"Herbert, Frank - Committee Of The Whole" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

None of them had objections.
They've had a private meeting - both sides of the aisle - and talked over a smooth steamroller procedure, Wallace thought.
It was another ominous sign.
'This is a subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs,' Tiborough said, his tone formal. 'We are charged with obtaining expert opinion on proposed amendments to the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. Today's hearing will begin with testimony and ... ah, questioning of a man whose family has been in the business of raising beef cattle in Oregon for three generations.'
Tiborough smiled at the TV cameras.
The son-of-a-bitch is playing to the galleries, Wallace thought. He glanced at Custer. The cattleman sat relaxed against the back of his chair, eyes half lidded, staring at the senator.
'We call as our first witness today Mr William R. Custer of Bend, Oregon,' Tiborough said. 'Will the clerk please swear in Mr Custer.'
Custer moved forward to the 'hot seat', placed his briefcase on the table. Wallace pulled a chair up beside his client, noted how the cameras turned as the clerk stepped forward, put the Bible on the table and administered the oath.
Tiborough ruffled through some papers in front of him, waited for full attention to return to him, said: 'This subcommittee ... we have before us a bill, this is a United States Senate Bill entitled SB-1024 of the current session, an act amending the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 and, the intent is, as many have noted, that we would broaden the base of the advisory committees to the Act and include a wider public representation.'

Custer was fiddling with the clasp of his briefcase.
How the hell could that light gadget be an exhibit here? Wallace asked himself. He glanced at the set of Custer's jaw, noted the nervous working of a muscle. It was the first sign of unease he'd seen in Custer. The sight failed to settle Wallace's own nerves.
'Ah, Mr Custer,' Tiborough said. 'Do you - did you bring a preliminary statement? Your counsel ... '
'I have a statement,' Custer said. His big voice rumbled through the room, requiring instant attention and the shift of cameras that had been holding tardily on Tiborough, expecting an addition to the question.
Tiborough smiled, waited, then: 'Your attorney - is your statement the one your counsel supplied the committee?'
'With some slight additions of my own' Custer said.
Wallace felt a sudden qualm. They were too willing to accept Custer's statement. He leaned close to his client's ear, whispered: 'They know what your stand is. Skip the preliminaries.'
Custer ignored him, said: 'I intend to speak plainly and simply. I oppose the amendment. Broaden the base and wider public representation are phases of political double talk. The intent is to pack the committees, to put control of them into the hands of people who don't know the first thing about the cattle business and whose private intent is to destroy The Taylor Grazing Act itself.'
'Plain, simple talk,' Tiborough said. 'This committee ... we welcome such directness. Strong words. A majority of this committee ... we have taken the position that the public range lands have been too long subjected to the tender mercies of the stockmen advisors, that the lands ... stockmen have exploited them to their own advantage.'
The gloves were off. Wallace thought. I hope Custer knows what he's doing. He's sure as hell not accepting advice.
Custer pulled a sheaf of papers from his briefcase and Wallace glimpsed shiny metal in the case before the flap was closed.
Christ! That looked like a gun or something!
Then Wallace recognized the papers - the brief he and his staff had labored over - and the preliminary statement. He noted with alarm the penciled markings and marginal notations. How could Custer have done that much to it in just twenty-four hours?
Again, Wallace whispered in Custer's ear: 'Take it easy, Bill. The bastard's out for blood.'
Custer nodded to show he had heard, glanced at the papers, looked up directly at Tiborough.
A hush settled on the room, broken only by the scraping of a chair somewhere in the rear, and the whirr of cameras.



Chapter II

'First, the nature of these lands we're talking about,' Custer said. 'In my state ... ' He cleared his throat, a mannerism that would have indicated anger in the old man, his father. There was no break in Custer's expression, though, and his voice remained level.' ... in my state, these were mostly Indian lands. This nation took them by brute force, right of conquest. That's about the oldest right in the world, I guess. I don't want to argue with it at this point.'
'Mr Custer.'
It was Nebraska's Senator Flowers, his amiable farmer's face set in a tight grin. 'Mr Custer, I hope.'
'Is this a point of order?' Tiborough asked.
'Mr Chairman,' Flowers said, 'I merely wished to make sure we weren't going to bring up that old suggestion about giving these lands back to the Indians.'
Laughter shot across the hearing room. Tiborough chuckled as he pounded his gavel for order.
'You may continue, Mr Custer,' Tiborough said.
Custer looked at Flowers, said: 'No, Senator, I don't want to give these lands back to the Indians. When they had these lands, they only got about three hundred pounds of meat a year off eighty acres. We get five hundred pounds of the highest grade proteins -premium beef - from only ten acres.'
'No one doubts the efficiency of your factory-like methods,' Tiborough said. 'You can ... we know your methods wring the largest amount of meat from a minimum acreage.'
Ugh I Wallace thought. That was a low blow - implying Bill's overgrazing and destroying the land value.
'My neighbors, the Warm Springs Indians, use the same methods I do,' Custer said. 'They are happy to adopt our methods because we use the land while maintaining it and increasing its value. We don't permit the land to fall prey to natural disasters such as fire and erosion. We don't ... '
'No doubt your methods are meticulously correct,' Tiborough said. 'But I fail to see where ... '
'Has Mr Custer finished his preliminary statement yet?' Senator Flowers cut in.
Wallace shot a startled look at the Nebraskan. That was help from an unexpected quarter.
'Thank you, Senator,' Custer said. 'I'm quite willing to adapt to the Chairman's methods and explain the meticulous correctness of my operation. Our lowliest cowhands are college men, highly paid. We travel ten times as many jeep miles as we do horse miles. Every outlying division of the ranch - every holding pen and grazing supervisor's cabin is linked to the central ranch by radio. We use the ... '
'I concede that your methods must be the most modern in the world,' Tiborough said. 'It's not your methods as much as the results of those methods that are at issue here. We ... '

He broke off at a disturbance by the door. An Army colonel was talking to the guard there. He wore Special Services fouragere -Pentagon.
Wallace noted with an odd feeling of disquiet that the man was armed - a .45 at the hip. The weapon was out of place on him, as though he had added it suddenly on an overpowering need ... emergency.