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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