Brooke Plans to End 'Plague of Graft'

Massachusetts Attorney General Edward W. Brooke said last night that he will propose a broad new set of restrictions on the Massachusetts public authorities to end the current "plague of graft and corruption" which cripples the state.

In an address to the Society of Harvard Dames, Brookes charged that "the agencies have been immune to public scrutiny for too long, and a change in the system is badly needed."

Laws which require the awarding of all contracts on an open basis by public authorities, and which permit public inspection of the authorities' business affairs, will be essential parts of the reform program he will send to the next session of the Massachusetts legislature.

Brooke was undaunted by the legislature's decision this week to permit closed bidding on Turnpike Authority projects, and is still "optimistic that these loopholes can be closed." He refused, however, to respond to the suggestion that part of the "corruption problem" is due to the alleged control of the legislature by William F. Callahan, Turnpike Authority chairman.

An expenditure of "$9.5 million instead of $4.3 million" on the construction of the Boston Common underground garage was one of Brooke's examples of the wrong "moral climate" in Massachusetts government.

He also cited last spring's discovery of inferior paint in license plate production as an example of the low standard of public efficiency.

"Soon after I took office, the paint began to drip from the license plates," he said. The scandal had developed from the failure of officials to inspect the paint they were receiving, "and I couldn't believe our government was being operated that way."

High on Brooke's list of priorities will be extension of the "Perry Law" to cover elected public officials. The law now provides for the expulsion of only appointed officials who are indicated for criminal abuses.

New means for rooting out corruption are needed, he said, and he stressed the role of the Massachusetts Crime Commission in the fight. "The boys don't steal the way they used to; these days it takes a Certified Public Accountant just to know there's been a theft."