A Gusher for Jimmy

In 1941, King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia was in trouble. The war had cut off the annual Moslem pilgrimages to Mecca, a prime source of his revenue. Ibn Saud needed cash, and he thought the quickest way to get it was to ask Arabian American Oil Co., which held the rich Saudi Arabian oil concession, to fork over an extra $6,000,000 a year. Aramco balked. But in far-off New York was a man who thought he could fix things.

Off to Washington went Oilman James A. Moffett. As chairman of two of Aramco's affiliated companies, and onetime $125,000-a-year vice president of Standard Oil Co. (N.J.) and later of Standard Oil Co. of California, gregarious Jimmy Moffett knew the oil business inside & out. As onetime Federal Housing Administrator and an old friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt, he also knew politics and politicos. He soon fixed things so that Ibn Saud was taken care of. But Jimmy Moffett complained that nobody ever took care of him for being such an influential person. Six years later he sued Aramco for $6,000,000 for services rendered.

Memo for the King. Last week, after eleven days of testimony in Manhattan's Federal Court, Moffett's influence as a public official seemed well established. Aramco brought out that when Moffett was housing administrator in 1934-35, he had asked Standard of California to take him off its payroll as vice president, but had later demanded $100,000 (and got $25,000) for "out-of-pocket" expenses while away. He wrote Standard: "I was really doing more work ... for the Standard Oil Co. than if I had remained in the office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza." In another letter, he took credit for the quashing of antitrust indictments in 1934 against Standard of California. Excerpt: "The Attorney General . . . took me into an outer room and said: 'Jimmy, I have dismissed the indictments against your boy friends on the Pacific Coast.' "

Moffett testified that when he went to Washington on his mission in 1941, he persuaded F.D.R. to help Aramco in its troubles with Ibn Saud. Moffett introduced a 1941 memo from President Roosevelt to Federal Loan Administrator Jesse Jones, which said: "Will you tell the British I hope they can take care of the King of Saudi Arabia--this is a little far afield for us."

Jesse Jones tried to dodge testifying; he sent a doctor's note that he was too ill. When Moffett brought out that Jones had sat up most of one night drinking "large quantities of whisky" and playing poker for $4,000 pots, Jones decided to appear. He testified that he had asked F.D.R. to write the memo, so that he could tell Moffett that RFC could not finance Ibn Saud. Nevertheless, Jones admitted that RFC had later advanced $425 million to Great Britain, which in turn gave Ibn Saud $51 million. This deal, Moffett claimed, saved Aramco at least $30 million.

The Payoff. Last week, the jurors filed in with their verdict. The flustered foreman, Housewife Lillian Sheehan, said: "We find for the defendant," then hastily corrected herself, "I mean the plaintiff."

While Jimmy Moffett beamed, Housewife Sheehan announced that the jury had awarded him $1,150,000 for his influence. Aramco's lawyers asked the judge to set aside the verdict, and announced that they would carry the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. Glowered one: "No man can make a contract to sell his in fluence with public authorities." Said Moffett: "An intelligent-looking jury, a very high-type group of American citizens."

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