Mr. O'CONNOR. How do they sell at such low prices?

Mr. SHANNON. They have no rent to pay; the soldiers are in control of it.

Mr. Cox. And they have to do no advertising?

Mr. SHANNON. That is perfectly true. In this report you will find that they conduct, with the aid of the soldiers, with some negroes in charge-they have a chicken farm, and the chicken farm sells its products to private consumers. It is a startling story, and I am going to file with you a statement of what the little chamber of commerce of the city of Leavenworth has said. They have not any place to go to. I have in my pocket, and I want to file with you, a letter from a merchant. They ask these people to come up and look at their goods and take them out on approval, and they get the number of the lot and then they go to the post and order them. They speak of all kinds of goods of that kind. This man speaks of a certain article at this place. The man who came in took the number. This merchant complained about it and he says that the civil-service employee saw it, and then he bought his goods from a Government institution at the post.

Then he says, if this keeps up there is nothing left for us to do about it but to become Bolshevists, and maybe worse. We have got to relieve these little fellows in trade. Then, for fear I may forget it, let me say this: Only last Saturday, in a Louisville hotel, the coal men in their national organization met and passed a resolution, a terrific resolution, calling on Congress to help them. They do not know you are considering this subject. What is happening? The same thing is going on in your communities every hour.

Mr. BANKHEAD. Is the Government selling coal?

Mr. SHANNON. This is a protest, calling on Congress for relief, because they say the Government buildings are organizing all over the country to sell coal.

Mr. O'CONNOR. Where do they get the coal?

Mr. SHANNON. Where-I do not know.

Mr. O'CONNOR. I did not know that they owned coal mines. Mr. SHANNON. Here I have a letter from a gentleman which says that one of the minor organizations under the Farm Board has gone into Oklahoma and bought coal mines and is selling coal down there, and he complains of it, and tells what it does to the little fellow in the coal business.

Mr. PURNELL. That is not an organization connected directly with the Farm Board or controlled by it. That is a cooperative organi

zation.

Mr. SHANNON. Let me digress for a moment. Nations, like any of us, when we get into that kind of business, have a way of hiding it. You will find they use splendid names; in some instances they will call the organization a service work company, or a welfare organization, or, just as you spoke of it, a cooperative concern, or something like that.

Mr. PURNELL. That is just what it is, it is a farmer-owned and a farmer-controlled organization.

Mr. SHANNON. Backed by the Federal Government; certainly. Mr. PURNELL. They might borrow money from them.

Mr. SHANNON. They say, Why does the Government continue to destroy these little fellows?" This Government can not get away

with it, because they have authorized some fellow to go out and do that. The Government is no different from any one else when it does wrong. And this is doing wrong. They have a reservation over in our community that has gone into business running a restaurant. Is it less wrong if it is done indirectly by the Government than if it is done directly? The coal situation is outlined in the resolution passed Louisville last Saturday. I have a letter from a coal man in Kansas City who is connected with that organization. Mr. GREENWOOD. I would like to make this observation. If, under the Farm Board, there are cooperative companies mining coal on the theory that it contributes to the assistance of agriculture, selling in the open market, I want to know it.

Mr. SHANNON. That is what this man says in this letter, that they are operating the coal mines and destroying the little retail coal dealer in Oklahoma. I have this letter from Mr. Frank Evanson, and this resolution is just fresh from Louisville. I want to give you a concrete, living example of what I have been saying, through one of my clerks. I want you to see how far this evil has gone. So I am going to ask this young man to stand up here so you can see just what he has on. Everything he wears he bought from Government people in Washington. Take those shoes he has on. Where did you get them?

Mr. CONKRITE. At Bolling Field.

Mr. SHANNON. Where did you get those socks?
Mr. CONKRITE. At Bolling Field.

Mr. SHANNON. Where did you get those clothes?
Mr. CONKRITE. At Walter Reed.

Mr. SHANNON. Where did you get that tie?

Mr. CONKRITE. At 1800 C.

Mr. SHANNON. Where did you get your underclothes?

Mr. CONKRITE. At 1800 C.

Mr. SHANNON. I bought the hat myself and I found that it fitted. the boy, so I gave it to the boy. What is the use of worrying about Oklahoma? We have the example right here.

Where did you get your hair cut?

Mr. CONKRITE. At Walter Reed.

Mr. SHANNON. Where did you eat your breakfast in the morning? Mr. CONKRITE. Right across the street from 1800 C.

Mr. SHANNON. In a Government building?

Mr. CONKRITE. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHANNON. And paid for it?

Mr. CONKRITE. Yes, sir.

Mr. GREENWOOD. What is 1800 C? What sort of an institution is that?

Mr. SHANNON. That is a big cafeteria where they serve three meals a day on Government ground.

Mr. MARTIN. I was going to ask him if they asked him if he was in the Government service?

Mr. CONKRITE. No questions at all.

Mr. SHANNON. Where did you eat lunch yesterday?

Mr. CONKRITE. At Walter Reed.

Mr. SHANNON. You ate three meals on Saturday?

Mr. CONKRITE. Yes, sir; and I ate each of the three at 1800 C. Mr. SHANNON. You did not have these trousers fixed, but you could have done it nicely during lunch time?

Mr. CONKRITE. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHANNON. Could you have gotten a manicure out there? Mr. CONKRITE. I believe so.

Mr. SHANNON. And still the Government is not in business. I want to say to you, gentlemen, this cries out for relief. Then, so you may see just what we have here, I want to ask this young man, where did you get your suit?

Mr. CONKRITE. At the Walter Reed Hospital commissary.
Mr. GREENWOOD. You are not a soldier?

Mr. CONKRITE. No, sir.

Mr. MARTIN. Can you tell me whether any of the articles sold are made in Government factories?

Mr. SHANNON. I do not know. This orange was bought at Bolling Field, and this tie was bought at national headquarters, the post headquarters at 1800 C NW., Washington.

I want to show you one other thing. Every young college boyI felt that this boy ought to be properly equipped when he got his outfit. I went over at this place that is called national headquarters, and I bought those for him [exhibiting]. I am a temperance man, and I do not know much about these things, but those who are experts at making and mixing drinks tell me that if you put a gallon of whisky into a gallon of water and put this stuff in you get the color and the taste out of it.

Mr. RANSLEY. Where did you buy those?

Mr. CONKITE. At the headquarters company, at Eighteenth and C. Mr. SHANNON. I bought every one of these. They tell me this is not permitted to be sold in ordinary drug stores, that they arrest them for it.

I do not know whether it is true or not, but I could not believe my own eyes when I saw these labeled, "Rum," "Gin," and "Rye." I told you all I know. I have asked several people what they do with it, and they say they put in water and alcohol and they give it color and taste.

Mr. MARTIN. Any "kick "?

Mr. SHANNON. I assume the "kick" is in with the alcohol.

Mr. MICHENER. Let us find out what it is. There is no question about what you bought. It is alcohol, or is it flavoring extract? Mr. SHANNON. I do not know what it is; I am telling you what it says it will do.

Mr. MARTIN. It says, "Product nonalcoholic."

Mr. Cox. I think it must be a form of bitters.

Mr. SHANNON. It is jut in there to give color and taste. I bought it the same day I bought a can of chicken and a can of crabmeat, and this bottle of vaseline. I bought the vaseline in the drug store and the chicken meat in the same place where I bought the other bottle.

Mr. MICHENER. As a member of the committee I want to say something. There is not any question that you bought this, and they should not be selling it. But I do not want this matter to be passed over in the way in which you seem to be intending it to be passed over. You have intimated that it is something intoxicating? Mr. SHANNON. I do not know.

Mr. MICHENER. We want to know. There is this red line there, and it says "Nonalcoholic; Scotch; artificial coloring. Made by

W. A. Taylor Co. of New York." If that is what it is, you can buy it at a drug store.

Mr. SHANNON. They tell me you can not.

Mr. Cox. Here is one marked " Gin "; here is some "Rye." There can not be any question but what it is to give the flavor. Mr. SHANNON. You have it here.

Mr. Cox. There is rum, rye, gin, and Scotch. Are those liquors? Mr. SHANNON. I do not know. I have only had 52 years of temperance, so I am not an authority on it. Sometimes when a great evil is growing it is well to bring it in a practical way to the minds of those who have to do with it. I have everything we bought. There are the oranges that we bought at Bolling Field [indicating]. These were not sold to take care of any emergency. They have everything under the sun, so I can well understand the people at Leavenworth when they protested against this system that came into their community and destroyed it by permitting an organization to be formed that meant the destruction of their business.

Mr. PURNELL. To my mind, the most serious charge you have made and I want to know whether you are in a position to substantiate it or not-is the charge that they used the Government franked envelopes to send these advertisements to people who have no connection whatever with the Federal Government. Did you satisfy yourself on that?

Mr. SHANNON. I would have to take the word of these gentlemen. Mr. RANSLEY. Who was that sent to?

Mr. SHANNON. This was sent to the McBride Shoe Co.

Mr. PURNELL. You made the statement that these are sent indiscriminately to people at Leavenworth who have no connection directly or indirectly with the Federal Government. If they are sent out under a Government frank, that is a serious charge, and I am asking you the question for the purpose of ascertaining if you are in a position to substantiate that?

Mr. SHANNON. The Chamber of Commerce of Leavenworth sent those to me. They bring them to me and tell me that not only do they sell goods but they advertise, and they send the advertisements there.

Mr. PURNELL. That is, under a Government frank?

Mr. SHANNON. Yes.

Mr. GREENWOOD. On what theory do you figure the McBride Shoe Co. would be a Federal employee?

The CHAIRMAN. We will have to ask you to conclude.

Mr. Cox. Let me call attention to this label, which indicates that this liquid here is intended to be used in liquors. It says this: Contents of this bottle sufficient to flavor one gallon, .

Mr. BANKHEAD. One gallon of what?

Mr. Cox. Of rye.

Mr. SHANNON. Mr. Purnell, right here is a similar advertisement that goes out from the Interstate Commerce Club. They send a list and tell people to what advantage they can buy these goods. Mr. PURNELL. I am not defending it. I want to know if it is a fact that they send these out under Government franks, indiscriminately?

Mr. MARTIN. You can find that out?

Mr. SHANNON. Yes.

Mr. GREENWOOD. Who is the last list addressed to?

Mr. SHANNON. I do not know. I got that here in Washington. That is just given out, is it not?

When they were questioned about this club-it was all done under the names of clubs and associations, and then they say we do this to keep up the morale of the organization, and then they add in the closing letter from the Secretary of the Interstate Commerce Commission, who writes back and says, in addition to the morale of the clerks the effect is that it keeps up the morale of the commission. All I want to do is to keep up the morale of the people where it should be, and this can not be handled in an examination. It is what this calls for, a real investigation on the part of the only body that can really bring it to a head, and not have politics in it, but have this Congress, when it meets in December, to adopt a remedy, and the only way you can do it is to appoint a committee to investigate it.

The CHAIRMAN. I really must remind you again that we must have an executive session this morning.

Mr. SHANNON. I am through.

The CHAIRMAN. Anything you want to file you can file with the committee.

Mr. SHANNON. Just one thing more. I do not think the resolution is broad enough to include these little concerns, these so-called organizations that really commit the offense under Government supervision.

STATEMENT OF HON. RALPH HORR, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

Mr. HORR. Mr. Chairman, I would like to file some exhibits along the line of the argument of the gentleman from Missouri. I can give you an exhibit from the Bremerton Navy Yard, at Bremerton, Wash. That is in my district.

I want to file with you a telegram I received from Mr. Ed Bremer, whose father was the founder of the town of Bremerton, signed by him as president of the Kitsap County Merchants Association. It

says:

Hon. RALPH HORR,

Member of Congress, Washington.

BREMERTON, WASH., May 21, 1932.

DEAR SIR: The Kitsap County Merchants Association wants your undivided support for the effort of Representative Joseph B. Shannon, of Missouri, which is before the House Rules Committee for special committee of investigation regarding the competitive conditions existing between the Government and private enterprise. We feel the results of this competition here very keenly. ED BREMER,

President Kitsap County Merchants Association.

I do not want you to think that these conditions do not prevail in other places, because they do. I do not believe they are as flagrant at the navy yard as at some other places, but we do have those conditions that have been prevailing out there. I also would like to file for the record a telegram in support of Mr. Shannon's resolution, from the Washington Retail Grocers & Merchants Association of Seattle, which says:

RALPH A. HORR,

SEATTLE, WASH., May 23, 1932.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.: The effort of Representative Shannon, Missouri, to have special committee investigation regarding competitive Government versus private enterprise is