A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO MAKE INVESTIGA TION INTO THE CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES OF CANDIDATES FOR THE UNITED SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES, 1930 DELAWARE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1930 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON Wilmington, Del. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 o'clock a. m., in Orphans' Courtroom, Municipal Building, Wilmington, Del., Senator Gerald P. Nye, chairman, presiding. Present: Senators NYE (chairman) and PATTERSON. The CHAIRMAN. Let the committee come to order. For the benefit of witnesses who have been asked to appear this morning, I want to call to their attention the purpose of the committee as embodied in Senate Resolution 215, under which the committee is operating. In part, that resolution declares: That a special committee consisting of five Senators, to be appointed by the Vice President, is hereby authorized and directed to investigate the campaign expenditures of the various candidates for the United States Senate, the names of the persons, firms, or corporations subscribing, the amount contributed, the method of expenditures of said sums, and all facts in relation thereto, not only as to the subscriptions of money and expenditures thereof but as to the use of any other means or influence, including the promise or use of patronage, and all other facts in relation thereto which would not only be of public interest but which would aid the Senate in enacting any remedial legislation or in deciding any contest which might be instituted involving the right to a seat in the United States Senate. The investigation hereby provided for, in all the respects above enumerated shall apply to candidates and contests before senatorial primaries, senatorial conventions, and the contests and campaigns terminating in the general election on November 10, 1930. Now, in sum and substance that constitutes the purpose of the committee sitting here in Wilmington this morning. I hope sincerely that there has not been drawn any conclusion that any partisanship enters into the committee's considerations. I hope there is understanding that we are purely and simply a fact-finding committee, not a committee instructed to go out and report back to the Senate recommendations as to what ought to be done in relation to one candidate or another. It is purely and simply a fact-finding committee. Being such, we are hopeful that those witnesses who have been asked to appear here to-day will aid the committee in the ascertainment of those facts of which we are anxious to possess ourselves to lay before the Senate. A little out of order we are going to hear first Mr. Montaign, who has an engagement this afternoon, and we will be glad to hear him this morning, first of all. 1 |