Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-22
Justice Department
To Get Probe Data on
Arlington Towers
Continued From First Page.)

about the Arlington Towers
) transaction.
) He testified that had the FILA
Office known about the $18 mil
: lion contract the commitment
would not have been issued until
) FILA had ascertained the affect
Of that agreement on the cor
porations FILA had contracts
: with. He said the $18 million
contract was only disclosed to
him recently.
Mr.. Barringer was asked
whether he had not told a COM
mittee investigator that he would
! not have given an okay to the
commitment had not Clyde L.
Powell directed him to do so.
MIR. Powell is the ousted former
Assistant Commissioner of FILA.
In reply to this question Mr..
Barringer said that was not
right.
Fr0De Counsel Called.
Clarence Dinkins, Washington
attorney who is assistant counsel
of the Senate committee, was
then called to the witness stand.
He testified Mr.. Barringer had
made such a statement July z
when Mr.. Dinkins saw Mr.. Bar
ringer in Mr.. Barringer's Office.
He read from a memorandum he
prepared after that meeting in
which he stated that Mr.. Bar
ringer told me fatty he would
not have approved a commit
ment except on orders of Mr..
Powell"
The memorandum also con-
tanned the statement that Mr..
Barringer had said that he felt
the Government was we'll pro-
tected in the loan.
Mr.. Weber, in explaining his
statement FILA had told builders
how to make profits, said an
FILA official from Washington
was among those who summoned
Los Angeles builders in 1948 to
a meeting in the local FILA Of
fee.
Describes officials Help.
The witness said the official
used a blackboard and hypo-
thetical apartment project cost
ing ST million to show "how you
could get into the 608 apart
ment) program without any cap
ital." He testified that local FILA
officials also helped us fill out
applications for mortgage insur-
ance" under the expired post
war program known as Section
608.
FILA employees, he said, helped
us to fill out our applications for
mortgage commitments" and told
the builders to include as cost
a per cent architects fee and a
similar builders fee.
He said he came to Washing
ton at his own expense to tell
the committee of FILA conduct
sin 1913. He said it is rumored
in Los Angeles that any builder
mentioned publicly in the curA
rent probe will be cut from the
FHA's list of approved builders
and sponsors entitled to FILA
mortgage-loan commitments.
He testified that several large
builders in the Los Angeles area
attended the 1913 meeting in the
FILA, office. The builders were
told, Mr.. Weber testified, of
terrific shortage of rental
housing in Los Angeles" and that
they explained the patriotic
need of it and we decided we'd
go ahead"
He said he, couldn't remember
the identity of the FILA official
who came from Washington, but
that Thomas Thompson. who
was and still is local FILA man
ager in Los Angeles, attended,
along with Ken Mitchell and
Roy Madden, Mr.. Thompson's
subordinates.
The committee voted unan-
imouSly yesterday to, ask for
$150,000 more to defray the ex-
penses of its investigation. The
committee obtained an initial
$4,000 to finance the investi-
CATION and hearings, which have
been in progress since April.
.Probers Plan Tour.
The committee also announced
plans for an investigating swing
around the country. These