Evening star., 1960-03-20

Korps fatigues and conducts
his affairs with the adventure
someness Of a man who would
try to air-condition Hades.
Watched Forever
Through undertakings only
slightly less practical, he has
succeeded in multiplying So
into a multi-million business.
His dealings make Mr..
Cummings a constantly
watched man. To maintain
pervasive surveillance of all he
does, the State Department in
vokes the resources Of the
foreign service, customs, count
less police departments. the
Army, Navy, Air Force and all
American intelligence agencies.
Does Interarmco ever try to
evade this scrutiny and slip
arms to foreign plotters or
revolutionaries such as Castro?
II know people may think
I'm a kind Of merchaht-of-
death who quaffs ancient
Chinese potions in the morning
and keeps a couple Of mus
tachioed insurrectionists as
bodyguards," Mr.. Cummings
replies.
But I must disappoint you.
Today the control Of interna-
tional arms traffic is so strin-
gent that the mystery has
vanished. Everything we do
is through the sufferance Of
the American or British gov
ernments. We would be in
ordinately stupid to jeopardize
a multi-million business by try
ing to pick up a few thousand
dollars in clandestine arms
deals"
The State Departments
Office of Munitions Control
agrees.
Its director, Merrill Ham
mond, explains that, before
Interarmco may import or ex-
port anything from Alexandria,
it must obtain a State Depart
ment license.
Peace Test Applied
Before we approve any pro-
posed transaction, we must as
sure ourselves it is in the inter-
ests Of world peace, national
security and our foreign pol
ICY" he said. ''In our investiga-
ton, we call upon every branch
of the Government for infor-
nation"
Mr.. hammond thinks Inter-
armco and comparable firms
very definitely perform a serv-
ice to the country"
He and his deputy, Robert M.
Margrave, concede that arms
smuggling continues but de-
clare its extent is exaggerated
and call it "two-bit stuff"
TITS the little dealers who
operate out Of their hats that
give us trouble" Mr.. Hammond
says.
big companies such as In
terarmco cooperate closely
with this Office. They even ask
us If they should engage in
transactions between foreign
companies over which we have
no control. They want to stay
in our good graces. They don't
want to get on our blacklist"
Despite constant Government
observation and occasional con-
gressional mumblings, Inter-
armco and its boss largely have
escaped public attention. Both
merit more.
When MIR. Cummings left the
Army and enrolled in George
Washington University in 1916,
he had three assets: Imagina-
ton, promise of a $65 monthly
stipend under the GI Bill and
a lobbyists knowledge of guns.
He tried a term at oxford
in 1948, became bored and left
for a pauper's tour of Europe.
Frequently he saw abandoned
along roadsides towering stacks
Of weapons. In Dutch bunkers.
he discovered Messerschmidt
Jets and vi rockets in excel
lent condition.
He returned to Washing
ton with only So and determi-
nation to become an arms mer-
chant.
Quick Success
After he was graduated in
1949, he couldn't find Job for
several months but finally OBJ
tained one as a commissioned
buyer Of used guns for a West
Coast firm.
Mr.. Cummings was so sue