The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-04-15
Washington
 Merry-Go-Round

Continued from Preceding Page) that parts of the best-selling au- toblcgraphy were pure fiction, and has argued that If Valtin were whipped in the manner de- scribed in his book, there would be scars on his face. To this, Val ,iii made the following proposal through his attorney, Morris s.rnst:
 "Tell Ingersoll to put up S1,-
 GOO, and I will let anyone he
 chooses lash my face thirty
 times-first, however, wettlng 1t.
 Alter two months, if there is .
 scar on my face he gets back
 the $1,000. If there is no scar
 I keep the $1,O00."
 Note.-New York police say that If the skin is wet before admin istering lashes, scars eventually heal. This is the practice of the Nazi Gestapo.
 BANKER LOBBY
 The investment banking lobby, one of the most agile, is operating in high gear again. Members of Congress are being bombarded by their silk stocking constituents with complaints because the Se- curities and Exchange Commis- sion has ordered competitive bid- ding on public utility stock is- sues.
 Competition may sound reason- able enough, since that's the way most business is done, but the big Eastern investment bankers don't like it-for very special reason. 1t jeopardizes their control of the nuge utility holding companies.
 .. If other investment bankers
 can come in and bid on the fi-
 nanclng of these companies,
 there isn't much gravy left for
 Wall Street. They prefer pri-
 vate deals made behind closed
 doors. The utilities might get
 better terms under competitive bidding, but the inside bankers
 are primarily concerned with
 keeping their dominant position. 2 Tn the Holding Company Act, Congress directed the SEC to break up these banker controls, and recently, after several years of backing and filling. the SEC cracked the whip. The big invest- nient boys hurTiedly reassembled their lobby, but so far the pres sure drive doesn't seem to be set- ting anywhere. Most congress- linen see nothing wrong with a law that means lower electric rates for consumers and greater safety for investors.
 MERRY-GO-RoUND
 French Ambassador Henry -Haye is telling Trenchmen in this coun- try that they'd better get back home soon, or 1t will be too late. Apparently, the Ambassador be. lieves the United States will not stop "short of war" Gardner Jackson, who broke from John L. Lewis Labor's Non Partisan League over Roosevelt, is suing The Saturday Evening Post and Ben Stolberg for calling him Q "Stalinist." Jackson's father, wealthy Colorado pioneer, built the Denver and Rio Grande Ral- road.
 MAIL BAG upJ. S., Miami, Fla.-According to the Virginia Quarterly Review, this month marks the tooth anni- versary of the birth of the detec- tive story. The first author was Edgar Allan Poe and the first of his detective stories was "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" {. A. H., New Bern, ". C.--Senator Josiah Bailey is on good personal terms with President Roosevelt ,.ald is cooperating with the Ad- ministration generally .. F. C., san Antonio-Privately, French E Ambassador Gaston Henry-Haye has little standing with U. s. au- ~fnorities. His practice of using White House and State Depart n ment steps for sounding boards is strongly resented R. O., Ash land, Wis. - (1) Representative ], Bernard Gehrmann has inserted race-angle matter in the Congress sional Record: (O he was born Tn Germany: (3) he has opposed de- fense and aid Britain measures. (Copyrlght, ie4i. by United Fea- ture Syndicate, Incl