Evening star., 1935-03-08
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Gen. Hugh johnson is receiving
bouquets enough in Washington to
make up a thosandfold for the brick
bats that came his way in stormy
N. r. A. times. Politicians acclaim
his speech assailing Senator Long and
Father Coughlin as masterpiece Of
invective and destined to take its
place as such In American history.
Senator Clark, Democrat, Of Missouri
assures the Johnsonian blast official
preservation by having had it read
into the Congressional Record. Al
though johnson made the most Wig
orous defense Of the New Deal yet to
come from any quarter, attempts to
obtain an expression of White House
opinion about it proved unavailing
Resultant developments nevertheless
must be wholly pleasing to the admin
istration. Washington is convinced
that the Johnson-Long- -Coughlin feud
has just begun, and that from now
on it will ramify into widening circles
Of national politics. re-echo periodi-
cally in Congress and possibly project
itself into the 1886 campaign. All
three antagonists are two-fisted fight
ing men, richly gifted with mass ap-
peal" power, especially over the radio
Everything indicates that they will
proceed on the Lay on, Macduff'
theory of "damn'd be him that first
cries Hold, enough!"
A graphic eyewitness account OF
Gen. Johnson's speech was brought
to Washington by Charles Nicholson,
publicity ace Of the Democratic Ma
tional Committee, who was in charge
of Blue Eagle press relations during the
fiery brigadier's regime at N. r. A.
Nicholson says he can't remember a
more representative audience of Amer
ican big-wigs than the company which
johnson addressed, nor, he adds, was
johnson ever before in more effective
oratorical form. Within a few hours
after he had erupted the general was
deluged with kilograms from the four
quarters OF the Union, those In COM
mendation being overwhelmingly more
numerous than dead cat" messages.
= y +
Gen. johnson, in referring to Father
Coughlin's nationality, said that the
Detroit radio priest may or may not
now be an American citizen, but GER
tainly once was not" In his auto
biographical sketch in who's Who ir
America" Father Coughlin narrates
that he was born of American par
ents at Hamilton, Canada, on octo-
ber Is, 1891"
On March 81, when he will be 80
years old, John Hays Hammond, world.
famous American mining engineer
will publish his long delayed auto
biography. It will trace his interna-
tional career from the time Of his
graduation from Sheffield Scientific
School at Yale in 1876 and his first
professional service, as an expert OF
the United States Geological Survey
throughout his experiences as a con.
sulting engineer in the gold fields Of
California, Mexico and South Africa
| It was while he was in the service
Of Cecil Rhodes, in the late nineties
that Hammond was arrested ano
afterward sentenced to death by the
Dutch Transvaal government in con-
nection with the Jameson raid. Hi
punishment was commuted to II
years Imprisonment. and later he wa.
released on payment Of q $125.00t
fine. An intimate friend Of William
Howard Taft, they were Jack" anc
"Bill'' to each other for years. Ham
mond in later life interested himself
| in public affairs and occasionally tr
Republican party activities. There
were times when he might have
aspired to high place in the Federal
service. During the past two or three
years Mr.. Hammond has divided his
time between his home In Warrington