Evening star., 1951-07-17
Nickel Dealer Hints
|Rackefeer Link in
Vital Defense Metals
BY the Associated Press

DETROIT. July ia reported
racketeer link with some Scarc'
defense materials sent Senate in.
vestigators eastward today.
The scene shifted fast after {
Senate Small Business Subcom'
mittee wound up two days of hear
Iings here.
4 The tip about possible racketee,
connections came from a surpris,
witness at an extraordinary fina
session last night. The witness wa!
Marshall C. Thomas of Norwalk
Conn, a onetime chemicals manu-
Ifacturer who took to the material!
brokerage business because lit wa
more profitable"
| Mr.. Thomas said word has 60
back to me" that racketeerS wer,
connected with the Nation'
scarce supply of nickel. TIVE
Iother witnesses said Mr.. Thoma
had mentioned racketeers as hi
source of nickel supply in offer
ing large quantities of the meta
at many times the regular marke
price.
Admitted Extreme Profit.
Mr.. Thomas readily admitted
selling nickel anodes for up II
$3.50 a pound, when, according
to another witness, the norma
market price has been 67 cents
But he denied that he knew any
racketeers.
There is no price ceiling or
nickel anodeS, it was brought out
Mr.. Thomas said he did not deal
in scrap nickel, on which there
is ceiling. He said he also has
not dealt much in steel. The steel
shortage has brought mass lay
offs in the auto industry.
Senator Moody, Democrat, OF
Michigan, subcommittee chair
man, sprinkled his questions with
references to this black mar
ket or dark gray market"
Senator Moody said Mr.. Thomas
flew into Detroit last evening in
the hope of selling $4,000 pounds
Iof nickel to the Advance Plating
Co. here for $3.50 a pound. He
was handed a subpoena to ap-
pear before the committee as he
stepped from the plane and took
the stand an hour later.
Agrees to Open Books.
At the committees request
President Bernard M. Baur Of
Advance Plating had suggested
that Mr.. Thomas rush here. E. ]
IAuclair, chief investigator for the
National Production Authority Of
flee here, posed as Mr.. Bauer's
Iagent in talking deals with Mr.
Thomas. Both Mr.. Baur and Mr.
Auclair said Mr.. Thomas openly
told them racketeers were his
source of nickel.
Senator Moody then asked Mr.
Thomas if he would object to
opening his books to scrutiny by
Ia committee investigator. Mr.
Thomas said he would not. Sen
Iator Moody then assigned an in
Ivestigator to accompany Mr.
Thomas back to Norfolk today.
Mr.. Thomas said he never
stocks any materials. seldom sees
the people he deals with, ano
knows most of them only by theil
first names"
| He claimed that his markur
normally is only 10 or II per cent
LAS long as I make only q
legitimate profit" he said, Il fig
ure I'm in the clear"
| Senator Moody comented thai
| the case of Mr.. Baur, who said his
plant was on the verge of closing
for lack of nickel, lis very gooc
example of the plight of small
businessman"
Auto Industry Fears Shutdown.
But the big businessmen indi
Gated at the hearings that the!
weren't much better off.
| I. T. O'Brien, assistant to tn,
general manager of Chrysler Corp
said Chrysler might have to shu
down by September unless it cal
find more steel in the meantime.
Irving A. Duffy, Ford Motor. Co
vice president. said Ford's volum,
of business would not return tt
normal even after it gets into full
production on all its defense con
tracts. And at present, he said
less than l per cent of the com
pany'S facilities are devoted to de-
fense work.
Walter Reuther, president of tn,
FC1O-United Auto Workers, pro
posed a vast expansion of stee
production facilities and an as
sembly line system for producin,
critically short machine tools a.
a means of speeding the defens,
effort.
Senator Moody said he would re
turn here in a week or two afte
lhpqrinus in Souopa1 -otLar n;%;~~