The Washington times., 1924-03-29
i s
MAY FIGHT
| Or MAKE
: PEACE
peposed Attorney General Can
Fight Coolidge Secretly, It
Opposition Is Plan.
BY JOHN T. LAMBERT,
Cosmopolitan News Service.

GUSAAVWVAUBB ENOWS 0CEWACOs
President Coolidge is today look
ing for q new United States At
torney General, while politicians
the country over are speculating
on the political effect Of his re-
moval Of Harry NJ. Daugherty.
It is not unlikely the post will
be offered to Oliver j. Roberts,
who is now prosecuting both the
civil and criminal ends Of the
Teapot Dome scandal for the
President.
Daugherty can take one of three
courses. He can denounce the
President and throw his strength
against him. He can keep silent,
but urge his friends to work dill
gently against the President. Or
he can write fins to a public
career in which he has been a
stormy petrol.
Gang-FelIow Type.
Daugherty is the gang-fellow type
In politics. He makes loyal friends
and unforgiving enemies. His real
friends are only among those who
know him personally. To them, he
1s q ''go.through" fellow, sturdy to
the end. In a country of 110,000,-
600, they are relatively few.
He had numerous class Of pros
pective friends, hopeful of currying
favors for clients who faced posi-
BILE prosecution. To them, the king
Is dead. He had some impersonal
friends who received the gift of Of
lice appointments at his hand since
the work Of disbursing. the Harding
Administration patronage fell to his
lot. They win find little difficulty
in acciaiming his successor. The
important thing is that Daugherty
IL gone.
There Is no one available in his
own party at present to whom he
could throw his remaining strength
IL he 80 desired. The Democrats
secretly regard Dangherty's sgoins
with satisfaction because it may.
add another element Of !disaffection
to the Republican party, but they
SOAAA AOS"fOC CAp0GSCu W AOSCANS
with open arms the man against
whom they have made their hardest
drive.
Was In DisfavOr.
Justly or not. Daugherty was in
popular disfavor. Looking for some
weak spot to attack, Administration
enemies brought their guns to bear
upon him almost from the day he
~ ie RvsfAvaA
President Harding. In disbursing
patronage, he suffered from a con.
dition which was described by the
late Ben Butler, who said Every
appointment makes ninety enemies
and one migrate"
Labor unions throughout the
country condemned him for his in
junction activities. He inherited all
the dangerous war-fraud cases.
Even regular Republican news
papers were calling for his head be-
fore some Of them had q chance to
find out what size hat he wore.
The impression has been general
here that Daugherty was condemned
by public opinion before his trial
Syas begun by the Wheeler Brook
hart committee. There also has
been the feeling that he would go
down with his flag nailed to the
mast. There has also been a fear
that when the first friendly spear
pricled him beneath the skin, he
would become q bull in the china
shop Of officialdom and that some
Of the most highly-polished bric.a.
brac would be smashed by his on
slaught.
Attitude Is Defiant.
He IL known to be frank, IL i'm
polite. Some never forgave him
for his frank pre-convention state.
ment that the choice Of the Repub-
licans would be nominated, not in
convention, but at Q o'clock in
the morning conference in the
Blackstone Hotel. His attitude to
the last has rung with defiance.
President Coolidge's treatment Of
him has been that Of extreme pa
thence. Both enemies Of Daugherty
and. friends Of the PresidenS have
carried countless rumors to the
White House. There was a lack
OF finality to all of them, q missing
shred of evidence. Tho President
has himself a pride of reputation
and character which he assumes to
exist in other men. He was not
ready to blast Daugherty's. It will
be noted that his dismissal of
Daugherty contains nothing preju-
dicial to his character.
The President approached both
the DENLY and Daugherty cases
from the same viewpoint. Both
men were at the head Of great
departments of government. Both
men were under attack. They
needed their best efforts to protect
themselves. The people, therefore.
could not get the fullest service to
which they were entitled through
those two important branches Of
government.
Wears Coolidge Button.
Daugherty wore on the lapel Of
his coat the first Coolidge button
that appeared in Washington in the
present campaign. Whether he
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