The Wilmington morning star., 1946-01-03
Fair Enough
By WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1915, By King Features Syndicate.)

| NEW 1OIA, z - 4SOI1I!du OoAc1, VI
| Laredo, Tex, has filed petition with the
federal communications commission, in Wash
| ington, charging that the Alamo Broadcasting
| Company, of San Antonio, by undermined
methods obtained physical possession of i'm
portant broadcasting equipment. the property
Of CHA, Industrial Universal de Mexico at
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
The Alamo station is the most important
+, single property Of the Texas state network.
organized by Elliott Roosevelt. The networks
stock, represented to be worthless in Jan. 49,
| ~, recently was valued at 500 share.
Bakers petition alleges that on the basis OF
| the acquisition of this equipment, the FEC.
| Gin an mprecedentedly short time, and with
| out notice or opportunity for any interested
parties to be heard, granted Alamo Broad
casting Company construction permit" Such
| equipment was frozen by war regulations at
the time Bakers petition charges that the
FEC gave Alamo the permit on the under
standing that Alamo would use at its improved
station transmitter and other apparatus &C
quired from the Mexican company, whose sta
| ton was known as KENT.
! Baker has record of two convictions in
| the federal courts, both set forth in the petit
| ton. In the first case, in 1896, he says the
FEC instigated an indictment charging him
| with making and transporting across the bord-
| er into Mexico without permission from the
| ! ~. q puOuOS1dpu ICCoIQ WuISA was P1oJ GU
on KENT. He was sentenced to four months
| IN Jail and fined $4,000. The petition says the
conviction was reversed by the circuit court
OF appeals on the ground that F.C.C.'s regula-
| ton was invalid
! Although he does not say so, there is rea-
son to assume that the monograph record
dealt with method by which Baker claims
to have cured external cancer. He was next
convicted of using the mails to defraud in the
oyn ofa hos ifo1 - krly
He was sentenced in Jan. 1910 to four years
in prison and fined $4,000.
He lay in Jail IA months, for which he re-
ceived no credit, while his appeal was pend
ing. He then went to Leavenworth on March
o. 1941, and he was released on July 10, 1914.
At that time he was on probation and could
be sent back to Leavenworth at the whim Of
the Department Of Justice to serve out his
remaining eleven months Of ''good time 50
he lay low until he was out of jeopardy Baker
insists that he had available as witnesses
many persons whom he had cured.
He seemed to be convinced that he can
cure cancer and to have suffered severly, but
whether he is a nercenary quack, mistaken
Zealot or a martyr to prejudice remains a
matter OF opinion. He relates that even be-
fore he set up his station in Laredo the FEC.
revoked his license for station In Musca-
tine, Ia.
| Bakers petition says that sometime in 1941,
he being in jail, trusted employee Of KENT
delivered to representatives Of Alamo an op-
ton to buy the Mexican station. And, he says,
under that option the Mexican firm did de-
| liver part of the equipment to Alamo Thus,
he says, he was put out Of business at last,
a result long desired by the F &C, and Alamo
was enabled to apply for better frequency
and increased power while other stations were
unable to obtain such advantages because of
| the 'freeze."
| Returning to Laredo in July 1914 he charges,
he was warned by persons unnamed that if he
tried to prevent the physical transfer Of the
apparatus across the border he might be ar
rested for violation of his probation or prosecut-
led in a tax case.
Nevertheless, Baker states, he notified the
Mexican government which forbade the expor-
tation Of the equipment during the war. This,
he says, delayed delivery and compelled Ala
mo to ask the FEC for extensions of time
for the completion Of its improvements.
However, Baker alleges, sin April, 1915, the
Alamo Broadcasting Company, its agents, Of
fcials, servants and employees, went to Nue.
vo Laredo and loaded four large trucks with
said transmitting and other radio equipment,
preparatory to crossing the bridge under cover
Of night" He, therefore, started action in a
Mexican court for an injunction, but "as the
result Of well-known tricks, articles and de-
vices common to the Mexican border said
| trucks did move across the bridge approx
mately 80 minutes before" the papers were
delivered.
However, he says the Injunction did pre-
vent the removal Of one large diesel and gen.
orator, two 3O0-foot towers, wires and parts
Of the antenna system. This property, he says,
is now under attachment to prevent its re-
moval
Baker seems Inconsistent, although he may
be only unclear, when he states later that
Phillip R. Overton, Of Austin, Tex, attorney
for Alamo. arranged permission for him to
spend Is days in Mexico He says this was
insufficient time for him to investigate
| thoroughly and that the visit was restricted
to such duration "as was intended to serve
the interests OF Overton, Alamo and Gene
eagle, the general manager of the Texas state
network, now largely the property off Elliott
Roosevelt's former wife, since remarked and
known as Ruth Edison. He does not explain
why Overton would have helped him to enter
Mexico at all.
| eagle owns 500 shares of Texas state net
work which he bought for $1,000. They are
now worth about $4,000. Baker says the in
crease is attributable to the FC.C.'s permit
to increase the power of Alano's station KABC
from $50 to $4,000 watts. Elliott Roosevelt, in
she investigation of his loans. said eagle had
done fine work rehabilitating Texas state net
work. Elliott said nothing about any acquisi-
ton of XENT's equipment by eagle.
| 1t may be remembered that stock which FL
| lott had pledged for loans was wheedled back
into the custody of President Roosevelt by