Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-08
Denies
Is Split
Over Transit
Session With Lone
Meant No Rift,
City Head Says

District Commissioner Samuel
Spencer yesterday denied there
is a split in the Board Of Com
over transit policy.
He branded as a fabrication"
the suggestion that this was in
dictated by a closed-door con-
ference with hackers of a re-
jected would-be operator about
which Commissioner Robert E
Mclaughlin did not learn until
it was ended.
Although Brig. Gen. Thomas
"A. Lane, Engineer Commissioner.
was present for virtually the en-
tire session. on invitation from
MFR. Spencer's Office, Mr.. Spencer
insisted he had invited neither
Gen. Lane nor Mr.. Mclaughlin.
Gen. Lane" Mr.. Spencer
said, "just turned up" Mr..
Spencer said his secretary had
invited the general.
The session came less than a
week after Mr.. Mclaughlin had
refused to join his fellow COM
in rejecting the ap-
plication of Max M. Kampelman,
attorney for a group of Min
neapolis investors, to take over
the dying franchise of Capital
Transit Co. next August Is.
Attributed to Request
Mr.. Spencer's secretary said
she invited Gen. Lane to Mr..
Spencer's Office at the request Of
MIR. Kampelman's local hackers.
Edward R. Carr, president of the
Washington Board of Trade;
Donald Mccormack, vice presi-
dent of Riggs National Bank and
chairman of the Board of Trades
Transportation Committee, and
William H. Press. the boards
executive vice president.
They left after IS minutes. and
Corporation Counsel Vernon E.
West was called in by Mr.. Spen-
Ger for the balance of the two
hour meeting. After it was over.
Mr.. Spencer returned an hour
old telephone call from Mr.. Nc
Laughlin, who had just been
notified by reporters that the
meeting had been held.
Later, Gen. Lane said the only
split in the board was in the
fact that he and Mr.. Spencer
had been convinced the Kampe!-
man application should be turned
down, whereas Mr.. Mclaughlin
was not ready to vote on it.
Mr.. Mclaughlin said he was
not ready to vote because turin
ing down the proposal would kill
it" and 1.-The proposition was
strengthening all the time
Besides" he said, 1--WE always
favored private operation" He
denied however, that he is a
proponents of the Kampelman
plan.
After turning down the
Kampelman plan. the other
Commissioners began lobbying
on Capitol Hill to speed up action
on their bill to establish a pub
licly owned transit authority.
Agency's Former Chairman
Mr.. Mclaughlin, former chair
man of the Public Utilities Com
mission and a frequent spokes-
man during last summers drive
TO cancel the franchise of CTC,
when he assured Congress that
there would be several salts
factory private operators seek
ing to take over the franchise,
has been superseded as a spokes-
man by Mr.. Spencer and Gen.
Lane. He has been missing from
all but the most formal Capitol
Hill visits concerning transit
since the current session of Con-
gress met.
He denied, however, he was
being frozen out" in the han
ding of transit. Gen. Lane, ex-
planning Mr.. McLaughlin's alb
sence from the Capitol Hill
visits, said he was busy with
other affairs and that his pres
Ience was not needed. Gen. Lane
pointed out that Mr.. Spencer
speaks for the board as its
president and that he himself
Gen. Lance is the one member
of the board who also belongs
to the utilities commission.