Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Then you returned his call, is that true, when you learned that he had been calling you?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well, proceed.

Mr. O'DONNELL. You called him about 8 o'clock at night on May 17, 1961?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

Mr. O'DONNELL. As a result of the conversation, what did Dyer tell you?

Mr. EVANS. Mr. Dyer said

The CHAIRMAN. Give us just a clear and complete, but concise, statement of what actually happened, Mr. Evans. This is one of those things where all we want in the world is just to get the facts, what actually occurred. I don't know whether someone is just popping and has caused this trouble or whether there is some substance to this thing. I just want to get the truth.

Mr. EVANS. That is what you will get, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well.

off

Mr. EVANS. Mr. Dyer called me and said that I was acquainted with the fact or I was familiar

The CHAIRMAN. What is that?

Mr. EVANS. I was familiar with the fact that the warehouse industry was working for higher CCC rates on cotton.

The CHAIRMAN. You were familiar with that?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir, and I told him yes, I was. He said, well, the National Cotton Council is going to testify tomorrow in opposition to the farm bill. If they testify, the higher rates will not be forthcoming.

Mr. O'DONNELL. What higher rates?

Mr. EVANS. Higher rates in the contract price of CCC storage. The CHAIRMAN. Is that all he said?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir. Then I replied to Mr. Dyer and told him that the warehouse industry only comprised one-sixth of the cotton industry, and at the time I talked to Mr. Dyer, Senator, I did not know that the Council or Warehouse Association or warehouse representation on the National Cotton Council had veto power.

The CHAIRMAN. Veto power of what?

Mr. EVANS. Of any policy decision that the Council might make. The CHAIRMAN. That isn't at issue here, is it?

Mr. EVANS. I just inject that.

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

Mr. EVANS. I told him that we comprised only one-sixth of the cotton industry and we couldn't change something that had already been done. I further told him

The CHAIRMAN. What did you mean by what had already been done?

Mr. EVANS. By what had already been done, is, the members of the board of directors of the National Cotton Council had already been polled, and the directors were in opposition to the farm bill.

The CHAIRMAN. They were in opposition, but that wasn't the question, and the question was about testifying up here?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. All right, proceed.

Mr. EVANS. After I told Mr. Dyer that, I told him that the Government had just completed, the Department of Agriculture had just completed a cost study of the warehouse industry.

The CHAIRMAN. Had just completed what?

Mr. EVANS. A cost study of the warehouse industry, and I was sure that the Department would take that cost study into consideration and not whether or not somebody testified. Then I asked Mr. Dyer, and I said, "Who in the Department had you call me?”

The CHAIRMAN. What department?

Mr. EVANS. The Department of Agriculture.

Senator JACKSON. The U.S. Department of Agriculture?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir, and I did not say that, and I just said Department at the time.

Senator JACKSON. That is what you are referring to?

The CHAIRMAN. Did he understand what you were referring to? Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir, and he said, "Well, let us just say the Commissioner got word from Washington."

The CHAIRMAN. What else did he say?

Mr. EVANS. And I told him that I would call Mr. John Todd, in Memphis, and relay the information to him.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, what did he say? According to this affidavit, he said that it came from Washington. To whom?

Mr. EVANS. To the Commissioner.

The CHAIRMAN. Commissioner of what?

Mr. EVANS. Commissioner of Agriculture.

The CHAIRMAN. In Georgia?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that right?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Then what did he say that the commissioner's comment or action was about it?

Mr. EVANS. He said the commissioner thought we ought to know about it, meaning the warehouse people in Georgia.

The CHAIRMAN. The commissioner of agriculture of Georgia thought that you people ought to know about it. Did he tell you he was calling at the instance of the commissioner?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. He just said that the commissioner thought that you ought to know about it?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And, of course, you understood that was one of the reasons why he was calling?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, he is in that department?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. He is down there, and he is talking about his boss, the commissioner, was he?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And he said and related this to you, that the commissioner, meaning his boss, the commissioner of agriculture of the State of Georgia, thought you folks ought to know about it?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

75187-61-2

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, you gathered from that, that was the reason he was calling?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well; now, proceed.

Mr. EVANS. After I told him that I would call Mr. Todd, and relay this information on to him, because it was important

The CHAIRMAN. You then got in touch with Mr. Todd?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How?

Mr. EVANS. By telephone, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Why?

Mr. EVANS. To give him the same information that Mr. Dyer had given me.

The CHAIRMAN. To pass on that information to him?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. The information you had just received.

Mr. EVANS. From Mr. Dyer.

The CHAIRMAN. Did you call him that night?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Immediately after you concluded this call, or your talk with Mr. Dyer?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. All right, proceed.

Mr. EVANS. Then Mr. Dyer and I talked about the farm bill in generalities, and I asked him how the commissioner liked it, and he said he liked it.

The CHAIRMAN. The Commissioner of Georgia liked the farm bill? Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir. I thanked Mr. Dyer for the information again and told him I would call Mr. Todd, and that terminated our conversation.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you ever had anything to indicate to you that you misunderstood Mr. Dyer, when he conveyed to you the impression, if not by positive statement, that something had come out of Washington to that effect, that if they testified against the farm bill, the warehousemen wouldn't get their increase?

Mr. EVANS. I did not misunderstand him, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. You did not misunderstand him?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You got the message, you are sure as you have related here, that he intended to convey to you?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You have no doubt about that?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

Mr. O'DONNELL. Did you make any notes based on this telephone call?

Mr. EVANS. I did, sir, but not at the time of the call.

Mr. O'DONNELL. The call was made on May 17. When did you make notes?

Mr. EVANS. I made the notes on Monday, following the Wednesday. Mr. O'DONNELL. May 17 was Wednesday, was it not?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You received the call on May 17?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. From Dyer?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Wednesday night, May 17?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You didn't make notes of it until Monday?
Mr. EVANS. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. Why did you make notes of it on Monday?

Mr. EVANS. Well, I had been in communication with Mr.Todd, and like I said at the time, I was talking to Mr. Dyer, and I did not realize that the warehouse industry had veto power in the National Cotton Council.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, the warehouse association could veto whatever recommendations or action the Cotton Council would propose to take?

Mr. EVANS. That is right, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That is correct, is it?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well.

Mr. O'DONNELL. I show you these notes, and ask you to identify them.

The CHAIRMAN. First, may I ask you, had any question arisen with respect to investigation or anything at the time that you made these notes?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Did you know then you would ever be called as a witness or interrogated about this matter?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. What I am trying to establish is, that your making notes was not for any purpose of being able to present them to this committee or to anyone else.

Mr. EVANS. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. Why did you make them?

Mr. EVANS. I made them, sir, because I figured that that conversation was important, and Mr. Todd said that this thing has a lot of importance, and you ought to reduce the telephone conversation to

notes.

The CHAIRMAN. When did he tell you that?

Mr. EVANS. Senator, I can't remember exactly, and we talked back and forth.

The CHAIRMAN. Was that in the first conversation that you had? Mr. EVANS. It was not in the first one.

The CHAIRMAN. How many telephone conversations did you say, within the next 3 or 4 days, that you had with Mr. Todd about this? Mr. EVANS. I think it was probably in the second one, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. In the second conversation?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me see if I am right. Mr. Todd had already given some publicity to this matter at the time that you made the notes?

Mr. EVANS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. There had been no publicity given at the time, you made the notes?

Mr. EVANS. To my knowledge, sir, there had not been.

The CHAIRMAN. Was the first publicity, so far as you know, made on May 23?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. So that it was evidently the day before the publicity actually went out?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That you made the notes?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And Mr. Todd told you he was going to give the thing publicity?

Mr. EVANS. He called me and told me he was going to call names. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Todd called you and said "Now listen, this thing has some import, and it might have some real serious implications, and we are going to give publicity to it and we are going to call names"; is that right?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And he told you it would be well for you to make notes of your telephone conversation with Mr. Dyer?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Am I correct in that?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That is what happened?

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Now then, I present to you these notes, and ask if those are the notes that you made at the time?

you

(The document was handed to the witness.)

Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well, they may be printed in the record. (The notes referred to are as follows:)

NOTES ON PHONE CONVERSATION, MAY 17, 1961

Mr. Boyce Dyar from State department of agriculture called several times during day and left his home phone number with my wife for me to call him when I got home. I did.

Mr. Dyar

You are of course familiar with the fact that the warehouse industry is trying to get increased rates on the storage of CCC cotton. I replied that I was. He further stated that the National Cotton Council was going to testify the next day on the farm bill and that they were going to oppose it. He added that if they opposed it that the increased rates would not be forthcoming to the warehouse industry. I told him that the warehouse industry only comprised onesixth of the National Cotton Council and we could not change a policy already decided upon. I told Mr. Dyar further that the Department of Agriculture has just completed a cost study of the cotton warehouse industry and it looked as if an increase in rates was justified from this study and I was sure the Department of Agriculture would certainly take their own study into consideration. I thanked him for this information and told him I would relay it to Executive Vice President Mr. John Todd in Memphis. I also told Mr. Dyar that I did not think the warehouse industry or at least the National Cotton Compress & Warehouse Association had taken a position on the farm bill. I asked Mr. Dyar who in the Department of Agriculture had him call me. He replied that word came from Washington to the commissioner and the commissioner thought we ought to know about it. I asked Mr. Dyar what the commissioner thought of the farm bill; he said that the commissioner liked it. We discussed the bill in some generalities and then I thanked him for giving me the information and told him again I would relay it to our Mr. Todd.