BOGUS TELEGRAMS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 196, 18 July 1935, Page 7

BOGUS TELEGRAMS.

AN AMAZING DISCLOSURE. WASHINGTON, July 16. The Senate Lobbying Investigating Committee- had as its principal witness to-day the manager of a telegraph company in the small town of Warren, in Pennsylvania, who told an astounding story of how a representative of a utility holding company sent an avalanche of telegrams to the congressman from that district urging him to vote against the so-called "death sentence” feature of the President’s Utility Bill. According to the manager, the utility representative wrote the text of tiie messages; then, using the city directory, affixed names therefrom to 1300 messages and paid for their transmission to Washington. Apparently none of the persons whose names were used were consulted as to whether they desired to protest against the legislation. Congressmen became sceptical when there were so many of those alleged to be protesting whose names started with the letter B. Investigations revealed the origin of the telegrams. As a climax to his testimony the manager revealed that the original copies of the messages had been burned although it was a company rule that such records should be kept for a year before being destroyed. He claimed that one of his subordinates ordered the messages to be burned on the .suggestion of the utility representative.

A cable dated February 2 stated that, following an allegation by Representative Brewster that threats were made to him that certain relief projects would be stopped in Maine unless lie supported the Roosevelt utility measure, the House ordered a special inquiry into lobbying for and against the Bill. A resolution was also offered to the Senate for such an inquiry. On the previous day the Bill had been defeated in the Lower House by 276 votes to 146.