Evening star., 1947-12-20
The Political Mill
Grain Speculation Probe
Carries '48 Dynamite
Stassen May Be Called to Back Charge
u. S. Officials Played Market
By Gould Lincoln

Stassen May Be Called to Back CharsG
y. S. Officials Played Market
By Gould Lincoln
The hottest political potato in many q day
gambling on commodity exchanges to be
given thorough going over by two Congress
sional committees, the Senate Appropriations
Committee and a special committee Of the
House, headed by Representative Anderson Of
Minnesota. Part of the heat stems from the
fact that President Truman denounced gamb-
ling in futures on these exchanges and de-
clared it an important factor in the rapid
increase in prices this year. And another
part stems from the charges that Government
officials have been feathering their nests by
this kind of transaction.
The special targets of the inquiry will be
these insiders" who have been in position
to make valuable use of advance information
regarding Government purchases, crop re-
ports etc. Former Gov. Stassen of Minnesota,
candidate for the Republican presidential nomi-
nation, drove the grain trading of Edwin w.
Pauley, special assistant to the Secretary Of the
Army into the open.
The question he raised is: Has there been
speculation Of a similar character by other
officials of the Government, and to what ex-
there has been such trading 1t is entirely
within the cards he will be summoned before
one or both committees to say what he knows
about these officials.
Mr.. Stassen contends that high ranking
officials Of the Government actually knew all
along what was being done by traders in
grain, for example. If he is correct, there
may be in the making scandal of such pro-
portions that 1t will have bearing on the
political campaign next year. What the Demo-
Gratis are hoping Is that sufficient number
OF Republicans may be involved to take the
curse off the Truman Administration and the
Democratic Party, particularly Republican
members of the House or Senate.
Effect Almost Ignored.
So keen is the interest in what govern
mental figures may be involved that the ques-
ton Of speculation in grain futures and In
other commodities as an influence on the price
structure has almost been forgotten. As the
inquiry proceeds, however, that, too, may be-
come real issue. The President, in his orig
inal structures on gambling in commodities in
dicated that unless a halt were called, It
might be necessary to put legal restraints on
the gamblers, or at least increase margins
drastically
For a brief period 1t looked as though the
inquiry might be effectually begged down. Sec
retary Of Agriculture Anderson, standing on
his Interpretation Of the Commodity Exchange
act. declined to provide the Senate Appro-
prtations Committee with the names of indi-
viduals trading on the commodity exchanges
unless Congress amended the law. Neverthe-
less, he did tell the committee that he would
submit to It's demand for these names pros
v1ded he could make the list public-and not
merely hand 1t to the committee in private
The Republcan-dominated committee-for
somes reason still nebulous, declined this offer,
Immediately suspicion arose that the Senators
so voting were seeking to single out individuals
for publicity-and to protect others who might
be on the list. The political jockeying for
advantage had reached new high point The
Democrats had grabbed the ball and were
running with It,
Suspicious Averted.
Fortunately for the Republican Senate and
House, q resolution was quickly drafted and
finally put through both houses, thereby re-
heving Republicans from possible charge they
were afraid Of the very investigation which
they had started
Senator Ferguson, Republican, Of Michigan,
who stands out as the chief inquisitor for the
Senate committee, Is preparing now for an in
Qulry so searching tnat 1t WILL reach any in.
siders" speculating in commodities during the
last year. The lists which Secretary Ander-
son has relates to those persons who have
bought 100000 bushels of grain or more OBJ
viously those who went into the market and
purchased 1875, 900 bushels or less would not be
included. The Michigan Senator is determined,
however, to get from the brokerage houses
themselves the names of those who dealt in
less amounts of grain-and the names of those
who purchased other commodities, which
would not be contained in the Anderson lists
at all. This will be an arduous task
Mr.. Stassen has been critical not only of
trading by individual speculators but OF the
huge Government purchasing program and the
way 1t has been handled. He has charged
that 1t was not only unintelligent but 50 car
ried out that 1t played directly into the hands
OF Government officials and other insiders"
who went into the market to make easy profits.
This is another angle Of the investigation now
getting under way. Government buying for
European relief and for the armed forces
abroad, it is becoming increasingly clear, has
had vital effect on the price structure of
this country.
Questions and Answers