Evening star., 1946-07-17
War Profits
Continued From First Page }


through their secretaries or have
them call, Mr.. May always made his
own calls, Mrs. Bates testified.
She frequently answered the
phone when he called for Freeman
she said. And, so many times she
could not count them, she got the
Kentucky Representative on the
phone for Freeman or Carson, she
told the committee.
She said Albert w. jacobson
former lawyer, who resigned from
the bar under fire and became a
chief consultant for the Chemical
Warfare Service, phoned SO often
that she recognized his voice and he
no longer had to identify himself.
Fields Usually Saw Carson.
She also mentioned Benjamin F.
Fields, who is charged in the COM
mittee record with an attempt to
bribe Senator Mitchell, Democrat
OF Washington, a member of the in
vestigating group, as frequent
visitor. He usually saw Carson, she
said.
Mrs. Bates. who said she was paic
S55 a week, testified she also took
quite few calls" from Col. e.
lott. The Col. Elliott previously
mentioned in testimony was Col
Lowell Elliott, deputy chief of the
Chemical Warfare Service. Senator
Ferguson devoted considerable time
one hearing day to ask witnesses il
they knew if Mr.. May had tried tt
get promotion for Col. Elliott.
In answer to a question from Sen.
atcr Knowland, Republican, of Cali.
fornia, Mrs. Bates said she had al.
ways left messages with Jacobson
office if she tried to get Jacobson
and he was not there. She said she
had not been instructed to leave
messages.
She recalled two visits to the
Carson Office by Jacobson-one ir
the early fall Of 1945 and the othe,
cary this year.
She also said she remembered
Freeman asking her to call the
embassy room of the Statler HoteI
to make reservations for a party
OF four or six for Jacobson.
Took Dictation Rarely.
Asked to describe activities In the
Carson office, Mrs. Bates said the
"only thing they ever told me wa.
that they were making munitions
for the war effort"
She very rarely took any dictation
she said, and many Of the letter.
she did take were personal ones fol
Louis Sarelas, manager Of the Wash.
ington office.
She said the Sarelas letters were
ito ladies'"
Would you classify them as love
letters?" asked Senator Ferguson.
"Oh no." she smiled, lust friendly
letters"
Mrs. Bates added in another tc
questions that Sarelas had dictated
a letter about a Hollywood contract
had demonstrated his singing talents
quite bit" and once had flashed
a 81 1000 bill but she paid no atten.
ton to it.
Mead Calls it Funny Place.
After listening to her description
of the office, Senator Mead com
mented to her:
That was funny place, wasn't
it? Six telephones. no correspond
ence, five men working there but
out of the Office most of the time
writing love letters, Hollywood con-
tracts and $1,000 bills"
The witness agreed with smile.
Asked If the men transacted most
of their business at night, Mrs. Bates
replied that they worked late"
She testified that Freeman was
sometimes away from the office for
a week at a time When she was
trying to locate him, she said, she
sometimes tried Jacobson's Office and
Mr.. Mays office. Sometimes, she
said, she would reach him with these
calls, sometimes not.
Before Miss Bates took the stand
Jacobson protested to the committee
that he had been Inundated and
maligned in the course of the COM
mittee hearings.
Il have been Inundated, maligned
castigated and degraded" Jacobson
said, asserting that this had been
accomplished "only by innuendo
inference and what not"
Objects to Airing Affairs.
Previous testimony had shown
that he passed on millions of dollars
of advances to munitions firms cur
rently under investigation by the
committee. Other evidence has
been offered to show he helped pre-
pare report which members as
serted verged on "whitewash" OF
the wartime munitions business of
the companies.
Jacobson objected in a statement
to the committee to the public
humiliation of having my personal
affairs thrown to everybody in this
community"
He said he was 'unashamed" oi
anything he had done as a lawyer
He said he quit the bar after be-
ing told of an investigation by the
Bar Association.
Immediately after resigning, he
said he did not know where "15
cents was coming from with which
to buy my baby milk" so he took q
job as a clerk-typist in the War
Department.
He testified that in 1912 the War
Department learned of his resigna-
ton from the bar, investigated the
incident and retained his services
His superiors told him, he said, that
they had complete confidence" in
him.
Executive Session Planned.
At the outset of todays hearing
George Meader, committee coun-
sci, said the committee may de-
eide within a matter of hours
what to do now about getting Mr.
May as witness.
An executive session on that point
will follow completion of presently
scheduled testimony, Mr.. Meader
said. This could be today.
Mr.. May has offered to testify pub.
licly if given the right of cross-ex-
min t{on of uify,assae h,, o,,,,ee1 ~