Evening star., 1947-11-25
Two Witnesses
Heard by Jurors
|nMeyersCase
Record of Hearings
And Evidence Found
By u. S. Presented
By Robert K. Walsh


A District grand jury today be-
gan hearing witnesses presented
by the Justice Department in an
effort to obtain indictments
against Maj. Gen. Bennett E.
Meyers.
United States Attorney George
Morris Fay and Assistant United
States Attorney Edward Molenof
handled the opening move by laying
the groundwork of evidence against
the retired Army Air Forces pro-
curement deputy chief.
The start of grand jury proceed
ings followed closely on a singing
rebuke handed Gen. Meyers yester-
day by Air Force authorities. Air
Secretary Symington disclosed that
the Air Force has stopped his $549-
a-month pension, rescinded all his
decorations and awards and expects
to court martial him.
Plans to Tighten System.
At the same time, the Air Force
disclosed plans to strengthen its
investigative system and procure
ment methods so that the sordid
story Of Bennett e. Meyers" could
never happen again.
Today's witnesses at the first
grand jury session were Martin
Smith and Kenneth Bowers, steno-
type reporters who took the official
record of testimony at Senate War
Investigating Subcommittee hear
ings that brought out evidence in
dicating Gen. Meyers proflted by at
least $150,000 from the Aviation
Electric Corp, in Dayton, Ohio.
Assistant Attorney General T.
Vincent Quinn, chief of the criminal
division of the Justice Department,
is in charge of the grand jury pro-
ceedings. He did not attend the
opening session, but the Justice De-
partment indicated he would take
an active part in presenting evidence
which the department hopes will
result in indictment on a variety
Of charges.
Preliminary Presentation.
Mr.. Fay refused to disclose the
specific, types of indictment that
may be sought at this time. He
indicated, however, that today's ses-
sion was preliminary presentation
of the general record of the hear
ings and of evidence obtained by
the Justice Department. He said
1t had not been decided whether to
continue the presentation tomorrow
and Friday or whether to go over
until next week.
Gen. Meyers, 52-year- old wartime
deputy chief of the Air Force pro-
curement, is practically certain" to
be court-martialed, at least on a
charge of conduct unbecoming an
officer, Mr.. Symington and Gen.
Carl Spaatz, Air Force commander,
declared. And the Air Force and
Army departments won't fight over
any jurisdictional questions in for
mulatine charges and bringing him
to trial. they added.
Civil Action Given Priority.
Before Gen. Meyers stands court
martial, however, he will have to
face whatever proceedings are
brought against him by the Justice
Department. the Air Secretary said.
1t is tragic, Mr.. Symington OBJ
served, that the Air Force which
was established as a separate de-
partment only two months ago
should have experienced one Of the
most shocking scandals ever exposed
in the history of any branch of our
Government-the sordid story of
Bennett E. Meyers"
But the adversely might yet be
turned to good account because the
Air Force, in welding together a
new organizational setup, can apply
reforms widely and from the very
beginning, he said.
New Procurement Structure.
Accordingly, the Air Force already
has begun a general reorganization
of the entire procurement structure,
he reported.
ITO this end" Mr.. Symington
continued, "the Air Force now has
dS OI1OCl SCCI CGdi OI1C Va t14C IVA
tion's foremost experts on procure
ment planning and administration,
Arthur S. Barrows, for many years
president of Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Mr.. Barrows Is presently engaged in
a thorough study of all procurement
matters incident to standardizing,
streamlining and allocating straight
line operating authority along with
responsibility"
The second major move, Mr..
Symington said, was to obtain the
services of Frank J. Wilson, retired
head of the United States Secret
Service. Mr.. Wilson will work with
the Air Force in an advisory capac-
ity with view to establishing
maximum efficiency with the facil-
tiles available" the secretary said
Mr.. Synlington said he plans an
even greater departure from pre-
vious investigative procedure by hav-
ing the FBI handle complaints or
charges involving possible criminal
or corrupt action by Air Force per-
sonnet
AS for Gen. Meyers, who Mr..
(See MEYERS. Page A-6.)