Evening star., 1940-04-19
Senate Orders
Campaign Fund
Investigation
Committee Is Told
Of Excessive Sums
Spent in Primaries
BY the Associated Press.

oy tIIe hSSOCldtcQ FIcsS.
The Senate Campaign Investigate
ing Committee today ordered an in
vestigation of complaints that "ex-
cessive sums of money" were being
spent In behalf of some aspirants
for the presidency.
Senator Gillette Democrat, OF
Iowa. committee chairman, said the
complaints had been received from
apparently reliable sources"
He declined to name the candi.
dates or the party involved but said
that thus far charges affected only
one party.
The committee approved motion
instructing Senator Gillette to as
sign investigators to study the COM
plants, the source of which was not
disclosed.
Il have not yet acted" Senator
Gillette told reporters, "but will
act"
Whisperings Of large expenditures
IN recent senatorial as well as presi-
dental primaries also figured in
causing the committee to meet today.
Report on Manufacturers.
Senator Gillette saN he had re-
ceived reports that the National As
sociation of Manufacturers was cir
cularizing its membership for funds
IN connection with congressional
races. He has requested his In
formants, he added, to send him any
copies Of letters sent out by the
N. A. M. in any such campaign.
The committee also decided today,
the chairman said, to send investi-
gators into Missouri at once to study
reports "of the improper use of off,
cial influence and the promise of
Withholding of State patronage not
only In the selection of delegates
to national convention but in the
State senatorial campaign"
AS to expenditures by contenders
for presidential nominations, Sen
ator Gillette declared:
I'VE have received complaints
from apparently reliable sources in
dicating that there has been and
would be the expenditure of excess
sive sums Of money in connection
with candidates for the presidential
nomination.
Motion of Committee.
THE committee adopted the fol-
lowing motion:
Whenever there comes to the at
tention of the chairman of this
committee information which
seems to him to justify apprehension
and fear that excessive amounts of
money are being spent by presi-
Dental candidates, vice presidential
candidates, delegates to national
conventions or candidates for the
Senate IN all parties to nominate
presidential candidates and dele
gates to the conventions he is hereby
directed and instructed to assign
investigators to make as full report
as possible and to report back to the
committee for any action indicated"
Senator Gillette explained that
there now is no Federal limit on cam
paign expenditures, but he declared
that if the money were spent for
buying delegates" or other such
purposes an infraction of Federal
election laws might be involved.
In any event, he said, the COM
mlttee would make thorough study
OF all legitimate complaints about
excessive expenditures and then
would decide whether to seek pros
ecution, recommend additional
legislation or merely make public
its findings.
He could not disclose, he said, what
candidates had been the target of
complaints, because that would
place an individual in an unfavor-
able light even before we made an
investigation"
Senator Gillette declined, when
questioned, to state the source of
the Missouri complaints. He said,
however, that he had discussed them
with Senators Clark and Truman,
Missouri Democrats.
Two-Man Subcommittee,
A two-man subcommittee-Sen.
ators Hill, Democrat, of Alabama
and Reed, Republican, of Kansas
probably will start hearings in KAN
sas April %, he said, on complaints
against "the improper use Of Of
fetal influence and State patronage
to influence the selection Of delegates
to the Republican National Con-
vention."
Declining to comment on com.
plants from Nebraska, Senator Gill
lette told reporters that most of to-
days meeting had been devoted to
planning personnel setup for the
committee. He declared that COM
mittee attorney would be employed
shortly.