Show Highway Tax Evasion x A AROUND A A ROUND the army's Pentagon largest office building in th the world winds a network of ot modernIstic modern modem macadam highways which have now become the center of ot one of ot the capitals capital's most interesting hush-hush hush income tax scandals For the men who built the highways high high- ways W W. J. J Doc Doe Hardy and F. F McKenzie Davison of ot the Arlington Asphalt company apparently did not feel they should pay full taxes on the profits tl tIey ey made from Uncle Sam In fact tact treasury agents who finally caught up with the pair estimate es es- es that they quick-changed quick Uncle Sam out of ot I Probably that explains a yacht a home In Florida and a anew anew anew new mansion in Virginia However the two Virginia constructors constructors constructors con con- have been frantically pull ing wires on Capitol Hill especially with Virginias Virginia's Sen Harry E. E Byrd and for a time it looked as if their tax case was stalled Some of ot the tricks used by the Virginia asphalt kings to duck inI income income in in- I come taxes were just as devious as asI the cobweb of ot highways they built I around the Pentagon For example they made out checks for several thousand dollars dollars dollars dol dol- dol- dol lars to W. W W. W Thomas and S. S M. M Redd contractors who later gave T-men T affidavits that they never received the checks What Hardy and Davison did was forge endorsements and cash the checks themselves then deduct the amount of ot the checks from their tax income returns Cadillacs and Mansion The two kings of ot Virginia Asphalt also made out other false invoices and vouchers which they deducted from their income taxes and juggled juggled juggled jug jug- funds carelessly between their private accounts and the company's account Both Mrs Hardy and Mrs Davison received a weekly salary of ot 75 from Arlington Asphalt though not seen working for the company I Hardy also used workers paid out of ot company funds to help build his palatial new Virginia mansion while Davison drives Cadillac and Lincoln automobiles both owned bythe bythe by bythe the company He keeps another company company com corn pany Cadillac at his winter home in Miami Queried about this Davison replied I bo be surprised at the company business we have in Florida To investigate Hardy and Davison the bureau of internal revenue sent six agents simultaneously to grill key witnesses As the T-men T closed in in Hardy and Davison hur hurriedly hired a tax attorney I. I William formerly of ot the bureau of ot internal revenue and who knew all six agents personally But got nowhere S S Byrd Goes Into Info Reverse Then the Arlington Asphalt owners owners owners own own- ers pulled their ace card and called on Senator Byrd for help J. J W. W Barton Barton Barton Bar Bar- ton partner in the Subsidiary Coal company boasted that Byrd would fix the case but when this careless careless careless care care- less talk got out Barton was called on the carpet by Hardy and Davison and a denial was issued That began a rash of ot strangely conflicting stories When tax attorney attorney attorney ney learned Hardy and Davison Davison Dav Day ison had been seen going into Byrds Byrd's office he admitted they had consulted consulted con con- suited Byrd about their tax trou trou- bles Davison however said his call on Byrd had nothing to do with taxes Later confronted with statement that taxes were discussed with Byrd Davison revised his statement and explained they had gone to see Byrd principally about another matter but had talk talked d about the tax case Yet Byrd emphatically denied any knowledge of the case Queried by this column about his talks with Hardy and Davison the senator from Virginia snorted I UI never met them I never even heard of them Next day however Senator Byrds Byrd's office telephoned to say that the senators senator's memory had been bad that he bad talked with Hardy and Davison though he refused to help them S S S Treason Exposed On November 1 1947 IMi Drew Pearson exposed one of the strangest treason cases of the Ule war war that that of an nn air force lieutenant lieutenant lieutenant lieu lieu- tenant Martin James Monti of St. St Louis who had bad stolen a U. U S. S plane flown Down from India to Italy and deserted to the Germans Thereafter Pearson charged Monti had bad enlisted In the elite SS 85 corps and served in the Nazi army Pearson also revealed that Monti as of that date November date November U. U S. S 1 1917 1917 was was still la III the army Recently however Lieutenant Lieutenant Lieu Lieu- tenant Monti was formally in indicted indicted in- in by a federal grand jury in New York on a charge of treason for becoming an officer In the elite SS corps |