Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-29

Knives are being sharpened in the
Senate for a confirmation fight on
Joseph P. Cotton of New York, recently
nominated for Undersecretary of State
Some one with an unpleasantly long
memory has dug up the fact that once
upon time Mr.. Cotton, while a law
partner with william G.. McAdoo, rep
resented the Doheny oil interests be-
fore the State Department. The period
was between 1919 and 1922. A specific
statement to that effect was made by
Mr.. McAdoo himself, early in 1924,
while teStifying before the Senate OIL
investigating committee. The pub
lished hearings quote the former Secre-
tary of the Treasury as saying, my
partner, Mr.. Cotton, appeared before
the State Department on occasions"
These were concerned with the Doheny
oil affairs in Mexico. The firm of Nc
Adoo, Cotton & Franklin was dissolved
in January, 1922. The Dohenys, it was
testified before the Senate committee,
paid the firm a 100000 retainer in
connection with their Mexican business.
It is not suggested that Mr.. Cotton S
one-time Doheny affiliations prevent
him from being an able adjutant to
Secretary Stimson, but the Senate S
we'll known oil Susceptibilities may dis
qualify him.
Mabel Walker Willebrandt is a log
ical general counsel for the Aviation
Corporation and a codifier of air laws
because for long time she has been
a flying addict. On her present
trip to Waco. Tex, to receive an
honorary LII. D. from Baylor Univer-
sity-the fourth doctors degree she will
then possess-Mrs. Willebrandt is trav-
cling by plane from McAllister, Okla,
| to Waco, and later across Texas to the
Mexican border. She may fly all the
| way back to Washington. Last year,
| in order to reach the American Bar
Association meeting at Seattle on time,
"Portia" went by air from Chicago and
came home the same way. Mrs. Willie
| brandt's Baylor University address will
| be called "horizon-minded." Its theme
is aeronautic She took it from an OBJ
servation of Lieut.. Soucet, recent
/ breaker of the worlds altitude record
who said that 1.-The higher he climbed
| the broader the horizon became"
x X x
| Many of her friends think that Mrs
| Willebrandt leaves the Department OF
Justice broken hearted woman. They
are certain she is at least a disappointed
woman. For one thing, they say, she
never had a square deal from the Re-
publican party for the sings and ar
rows she suffered when she threw her
self into the breach against Al Smith
last year Some day it may be possible
| to turn the searchlight on the inside
| history CT that painful episode, with
resultant discomfort for certain G.. O
p. leaders Once upon time Mrs
Willebrandt aspired to Federal judge
ship It was denied her. Later, it was
thought. she might be made the head OF
reorganized prohibition enforcement
service, transferred from the treasury
| to the Justice Department. That, too
was not to be. Then came the Hoover
Law Enforcement Commission. If it
contained a woman, betting odds were
| heavy that Mabel Willebrandt would
| be the one. She was left out. The
Presidents fulSome words of praise, In
accepting Portals" resignation, must
crafty her, but whether they send her
out of Office truly happy Is open to
| question.
Paul r. Mallon, United Press re-
porter. who may go down in history as
| the smasher of Senate executive SEES
sions, is a Kentuckian just graduating
into his thirties He has still another
claim to distinction-that of being a
talented amateur actor. Perhaps that
why Mallon gave so adroit an exhibition
of sangfroid when fencing with Messrs
Moses, Bingham and other azor-edgec
wits of the Senate rules committee
Mallon is a great favorite among Up.
per House members. jim Watson ano
Pat Harrison addressed him fondly as
Paul even when firing leading ques-
lions Mt him during the Senate quiz
Mallon did his first newspaper work
on the South Bend Indli News Times