Evening star., 1951-10-30
Lynch and Clark
Face Each Other
On Burke Issue
WestIuwn Citizens
Hear Delegate Tell
Of Lond Purchases

members OF tre WeStlaWn Cltl-
zens' Association last night heard
the Burke Airport controversy ar
gued by Edwin Lynch, candidate
for reelection to the House of
Delegates from Fairfax County.
and his Republican opponent,
Douglas A. Clark.
1t was the first time the two
had faced each other since Mr..
Clark charged in a radio address
Thursday night that Mr.. Lynch
had advance information of the
Burke Airport location, and had
bought up land to resell to the
Government at a profit. Mr..
Lynch has denied the charges.
I'm not ashamed of anything
I have DONE" Mr.. Lynch said last
night. MY record speaks for
itself. But If you believe anything
Douglas Clark tells you about my
character, vote for him."
Lists Land Purchases.
He listed his land purchases
within the Burke area as 255
acres in 1912; 51.75 acres in l947.
and 5 acres in 1948.
Mr.. Lynch said his father-in
law. Martin T. Webb, who also
was mentioned in Mr.. Clark's
charges, had bought 500 acres in
the Burke area in 1923.
Mr.. Clark had accused Mr..
Lynch of standing to make "a
handsome profit for allegiance tot
the Fair Deal"
To my knowledge I have never
seen Harry Truman in my life. I
have never been in the White
House or even on the White House
grounds as far as I can remem-
ber." Mr.. Lynch said.
Mr.. Clark insisted: "The things
have said about my opponent
are true. No lawsuit or threat of
lawsuits will keep me from telling
the facts. I say Lynch and Webb
own 1,l00 acres of the Burke site
and ! can prove it"
Lynch Ignores Offer.
The Republican candidate
offered a check for $500 to Mr..
Lynch as a deposit on the Burke
land, declaring he would buy it
all at 500 an acre and resell it
to the Government at no profit.
He claimed Mr.. Lynch had said
that S100 per acre was all the land
was worth.
Mr.. Lynch ignored the offer.
He told reporters after the meet
ing that he had never said the
Burke land was worth $100 an
acre. He said his statement had
been that appraisers were valuing
unimproved land in the Burke
area at $100 per acre, but most
owners were expected to protest
that price.
Mrs. Anne Wilkins, Democratic
candidate for the Board of Super
visors from Falls Church District,
told the citizens group that the
major issue of her campaign is
whether the county should under
take good, long-range planning.
or continue a policy of penny
pinching and false economy.
Says Services Were Cut.
'My opponent paul Lain) and
his friends opposed the current
budget, including the school
budget" said Mrs. Wilkins. AS a
result of cuts that were made. she
declared. that no money was pro-
vided for buying additional school
buses this year, public health
services were pared down, and the
county missed an opportunity to
buy building for a public health
center and future hospital site.
Mr.. Lain, running as an indie
pendent, said he is in favor of
providing the best educational ia
cilities possible. including full-day
sessions. He said he did not think
it was right to pile up debts for
children to pay.
Mr.. Lain charged that county
residents had not been given a
true picture of the amount of
Federal funds the county could
expect for schools this year.
He declared that Fairfax County
stood second in the State in teach
ers' salaries.
Mr.. Lain said one example of
wastefulness was that the County
school board contracted to buy
milk at slightly over cents a.
pint, while other nearby counties
bought it for 4.6 cents a pint.