Evening star., 1946-07-08

Fields Wanted Case Expedited.
Il was told that Murray Carson
has Just had a stroke. Fields said
since I was here on the Carson
case. he wished we would throw the
whole book at them and get it over
with. He said the only thing they
wanted was to get it over with.
said there was nothing I could do
| said the GAO was working on the
audit and suggested that the only
thing I could do would be to have
them speed up.
This morning Joe, after l left
him at the Drake. telephoned me
at the Morrison Hotel at about Il
o'clock and then came up to see
me- I don't know whether he Is
representing these people Or not.
It's awful when at Al a thing
like this happens to me. I gave
him the $500 in the presence OF
Fields
Told Joe Where TO Get Off"
''Mr. Meader: Joe called you this
morning?
Mr.. O'Connell: This morning I
gave him the money back. I left
there after telling Joe where to
get off, and I told Fields that his
reason for coming here wasn't for
Senator Chavez.
He had told me that my job
was to go to New Mexico and have
them put up posters and paint sign
boards In the Eastern district,
AT II o'clock today Joe called
me at the Morrison Hotel and
wanted to come see me I said all
right and he came l have never
known Joe to be man like this He
has taken me for one hell of ride
Mr.. Meader: What did Joe say
when he came up to see you today?
Mr. O'Connell; When he came
up to the hotel the primary mission
was to make certain that l didn't
talk with you or any one else. In
addition. he told me that he had
gone over to another hotel-the
Stevens. Evidently Fields left the
Drake and went over with Freeman
at the Stevens Hotel and Joe went
with him. l just deduce that. They
must have sent Joe up to say that
starting tomorrow these companies
would be closed and we would have
to use subpoenas to get their records.
Joe told me that. What shall I do?''
Mr. Meader: III tell you, Tom
| You sit tight. You sit down right
now and try to remember as ac-
curately and completely as possible
everything that happened from the
very beginning in chronological
order-put it in writing and mail
it to me. Put all the details in,
Make it the compete story and
mail it to me-"
Did Not Sense Fields Ideal.
In the letter to Mr. Meader which
followed the recorded telephone con-
versation, Mr. O'Connell wrote:
Field asked me to be in Wash
ington this coming Monday to at
tend a meeting of the political cam
| paigners which was to be held in
! Senator Chavez's Office. I did not
sense at that time what Fields had
in mind-that ii 1 were to be in
Washington on Monday. the suppo-
sition was that I could close up the
work of the auditors of the General
Accounting once Gn the Carson
companies for the Mead Committee
here in Chicago this week. I as
sured Mr.. Fields that such thing
was impossible and the matter was
dropped"
! Mr.. O'Connell further wrote OF
Fields:
He spoke of the hardships that
we were working upon these people
i.e.. payments being held up by the
War Department, the banks being
reluctant to loan money while the
investigation was going on. recon-
version being delayed. and the other
tried expressions which we heard
from the outset of the case
Asked to Ignore Personalities.
When Mr.. Freeman called at the
hotel suite. Mr. O'Connell added
Mr.. Freeman told me of his dislike
of his personal activities entering
into this hearing and wanted tc
know If I would not be agreeable
to leaving out of my report on the
case anything pertaining to person
alities. To which I replied that the
committee was not dealing in per-
sonalities. and the chances were
that such things would not show ur
at hearing"
After Mr.. Freeman left the hote
room, Mr.. O'Connell said, he and
Martinez and Fields talked for an
other half hour. Fields asking spe-
cifically what I could do to assist
the Garssons in getting the auditors
out of the plant. which appeared te
be the only thing Fields was pri-
marily interested in Mr.. OCon-
nell added:
Il stated that I would probably
get to Batavia, H.. and Elgin, ILL.,
December 6. to see how the audi
tors were making out and to finG
out for my own information and
yours when this audit would be
over"
TeStifies on Salaries.
George Knutson Of the War De-
partment Price Adjustment Board
testified that the books of IS OF
the 16 Carson corporations en-
gagged in war contracts showed that
!, during the three years-1942-43- 4.
-22 executives drew salaries total.
ing $l.048. 900.
: During renegotiation of the con.
tracts, he said, $4,000 in salarie.
was disallowed.
The salaries listed, Mr.. Knutsor
, SAID, included all over $4,000 6
year.
No Salaries for Lumber Firm.
Chairman Mead asked If the book
showed any salaries paid officer
OF the Cumberland Lumber Co
listed as one of the Is companies
Representative May was Kentuck,
agent for this company, and haI
| psct,,