Evening star., 1952-04-07
Nathan Swears
He Got $4,000
Just by Phoning
But Former Huckster
DiscIuims Influence
In Sales Of Surplus
By Jack Jonas

lSNA ga AAAShoVSAs WIN AOOk1dJC Ilo
vestigators today he got $4,000
for making one telephone call
about war surplus property for
sale in 1948.
He said he notified Joseph La
bowitz. a New York junk dealer.
who got a similar fee, that electro
cal supplies were available for sale
by the War Assets Administration
and that it later "come as a sur
prise" when he got the fat fee for
the information.
II guess people around WASH
ington thought I had influence"
Nathan testified before the Senate
Special Investigations subcom-
mittee.
Lawyer Gives Opinion.
His testimony came as the sub
committee sought to learn:
/. Whether influence peddling
marked the huge postwar sale Of
Government property.
2. Whether some operators coll
lected fees from gullible business
men for influence they never pos
SeSSed.
Irwin Geiger, a Washington at
torney who preceded Nathan in
the second day of the subcommit-
tees public hearings. told the
Senators that his clients opinion
was that Mr.. Nathan had magic
powers and potent connections in
Washington"
But his own personal opinion.
the attorney said, was and still
is that Mr.. Nathan had mo in
f1uence at all.
This developed, Mr.. Geiger tes-
titled, after he learned Nathan
and Labowitz were to get 20 per
cent of the profits from sale Of
electrical supplies at the former
Alcoa plant in Torrance. Calf :.
owned by the WAA.
Says He Used No Influence.
Mr.. Geiger said one Of his cli-
: ents. j. B. Land of New York, told
the attorney th1 he had learned
the only way a deal could be
{ accomplished ways to pay the 20
: per cent.
But Mr.. Nathan told the Sena-
S tors he did nothing to influence
the sale and his only connection
with the deal was the telephone
call to Mr.. Labowitz.
Mr.. Nathan testified he has
been in Washington since 1947
/ trying to make deals" but that
: he got only the $4,000 fee. an
other for $4,000 and a third for
$4,000.
He insisted he had no influence
with WAA, or it's successor in
r handling surplus property-Gen-
eral Services Administrations
. with Jess Larson, GSA head.
Called About Oil Deals.
Committee Counsel Francis D.
Flanagan pointed to a record of
II long distance telephone calls
to Mr.. Larson from 1947 to 1949.
and Is such calls to Alvin Snyder,
Mr.. Larson's executive secretary,
during the same period.
j.: Mr.. Nathan told the committee
he was calling Mr.. Larson to find
out if the GSA head knew Of any
"oil deals" that might be in the
= making, and called Mr.. Snyder in
: the pursuit of his occupation of
trying to learn of pending surplus
, sales.
But, except for the three fees.
Mr.. Nathan said:
II never got nowhere with moth
: ing at no time"
, The subcommittee also ques-
! toned Mr.. Nathan about a $30,-
600 fee in connection with the
sale of a synthetic rubber plant
5 at Cotton Valley, La. Mr.. Nathan
, said the deal had not been COM
pleted but that he had borrowed
= the 100000 against his expected
5 fee.
d. Tells of Larson Rebuke.
Mr.. Nathan said he couldn't ex-
plain why people thought he had
Influence, but said Mr.. Larson met
i. him on one occasion in the lobby
l of the Mayflower Hotel and told
i. me to stop using him name when
I talked to people"
He also said Mr.. Snyder visited
his home two or three times" in
Miami Beach, but that he was not
at home on any of the occasions.
Asked if he ever got money
from any Government agency, he
said he thought the Bureau of
Mines spent about $4,000 or $780,
900 putting five shafts down in
the ground ir connection with a
manganese deal" he was in with q
man named Jack Rama. This was
> not pursued further in the ques-
. tioning.
, After hearing Mr.. Nathan for
about an hour the committee re-
cessed until tomorrow, when wit
nesses will be Mr.. Snyder, Mr..
-. IL and and Mr.. Iabowitz