"You Are to Be Pitied"

Federal Communications Commissioner Richard Alfred Mack glanced uneasily around at the members of the House Special Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight, licked his dry lips, and said: "I want to apologize that I may seem a little nervous this morning." Democrat Mack had plenty to be nervous about: he was accused of accepting money and other favors for his vote to grant Miami's Channel 10 television franchise to a National Airlines subsidiary. The House subcommittee let Mack read a 4,000-word statement, handled him gently for a while, then cuffed him sharply--and weak Richie Mack left the hearing room a badly shaken man.

Against Richie Mack, 48, were these undenied, undeniable facts: P:Since becoming a member of the seven-member FCC by appointment of President Eisenhower in 1955, he had borrowed at least $2,650 from his longtime friend Miami Lawyer Thurman A. Whiteside, a big man-about-Florida. Whiteside. as a pompous, disputatious witness last week, admitted that he had been on National Airlines' side and had talked to Mack about the bitterly fought case. P:In 1953 Whiteside gave Mack, then a member of the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, a one-sixth interest in an insurance agency. Later, under the firm name Stembler-Shelden, it sold an insurance policy (premium: $20,000) to the National Airlines' TV subsidiary. There were no written records of Mack's interest in the agency, said Whiteside. It was all done by "orally declared trust . . . We in the firm understood that when Mr. Mack's public-service career was finished that he would come into the firm." Between 1953 and the end of 1956 Mack's income from Stembler-Shelden was nearly $10,000. P:In 1956 Whiteside gave Mack the outstanding stock in Andar Inc., a company that, as Whiteside described it, was "engaged in the business of borrowing money and loaning money as well as buying and selling personal property." Mack's profits from Andar: $4,350.

"Strongly Recommended." Before his term in Washington, Richie Mack had kicked around Florida all his life, working as an insurance salesman and a credit manager, was secretary and general manager of the Port Everglades Rock Co. at Fort Lauderdale in 1947 when then Governor Millard Caldwell appointed him to the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission. Eight years later, President Eisenhower named him to fill a Democratic vacancy on the Federal Communications Commission. Said Florida's Democratic Senator Spessard Holland at Mack's Senate confirmation hearings: "I may say that he was strongly recommended for this post by both Senator [George] Smathers and myself and, in fact, by our whole delegation from Florida." He was recommended by Florida's Governor LeRoy Collins, too.

Witness Mack started his testimony last week bravely enough. Said he: "I assert categorically'that my relations with Mr. Whiteside, going back over many years, had nothing whatsoever to do with my vote in the Miami Channel 10 case. I at no time, directly or indirectly, pledged my vote to Thurman Whiteside, to Public Service Television, Inc. [the National Airlines subsidiary], or to any of the other three applicants in that proceeding." Even without his vote, he noted, there was an FCC majority for National: "Public Service would have won even had I not voted."

Just Pals. But as Mack continued, his statement turned pitifully flabby. He and Whiteside, he said, had "known one another since I was eight years old. We went to school and to college [University of Florida] together. Our wives went to college together ... I must confess that throughout my career I have not been what may be called a moneymaker. There have been many times in my life when I have been in need of financial assistance." And whenever he needed such assistance, why there was good old Thurman Whiteside, ready with a check from one of his 19 (at least) bank accounts.

Having given Mack his say, the subcommittee began boring in. What had he ever done to justify his share in the Stembler-Shelden Insurance Agency? Well, as a member of the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission he had given the company a commission list of bus and truck carriers that might be interested in buying insurance. Did Mack not think it was at least indiscreet to accept an interest in Stembler-Shelden while a member of the Florida commission? The remarkable reply: "Well, I do not know. If Mr. Whiteside had given me $20,000 on which he paid the income tax, I think I would have taken it." Mack had never even seen the books of Stembler-Shelden; all he ever got from the firm was money--and an annual statement for his income-tax report.

Just a Tool. Mack was even more ignorant about the affairs of Andar Inc., which he was supposed to own. He did not know its officers' names, and did not have "the faintest idea" how much the company was worth. He said Whiteside had just "informed me" about Andar, and "didn't ge into the details." What did all this add up to? Had it never even occurred to Richie Mack that it was highly improper for a Federal Communications Commissioner to accept thousands of dollars from a lawyer interested in a case before the FCC? Replied Witness Mack: "No sir. It did not."

The subcommittee had heard enough --and more than enough. Member after member, both Republicans and Democrats, began demanding Mack's resignation. Finally it came the turn of Chairman Oren Harris, an Arkansas Democrat. In a soft, almost regretful voice, he read a five-page statement. "I feel sorry for you," said Harris. "You are to be pitied, in my opinion, because I think you have been used as a tool in this unfortunate mess. It seems to me that the best possible service that you could render now as a member of the Federal Communications Commission would be to submit your resignation." It was a verdict that was a partial vindication for Mack's chief accuser, Dr. Bernard Schwartz, the contentious New York University law professor who got fired as the subcommittee's chief counsel for his McCarthy-like methods (TIME, Feb. 24).

Richie Mack sat chain-smoking, his hand trembling, his eyes filled with tears. When Harris finished, he leaned forward, said in a choked voice: "I will certainly most seriously consider your remarks."

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