Evening Star Newspaper, August 17, 1937, Page 9

‘TeapotDome’ of New Deal Smolders No Effort Being Made to Prosecute an Open Violation of Law. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. HE “Teapot Dome scandal” of the Roosevelt administration smolders. Everything possible is being done by the Demo- cratic chieftains to prevent an inves- tigation of the “racket” by which cor- porations were shaken down and forced to p ute to the Democratic Na- tional Committee in violation of “he corrupt prac- tices act. Usually when cpablican or Democrat, is charged with scandal, it tries to cover up. On the other hand, if there is g eith house a majority who have the public's interest at heart, a resolution for investigation is per- mitted to go through. The misdeeds of the Harding administration would | never have come to the surface if the | Republicans had had their way. A| coalition of their political opponents in the Senate made the investigation Ppossible. The strange thing about the present situation is that, notwithstanding the open violation of the laws of the United States, with the evidence avail- able and so plain that everybody can &ee it, no effort is being made to prose- cute the offenders. The simple reason is that such prosecution might touch the official family of t President of the United States. With all the claims of virtue that the New Deal has made in the last four years and with all the denunciations that have come from the administration about the “clever little schemes avoidance and malpractice of “economic royalists, not a single finger has been the White House to urge an investi- gation or begin a prosecution of what is such a palpable case of crooked government Liberalism Only a Veneer. The laws of the United David Lawrence. are well &5 Republicans well s Old Deale underprivileged, as the overprivileged The scandals of American poli Democrats &s | New Dealers as \pions of the as ons of | 30 years ago in | led to the adoption | of these statutes so that no corpora- tion could have any claim or get anj favor from the Goverr A con sequence of any contribution. What’s Back of It All Constitutionality Issue in Black Fight Causes Worry Behind Scenes. BY H. R. BAUKHAGE. HILE administration Senators tossed off the charges of uncon- stitutionality in the nomination of Senator Black for the su- preme bench, legal experts in the Department of Justice didn’t take the matter so lightly. Although no formal opinion has been written by the Attorney General as yet, much study has been given to the question, which admittedly has two sides, and data have been prepared for such an opinion. It is quite conveivable, disinterested lawyers say, that the issue may vet be fought out right up to the Supreme Court itself. 1f, for instance, there were a five-to-four decision, with Associate Justice Black among the flve, the defendant might refuse to abide by the ruling on the ground that the new member of the court wasn’t @ member at all. The reasoning would be that the vacancy which Senator Black was appointed to fill was created by the retirement act, and the Constitution, of course, forbids a member of Congress from accepting a position in the creation of which he has participated * ok ok % The shadow boxing in the Senate over the confirmation of the nomi- nation will leave some scars, but it is just that—a shadow show—compared with the battle behind the scenes. The latter isn’t & new conflict, merely the resumption of warfare with some of the old generals and a lot of new recruits. It is the right vs. left fight again. Part of the opposition to Black, like part of that in the court fight, is supposed to be “more of the same” which appeared in the “death sentence” fight over the utility holding companies bill two years ago. Anyhow, the ad- ministration spokesmen are going to shoot back in that direction in their defense. i Senator Black's appointment opened the old wounds and now becomes a skirmish in the continu- ing struggle between the lefts and the rights. Just as the court fight col- lapsed, a drive was being planned which would have taken in every professional man and woman who could be reached by mail. One sector had already been put under concentrated fire before the vote on recommittal. It covered eight States, representing “doubtful” Senators, and ammunition was being piled up to be used on the rest of the country, if needed. With the court issue out of the way, there was a lull until an= other head was raised. Senator Black became the shining mark. Meanwhile, another excellent issue is developing in the New England State flood-control compact. It will come to the fore when the Black smoke settles. * K Kk ‘The New England compact—an agreement between New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut—was not, administration officials admit, drawn up with ulterior motives. In fact, it was a highly laudable effort to avoid the disastrous floods in New England. But the compact, ratification of which has been opposed by the President and his advisers, has now become the spearhead of an attack on the whole Federal policy of regional planning. If carried out, it could wreck the whole program and make other “authorities” like the T. V. A, impossible, say the New Dealgrs. * ok ok x The Federal Power Commission points to one sentence in the compact which contains the dynamite. This sentence reserves to the States involved “all benefits and advantages of water conservation, power storage or power development” that might be created in carry- ing out the plan for building flood-control reservoirs. * % % X That, says the F. P. C.. would knock the whole flood control act of 1936 cold and stymie the Federal power program There isn't ace here for arguments pro and con, but the point is that the same “old generals” whose grim and familiar faces the adminis- tration’s friends claim to recognize behind each barricade against New Deal policy are saiq to be ready to lead the battle. They would have New England lined up and ready to go with a spirit that would make the ‘mishes at Lexington and Concord pale affairs On the other side of the fence the administration is piling up its Today the corrupt practices act on the statute books could be enforced by United States attorney Juries in the various due to the man Deal administra done about it the | rugged virtue of the late Senator Robert M. La Fo te of Wisconsin, or the probity of the late Senator Tomas J. Walsh of Montana. ' The “liberal jou | 50 quick to denounce | wrong doing and immorality in gov- | ernment are amazngly quiet about | this whole affair, having succumbed | probably to the old politics | that one does not often pick a fight Wwith one’s own allies The scandal over the sale of cam- paign books to corporations would not in itself be so striking were it not for the atmosphere under the New Deal in Washington which at times fairly reeks with political cor The political lawyers stil r trade, and plenty of “fix from day to day among those w political “pull.” All this is merely a confirmation of what some of us h. felt from the beginning, name! the New Deal on the outer surface has vism and liberal- k laver , political greed | This Is More Serious. | In an administration which does not hesitate to get votes on Capitol Hill | by promising Congressmen patronage | and in an administration, too, where even an appointment to the high office of associate justice of the Supreme | Court of the United States is used to | reward a faithful party lieutenant in | the United States Senate, it is perhaps not surprising that an inquiry into the violation of the corrupt practices law by corporations shoud be omitted. It might be well to recall that Presi- dent Coolidge, when the Teapot Dome scandal broke, appointed two attorneys —=& Republican and a Democrat—as special prosecutors and took the matter entirely out of the Department of Justice and politics so that the public would be assured of a fair prosecution. It will be said that there is a| difference between the Teapot Dome | scandal and the one that has now developed under the Roosevelt ad- ministration. In the former, oil re- sources in the West were temporarily given away but subsequently recovered and a cabinet officer, who was bribed by an oil man, was brought to trial | and convicted. The whole episode involved the simple principle of a cabinet officer’s honesty in public office. The new scandal, however, is much more far-reaching. It involves good faith toward enforcement of the Fed- aral statutes. It involves the whole Democratic national campaign and involves collection of funds used to pay debts incurred in electing & Presi- dent of the United States to office. It involves the use of duress in forc- ing corporations, under threat of re- prisals, to contribute to a campaign fund. It involves the very integrity of democratic government. It raises the question of whether a law once written on the statute books shall become a dead letter just because the administration in power, which con- | | | | trols the majority in Congress and| | the Jaw-enforcement machinery wishes to squelch prosecution. A Political Error. But the New Dealers are making & great mistake if they think a scandal of this kind will smolder and die. It will rise up to plague them again and ogain. It is a blot on their liberalism which is not easily erased. The American people are more or less sccustomed to scandal in public office in municipalities and somewhat ac- own ammunition for a Nation-wide campaign. Details of the plan, re- vealed in this column some weeks ago, are leading out in hints on the nature of the President's plans for a number of speeches reinforced by a whole network of others under the auspices of the Good Neighbor League. *ox ok The nomination of Senator Black for the Supreme Court raised a lot of cain with the sugar bill, though only a small group knows about it * Kk ¥ % is the siory as told by some of the folk who are grinning with glee: It seems that Senator Black was scheduled to make a radio talk on wages and hours and other controversial matters last week. When he learned of his designation for the bench he was a bit worried over the wisdom of public pronounce- ments on measures upon which the Jjudicial body of which he is soon to be & member may have to pass. He consulted a friend in the Senate. *Oh, no,” said his friend. “you mustn't do that. “Why don't you get Senator Pepper to do the job?” Senator Black agreed and the Flori- da Senator was pleased to substitute, S Senator Pepper was maturaily quite concerned over his specch and left a session of Congress to give it. In fact, ke was so con- cerned that he forgot that he was the man who was to take a cue to introduce a sugar quota amendment during the debate in the Senate on the sugar bill. * K X However, right in the midst of his radio piece he remembered. For- getting all else, including the ‘“great unseen audience,” he fled back to by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc) the floor, | (Copyright, 1057 ican people will find it harder to for- | g for these same offenses, the New | Dealers, because they raised them- | selves to such a high plane of holi- | ness, asking the public always to believe they were conducting the Gov- | ?- 5!--:’.-. 'llélm ernment only in the people’s interest | oras, Musieal nstra ments, ete. Lewest Rates Possible Untedeemed iros tor Sale and never for a moment engaging in collusion with the horrid corporations or economic royalists. | In public life as well as in private life the world sooner or later recao- nizes hypocrisy and deals out fo hypocrites a stern and retributive | justice. The New Deal makes a po- litical error of incalculable hazard in | openly refusing to enforce the laws | of the United States, which have been | flagrantly violated by its own hench- men. Take Any Bus Leaving 11th and Pa. Ave. Established 1890 HORNING’S Opp. Washington Alrpert It is natural for your hair to die. rtant thing to know is whether your hair 1s dying a natural death or because of an Unhealthy scalp. Come in and let me tell you which is the case. Many come to me who have waited too long. Your hair is an asset, save it. Possibly I can help you. No Charge for Consultation . . . Always in Private F. D. Johnson A Scalp Specialist 1050-53 Shoreham Bldg. 15th and H. Phone NA. 6081 oustomed to believing that Old Deal- ers used the National Government for their selfish ends. But the Amer- /] HOURS—) AM.-71 P.M. SAT. TILL 3 P.M. EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON D. C, TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1037. :I'HE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessardly The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Blaék’s Lobby Quiz If Hearings Are to Be Held on Nomination, This Aspect Should Be Well Ventilated. BY MARK SULLIVAN. F PUBLIC hearings were held upon Senator Black's qualifications for the Supreme Court, they would properly go into anything ger- mane to Senator Black's fitness. They would go -as far as did the hearings on Mr. Chief Justice Hughes and Mr. Justice Brandeis when they were before the Senate for confirmation. One of the most obvious subjects which hearings on Senator Black would go into would be his ac- tions about pri- vate telegrams while he was head of a Sen committee inves- tigating lobbying. Although some phases of what . he did have been reviewed in court cases, the facts ag not yet fully clear. When there was partial revelation, those concerned seemed disposed to avoid disclosure. Hardly any episode of recent Washington life calls so loud- ly for ventilation of facts that are so fa obscure. Apparently Senator Black sent two agents to the Washington offices of the two telegraph companies with a demand that the agents be permitted to see every telegram, from or to any person, that had passed through the offices between February 1 and De- cember 1, 1935. It was not merely the telegrams of lobbyists, it was the telegrams of everybody. That such a blanket demand was utterly iliegal, everybody knows. If Senator Black had reason to suspect any one of lob- bying, he could legally and properly subpoena the telegrams of that indi- vidual, but not of everybody. The attempted justification of Sen- ator Black would probably be that he wanted his agents to see the telegrams of everybody so that they could pick out telegrams having to do with lob- bying. That would not be a justifica- tion at all under And there is evidence which suggests that Senator Black was seeking the telegrams of practically every organi- zation and many of the important per- sons who were opponents of the New Deal. Mark Sulllvan. A Plain Violation. ‘The blanket demand made by ator Black's agents was a plain viola- tion of the bill of rights in the Con- stitution, particularly the provision which protects “tie right of the peo- ple to be secure * * * against un- | reasonable search and seizure.” Ap- | parently the .elegraph com: s | realized this a.ad demurred re- upon Senator Black or his agents seem to have gone to the Federal Com- munications Commission. The F. C. C. has a right to examine telegrams— but only for the strictly limited pur- pose of making rules to improve the service. Thereafter, apparently, agents of the F. C. C. came to the offices of the telegraph companies, accompanied by agents of the Black committee. For some months the two groups, agents of the Black committee and agents of the F. C. C, working to- gether, went through all telegrams sent by or received by any citizen of Washington. Just what was done with the telegrams has never come out In a legal action brought by one per- son whose telegrams were seized, e Black committee did not reply to al- legations made against it, but merely stood on what it alleged to be its con. stitutional right to examine telegrams Neither did the.F. C. C. reply to the charges made; the F. C. C. merely said that it had ceased examining tel- egrams and that it would do so no more. Upon this statement the court suspended action about F. C. C. WERE HoT GIVE ME ANOTHER ONE,MABEL. | FEEL COOLER NOW THAN 1"VE FELT ALL DAY RECENTLY BACK FROM CEN- TRAL AMERICA — For years Gregory Mason has been un- earthing the ancient jungle- baried citiesof Central America. Read what he says—at right. | Black, persons who do not now dream | cluding the touch of cruelty in him, | of defiance to the Senat AT 6PM. OU As to the Black committee, the court said its action was illegal. The court declined, however, to order the Black committee to return seized tele- grams to their owners. The court said it took this position because, even though the action of the Black com- mittee was illegal, the court did not wish to be in the position of inter- fering with the Senate. The court wished punctiliously to maintain the separate prerogatives of the three branches of the Government. The court said that Congress “is as much the guardian of the liberties and wel- fare of the people as the courts.” Finally, and rather naivély, the court said, “The assumption may properly be indulged that, attention being called to the unlawful nature of the search, the Senate will not use its proceeds in disregard of appellant’s rights.” Unjudicial Traits. If this was a mild hint by the court that Senator Black ought to return the seized telegrams to their owners, and if Senator Black has ever acted upon the hint, the fact has escaped public notice. So far as anybody knows the seized telegrams are still in the possession of Senator Black as chairman of the Senate committee. They are there illegally. That some telegrams were seized and taken into the possession of the Black committee is clearly proved. In addition, it has been alleged that copies were made of some 22,000 mes- sages. What was done about others is unknown; it has been alleged that notes of the contents of some were made. To find out just what was done as to all of the telegrams would be a useful result of hearings upon the appointment of Senator Black to the Supreme Court. It seems not too much to suspect that if sleuths had un- limited access to the telegrams of literally everybody, they did not fail to take notice or make use of the tele- grams of anybody and everybody whom the New Deal does not like. It seems quite possible that if there were now hearings upon this action of Senator that their telegrams were ever scruti- nized would discover that knowledge of their intimate private affairs has been in the hands of New Deal agents. It is possible that some Senators who expect to vote to confirm Senator Black would be shocked te discover that Mr. Black or his agents had subjected their telegrams to scrutiny But there are aspects of this ap- pointment to the Supreme Court | which no amount of public hearing| could bring out-—some of Senator Black's extremely unjudicial traits, in- and his lack of not only a sense of | ice, but even of that upon which ice is based, a sense of fairness. Yet he has other traits which re- sponsibility and high place might develop. He is highly intelligent, even | though his intelligence is so far over- balanced on the side of smartness cunning: he is wholly wthout love of money and he has capacity for study. To many, the most disturbing aspect of this appointment is that the choice was made mainly for purposes having | no relation to fitness. Mr. Roosevelt did it largely as a flaunting gesture Ts and others who had defeated his court plan. Leaps From Bridge to Death. NEW YORK, August 17 (P).—A man yesterday climbed the breast- high parapet on the pedestrian walk of the Washington Bridge, which | spans the Harlem River, and as ter- | rified passers-by watched he leaped | 130 feet to his death. His body fell | in a coal yard on the Bronx side of the river. Effects in his clothing | identified the man as Kurt Rossberg, 33, of the Bronx. SIDEWALKS R ENOUGH T0 e We, the People We Can’t Tend to Our Own Problems and Go Sky- Hooting Off After Deserving Foreign Causes. BY JAY FRANKLIN, HEN the Benate rejected the League of Nations and the World Court, we served notice that we would accept no direct responsi- bility for maintaining the European set-up. When ‘he League powers refused to take action against Japan's conquest of Manchuria, when we “liberated” the Philippines and recognized Soviet Russia, we abandoned our post-war effort to maintain the old order of things in Asia. At both ends of the Eastern Hemisphere new political situations are in the making. Italy and Germany are rising in Europe; Japan is carving &n empire out of Northern China. It is silly to pretend that we welcome these changes. Change is always disturbing and often very disagreeable. But the history of the world is one of constant change and those nations which are most adaptable are most apt to survive in the gle for exist- ence. For this reason it seems stupid to criticize the State Depar for its failure to invoke the ne act against China. Granted that it is sistent to give these host powers a clean bill of hea we invoke neutrality ag factions in the Spanish it should be obvious that our object in both cases is to avoid poss. entanglement in a foreign war. * Kk K & In the case of Spain, the civil war had already been quaran- tined—however insincerely—by the Nom-Intervention Committee at London. If we had not applied the neutrality wct we would have blundered into the whole Fascist-Communist-Democratic cat's cradle of modern Europe.. And if German or Italian warships had begun intercepting American cargoes, we might have jound o s in the thick of a dispute similar to the submarine and blockade con- troversies which eased us into the last World War, * k% x ‘The situation in the Far East is different, in that it venience of neither Japan, China, Russia nor Grea the existence of large-scale hostilities between organized Chinese armies constitutes a “state of war If we trality act when Japan moved on Peiping it would have been a v embarrassment to hoth sides. Japan would have been immediately in blockading all Chinese ports and in intercept and cargoes China-bound. that! We can't eat our cake and have it, too. We can't keep out of foreign wars and at the same time control the course of foreign events n't be neutral and at the same time promote the victory of the Spanish Loy~ alists or the Chinese Nationalists. If our sympathy for Spanish democracy and is 50 strong as to justify actions as direct as those of in support of Gen. Franco—that is another sio nothing to do with democracy * k¥ X The bitter truth is that many American “libar, would far rather give garden parties, gymkanas and swanky charity bazgars for the victims of Spanish fascism than do anything to defend democracy at home or abroad. x x % % We have serious economic and social problems of our own. Tn s them will require a high degree of national good temper and a lot of give= and-take. We are trying to solve some of these problems now, through the New Deal and the re- peated elections which reflect the will of our people for social justice and economic liberty. We can't tend to our knitting and at the same time go sky-hooting off after deserving and romantic foreign causes. The true meaning of the net trality act is that it offers us a chance to avoid the fate of Woodrow Wilson's libe ago, when the cause of ‘American reform Was postpor because we got entangled in the political problems of Granted that we don't like what's happening in Sp have battles of our own nearer than Madrid or the Grea War should have taught us that we can’t make by abandoning democracy in the United S str inc Asi h wt suits the con- istified merican ship: What wouldn't our public opinion do about independence and Mussolini and one which has An American You Should Know John La Gorce Makes Geography an Object of Avid Interest. BY DELIA PYNCHON. ACK 1in 1888 a group of famous scientists formed the National Geographic Society, its aim “to’ collect and diffuse knowledge.” gathered plored d a technical tome, called it National Geographic Magazine, They laid a bus ness foundation They publ the a 1 Geograph= Society has 0,000 mem= beauti- 1t the or aims of John La Goree, yporting 1 La Gorca possi of the iate editor af its t their liv n of old Is. They t of man's re food sed (Copyrigkt, 1 { which Ame CALLS ON CATHOLICS |:n TO FIGHT FASCISM | sevve: bang e Verein Official Urges Study of Social Problems. By the Associated Press. SAYBROOK POINT, Conn., August 17.—F. P. Kenkel of St. Louis, Mo, director of the Central Bureau of the Catholic Central Verein of America, urged American Catholics last ni to study social problems as outlined in the encyclicals of Pope Pius XI. “Unless we work the red monster of fascism may overcome us,” Kenk asserted. “Stagnation and corrup- tion are worse than bloody revolution. 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