Evening star., 1933-05-24

If anything more were needed to
clinch speedy repeal of the eighteenth
amendment it seems to be provided in
the proposed inclusion in the new in
dustry control-public works tax bill Of
explicit direction that the additional
ts1es now to be levied shall be annulled
the moment that prohibition repeal be
6icially proclaimed. Thus rich
money prize in the form of tax relief
is dangled before the Nation as an
added inducement for prompt aban-
donment of the noble experiment.
Meantime, the three -billion-dollar boon
in the guise of public works expendi-
lures is dangled before the Nation as
an inducement for the country's &C
ceptance of stiff increases in Federal
taxes. The revenue section Of the
present combination bill looms largest
in the congressional picture this week.
The House will sign on the dotted line,
but tax storm seems to be brewing in
the Senate. And If, as is now fore
cast, Mr.. Roosevelt tosses a tariff
resolution, as well, into the legislative
mill there will be the makings of pro-
longed controversy. From time i'm
the hardest hurdles for Congress to
take.
y
The senatorial stock market investi-
cation, now come to life again with
Wall Streets great private banking
firms on the grill, may make headlines
for several months to come, irrespective
of the adjournment of Congress. The
committAe6 inQuisitor-in- chief, Ferdi-
nand Pecora, estimates that the j. P.
Morgan Co. hearings will occupy at
least two weeks. After that comes
Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and then Dillon,
Read & Co. The partners in these two
firms are under subpoena for various
dates in June. Albert H. Wiggin, for
mer head of the Chase National Bank
and the Chase Securities Corporation.
was served with summons just before
he embarked for Europe last week. His
subpoena is returnable July IA. The
Chase National Bank was under scru-
tiny by the committees investigators
last Autumn. With the retirement of
Mr.. Wiggin and the reorganization Of
the bank under Winthrop Aldrich. and
with the promised severance Of the
bank and its security affiliate and its
retirement from the securities business,
reports had become current here that
the Senate Committee would forego
public inquiry of Mr.. Virgins admins
subpoena upon Mr.. Wiggin these reports
that he was to escape questioning ap-
pear to be premature to say the least.
**
There Is general agreement on
Capitol Hill that Ferdinand Pecora Is
the best counsel and committee In
vestigator the Senate has had in many
years. Mr. Pecora has insisted that
/ hut 70 cf
finding" He does not fit the popular
conception of demon prosecutor.
Short of stature. of swarthy skin, be-
speaking his Italian origin; calm, col
lected and incisive in his method,
he refrains from any playing to the
galleries, but he Is more than match
for any witness or any opposing counsel.
He was born in a little hill town in
Sicily 81 years ago. He was reared
amid poverty on the sidewalks of New
York and forced, as boy, to work in
sweatshops to aid in the support OF his
parents, studying law after working
hours. He was admitted to the New
York bar in 1909. His first adventure
in politics was as supporter of Theo-
dore Roosevelt in the Bull Moose cam
paign in 1912. He backed Woodrow
Wilson in 1916 and since then has been
a full-fledged Democrat. He made his
mark as a prosecutor in the district
attorneys Office in New York City,
where he served for dozen years, first
as an assistant and later as chief
deputy. He led a successful crusade
against New York bucket shops. The
name Pecora in Italian means sheep,
and those who come within the au-
thority of the Senate Banking Com
mittee may find that a wolf in sleeps
clothing is pursuing them.
\
The bonus expeditionary army Of 1888
has now evacuated Washington, without
riot or bloodshed. Their To-day en-
campment, indeed, was devoid Of thrill
or excitement other than quarrels of
rival factions as to preference and po-