New-York tribune., 1921-02-07
Let Him Stle.'
Is La (1aaardia
Reply to Craig,
Calls the Comptroller's At
tack ''Dirty and Con-
iemptible,'' Denying He
Owes the City One Cent
Paid for Private Wires
Declares He Will Back In
qairy Into $16,566,9O
War Loan to the B. R. r..


ragged on yesterday unabated The AL
dermanic President Indignantly denied
Comptroller Craig's charge that he
owed the city $123.91 for personal tele-
phone calls. He denied that he owed
the city cent. Mr.. La Guardia further
punctured the Sabbath stiffness by char
acterizing the Comptroller's accusation
as dirty and contemplate"
That wasn't ALL Mr.. La Guardia
made known that he will back to the
limit Representative Lester D. Volk. OF
Brooklyn, in the demand that Congress
probe the lending of $16,5e6,eOo by the
War Finance Corporation to the B. r.
T. in 1913 upon the alleged approval
of Comptroller Craig. Sixteen million
dollar loans. or $123 telephone bills, it's
all the same, Mr.. La Guardia indicatad
It's the principle of the thing. If Mr..
Craig sues Mr.. La Guardia for the tele.
phone tolls, as he threatens, we'll and
good. Mr.. La Guardia will throw the
weight of his influence into the scales
Tor an investigation Of the B. r. r,
loan.
Calls Loan Unjustified
"The Comptroller said Mr.. La
Guardia, furnished one of the three
alibis the War Finance CORPORATION
armed itself with before lending the
money to the B. X. I. This was verv
obfiging on Mr.. Craig's part. Any one
Is entitled to draw his own conclusions
as to what moved him to do it,
The absurd argument that failure
to lend the B. R. I. nearly $4,000, 600
might bring on financial panic and
interfere with floating the Liberty
Loan and the statement that the COM
pany was entitled to the money because
there We're soldiers at Fort Hamilton
tnat used its trains were the other
allbis. But | think the Comptroller's
letter in which he wrote, without con-
sulting the Board of Estimate, that
the loan would not be Inconsistent
with the city's interests was the most
convincing of the three alibis.
In my opinion, the loan was wholly
unJustltiable. can't understand why
the War Finance Corporation made it.
can't understand why even Comp
troller Craig should have gone to the
lengths he did to make it possible.
Congress should investigate it thor
oughly. The Comptroller's part in the
transaction should be investigated as
we'll as the other phases"
Taking UP the telephone and tele-
graph bills, which, the Comptroller
says, the Aldermanic President ran up
last spring in conducting long dis.
L. Lenroot, of Wisconsin, Mr.. La
Guardia's choice for the Republican
Presidential nomination, Mr.. La Guar
dia said:
The Comptroller's action was dirty
and contemplate. 1t was SO dirty and
contemplate that employees in his
own Office were aisgusted at it. While
the Comptroller was preparing his
letter to me, which I have not yet re.
ceived, seven Of his employees called
me on the telephone and tipped me off
to what he was doing.
Doesn't Owe q Cent
"The total telephone bill of $S4S.70
the Comptroller refers to was that for
the year for the entire department,
consisting of siXty-seven aldermen,
the Finance Committee, clerks, vice.
chairman and myself. The S123.91 he
charges represents tolls for my per-
sonal long distance calls is in fact
the amount OF tolls for everybody in
the department.
my personal tolls amounted to
$26.40, which I paid the telephone
and another small sum which / like
wise paid. These sums were deducted
by the company from the bill it sent
to the city, and Comptroller Craig
knows it. / don't owe the city a cent
and Comptroller Craig knows that, too.
I'm regard to personal kilograms, in
payment of which l sent two certified
checks aggregating $77.64 to the West
ern Union and which checks the Comp
troller states he returned to the West
ern Union after it forwarded them to
him to be credited on the city's bill, all
/ have to say is that the Comptroller
can accept the checks or not just as he
likes. That is the only way he can get
the money. If he wants to sue me, let
him sue.
ut is as plain as day that the Comp
troller returned these checks to the
Western Union for no other purpose in
the world'than to give him chance to
manufacture this false charge against
myself. 1t is another illustration of his
dirty and contemplate tactics"
The single allegation in the CRAIG
charges that Mr.. La Guardia did not
deny was that his personal telephone
calls had to do with Mr.. La Guardia' 8
booming of Senator Lenroot for Presi-
dent. Mr.. La Guardia was a delegate
to the Chicago convention and voted
for Lenroot That was the only vote
the Wisconsin man received for the
nomination.
No Armistice in Sight
1t is the view of interested observers
on the sidelinas that the COMPTROLLER
will miss a point if, in his rejoinder
TO Mr.. La Guardia's assertion that the
b. X. t. loan was uniustifiable, he does
not say something biting about the
lustifableness of Mr.. La Guardia's
digging down into his jeans or charg-
ing the city for S2640, or S123.91. as
the case may be, to electioneer for a
candidate who received only the vote
OF Mr.. La Guardia himself.
Mr. Craig could not be found last
night to comment OH Mr., La Guardia's
latest remark. 1t was reported that
he had retired TO dugout to prepare
new verbal onslaught for the discom-
future OF the Alderlnanic President,
which he may launch from the City
Hall to-day.
Rumors that the bellieerents might
shortly agree TO an armistice are with
out foundation, it was said yesterday.
In fact, the opinion OF experts was
that the hostilities would continue re-
gardless of casualties, to the bitter end
and that they would get more exciting
all the time.
keDOrf Comments proyrars, of