Evening star., 1935-02-18
Political Mill
By G.. Could Lincoln.

Senator Huey Long may be a king
| fish in Louisiana, but in Washington
he Is a political gadfly. His most re-
cent effort to embarraSS the admins
| tration, with which he has been at
serious odds, is his attack on Post
master General Farley, chairman of
the Democratic National Committee
and President RooSeVelt'S most valu-
able political lieutenant. He persuaded
the Senate to call on Secretary Ickes
of the Interior Department, public
works administrator, for information
regarding Mr.. Farley. He implied that
Mr.. Ickes, brother cabineteer of Mr.
Farley, had been investigating the
| Postmaster General and a company of
contractors with which Mr.. Farley had
long been connected. Senator Long
had heard the reports that Secretary
Ickes had caused hard feeling by hav-
ing his Bureau Of Investigation, head
ed by Louis CLAWS, look into the do
ings of some of the Government Off
cialS-reports that have not been SUBJ
Stantiated. So he proposes to put
both Mr.. Farley and Mr.. Ickes on the
spot and to get the Senate to help
him do so. A truly diabolical idea
What kind Of feeling would be likely
to arise in the cabinet circle If the
Presidents most trusted political ad-
wiser was set at loggerheads with the
Presidents equally trusted public
works administrator?
II n " Il
Senator Long is an adept at making
charges. He ought to know how
Plenty Of charges have been made
against him. Mr. Farley, who returned
to Washington today, SO far has ignored
the Louisiana Senator's charges. He
can continue to ignore them, or he can
dignity them by making a reply
! Sooner or later this is a matter which
Mr.. Farley will have to decide. He is
chairman of the Democratic National
Committee and is In a position to
be quite effective If he opens up on
the Kingfish.
Since Long has broken so complete
ly with the Democratic administra-
ton, and indeed, practically with the
national Democratic party, some of
| the Democrats in the Senate NAV
wonder why they ever let him light in
Washington. 1t was only few years
back that Senator Longs right to
hold a seat in the Senate was seri-
ously charged, on the ground that the
election Of his colleague, Senator
Overton, was corruptly obtained by
the Long machine. Indeed the fight
against Long was continued long after
that by citizens of Louisiana, who de-
manded his expulsion. But the Sen
ate committee which finally reported
on the Long election brought in a
report which. while it freely admitted
| that there was corruption in Louisi-
ana, made no recommendations either
against Overton or Long, the head of
the machine. Hindsight is perhaps
better than foresight.
X X
When the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago in 1882 was
under full steam ahead, Huey Long
was busy getting his particular dele
CATION seated. The anti-Long dele
gates fought vigorously. Long and
$500 ~O@%N'NAo "S4O AoICO
and the delegation, after it had been
accepted by the convention, went
down the line for Roosevelt for Presi-
dent. But that is water that long
since ran under the bridge. The
break between Senator Long and the
| administration developed soon after
the President was inaugurated The
| K1ngflsh found that he could not go
| up to the White House whenever he
wanted and get whatever he went
| after.
For long time there has been talk
| In Washington that in some way the
Government was going to get Mr..
Long. 1t has come to be almost one of
the favorite fables, and rather moss
| grown. With Long now trying his
best to beSmirch the chairman of the
Democratic National Committee, the
political right bower, it would look as
though the time had arrived to make
more or less frontal attack on the
Louisiana Senator. The Long Farley
affair might contain plenty of political
dynamite unless it is promptly
| squelched. Wisecracks and ridicule
might be an effective way of dealing
with Mr.. Long. But he is quite a
wiSecracker himself. Meanwhile the
Republicans are just rubbing their
| hands and waiting to see the fun.
| y \ X X
Senator Long, since he came into
the Senate, has claShed with some of
its most highly regarded members. He
tackled Senator Carter Glass of Vir-
ginia. Senator Robinson of Arkansas
the Democratic leader, and Senator
Pat Harrison of Mississippi. He still
lives, politically. In his attacks the
Louisiana Senator is not governed, it
lis true, by the usually accepted stand
ards of debate He has sought to
undermine his opponents with charges
against their conduct Of personal af-
fairs. When he goes into action it is
catch as catch can.
| X \ X +
The Republicans view with alarm
the proposal of the administration to
appropriate huge relief funds, to be
used entirely at the discretion of the
President, running through the entire
year 1895. That means running
through the next presidential cam
paign. So they have offered an amend
ment to the pending $4,8OO, 900, 900
relief and work-relief bill which would
limit the operation of the measure to
the coming fiscal year, which closes
June 80, 1886. This may be an idle
gesture, for if there are a great many
unemployed next year it will be up to
Congress to provide relief for them,
anyway. And political party which
opposed such relief would be in dan
| ger of serious reprisals at the polls,
The Republicans, therefore, are likely
to "be damned If they do and damned
if they don't" in this matter of pro-
viding Federal relief.
| X \ y =
| Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg OF
Michigan, Republican, turned loose a
real attack on the administrations
work relief bill last week. Mr.. Van.
denberg has been, in the past. in
clined to go along with much of the