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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1956)
SIXTEEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Monday, April 30, 1956 Senate Bill Aimed at Largest Single Banking Firm in West By A. ROBERT SMITH Mail Tribune Correspondent Washington TheSenate ,this past week passed a bank holding company bill aimed pri ma r i ly at Transamerica Corp., the largest single banking insti tution in the West, while e x e m pt i n g many large banking firms in the East. through its First National A. KODt- Smltn Transamerica, control of the 'Bank of Fortland and its 68 branches around the state, con trols about half the bank depos its in Oregon. Transamerica con trols the National Bank of Wash ington with its 12 branches in 'Washington-state, as well as a number ot banks in Idaho and in eight other western states. Legislation passed by the Sen ate would stop Transamerica from acquiring new bank prop erties in additional states, and it would require the holding com pany to get rid of its non-banking Interests, including Colum bia River Papkers Assn. of As toria. The same bill would apply to the other bank holding compan ies in the Pacific Northwest that own two or more banks: Marine Bank corporation of Seattle, with 44 branches and 18 per cent of Washington's deposits; Old Na tional Corp. of Spokane with 18 branches and 7 per cent of the state's deposits; and Union Bond and Mortgage Co. of Port Angel es, which has four banks and one branch, but less than one per cent of the deposits of Washing ton state. iSaiellite Purges Prelude to Larger hakeups by Sleds of Malin in Russia has thrown thr - Sovirt Satellites into a spasm of slf-rrriminatiou and purging the like of which has not been seen previously since the Stalin Era scapegoat trials. In the following dispatch. United Press Corres- i pondent Russell Jones, former U.P. Bureau manager in Prague and an expert on Eastern European Affairs, - reports that the purges have only Just begun. By RUSSELL JONES United Press Correspondent Frankfurt, German y (U.R) .The purges in Soviet satellite na tions as a result of the denuncia tion of Stalin are only the pre lude to bigger shakeups to come in both government and the Communist party. So far, purges in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Poland have ousted known pro-Stalinists. But experts believe that as the clean out process continues, anti-Stalinists too may fall. Both Affected The experts think some of both varieties of political think ers will be affected.- It is believed that in Russia it self, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav M. Molotov, one of the few Bolsheviks who success fully stuck with Stalin through the years, may be on his way out. Sources pointed out that Molotov was not included on the recent trip of the Soviet's lead ers to Britain, and that the big gest foreign affairs speech made recently in Moscow was by Pravda Editor Dmitri Shepilov,' not Molotov. Other Communist nations al ready have started weeding out their Molotovs, the leaders like Bulgarian Premier Vuklo Cherv enkov who rose to power and stayed there by following Stal in's "cult of the individual." Chervenkov quit last week, ab- jectedly apologizing for "er rors." Czech Vice Premier and De fense Minister Alexei Cepicka, a pro-Stalinist known in his homeland as a "brutal thug," was fired from both posts this week. Polish Shakeup Poland is in the midst of a major cabinet shakeup which has cost six security and justice officials their jobs. Polish Premier Josef Cyran kiewicz even criticized himself in a speech last week and warn ed against the "rampant cult of Stalin." All of the purged Polish offi cials had been directly connect ed with repression of the people or keeping party members with in the grasp of iron discipline. Mass "rehabilitation" of prom inent generals may be announc ed, according to Warsaw cables. Already 30,000 prisoners have had their sentences cancelled. Communist East Germany said today in its official news paper that it will not purge leaders who came-to power un der Stalin. Nevertheless, the East German Communist party has been shaken, and has admit ted splits in its ranks over the Stalin issue. Isaac Stern Leaves For Russian Tour Washington (U.R) Isaac Stern, America's most famous violinist, left Saturday for a four-week tour of the Soviet Un ion. He will be the first major U. S -trained concert artist to visit the Soviet Union since Mos cow embarked on its new "friendship" campaign. , Because of one amendment which exempts all holding com panies which have only one bank, the bill does not apply to many big eastern banking insti tutions, some of them with as sets far in excess of the assets of some western bank firms hit by the bill. This one exemption kept 116 of the nation's 163 bank holding companies out of the bill, according to Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.), a member of the Sen ate Banking committee that han dled the measure. Floor Debate Morse said in floor debate that these exemptions and oth ers show that "it is a bill pri marily aimed at Transamerica" despite the fact that "no abuses on the part of Tr&nsamerica in respect to the depositors and the investors have been brought forth in the record." His point was that if Trans america should! be restricted, then all bank holding companies should be restricted. While be lieving that all holding compan ies should be restricted, Morse objected to discriminating against Transamerica. He said: "Let me say this of Trans? erica in my state: it has brought great economic advancement to the state of Oregon. Its subsid iary holdings, such as Columbia River Packers, are among the outstanding economic institu tions in my state." Morse offered an amendment to make the bill apply to all bank holding firms but lost 51 28. Exempted He pointed out that among those exempted by the bill were W. R. Grace and Co. with assets of S375 million; Deere and Co. with assets of $430 million; and Gimbel Bros, with assets of $160 million. Morse said it also ex empted the duPont trust of Flor-' ida, which controls 24 banks and many industrial companies. Among the others exempted are: Finance companies, such as the Morris Plan, Corp., with 12 banks in six states. Religious associations, includ ing the Mormon church with its banking interests in Utah. Labor organizations, such as the United Mine Workers with its eastern banking holdings. Largest Holding Transamerica is the largest of the holding companies affect ed by the bill. The Senate com mittee said that as of the end of 1954, it controlled banks in five states Oregon, Washing ton, California, Nevada and Ari zona with assets of over $2 billion. Since then it has been buying up control of banks in six other western states Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado reportedly to get in under the wire before the new bank holding act takes ef fect. The bank bill started out cov ering all holding companies. But by the time it passed the Sen ate it had been riddled with ex emptions for the most influen tial firms. May Increase Urban, Rural Road Funds Washington U.R) Sen. Albert Gore Saturday promised an all-out fight to increase the funds earmarked for primary, urban and rural roads in a S51.5 billion highway building pro gram. The Tennessee Democrat, who is chairman of the Senate High way committee predicted the Senate will insist on $900 mil lion a year in federal aid for such roads. States would put up the same amount. The annual S900 million ex penditure for this purpose was authorized in Gore's five-year, SI 8 billion highway construction bill which the Senate approved last year. Portuguese Vessel Sinks In Stormy Seas Lourenco Marques, Mozam bique U.R) The Portuguese coastal vessel "Luabo" sank in stormy seas Saturday off the coast of East Africa. Rescue craft reported most of the crew of 44 was saved. But it was feared that Capt. Antonio Ferreira may have gone down with his ship. Poland Announces Cabinel Changes Warsaw, Poland (U.R) Pol and Saturday dismissed the vice minister of justice and revealed further sweeping p o s t-Stalin changes in major cabinet posts and government security and le gal agencies. The reorganization thus far has affected eight ministries, the public security committee, and the civil and military prosecu tors offices. The government, in moves an nounced today, "relieved" Vice Minister of Justice Henryk Cies- luk, announced Stanislaw ' Syk zeszewski, foreign minister since 1951, has been relieved "at his own request," and named secre tary of the council of state. 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