The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-11-04

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 Unnoticed and almost unreport- ed by the newspapers, 1t Is the struggle of two powerful groups of blue-stocking financiers to get the last remaining air route across the North Atlantic.
 Basic issue behind the struggle is whether one company-Pan American Airways - shall control all the overseas air routes of the United States. And some of the inside history of this monopoly re- sembles the land-grabbing of the early railroads.
 Pulling for Pan American Air. ways in the present Civil Aero nautics hearing are the Whit neys, the vanderbilts, the Melons of Pittsburgh, and the Bruces of Maryland.
 Pulling on the other side to sec cure an Atlantic air route com- peting with Pan American is American Export Airlines. Be- hind 1t, in turn, is Tommy Hitch. cock, one of the greatest polo play- CTS that ever lived. and the bank ing firm of New York's Governor Lehman.
 American Export Is petitioning the Civil Aeronautics Authority for permission to fly from New York to a French port on the Bay of Biscay, which would make connections to the Mediterranean, where American Export Lines alJ ready operates a fleet of mer- chant ships. The company al- ready has built clipper planes ca- pablo of flying the Atlantic, non- stop, whereas Pan American clip. pers stop at Newfoundland and the Azores. HOOVER ADMINISTRATION
 This week, Pan American, vig- orously opposing the new route projected by American Export Air. lines, asked the CAA for the use of all six transatlantic land- ings at Forth Washington, L. I. Since six landings are the total now permitted, this would exclude American Export Airlines auto- matically.
 If the Civil Aeronautics Auth ority handles Pan American with the same tender cares shown by the United States government in the past, American Export will not have a show. For never, since the days of Doheny and Sinclair, has one company been 50 favored. At one time during the Hoover Administration virtual orders were given the State Department to aid Pan American to the exclu. sion of other aviation companies.
 It is the strict policy of the State Department never to dis- criminate between American corn- panies, but to champion them impartially in foreign countries. In the case of Pan American, however, 1t deviated from this pol- icy with brazen indifference.
 In 1929, Postmaster General
 Walter Brown, who ladled out
 airmaiI subsidies, wrote to Sec-
 retary of State Stimson asking
 that "all practical assistance be
 given to the Pan American Air
 ways in securing operating ar-
 rangements in preference to any
 other American company"
 Walter Brown was Hoover's chief campaign manager, and his astounding instruction came at a time when the Curtiss company was giving Pan American @ stiff race in Chile.
 PAN AMERICAN
 STOCKHOLDERS
 As to why Postmaster Brown should have discriminated in favor of Pan American never may be known. But a glance at Pan- American stockholders is informa- tive. One of the largest stock holders is R. K. Mellon of Pitts burgh, whose uncle then sat in the Hoover Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury. Another large stockholder is David K. E. Bruce, son in law of Andrew Mellon. The Mellon interests are second only to those of Cornelius van- derbilt (''Sonny') Whitney. who has l57 .4Sl shares of Pan Amer ican stock, and John Hay ("yock") Whitney with 28.200 shares.
 Other large stockholders are W. H. Vanderbilt. now Repub- lican governor of Rhode Island, Jaun Trippe. Pan American presi- dent. and William s. Paley. head of Columbia Broadcasting system.
 Perhaps it was Che spell Of Che AEeIlens and the Whitnsys. s~er-