Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-09-23


town, Md, and
made speech just before the pri-
mary elections in Maryland and
promised the people of Maryland his
cooperation in getting a bridge for
that end of the Potomac River. He
also spoke of bridge over the Sus-
quehanna River. Then on the eve
of the primary election, Secretary
1ckes, the public works administrator.
made public a telegram which he
said he was sending at the direction
OF the President urging his regional
officer in the P. w. A. in New York
to give right of way" to both the
bridges aforementioned.
Now the primary election is over
and Sentor Tydings, who opposed the
administration, has been renominated,
but there is curious mix-up about
the building of the two bridges. First,
1t was disclosed by the President him.
self at his press conference on Tues
day afternoon of this week, that the
newspapers were connecting some
kind of a political story about the
bridges and that he had discussed
the matter with the Governor of
Maryland, who was to try to get the
necessary financial backing for two
bridges instead of three originally
planned. The President went on to
say that If the private bankers who
were to finance Marylands share of
S. per cent of the cost of the bridges
couldn't do the job, then the Federal
Government couldn't put up it's As
per cent share.
Bankers Give Their Version.
From the press conference report
ers went out, believing that a hitch
had developed with respect to the
operations of the private bankers in
Baltimore. Inquiry of the bankers,
however, ELECTED the information that
on the very day the President was
talking about this, the bankers had
visited Secretary Ickes and formally
assured him that they could and
would finance the two bridges instead
OF the three as he requested. The
bankers went so far as to say in a
public statement very discreetly that
Mr.. 1ckes doubtless had not had an
opportunity between their session with
him in the morning and the after
noon press conference at the White
House to advise the President of the
bankers acceptance.
Now, however, on Thursday of the
same week, Secretary Ickes, after q
Wednesday conference with the Presi-
dent, announces that only one bridge
will be built, and that's the one over
the Susquehanna at Havre de Grace.
The reason given officially is that
there wss only money for one bridge
all the time and that the State of
Maryland could have had its choice
OF any one of the three bridges but
not any two because this would have
given Maryland subsidy in excess of
her quota under the P. w. A.
Facts Known Beforehand.
But the quota for Maryland was we'll
known before the primary elections.
Likewise the willingness of the bankers
to finance three bridges was known
before the primary elections. Likewise
the people OF Maryland were given to
understand on the eve of the primary
election that the P. w. A. administra-
tor was interested in both the bridges
at Morgantown on the Potomac and
Havre de Grace on the Susequehanna.
The names of both bridges were mem
toned plainly in the prediction tele-
gram.
Now it turns out that only one
bridge was intended right along. |
Nothing was said to the people of |
Maryland about the impracticability
OF substituting more than one bridge. |
These being the facts, it is interest
ing to turn to the official announce
ment from the Office of Mr.. Ickes Just
issued which purports to explain what |
has happened. The announcement |
carefully conceals the fact that the |
bankers would have financed both
bridges and refers only to the original
plan of three bridges and says this
could not be financed by the P. w. A.
But the President told the report
CTS this on Tuesday of this week as
something he had also told Gov. Nice |
on the day he visited Morgantown. |
There was nothing new in the P. w. |
AS inability to grant three bridges.
The P. w. A. announcement, however,
lets the reader believe that inability
to finance three-bridge plan led to
the adoption of a one-bridge plan.
Yet the private bankers were willing
to finance two bridges and the P. w. A.
was not. even though Mr. Ickes on the
night before the primary election al
lowed the voters to believe he was
about to approve both the Potomac
and the Susquehanna bridges which
together would have meant Federal
subsidy of about $3953,000 instead of
the s2,l67,000 now to be granted. Did
the defeat of the administration can
didate deprive the people of Maryland
OF bridge over the lower Potomac
or was there at no time any intention
on the part of Mr.. Ickes to build two
bridges? The reader can make up his
own mind from the foregoing facts
which have been assembled from in
quiry at all the sources involved in
the making of the news itself.
(Copyrieht 1Q3S1