Evening star., 1951-09-23

The Republican chairman said
that his company had encoun-
tered mechanical failures in plant
operation and desired to conserve
its working capital to protect the
soundness of the Governments
investment. He said that Mr..
Symington indicated he favored a
different approach.
IF that is his decision" said
Mr.. Gabrielson, Our stockholders
will see that the repayments are
made as scheduled. But even if
this application be granted it
doesn't represent any compromise
or reduction in either interest or
the loan principal"
In a parting shot at his Demo-
cratic critics Mr.. GabrielSon
said:
How absurd can blackguard-
ing get? AS the chairman OF a
party out of power since 1888
certainly had no voice in naming
the RFC board or its present ad-
ministrator. The Republican Ma
tional Committee isn't consulted
on appointments to Office in this
administration. Nobody in the
administration owes me anything
except understandable resentment
that my party and l are doing oul
utmost to expose the graft and
corruption, and the moral and
ethical decline shown to exist by
the already established record
Makes High Octane Gas.
Carthage Hydrocol, company
formed in September, 1945. has
developed a method Of making
high octane gasoline and by-prod-
ucts out of dry gas"-natural gas
from which water has been re-
moved.
The concern grew out Of the
Hydrocarbon Research Corp. OF
which Mr.. Gabrielson was general
counsel since it's establishment In
November, 1943.
Carthage Hydrocol, according tt
RFC records, obtained the follow
ing loans from that agency: $s
million on April 8, 1916; $3.5 mil
lion on February 6. 1948. and So
million on March IA, 1949.
Those loans first came to con-
.gressional notice in the spring OF
1850 at Senate Banking subcom-
mittee hearings on RFC activities
When the subcommittee held hear
ings last spring on special aspects
Iof influence and favoritism" af-
fecting RFC. the Hydrocol loans
and Mr.. Gabrielson's association
with the company-arouse briei
discussion.
Questions Centered on Loans.
Questions raised on those two
occasions. mainly by Senator Cape
hart, Republican. of Indiana anc
Senator Douglas, Democrat, OF
Illinois, center almost entirely or
whether RFC should have granted
the loans.
There were no attacks on the
soundness of the loans OF the com
pany, or on the propriety Of Mr.
!Gabrielson's employment by ths
company which came long before
he became Republican Nationa
chairman. But there were com.
plants that the company coulc
and should have obtained loan:
from private sources instead o1
from the Government,
Senator Capehart. for example
protested at the earlier hearing
that:
Those companies who believe
in the private enterprise system
and they are yelling their heads
of to maintain it and beating
the brains out of Congressmer
and Senators to maintain it-why
do they come in and borrow $18.s
million from RFC? I do moi
care whether it is Mr.. Gabriel
son, Mr.. Smith, Jesse Jones OF
Mr.. Rockefeller. They shoulc
practice what they preach"
Says Firm Had Resources.
Senator Douglas asserted last
March in a Senate speech and ir
an exchange of kilograms with
Mr.. Gabrielson that he based hi,
criticism of the Carthage Hydro
col loans on the abundance oi
resources. aggregating possibly &
billion dollars, held by the OF
companies which owned thai
company"
He added that "it seemed mani
fest to me that those owning com.
panies could have found the nee.
essary funds without running tt
the RFC for loans"