Evening star., 1950-03-28
Dinner Tax
Continued From First PageD

NSOllltl1uCo L WILL L IL oU l oSC'J
dinner was coupled with collat-
eral entertainment such as brings
the occasion within the scope of
the tax was answered by Mr.. Oil
phant in the negative. He said:
The printed programs dis
tributed at the dinner showed the
following proceedings as being
scheduled to take place subse-
quent TO the serving of the dinner
itself.
! Charles Luckman presiding; in
vocation by the Rev. Frederick
Brown Harris; Phil Regan, master
| of ceremonies: Prologue. the
Democratic Mule Song; Tony and
Sally DeMarco; Lena Horne; JUS
tine Lawrie Singers and the Bells
of Democracy, music by Sam Jack
Kaufman and his orchestra; ad-
dresses by Mrs. o. Max Gardner,
Mrs. Georgia Neese Clark, Treas
urer of the United States; William
M. Boyle, jr.. chairman of the
Democratic National Committee;
House Speaker Rayburn, Vice
President Barkley, and an address
by the President of the United
States"
Mr.. Oliphant said that "it is
understood that a considerable
portion of the musical entertain
ment scheduled on the program
was cancelled in order to adhere
to the time schedule for the
Presidents address and that
the overall duration of musical
entertainment was actually less
than thirty minutes compared
with the overall duration of the
dinner and subsequent cere-
monies of nearly four hours"
The real purpose of the dinner
was, Mr.. Oliphant contended, to
bring together Democrats who
had contributed $100 or more per
person to the funds being raised
for the Democratic National Or
ganization.
Invitations Preceded by Letter.
The invitations to the dinner, Mr..
Oliphant pointed out, were pre-
ceded by letters sent out to thou
sands of Democrats and friends Of
the party, inclosing a card ad-
dressed to the Jefferson jackson
Dinner Committee, headed by Mr.
Luckman and Mrs. Gardner, 'in
a form suitable for transmitting
to the committee a pledge in the
amount of 500 or some greater
sum, and also for indicating the
name and address of the sender
and whether or not he desired a
dinner reservation"
To those who contributed $500
or more. a second letter was sent
in which it was stated: Your
reservation has been made and
the dinner tickets will be mailed
about February 10 (the dinner
date was February 16). Thank
you for your splendid support,
Your contribution will help us
reach our goal for 1880"
Since more than 5000 paying
contributors attended the dinner,
the total intake was more than
half million dollars. Part of
this had to go for food, wine and
entertainment.
In his ruling on the admission
tax question, Mr.. Oliphant said:
"It will be recalled that the
original letter issued by the Din
ner Committee referred to the
occasion as the annual Jefferson
Jackson Dinner Party 1t stated
with respect to this occasion that
it would bring together many
high Government officials and
leaders in public life outside Gov
ernment. It also stated that the
President would deliver an i'm
portant address to the country at
that time.
| Neither that letter or any sub
sequent communication or docu-
ment relating to the occasion
made any mention of entertain
ment. Furthermore the musical
numbers which were actually Of
fered were of brief duration. They
came as an interlude between the
addresses by the Vice-President
and others during the earlier part
> of the evening and the nrincina