The Miami News from Miami, Florida • 19

The News Review of the Week Editorials Special Reports Foreign Correspondence Letters Section Books Music Art Science Education Politics Miami Sunday, February 16, 1958 Copyright 1951, The Miami Newi Leading Mamians Embroiled In FCC Probe KEY FIGURES IN FURORE STIRRED BY OUSTED COUNSEL'S CHARGES Channel 10 Allocation Under Fire i 4 i -r -r -i is il Im- When the House Subcommittee on Legls-lalivi Oversight began an investigation of federal regulatory commissions last sum-nw, there was little to Indicate that would create much of a stir. The subcommittee staff was organized without fanfare in July and August, and In October the subcommittee held Its first hearing on the Civil Aeronautics Board. Nothing that was newsworthy came of it. Alter a long recess, the subcommittee turned to the second of the six agencies on Its list the Federal Communications Commission and held Bnother public hearing Jan. 27.

By now the subcommittee was beginning to OA II i -t Ml AiKKltled Pr Wlrphoto I I Members of the Houso sulicommittee invMtigatine federal retaliatory agrneh are, from left, 1 I I I I 1 Keps. Teter F. Mack, John J. Fljnt, Charles A. AVoIverton and Thairman Oren Harris I I "'H I -n I vv I '1 -I 1 i it'.

f1 A I i '( A ii 'V; "1 1 1, 111 Sum! f-4-r lM liWi.1Wl1.iliil'illiir I.J 4 I A'kU 14 maVe a bid for attention. Information was "leaked" to a reporter from the New York Times that something hot was coming up In relation to the FCC. What followed hardly created a sensation. Dr. Bernard Schwartz, 35-year-old subcommittee counsel, tore into FCC Chairman John Charles Doerfer so vigorously that Mr.

Doerfer complained he was being treated like i common criminal. Dr. Schwartz, a professor at the New York University Law School and the author of seven books on law, showed that Mr. Doerfer had accepted money (usually $100) for making speeches to broadcasting Industry poups while traveling at government expense. Soon Forgotten Whatever might finally have been decided about Mr.

Doerfer's conduct he argued that honorariums such as he collected are specifically approved in the Federal Communications Act) that phase of the investigation soon was forgotten. The Tulsa (Okla.) Tribune reported that Dr. Schwartz had received $100 from the Dr. Kernard Schwartz leaving House office building after iMMng fired following charges subcommittee was trying to whitewash administration irregularities. Richard Mack, Coral Gables FCC commissioner, named in local TV station inquiry.

Kep. Morgan Moulder, exchairman of the subcommittee, quit over probe controversy. subcommittee for hotel bills on trips to New York in August in spite of the fact that Dr. Schwartz has an apartment in New York. Members of the subcommittee, some of whom already had comp'iined that Dr.

Schwartz was mishandling the investigation. subcommittee, "that I be allowed to answer the unsubstantiated, charges, accusations and innuendoes and distortions so recklessly made by Mr. Schwartz." Baker Is President George T. (Ted) Baker, 57, is president of National Airlines and of its subsidiary. He has lived in Miami since he started the airline and was its first pilot in 1934.

Mr. Baker denied that either Mrs. Eisenhower's brother-in-law or Mr. Mack had anything to do with getting Channel 10 for him. He described Dr.

Schwartz's testimony as "pure fabrication vicious lies." Mr. Whiteside described Dr. Scnwartz as a (blankety blank) liar, and brought another prominent Miamian into the case. ami is nearly as old as the struggle of man versus woman and weary Dade Countians simply hoped that something to relieve traffic would be built soon. A further hearing on the suit testing legality of the Metro charter amendment election was set for April 7 by Circuit Judge George E.

Holt and the league of Municipalities' attorney, George Okell, was plainly disturbed. He said he would attempt to get an earlier hearing date and failing in that will try a different tack. The election, due to be held last Tuesday, was delayed on orders of Judge Holt. (Sre rge J-B). Florida Mr.

Mack for more testimony Monday. (See Page 3-B). While the FCC investigation made its exciting news, another slory grew slowly more important. Industrial production, falling for the fifth straight month, dropped to the lowest level since February, 1935. At the same time, the number of unemployed passed the 4,500,000 point, and the slock market continued to lose ground.

(See Page 3-B). President Eisenhower hopefully predicted a pickup in job opportunities in March, and was applauded by some economists but criticized by others. Pointing to steps already taken, including a $1.5 billion postoffice building program, Mr. Eisenhower said calmly: "If other measures are needed, I assure you they will be proposed and in time." Miami Beach Federal Savings and Loan Assn. at a reputed salary of $30,000 a year.

Still following Mr. Renshaw's advice, councilmen turned the city's top job over to Morris N. Lipp, a Renshaw-trained executive who had been with the city since 1926 and became assistant city manager in 1953. The fact that the Miami Beach Federal had undergone a drastic reorganization indicated quite clearly that there was a story of some moment behind the appointment of Mr. Renshaw.

Then J. Edward Worton, attorney for one of the loan firm's directors, charged that the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in Washington had exerted "pressure" to force the reorganization. Although Baron de Hirsch Meyer, president and founder of the firm stepped out saying he was forced to do so by ill health. Mr. Worton charged that "the entire proceedings from start to finish were directed, controlled and supervised by representatives of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board." He implied that the trouble all had started with A.

Frank Katzenline, former Miami Beach mayor and owner of radio station if it intends to put a blinder' and month gag on every witness," snapped Mr. Herrell. The hearings, due to move to Miami later in the month, will attempt to shovr that Reds have infiltrated the NAACP. Iniornalional Village Bombing Angers Tunisia During the Korean fighting, Chine planes based across the Yalu River in Manchuria taught American troops the meaninf of a "privileged sanctuary." A v.cek ago the French in rebHlion-wracked Algeria yielded to the temptation which besets fighting men so attacked and learned painfully that the cost comes high. French commanders sent a 25-plane forct to bomb the little Tunisian border village of Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef in reprisal for minor incidents.

When the dust settled, scores of men, women and children lay dead and maimed in the rubble. When first reports reached world capitals, startled Western diplomats cursed French stupidity and girded for trouble. It was i.ot long coming. Tunisian national guardsmen, though outnumbered and ill-armed, blocked the big French naval base at Bizerte. In angry words, President Hahib Rourguiba demanded the immediate withdrawal of some 15,000 French troops still based on Tunisian soil although the former French protectoratt was granted final independence nearly two years ago.

Moved Toward UN WKAT. Mr. Katzentine's application for Channel 10 the channel given to Mr. Baker 3 jam Area said they intended to fire him if he did not resign. Last Sunday, Dr.

Schwartz told the Washington Post he expected to be fired the next day. He said he was being dismissed because his investigation had led to some very important people. The brilliant young professor said he had evidence that Sherman Adams, top assistant to President Eisenhower, had influenced FCC decisions. He said he also had intended to delve into the activities of Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks, of Col. George Moore, the husband of one of Mamie Eisenhower's sisters, and of Robert B.

Murny a former undersecretary of commerce. All of this, Dr. Schwartz said, had brought him in conflict with powerful persons, idiom he accused of smearing him with the expense account story. Firing Comes Later Monday, the subcommittee voted 6-5 against dismissing Dr. Schwartz, only to changt'ifs mind and fire him at a second session later In the day.

Following Dr. Schwartz's dismissal, the subcommittee chairman, Morgan M. Moulder and two lawyer members of the staff resigned. Tusday, Dr. Schwartz handed reporters, a statement which finally put the subcommittee In the big story class.

He charged that i federal communications commissioner, whom he did not identify, had accepted money in a disputed television channel case. A few hours later, he told newspapermen that he had handed over the records of his investigation to Senator Only Hearsay Pressed for a further explanation as to by the FCC had been turned down by the commission after an examiner recommended that it be given to WKAT. Mr. Whiteside said Mr. Katzentine had been vindictive and revengeful ever since the attorney declined to help him get the channel.

Mr. Whiteside said the checks totaling $2,650 which he gave to Mr. Mack, and which Dr. Schwartz uncovered, represented more of the loans which he had been making to bis old friend for 20 years. He and Mr.

Mack agreed that some of the money never had been repaid. Renshdw Quits Manager Post For the past 33 years, a quiet and serious Claude A. Renshaw had run the affairs of a blossoming Miami Beach with a super steady hand. They were tumultous years filled with cries heavy enough to make an ordinary city manager quit a dozen times. But not Claude Renshaw.

Collins Shocked By Immohalee When Gov. LeRoy Collins first heard of the poverty which struck migrants at Im-mokalee during the early part of Florida's worst winter he sent investigators to the scene. The investigators, however, tended In minimize the situation and the governor didn't really know what to think. Last Thursday during the middle of another bitter cold spell Gov. Collins paid a surprise visit to Immokalee to see for himself if the reports of filth and squalor at the migrant camp were true.

Genuinely shocked by what he saw, the governor said a bulldozer should be used to clear away the worst of the shacks and that some sort of housing authority should Court Suit Pends Mr. Katzentine said he had a suit in federal court to take Channel 10 away from Mr. Baker, and that he didn't want to comment on the statements about him. "I am too busy to think of Whiteside," Mr. Katzentine why the federal agency "forced" a reorganization of the beach firm, Mr.

Worton said that anything he could report along those lines would be hearsay. "From what I observed personally it was simply an arbitrary action with no excuse given," said Mr. Worton. "They (the agency men) came In and told people to get out." Mr. Worton's statement was left unchallenged by Albert Robertson, chairman of the federal agency in Washington.

"We never discuss our dealings with institutions," said Mr. Robertson. "We won't make any statements about the change and none of our employes will." With that, the story came to an abrupt halt, awaiting another day perhaps for a fuller airing of what really went on at Miami Beach Federal Savings and Loan Assn. On the Miami side of the Bay, city com be set up to handle the migrants. The governor said he now realized that the worst reports from Immokalee were true.

Cold Continues He weathered the storms of a constantly changing city council and the never ending probes of Beach gambling by outside sources without raising his voice once. Occasionally, when some councilman stepped too far out of line, Mr. Renshaw would talk about quitting. The threat always brought a contrite apology from the offending councilman. After that they knew very well that Mr.

Renshaw was to be left alone. Offered Betler Job Last Wednesday Mr. Renshaw bowed out of public life In a shocker which left city councilmen stunned. This time, however, there was no offending councilman no crisis. (See Page 5-B).

Mr. Renshaw had simply been offered a better job, that of being president of the missioners revealed plans to build an 18-hole golf course on city-owned property east of LeJeune Road near the airport and county commissioners revived plans for building tunnels instead of bridges to span the Miami River. The tunnels versus bridges battle in Mi- added. "His record speaks for itself. In his testimony, tr.

Schwartz had brought up still more Florida names. He said Mr. Katzentine at one point sent former Miami Mayor Perrine Palmer and Jerry W. Carter, a Florida railroad commissioner, to Washington to see if they could influence Mr. Mack for him.

Dr. Schwartz said Mr. Mack told the pair he was pledged to help WPST-TV, but suggested they ask Mr. Whiteside if he would be willing to see a change of sides. Mr.

Whiteside said he was approached by Mr. Katzentine. Senator George Smathers also was brought into the picture, when Dr. Schwartz testified Mr. Katzentine had attempted to make an ally of him.

The senator said he did not remember such an incident, but added that he was working for the same channel on behalf of a client, the estate of L. B. Wilson, a Cincinnati radio station owner. FBI Called In The subcommittee, at this point, decided to try to pin down some facts. The Federal Wayne Morse Senator Morse charged: "The administration is honeycombed with political immorality." Papers Returned The papers were returned Wednesday, and Thursday, Dr.

Schwartz was called as a witness before the subcommittee. Testifying under oath, he said Commissioner Richard A. Mack had acknowledged receiving several thousand dollars from an attorney for a Miami television station shortly after his appointment to the FCC in the summer of 1955. He identified the lawyer as Thurman A. Whiteside of Miami, and the station as WPST-TV, the property of Public Service Television, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Airlines.

Dr. Schwartz now had some of Miami's best known citizens embroiled in what had become the most serious allegation of scandal in the five-year-old Eisenhower administration. Mr. Mack, a 49-year-old native Miamian who served on the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission before his surprise appointment to the FCC in 1955, asked to appear before the subcommittee. "I respectfully request," he wroti the But, in Paris, the French National Assembly heard Premier Felix Gaillard put tha blame on Tunisia for "harboring and aiding rebels," then gave him a rousing 339-179 vote of confidence.

The incident moved inevitably toward a finale in the United Nations as Tunisia asked for a Security Council hearing next Monday or Tuesday. (See Page 2-B). At week's end, tension eased slightly as Tunisian authorities looked the other way when food supply trucks drove up to "blockaded" French camps. And. in Paris, the French Cabinet decided to pay damages to the bombing victims.

Meantime, Moscow Radio made the most of the incident, gleefully pointing nut the bombing planes were U.S.-made B-26s and Navy Corsairs. Curiously, the very next day in Washington a new Soviet ambassador, Mikhail Mpn-shikov, paid his first call on President Elsenhower, then smilingly told newsmen that he sought "the improvement of relations between our countries." And, behind the scenes, Russia and thi U.S. seemed closer to agreement on how tj go about preparing for summit talks thart ever before. The cold weather which dealt Immokalee and other parts of Florida such a cruel blow this winter continued unabated. A new cold wave breezed into the state late Wednesday, bringing with it a record snowfall for Tallahassee and other cities across the top of Florida.

Three inches of snow fell in the slate capital, which was more than all the snow which has fallen since the weather bureau started keeping records in Florida. Fortunately, new crop plantings escaped serious damage in the new cold wave, but the weather forecasters had gloomy news: After a couple of warm days a new cold front would move into Florida. Before the snow fell in Tallahassee, the Florida Legislative Committee investigating Communists and the NAACP got off to a chilly start when Rep. W. C.

Herrell of Miami became irked over the silencing of a witness who wanted to protest the actions of the committee. "The committee can have my resignation Quote Of The Week Senator Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) in pointing out that the current FCC controversy belies the feeling that government officials must necessarily be as clean as the proverbial hound's tooth: "There Is a lot of tarter on the teeth of this administration and they had better get it cleaned up. 1 i Li 1 Bureau of Investigation was called In to go over the case, including the evidence which Dr. Schwartz still maintained would lead to the White House. But the subcommittee was not getting out of the picture.

It called Dr. Schwartz and.