The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-06-18

put 1IOUklu blllb ALlySbCI 4Ou of the most unusual and in New Deal.
 It is particularly important now because this Is the day of big campaign contributions to both parties, and the case of Morrison Illustrates what campaign funds may do.
 During the los2 campaign, MT. Morrison contributed $6O,000 to the Roosevelt war chest. ranking closely after Barney BafAch and Joe Kennedy as one of the top contributors.
 Shortly after the successful end of this campaign, MT. MOr- rlson was appointed an Ameri- can delegate to the LendOn 0EcOnOmic Conference. This was not . very important pOsi- ton, but one Of the efforts made by that delegatOin, if not the chief effort, was to increase and stabilize the price of silver. About six months after this con- ference adjourned, on January 31, 1D3z, the official list of "hoarders of silver" made public by the treasury showed that Morrison held 1,774,74O.66 ounces of silver. Tn fact, he was the second largest individual holder in the United States.
 Texas Dam
 Some time after this, Mir. Mor- rison became interested in Har1- ilton dam, Q power project on the Lower Colorado river near his home in Texas. Started by Inc sull, 1t was a valuable property but was left unfinished when Inc sull crashed during the depression.
 Also, Morrison came out to de- feat Maury Maverick of San Al1- tonio for reelection to congress, threatened to put up $26,0O0 against him. Maverick had vio- lently attacked the big utilities and Morrison, a Texas utility op- orator, had made 9 deal with the Insull receivers to take over the Hamilton power project.
 To this end, Morrison asked the Reconstruction Finance Corpora ton for 6 loan to complete the propect, but R. F. O. Chairman Jesse Jones, also from Texas, turned him down.
 Then Morrison petitioned Har- old Ickes for a PWA loan. Again he was turned down. Ickes told him PWA could not lend govern ment money to develop a private power site.
 So Morrison then engineered a bill in the Texas legislature which would create Q Lower Col- orado River Power Authority to take over the Hamilton project as 8 public enterprise. This encoun- tered some opposition, but even- tually passed.
 Just a Gift
 Meanwhile, Morrison's deal with the Insull receiver was completed and approved by U. g. District Judge James H. Wilkerson. It was e neat piece of legal legerdemain and requires Q word of explana- ton.
 The Hamilton Dam was incor- porated under Central Texas Hy- droelectric, which was part of Middle West Utilities, the parent Insult concern. Receiver for this was Van Rensselaer, Thayer of Chicago.
 And Thayer agreed to give 0. c. MallOtt, agent for Morrison, all the stock of Central Texas Hydroelectric, in return for which the Morrison Organiza- tion gave 40 per cent of the stock back to the TnsuIl receive -ership. In other words, the Insult receiver handed S1 per cent of . very valuable conn., pany over to the Morrison ore ganixation for absolutely noth- ing. No compensation was paid.
 All this is a matetr of record in Equity 116S1", District Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois.
 But what is not q matter of record is what argument Morri- son used on Receiver Thayer to induce him to make Morrison a gift of 5l per cent of the Ham, ilton Dam.
 HOWEVER, Morrison's politi- cal prestige both in Washington and Texas apparently was worth 5l per cent of the power company. Jack Garner
 Vice President Garner, intimate of Ralph Morrison, spoke word for him. So also did Congress- man James Buchanan, chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, in whose district Hamilton Dam is located.
 Then the President sent a
 brief memo over to PWA Ad-
 ministratOr Ickes asking him to
 look over the pFojecmt again.
 xckes had turned it down be-
 fore. But now that Texas had
 created a state power auth0r-
 fly, Ickes put up the money
 S2O,0OO,O0O of which Sl2,600,00O
 is . loan and s7,60O,0O0 an out
 right grant
 Under the arrangement Morri- son made with the Insull receiver, he was to get 6 certain specified