Newspaper Page Text
A Watergate Lesson For
The Now-Generation
SEE WALKING WITH DIGNITY BY AL IRBY ON PAGE 4
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Nik I THE PEOPLE’S PAPER (T2os)
MJ&J NATIONAL BLACK NEWS SERVICE \\ Z/
MEMBER
01. 4
Councilman Aaron Tappan
Indicted By Grand Jury
Augusta city councilman
Aaron Tappan was indicted
Monday by a Richmond
County grand jury on charges
of false swearing, inducing
another to swear falsely, theft
by deception and conspiracy in
restraint of free and open
trade. Superintendent of the
canal department, O. Herbert
Turner, was also named as
being along with Councilman
Tappan in one indictment. This
indictment was theft by
deception. In addition. Turner
Black Financiaal Group Make $2.9 Million Loan To Motel
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COHOLLIS JESSE HILL
Former North Augustan, Frank Wills,
Is The Unsung Watergate Hero Who
Changed U.S. History
I JUm
He started it all. The infamous scandal known as Watergate began when
Frank Wills noticed a piece ot white tape on the lock of the door to the Demo
cratic National Committee office in the Watergate Office Building complex,
Frank Wills, former night
ecurity guard at the Watergate
:omplex in Washington, D.C.,
low occupies the unenviable
>osition of being the first link
n a long chain of events
eading to President Nixon's
lownfall.
Wills is the Black man who
liscovered and reported the
une 17, 1972 break-in at
democratic' National
Committee’s Office.
Thus began the uncovering
if the sordid affair called
was indicted on false swearing
and inducing another to make
a false statement under oath.
Entering into an illegal
contract with Ben Smith’s
Landscaping on April 10th for
the use of his bulldozer to
work on the Beaver Dam ditch
project is accused of Tappan.
The “...said contract being
let without competitive bids,
‘Ben Smith’s Landscaping’ was
a sham entity created by the
said Aaron Tappan, a member
of The City Council of Augusta
Watergate that has since cost
President Nixon on his political
career and driven more than a
score of other powerful men to
prison or shame.
Wills thought he was just
doing his job. Little did he
know that he was opening a
Pandora’s box that would
choke high men in high places
with political smog.
So the American people who
placed confidence in Nixon
and the men whom he
surrounded himself with have
P.O. Box 953
for his own equipment rental
business,” according to one
indictment.
Fourth Ward Councilman
Tappan is accused of swearing
falsely before a July 24th
meeting of the city canal, river
and wharves committee.
Three statements were
accused of being false, which
are:
That Ben Smith paid him
$250 a week to rent a
bulldozer.
the time the
Wills to credit for pulling the
lid off of a nightmarish chain
of disgusting events.
But for Wills, the diligent
exercise of his duty has been
almost regrettable. Since the
incident, he has been troubled
by unemployment and has yet
to reap the financial ‘benefits’
of TV appearances, memoirs,
and serialized newspaper
features afforded, actual
convicted participants in the
crimes.
•
bulldozer was in operation at
Beaver Dam, the fuel consumed
by it was the responsibility of
Smith and was supplied by
Smith.
That the operator on the
bulldozer was not paid by him.
Tappan is also accused of
inducing Smith to swear falsely
before the committee that all
vouchers for use of the
bulldozer owned by Tappan
were signed by Smith while it
was at Beaver Dam. Smith was
also told to say he paid the
PaschaFs Motor Hotel is the
recipient of the loan, of which
$1.3 million comes from
Atlanta Life, of which Jessee
Hill is president, and the rest
shared by the Mutual Federal
Savings and Loan Assoc, of
Atlanta, $1 million; the North
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Artist/filmaker Reginald Bryant (left) and Awarding-winning journalist Ace! Moore arc co-producers of BLACK PERSPECTIVE ON THE
NEWS, a public affairs program. Each week national newsmakers meet the nation’s Black P ress to explore current news events and their
implications for tlie Black community. .
Deaf Mute Girl Key In
Murder Trial
SEE PAGE 2
operator, the indictment states.
Turner is accused of
inducing Smith to falsely swear
that he furnished the fuel for
the bulldozer and that he
purchased the fuel from filling
stations.
Turner is also indicted on
charges that he swore falsely
when he told the committee
that the bulldozer worked
eight hours on May Bth, 9th,
10th and 13th.
Tappan and Turner are
accused of taking S6OO after
creating a false impression that
Carolina Mutual Life Insurance
Co., $500,000 and the Pilgrim
Health and Life Insurance Co.
of Georgia, SIOO,OOO.
Also included in the loan
package, which totals $3.5
million, is another $250,000
from the Citizens Trust
Company of Atlanta, one of
the city’s major banks and the
Augusta, Georgia
the bulldozer was used May
8-10 and of taking S2OO for
originator of the loan. The
Small Business Administration
added still another $350,000.
In Chicago, an executive
with Pilgrim Health, C.O.
Hollis, expressed his delight
with the loan, and also noted
that a certain confidence is
being demonstrated among
Black businessmen that wasn’t
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work they said was done on
May 13th. This is a joint
previously evident.
“There was a time when
companies would not join in
with one another for whatever
reasons,’’ he said. “And that’s
true of individuals as well as
companies,” he added.
A consortium of Black
financial institutions was
formed recently to make a
August 22, 1974 No. 22
indictment on a charge of theft
by deception.
$2.9 million construction loan
Jo a Black-owned hotel in
Atlanta, Ga.
The announcement of the
loan - believed to be the largest
made by Black-controlled
companies to a Black business
in the United States - was
made by the Atlanta Life
Insurance Co., the major
lender.