Evening star., 1953-01-25

. He owned an estimated SIS
million worth of GIN stock.
. He had accrued but unpaid
bonuses totaling between 100000
and $750,00O coming to him.
. He was eligible for GIN pen
sion estimated at $4,000 year.
Some of these matters were
more serious than others, but all
had deep political significance.
Law Stonds in Way
The. stock ownership appeared
clearly to contrayene 18 U. S. Code
434, the conf1ict-of- interests stat
ute-and Mr.. Wilson had said he
did not intend to make the great
financial sacrifice of unloading
this stock.
He was eligible for the bonus
under the terms of a General
Motors plan which included this
politically unfortunate language:
Although the right to earn out
unpaid bonus may be continued
after the term of employment,
such right may thereafter be lost
If the beneficiary acts or conducts
himself in a manner inimical or
in any way contrary to the best
interests of the corporation, and,
in addition, in certain cases, if
he engages in activities competi-
tive with those of the corporation. :"
This language, according to GIN
officials, is standard, and is di-
rected toward preventing a former
employe from giving away COM
pany trade secrets. But the po-
litical dynamite in the phrase
ology is clearly diScernible.
Pension Less Objectionable
The pension was being men
toned, too. But it appeared to
be politically less Objectionable
than the stock and the bonus.
Like other GIN officials, Mr.. Will
son has been a member of the
pension plan for years. Monthly,
he has paid into the pension fund
S per cent of all his earnings in
excess of $3.50. At his rate of pay,
his contribution was in the neigh
borhood of $4,000 a month. AS a
former employe, he would be
eligible to draw $4,000 a year,
the top amount under the pension
fund. The pension is understood
not to be subject to the joker
language of the bonus plan, and
does not come up against the
conflict f-interests law. Still, it
was something else to talk about.
The Wilson hearings Like those
of the other appointees-were "ex-
ecutive";; that is, they were not
open to the public and press. Con-
sequently, the press got its infor-
nation from private sources, such
as friendly Senators who had been
present at the hearings. Some OF
the press reports were so positive
and so carefully documented that
it was obvious they were based on
actual transcripts of the hearings.
This was borne out when the testi-
mony was made public Friday
night.
Not Overly Popular
This much was clear from the
Wilson hearings: The Secretary
designate of Defense had not made
himself overly popular with the
Armed Services Committee. He
had, it seemed, thrown his weight
around a bit, and had rambled and
pontificated in front of men who
ordinarily do not like other people
to ramble and pontificate.
But this was only part of Mr..
wilson's trouble. The big share
arose from the fact that the con-
flict-of-interests statute was so
explicit.
Finally, Senator Byrd of Virginia
said fatty on Thursday that Mr..
Wilson would have to get rid of
his GIN holdings in order to quail
ify for the post. The corollary
seemed to be that if he did sell out,
he could be confirmed. That eve
ming, Mr.. Wilson announced his