The Big-Name Hunt

The flushing of Big Ed Pauley as a commodities speculator (TIME, Dec. 22) set off one of the most spirited political shoots that Washington has seen in many a year. Pleased with the size and color of its first bird, the Republican-dominated Senate Appropriations Committee began to beat the bushes for more big Administration names.

As most Congressmen knew, Agriculture Secretary Clinton B. Anderson is empowered by law (the Commodity Exchange Act) to keep an up-to-date list of trades and traders. The Republicans were sure that such a list would reveal the names of other important Democrats. They also knew, of course, that the list would contain the names of some important Republicans. But the committee could choose which big names to put under its investigative spotlight and which to keep in the background. They asked Anderson to produce the list.

Secretary Anderson flatly refused. His strategy, backed by Harry Truman, was also clear: to force Congress to make the entire list public. If it was going to be shown that some big Democrats were playing the market, let it be shown that some big Republicans were doing the same thing.

Then the skirmishing began. Committee Chairman Styles Bridges subpoenaed Anderson, told him to bring his list along. Appearing before the committee behind closed doors. Anderson battled stubbornly for two. hours. He pleaded that he hated to refuse information to Congress. He protested that the 1936 law stood in his way; it specified that names of traders must be kept confidential by the Government. But if Congress would pass a resolution which, in effect, rescinded that part of the law, he was sure the President would sign it. (That would also give Anderson an opening to make the list public.)

The committee was stubborn. It wanted the list on its own terms--in secret, behind closed doors. Anderson grew bold. All right, he said, if it had to be that way, he would comply, but he would also" publish the entire list on his own.

At that, the committee sheepishly backed down. Michigan's Homer Ferguson introduced the resolution which Anderson had suggested, and both Houses quickly passed it. The tenet that Congress has the right to inquire into any facet of U.S. life was upheld--so long as the inquiry conformed to law and reflected the will of Congress. This week Clint Anderson went to work preparing his list for publication. It would, he said, contain 'about 14,000 names.

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