted under ques-
tioning by McSwain.
What did you want to get out of
him?" asked the chairman.
Woodside then explained in detail
that Silverman, through his "influ-
ence," had succeeded In getting Gen.
eral Motors written out" of Specifi-
cations for C. C. C. trucks and it was
his job to find out what Silverman
knew and how he could be brought
into line.
Denies Plot Was Proposed.
He denied, however, that Silver.
man had ever proposed a conspiracy
to divide Government automobile busi-
ness between Ford, Chevrolet and
Chrysler. He said Silverman did tell
him that the present administration
intended to allocate its motor con-
tracts, instead of letting them on
competitive bids, and intimated Il
would be "a good idea" If he, Silver
man, were placed on the General
Motors pay roll.
Woodside said he did not 60 along
on the Silverman plan and the deal"
fell through.
Before the committee completes the
Silverman part of its investigation 1t
plans to hear Payne and Brown,
whose names Haig mentioned during
his testimony.