upr000105 262

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL May 2&t 1952 Files 80-11 Frank S. Barnett, Esquire Eastern General Counsel Union Pacific Railroad Company 120 Broadway New York 5, New York Dear Frank: You will recall when you were here we were discussing the proposition being kicked around that the Railroad do­nate the Water Company in Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the theory being that under such a donation I presume we could save considerable in taxes. I have been reviewing our files and find that back in 1951 we wrote Mr. Reinhardt suggesting that it might be ad­vantageous to transfer the water production facilities of the Railroad Company in Las Vegas to the distribution com­pany and set up various reasons for our suggestion. I shall not burden you with a copy of that lengthy letter, but aris­ing out of that letter Mr. Hulsizer wrote a letter to Mr. Stoddard, dated January 7, 1952, copy of which I attach, in which after commenting on the suggestions made in our letter he raised the question as to the possibility of donating the water company to the water district. That correspondence in due course apparently got into Mr. Sutton’s hands, and Mr. Sutton wrote Mr. Stoddard under date of March 19, 1952, a copy of which letter I enclose, commenting categorically on some of Mr. Hulsizer*s suggestions as to tax matters and tax savings• A copy of this letter was sent to us in order that we might advise with respect to the right of the Water District to qualify as a political subdivision within the provisions of Regulation 111 referred to in Mr. Sutton’s letter, and Mr. Renwick then wrote a treatise in the form of a letter to Mr.