Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1958)

MACK PROBE continued 13-page statement that opened with appreeiation of the chance to answer charges against him. He said he welcomed the FBI inquiry into checks written by Mr. Whiteside and added that he had turned over his personal riles to the investigators. He said that he had submitted the files to the FBI voluntarily, before any request was made. Comr. Mack stated categorically that his relations with his lifelong friend, Mr. Whiteside, had nothing to do with his vote in favor of the Public Service application. He said he had at no time, directly or indirectly, pledged his vote. He reviewed contacts made by Mr. Katzentine, WKAT Miami Beach, one of the four ch. 10 applicants, when he was still a member of the Florida Railroad & Utilities Commission and then after he joined the FCC. He mentioned contacts made by Jerry W. Carter, a member of the Florida Utilities Commission, and Perrine Palmer, Miami businessman, after he joined the FCC but said none of them asked him to commit his vote. The roles of Sen. Kefauver, Ben Fuqua of Florida Power & Light Co., and others were outlined. Sen. Kefauver, it was said, was a friend of Mr. Katzentine and asked Mr. Fuqua to talk with Comr. Mack in support of persons involved in the Katzentine application. A detailed recital of FCC procedure in connection with the ch. 10 case showed that Comr. Mack's vote was not a deciding factor in the grant. He said that as a Floridian he felt there was need for a third vhf station in Miami and that the case should be decided soon in view of its long pendency. He studied the record, he said, arriving at a decision on the basis of the record. He reminded that all four ch. 10 applicants were found to be qualified. Comr. Mack said he did not vote for the Katzentine application because he learned that WKAT used free lance announcers who were paid on the basis of the time they sold, contending this amounted to abdication of control of these time segments. He said, too, that WKAT carried advertising by horse-racing tipsters. He asked that the FCC's final decision and Examiner Sharfman's report be made a part of the committee record. A review of financial dealings with Mr. Whiteside included a list of checks from the latter, totaling $4,980 ($250 of one check was not paid to him). Comr. Mack identified 10 checks [photos of seven checks in Lead Story, Feb. 17], saying he had borrowed the $4,980 since 1950. Of this, $2,380 was borrowed before he joined FCC. He added, "Sometime in the fall of 1957, Mr. Whiteside informed me that I had about $2,000 coming to me from the Andar Co. and he advanced me the sum of $1,600 against that account. Later he advanced me another $400 against the same amount. I think later I received an additional check for $200 from the same source. From time to time I executed a number of promissory notes payable to T. A. Whiteside and, as these notes were paid, it was my understanding that Mr. Whiteside marked them accordingly and kept them for me in his files. Mr. Whiteside has never in his life attempted to use any financial obligation of mine to influence my actions, either private or official." He explained he had never been a "money maker" and has often needed financial help. All but $250 of the borrowed money has been repaid, according to Comr. Mack. He said he learned for the first time last Monday, through newspaper accounts, that Stembler-Shelden Insurance Agency had written insurance for Public Service Television. The next day, he said, he wrote Mr. Whiteside at Coral Gables, Fla., to renounce a trust arrangement and to end his interest in the company. He also sent copies of the letters to Mr. Whiteside in care of the subcommittee chairman, he added. Dealings with Andar were outlined, with Comr. Mack insisting that he was not swayed by "intense" interest shown by Mr. Katzentine and others. He said he had not favored Mr. Whiteside nor had he been influenced by their financial transactions. Comr. Mack suggested the committee hearings have shown a need for legislation that would give the FCC and similar agencies relief from approaches on behalf of applicants, including contacts by congressmen and senators. At the beginning of Comr. Mack's testimony, Rep. Harris read into the record a lengthy letter from Sen. Kefauver explaining his role on behalf of Col. Katzentine in the ch. 10 case. The senator said he discussed the case with three FCC commissioners (one of them Comr. Mack) after he heard "disturbing" reports the Commission planned to override the examiner's decision. Sen. Kefauver recalled he had "vigorously opposed" the appointment of George C. McConnaughey to the FCC and this prompted him to lend "further credence" to the rumors. The senator said that Comr. Mack called on him "at Mack's initiative." He said Comr. Mack brought up the ch. 10 matter himself and indicated the case was embarrassing to him (Mack) and that he was inclined to abstain. "Comr. Mack also spoke feelingly to me of his indebtedness to Chairman McConnaughey for his appointment to the Commission," Sen. Kefauver said. Comr. Mack said he did not solicit an appointment to the FCC and felt he was named because of the endorsement of Florida's two senators. "When I first heard about this, I didn't think there was a Chinaman's chance that I'd get on the FCC," he Broadcasting "By The Way, Who Appoints Those Fellows?" HEBBLOCK In The Washington Post and Times-Herald Page 30 • March 3, 1958