The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-06-08
Lobby Probers Ask
Corporation To
Produce Accounts

washington (LfA)-lne HOUSE
Select Committee on Lobbying Ac-
tivities has taken off the gloves.
Rep. Frank Buchanan Cd, Pa.),
committee chairman, announced
June / that he was asking 166 big
corporations to produce itemized
accounts of expenditures designed
to influence public opinion.
The announcement came six days
after Buchanan revealed he was
subpoenaing the executive officers
of the Committee for Constitution
al Government and two other anti
labor, anti-Fair Deal organizations
which had refused to disclose their
income sources. The move against
the corporations was clearly an
other step toward unmasking the
Committee for Constitutional Gov
ernment as the key organization in
a net work of lobbies trying to kill
liberal legislation. The corporations
were asked whether they contribut-
ed to the Cog.
Buchanan's letters to corporation
presidents were dated May 81. He
asked them to furnish answers to
a long list of questions, giving
them until June Is to reply. If they
fail to respond, presumably Buch-
anan will subpoena them although
nothing has been said in this con-
nection. Specifically, the committee
chairman requested the following
data for the period from Jan. l,
1947, when the lobby act went into
effect, to the present:
The travel expenses for every
body sent to Washington, identity
of such persons and the reason for
each trip; the cost of maintaining
Washington office; all expenses for
printing or duplicating matter deal
ing with issues that might become
subject of legislation; date and
subject of all such matter plus its
source and disposition.
All expenditures in connection
with the following organizations:
American Enterprise Associations;
Americas Future, Inc; Committee
for Constitutional Government, Inc; (;
Constitutional Educational League;
Constitution & Free Enterprise
Foundation; Economists National
Committee for Monetary Policy;
Foundation for Economic Educa-
ton; Public Affairs Institute.
In addition, detailed accounts Of
expenditures on advertising deal
ing with public issues; contribu-
tions to organizations which are
tax exempt; contributions deduct
ed from gross corporate incomej
contributions deducted from income
made to organizations which pre-
pare or distribute books or other
printed or duplicated material. 1t
is no coincidence that the Commit
tee for Constitutional Government
considers itself to be primarily in
the book and pamphlet business.
Detailed accounts of all expendi-
lures connected directly or indir-
ectly with influencing legislation,
including dates, names of recip-
tents, amounts, purpose in each in
stance; all expenditures in connec-
ton with testimony before Con-
gressional committees.
A committee aide insisted the
corporations were not selected ac-
cording to any pattern. However,
reporters noted that the list was
heavily weighted with public util-
tiles. Others were oil companies,
railroads, steel companies, chem
ical firms and firms in dozen
other lines. One attention-catcher
was Alfred Kohlberg, Inc, New
York importers, key outfit in the
"China Lobby" behind Sen. Joe Nc
Carthy.