The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-08-02
Meet in Closed Session Mead Investigators to Set Up Priorities on 800 New Leads

ACdUS
 Washington. Aug. 27CUP)-Th Mead Committee met in closed ses 'ion today to set up priorities fo investigating war profits from tn, 100 leads it has on hand.
 Sen. Homer Ferguson, R.- Mich. ) committee member, told repor CTS:
 ''The committee, if it wanted tc could start 500 new investigation tomorrow"
 Up for committee discussion to lay were arguments over:
 l. New steps in it's inquiry into the ARnys use of defective 4.2-inch mortar shells which eX- ploded prenaturely in combat, killing and maiming American soldiers. Stark new eyewitness accounts of such incidents by former GI's were disclosed late yesterday.
 2. When to undertake a spot check of possible war profiteer- ing in the aviation, automotive, aluminium and shipbuilding in- dustries. Plans for this are un- der way with the asserted pur- pose G ascertaining whether renegotiation of war contracts and high wartime taxes actually took the profits out of war" as Congress had intended.
 3. Whether to assign a top priority to the case of Col. Theodore Wyman, much-inves- tigated former district engineer at Hawaii on Dec. T. 1941. The joint Congressional Pearl Har- bor Committee held that his activities needed special scru- tiny.
 4. Whether to send 8 sub committee to Honolulu and the West Coast to conduct prelim- mary Investigation of Wymans affairs.
 5. What to do about count less new tips and leads received since the start of the Carson inquiry; some are said to fore tell greater sensations than the Carson case.
 6. Whether to call new wit nesses to testify about reasons which led Rep. Andrew J. May to intervene twice with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower over the court martial of Murray Cars sons son, Capt. Joseph H. Cars son.
 T. Whether to investigate the activities of Gen. Brehon B. Sumervell (Ret0, former chief of Army Service Forces, in con- nection with the Canol and Alaskan highway projects in Alaska
 8. Whether to press an inves- tigation recommended by Comp troller General Lindsay c. War ren, who testified this week that untold billions of dollars were given away" by the gov ernment in the termination of war contracts. Warren said he knew of incidents in which contracts were switched from a cost-pius to fixed-price basis in order to avoid general ac- counting office audit and to provide more profits for con- tractors.
 g. Whether to hold hearings on reported profiteering in con- nection with Treasury procure ment for Lend Lease. Cases brought to the committees at- tention are said to be small but to show instances of profits as high as 300 percent.
 New eyewitness" accounts of 1 shell failures were released in u wake of the committees disclosu of a report that the Army sever times halted shipments of all mo tar shells to battlefronts rath than risk sending up faulty an munition which might kill Anne ican soldiers.
 One former CT charged, tn American boys had been literal murdered by shells they had be- given to fire against the enemy.
 The letters, bitter in tone al vivid in description, carried a fo mer shell inspectors comment tn no one in his company would ca to fire any of the shells that pass, through our hands without fiji attaching a 50O-yard lanyard al then getting into deep hole b fore touching one off"
 One former GI told of a gun ere in a chemical mortar battalion Italy being wiped out by this al munition." Another said gl crew at Fort Bragg, N. C., W killed or seriously wounded" du ing tests with the mortars in 1924;
 Reports To Specific Incidents
 Excerpts from the letter of a fo mer CT who saw more than 400 da in combat:
 "On or about Nov. 23. l943, Filigano, Italy the 1st Platoo Company c, 3d Chemical Mort Battalion suffered its first Az sh, premature explosion with the lc of two men killed, three serious injured and five other minor casus ties.
 "On or about Jan. IS, 1945, som where between Leutrebois and Ba togne, Belgium .. another Az sh, premature explosion. This time t shell exploded in the barrel killil three, seriously vounding two mo