Ex-Oregon Congressman Tells
Of Conflict of Interest Case
i 1
By A. ROBERT SMITH
Mail Tribune
Washington Correspondent
Washington -(Special)- Sam
Coon, ex - congressman from
eastern Oregon, has disclosed
details of a
"ugly Ameri
ca n i s m" in
i Peru where a
U. S. foreign
aid director
: has been fired
for a conflict
of interest.
Coon last
March resign-
' ,t m xi
A. Bobt. Smith ea i r o m uie
post of deputy director in Peru
for the International Coopera
tion Administration, .the fed
eral agency which handles the
foreign aid program. In June
he went before the House Ap
propriations Committee, of
which he was once a member,
to reveal behind closed doors
shenanigans connected with
the Peru operation. The testi
mony has now been made pub
lic. The story Coon told contain
ed these elements:
1. John R. Neale, ICA di
rector in Peru, was fired for
being in the livestock business
in that country. He was in
partnership with the Peruvian
husband of another ICA em
ployee, his administrative as
sistant. 2. Neale used an ICA vet
erinarian six or seven times
to treat his stock. The vet
told Coon the ranch was 17,500
acre3 devoted to 2000 sheep
and a string of cattle.
No Foreplanning
3. Neale's daughter ' t h e n
bought a ranch near an iso
lated town, Oxapampa. Short
ly thereafter, Coon found that
three main ICA programs
agriculture, health and educa
tion were started in that
area without any apparent
foreplanning. Coon caught the
reason. The head of one of
these three programs said he
went in because he learned
the other two were going in.
The second said the same
thing. Coon added:
"I asked the director of the
third one and he told me-he
kind of smiled-and said, 'Do
not ask any embarrassing
questions'."
4. A road project, whose
location was settled with lo
cal authorities, was suddenly
relocated into - an area that
hadn't been checked by ICA
technicians and was only a
"short cut to the jungle."
Coon, stating that local
Communists took advantage of
Peruvian discontent over these
things, told how he personally
tried to call it to the atten
tion of top ICA officials in
Washington but only got the
run-around. Often he was ad
vised not to relate these de
velopments to anyone. He
wrote a long letter to the head
of ICA, but his only reply was
a request that Coon thereafter
go through proper channels
with his letters.
Sought Top Brass
Coon then flew to Washing
ton at his own expense to try
to see the top brass at ICA
He was unable to get an ap-
nointment with James ti
Smith, then ICA head, and
lower officials suggested he re
turn to Peru and not mention
this to any members of Con
gress.
When asked by his old col
leagues why he didn t maice
these matters known then-
back in 1958 to the press or
to Congress, Coon said he
knew that a new director
would be coming in soon and
he thought this would Bring
needed changes.
When Vice President Nixon
vited Peru on his rocky South
American trip, Coon was told
by an aide to the U.S. ambas
sador in Peru not to say any
thing critical of ICA Director
ltfealp "or vou will pay the
consequences." Apossible
later consequence was tnai
Coon's work in Lima was
given a low rating by his su
perior, Neale.
Coon told how the main of
fice in Lima showed an elabo
rate map that was not accu
rate in showing the extent oi
ICA work in the country, but
he was told it ' was only to
impress visitors from wasn
ineton. The budget for Peru
was from $2.5 to $2.75 million
a year, Coon said.
Under Investigation
Neale was finally relieved
and reDlaced by another man
whom Coon had" little praise
for. Neale then went to work
for the Minister of Agricul
ture of Peru, and then the
Minister of Agriculture was
hired by ICA, Coon declared.
Coon wasn't solely respon
sible for brineinz Neale's con
flict of interest to light. That
had been under investigation
for several , months before
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Coon arrived, ICA officials
claim. Queried now, they say
they are still investigating
The Republican from Baker,
who won high praise from his
congressional colleagues, said
he wasn't against the foreign
aid program and thought it
had in many cases helped com
bat Communism. But he criti
cized its top management.
Coon resigned after his ini-
tial two-year term was up, as
be was free to do. He was of
fered another post in Pakistan
at slightly higher salary but
turned it down. When asked
why, he said he thought he
would find "more peace of
mind if I went back out in the
West and did not have the re
sponsibility of being connect
ed with this program any
longer.
Family
Council
Harriet R. I can't stand
mother's new husband.
Mrs. J. F He has almost
saved my life.
Harriet R. I am happily
married and the moiher of
two youngsters. My problem
concerns my mother who rec
ently remarried.
Mother was a widow for ten
years. She owned and operat
ed a small business very suc
cessfully. She took in Ralph,
a man nearly 20 years her
junior, as an assistant. He
managed to win her confi
dence and she finally married
him.
Now Ralph runs the busi-ness-and
Mother as well. She
does everything he tells her.
He has fallen into gravy for
he didn't have a dime of his
own. Everyone is laughing at
Mother and I feel so bad for
her that I can't bear to face
her. I certainly can't stand
the sight of Ralph. I love my
mother, but she won't visit me
without him and I can't visit
her.
Mrs. J. F. I certainly nev
er expected to be estranged
from my only daughter in my
late years We have always
had a warm, wonderful rela
tionship. Now she acts as
though she is my enemy. The
few times we have been to
gether since my marriage, it
has all ended in bitterness and
tears. -
Harriet is so sure I have
married a fortune-hunter. But
I have no fortune and Ralph
knows it. I am 63 and have
worked hard all my life. I
couldn't go on indefinitely.
Ralph learned the business in
no time and almost saved my
life by taking over some of
the heaviest burdens.
My husband has tried to win
Harriet over, but she has been
nasty to him. I feel I have a
right to demand that she re
spect him.
The Council. We're with
Mrs. J. F. She has a right to
demand respect for her hus
band. .
Harriet should also recog
nize that love and respect for
her mother demand that she
treat her stepfather with cour
tesy and kindness-even if she
can't muster any enthusiasm
for the relationship.
Harriet seems deeply affect
ed by the external appearance
of this marriage of her moth
er's but we don't see any sign
of an effort on her part to
delve further. ,
If Mrs. J. F. has fallen into
the hands of a real fortune
hunter who will selfishly use
her and show no love and con
sideration in return, Harriet
will be needed. But the critic
al,, hostile attitude she has
taken sets up a barrier be
tween her and her mother,
and it may prevent her moth
er from coming to her should
she need a friend.
On the other hand, Harriet
should recognize that she can
not judge a relationship like
marriage purely on the social
appearance. It is just possible
that this older woman and
younger man have much to
give one another mentally and
emotionally as well as eco
nomically. . .. i ;
Mrs. J. F. seems satisfied
with the arrangement she has
made at this time at least.
It may be hard for Harriet to
accept the fact that her moth
er could be quite content to
let this man enjoy certain eco
nomic advantages while she
enjoys other benefits. It may
also be hard for her to under
stand that two individuals so
far apart in age could love
one another sincerely. But life
is full of interesting possibili
ties and Harriet should !e
willing at least to look at this
relationship with an open
mind. Outsiders who scoff
aren't worth thinking about.
(Copyright 1959,
General Features Corp.) .
About 5,500 Americans
visited the Union of South
Africa in 1958.
STANDING ON ROSTRUM, Martin B. McKneally, New
burgh, N.' Y., and Mrs. Alexander H. Gray, Brownsville,
Term., new American Legion National Commander and
Auxiliary President, acknowledge cheers at Minneapolis.
Small Worlds
Around Us
By Lynn M. Watkins
WSC Now Officially
State University
Pullman (DPD Washington
State College officially be
came Washington State Uni
versity today as the result of
action by the last legislature.
Established in 1890 by the
legislature, the land - grant
school has grown from a
handful of students to this
year's estimated enrollment
of 6,650 students.
San Pedro, Calif.-dJPD-R. E.
Goodwin told police today
that a thief in a cabin cru
iser slid alongside his wharf
while he was talking to a
friend, scooped up $180 worth
of tools, and roared away
across Los Angeles harbor.
Chicago - (DPD - J. Earl Wet
more of Oswego, Ore., has
been elected western vice
president of the National So
ciety of Public Accountants.
Dallas Mill Owner
Planning To Rebuild
Dallas, Ore. (DPD Andy
Ialack, Jr., owner of the Da
Oreole Lumber Company,
whose mill was destroyed by
fire Aug. 24, said today it
would be about three months
before the new mill can be iri
operation. About 30 men were
employed by the mill and
planer.
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford. Or. O
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1959 '
There are no railroads in
Iceland, but there are about
2,728 miles of j highway.
These Bees
Were Bugged
I would not have believed
it either, except that I saw
it very plainly under the mag:
nification of a strong hand
lens. It was rather startling,
The subject under observa
tion was a honeybee, but the
unbelievable part about the
inspection was the "passen
gers" on the bee's body, the
other "animals" the bee was
carrying.
Member of a populous col
ony of honeybees, this one
we were examining had been
"acting funny." The bee's
owner told me this particu
lar colony "hadn't been doing
so good." An inspection inside
the hive had revealed that
"something was drilling tiny
holes in the comb."
Careful observation of the
incoming and outgoing bees
from this hive had attracted
the attention of the beekeep
er. Several times he had no
ticed that a bee, landing on
the hive entrance, would go
into a crazy sort of dance,
turning in tight circles, then
reversing the circles and
twisting and turning in the
opposite direction. "Funny
and highly unusual behav
ior," the man said, 'for nor
mally well-behaved and well-
adjusted bees."
Ridiculous
It was one of these "twist
ing bees" we now had under
the magnifying glass, and
what we were seeing, besides
the bee, was utterly ridicu
lous. On the body of the bee,
an area equivalent in size to
a navy bean, was a crawling
horde of microscopically tiny
insects. The . bee was infested
with "bee lice."
With a soft brush, a pair
of tweezers and a needle, we
brushed the lice from the lit
tle bee-body onto a sheet of
blue paper ninety-one, very
small, wingless lice. These
tiny parasitic insects, crawl
ing over the sensitive body
of the bee-host, had been driv
ing her to go into her crazy,
circular dance, interrupting
her nectar gathering, and lat
er infecting the hive itself as
the lice departed the host to
take up residence in the hon
ey-combs.
In the comb the larvae of
the bee-louse feeds on the nec
tar as well as the bee-bread.
On the living bees, the lice
take food from the bee's
mouth. During the night,
when the activity of the hive
slows down, the bee-lice are
known to crawl from the
mouth of one sleeping bee to
another, taking what food it
can from each one it visits.
From Old World
Bee lice came over from
the Old World, probobaly on
the bodies of imported bees
or in combs. They laid their
smaller-than-mite sized eggs
in every bee hive they could
find. Man himself helped a
great deal by transporting
hives and swarms of infected
bees from one point to anoth
er. The tiny lice, sometimes
as many as a hundred on the
body of a single bee, went
along, unwanted and unseen,
and even unsuspected. ,
The poor honeybee has no
defense against the tiny tor
mentors. All the bee can do is
keep on flying, carrying the
pesky little non-paying pas
sengers and going into her
twisting dance when the irri
tation becomes greater than
she can bear. Who knows but
what the peculiar saying is
true that, "Small fleas have
yet smaller : fleas that bite
them-ad infinitum."
(Released by The Register and
Tribune Syndicate, 1959)
New York-(DPD-Capt. Eddie
Rickenbacker, chairman of
the board of Eastern Air
Lines, will relinquish the title
of chief executive officer on
Oct. 1. Rickenbacker said
Malcolm A. Maclntyre, the
company's newly elected pres
ident, will become the new
chief executive officer.
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