Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-06-30

peppery exchanges between
Secretary Of Agriculture Free
man and his questioners.
Mr.. Freeman denied Repub-
lican Senators charges that
Estes had received favored
treatment from the depart
ment. ard that Mr.. Freeman's
administration had been slow
to crack down on Estes get
rich-quick schemes under farm
aid programs.
Meanwhile. the House sub
committee headed by Repre-
sentative Fountain, Democrat
Of North Carolina, kept its
questioning Of Mr.. Morris a
mystery.
Hearing Is Closed
The subcommittee refused to
give any hint about the nature
Of Mr.. Morris testimony at a
closed session yesterday, or the
line Of questioning today.
James Naughton, subcom-
mittee counsel. also declined to
say whether transcripts of Mr..
Morris testimony would be
made public. or whether Mr..
Morris would testify at a public
hearing.
Mr.. Freeman fired Mr.. Nor
ris last April Is for refusing to
answer Questions about his re-
lationships with Estes.
Mr.. Morris had been an as
sistant to former Assistant
Secretary Of Agriculture James
r. Ralph. also fired because of
his connections with the gift
giving Texas promoter.
In his appearance before the
subcommittee Mr.. Ralph had
disclosed that he and Mr..
Morris each received two $l0e
money orders from Estes. He
said they turned the money
over to the Democratic Party.
Murphy Letter Discussed
There were also allegations
that Mr.. Morris had a list Of
persons who received similar
money orders from Estes. In
GLIDING several Congressman
and a member Of the admins
tration.
In the Senate hearing yes
terday, a controversy swirled
about a letter Charles S.
Murphy. Mr.. Freeman's Under
secretary, wrote to the sub
committee April 20. In it, Mr..
Murphy declared he knew of
no Substantial evidence that
Mr.. Estes was guilty Of a GRIM
inal offense" in connection
with transfers of cotton acreage
allotments.
Mr.. Murphy's letter was
written as an explanation of
why he Joined other agency
officials in declaring the cot
ton acreage deals illegal, then
on the same day cleared Estes
for appointment to the Ma
tional Cotton Advisory Com
mittee in the face Of a staff
investigators report that Estes
might face prosecution.
Mr.. Murphy held that the
alleged illegality Of the cotton
deals was a civil legal prob
lem, rather than a criminal
one" Mr.. Freeman said he
was not consulted about 1t at
the time. is convinced that Mr.
Murphy made a mistake in
clearing Estes, but that he be-
lieves the Undersecretary acted
in good faith.
Freeman Questioned
Mr.. Freeman was in the wit
ness chair for about seven
hours, all told, in morning and
afternoon sessions. He had
heated tits with the subcom-
mittee's two Republican men,
bers, Senators Mundt of South
Dakota and Curtis of Nebraska.
Senator Mundt tried to es-
tablish that Estes was guilty
of a crime in his cotton allot-
ment dealings-an elaborate
scheme by which Estes got
other farmers to transfer their
allotments to him so that he
could raise more cotton under
Government price supports.
Mr.. Freeman refused to &C.
knowledge that this was a
crime. He argued-with the
support of Democrats on the
subcommittee-that the find
ing Of civil wrongdoing, even If
sustained in court, does not
constitute a crime.
Later, Senator Curtis took
over the cross examination and
soon had Mr.. Freeman swapping
angry replies.
you didn't remove anyone
from the payroll" said Sena-
tor Curtis. You didn't stop do
ing grain business with Estes,
you didn't take any action to
stop the cotton allotments, you
didn't take any action against
Estes until after he was in
dicted. Is that correct?"
Cites Early Probe