The daily worker., 1924-09-24

zens' committee, is upset, that
inquiry will be a farce, and the
biggest disclosures of fraud,
graft and corruption known in
the history of the country will
be either prevented or delayed
until after election day is safely
past.
Ditch Heney.
That is the substance of the
victory won by Secretary Mel
Ion and President Coolidge thru
the treachery of Senator King
of Utah, corporation demo-
crat, when King joined with
Senators Ernst of Kentucky and
Watson of Indiana in defeating
the motion that the committee
employ Francis j. Heney of
California to direct the invest
igation.
Chairman Couzens and Sen. Jones
bf New Mexico, voted to employ the
famous prosecutor of grafters and
beef barons, and with Kings help
they would have been successful.
Heney would have ripped the lid off
the odoriferous treasury department
In the midst of this presidential cam
paign. But King went over to the ad-
ministration. He may get a job on
she federal bench some day.
Soft Soap Mellon.
In place of Heney, the committee
has employed Earl ]. Davis, who was
one Of Harry Daugherty's assistants,
to direct its search into the methods
of Andy Mellon. Davis has two assist
ants, neither of whom has any appar-
ent ability to handle the work. Mel
Ion has been received by the COM
mittee in star chamber session, and
he has been given a promise that
none of the information as to person
al income tax returns, which he will
make available to its staff, will be
made public unless fraud or gross
irregularity is indicated.
It will be recalled that Couzens be-
gan, last winter, dispute with Mel
lon over the Mellon tax scheme, and
that finally he secured adoption in
the senate of a resolution empower
ing his committee to investigate the
methods of the income tax bureau.
When he started to employ Heney
to act as counsel for the committee,
Jim Watson, then chairman, raised a
row, and President Coolidge sent a
message to congress declaring that IL
legal procedure in investigation of
federal departments must stop. The
senate stood pat, and finally Watson
resigned as chairman of the commit
tee, after blocking for many weeks a
resolution which empowered the COM
mittee to employ counsel of it's own
choosing. Passage of this resolution
was generally understood as meaning
that the senate approved the employ
ment of Heney to do the work. Then
1t was that Sen. King went over to
Mellon, and, by securing a Harry
Daugherty appointee as counsel was
able to make the inquiry joke.
Clever couzens.
Couzens delayed any action by his
committee until the Michigan primary
was over. Now he has held his exc
cutive session with Mellon, and is
taking program in docile fashion. His
questionable addressed to Mellon,
dealing with the personal income tax
returns of the wealthier individuals
who made returns in 1916 and since,
will not be answered until after elec-
lion day.
Meanwhile, Jim Watson's chief OBJ
jective in his stubborn fight against
the employment of Heney has been
gained-the facts as to MELONS con-
nection with non-enforcement of the
prohibition law and the payment of
hundreds Of millions of dollars in
hush money by the bootleggers will
not be revealed before the ballots are
counted. Fifteen million women vot-
ers will not learn, before November
4, how much money was paid to Mel
Ions subordinates, and to his poll
tical henchmen and cronies, to turn
loose the hundreds of thousands Of
barrels OF whisky which have been
Illegally retailed during the past three
years.
No, No One Does.
AS Jim Watson said, in his last
stand speech to the senate on this
Issue, the point that Heney was ex-
pected to bring out was that the pro-
hibition law had not been enforced
by Mellon. Watson admitted that the
law had not been enforced. but plead
ed that nobody expected it to bel
Pressure from either the progress
sives or from the democrats would
even now embarrass the fake inquiry
which has taken the place OF the real
one for which the senate twice voted
almost unanimously.
Holy Smokel.. Another!
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.,, Sept. 90. =
Parke Longworth of Chicago. has.