[no source, March 18, 1941]
CRITICIZES THE
WASHINGTON BOYS FOR TNT DEAL
R. Newton McDowell
Says Justice Dept. Wants To Settle For 50 Per Cent Of Assessment
WIRES CLARK
Contends Gov’t.
Taking It Out On Missouri Farmers Ignore Sales In the Other States
KANSAS
CITY, Mo., March 18.—R. Newton McDowell, Kansas City contractor who acquired
the land for the TNT plant at Weldon Spring, Mo., for the government,
telegraphed Senator Bennett C. Clark tonight that he has been informed by a
Department of Justice representative the government intends to pay 50 per cent
above the assessed valuation on the land it has failed to take over.
The War
Department has canceled options on 140 tracts of land in the area because of
the “excessive prices” stipulated in contracts signed by McDowell, who is to
get a 5 per cent commission.
McDowell’s
wire to Senator Clark follows:
“This sop
which you quote from the Undersecretary of War about liberal appraisals for the
land owners in the Weldon Spring area is a joke, for the Undersecretary will
have nothing to do with condemnation proceedings, as this will be handled by
Justice Department and the latter’s representative told me they proposed to pay
into court 50 per cent more than the assessed valuation.
“They
couldn’t pay liberal appraisals and be consistent with the charges against me.
In Iowa and Indiana, where the agents took a cut in commissions, the government
paid in full all the officially accepted options. What about the $2,000,000
purchase at Laporte, Ind., the [?] purchase in Will County, [?] and the seven
other munitions [?] under investigation?
Flimsy Charges
“Missouri
is the only place they are taking it out on the farmers because the agent who
handled the acquisition for the War Department had a sound legal contract and
knew he had done an honest, conscientious job and would not be badgered into
taking a cut in commissions to the self-aggrandizement of some Justice
Department attorneys.
“Their
flimsy charges of excess values was based on appraisals made of 10 of the most
expensive tracts in the area, made by three appraisers, one a filling station
operator in St. Charles, one a farm machinery salesman at Old Orchard and the
third a farmer from Matson, and in some cases they had to use their imagination
as the buildings had been demolished.
“This whole
thing is a rank repudiation by the government and smells to high heaven and
with all of Missouri’s bright lights in Washington they seem powerless to help
these farmers.”
