GRAFT CHARGES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22141, 21 June 1935, Page 11

GRAFT CHARGES

AMERICAN OFFICIAL STATEMENT MODIFIED withdrawal of a liner By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received June 20. 5.?15 p.m.) WASHINGTON, June 19 Under direct questioning at a meeting of the Commerce Committee of the Senate to-day Mr. Ewing Mitchell, formerly assistant Secretary of Commerce, seriously qualified his charges of malfeasance against branches of the department. Nevertheless at one stage of the hearing he asserted that President Roosevelt personally had ordered approval of the agreement with the International Mercantile Marine Corporation, whereby the Leviathan was withdrawn from operation. " This," 'said Mr. Mitchell, " represents a plain attempt to make a gift of 1,720,000 dollars of Government funds to Messrs. Vincent Astor, Kermit Roosevelt and P. A. S. Franklin." Mr. Roosevelt at a conference with journalists at White House said he had approved the retirement of the liner because it was silly to require the operating company to take a loss if it agreed to apply the amount of that loss to the v'ins'k'iuirion of new ships. Mr. Mitchell in the course of his testimony was compelled to admit that ho had no evidence of direct bribes. He insisted that he had alleged only an appearance of corruption.

Mr. Mitchell stated on Monday: " In spite of the extensive investigations by Congress into Government regulations in connection with the shipping industry, favouritism, graft and inefficiency abound in this and in other branches of the Department of Commerce." He claimed that inspection of the services was weak owing to j political favouritism, _ which probably j was responsible, he said, for the heavy loss of life in the Morro Castle and j •Mohawk disasters and the recent aero- j jplane crash in which Senator Cutting 'and several others were killed. _ j Loose practices in connection with j financial aid by the Government to I private steamship lines continued, said Mr. Mitchell, and the United States Lines were allowed to take the Leviathan out of the service after having received several million dollars in subsidies and after having contracted to keep it in the Service.