Take a Letter

Dear to all oil and gas men--especially Texas oil and gas men--is the so-called natural gas bill, which, if it became law, would cut down the power of the Federal Government to regulate gas prices. Twice passed by Congress, the bill was twice done to death in the White House: President Truman vetoed it in 1950; President Eisenhower vetoed it in 1956 after South Dakota's Republican Senator Francis Case announced that a gas lobbyist had tried to bribe him. Last week the bill's backers were ready to write it off for at least another year. This time, not a proffered bribe but a letter cut off the gas.

The letter came from Houston Oilman H. J. (Jack) Porter, 61, hard-riding Republican national committeeman, who wrote 25 influential Texas Republicans on official party stationery, asking them to support a $100-a-plate fund-raising speech from House Republican Leader Joe Martin in Houston. In the letter was a pointed paragraph that punctured the great gas balloon. Excerpts: "Joe Martin . . . has always been a friend of Texas, especially of the oil-and gas-producing industries. He mustered two-thirds of the Republican votes in the House each time the bill was passed ... It will be up to Joe Martin to muster at least 65% of the Republican votes in order to pass the gas bill this year."

Such fund-raising methods came naturally to Jack Porter: back in 1954, accused of "selling" postmasterships for campaign contributions, Porter explained, "There's no law against soliciting funds from any source, as far as I know." But when it got the news of Porter's letter--as printed in the Washington Post and Times-Herald--the Administration exploded. Republican National Committee Chairman Meade Alcorn blew hot into the White House switchboard, and the word was relayed to President Eisenhower, who reddened and snapped: "Let's check the facts on this."

A few quick calls proved the story right, and Alcorn, with Ike's full endorsement, announced that the National Committee did not know beforehand of Porter's letter and would not accept the $100,000 collected at the dinner. Later, when newsmen asked White House Press Secretary James Hagerty for the President's reaction to Porter's blunder, he made a slashing gesture with the edge of his right hand against the arm of his red leather chair; Jack Porter's head figuratively rolled onto the floor. With it went the gas bill's chances, and no one knew it better than the oil and gas men. Said one: "I advised two years ago that Porter should be shot without ceremony. Too bad it didn't happen."

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