The Washington times., 1935-09-10
LONG EMPIRE
AWAITS NEW
LEADER
Ruin Hangs Over the
Dictator's Seat;
Crash Feared
BY ROBERT G. NIXON
Copyright, 1895, by International


News Service)
BATON ROUGE, La, Sept. 10.
Senator Huey P. Longs death at
the hands Of a fanatical assassin
leaves Louisiana with not single
strong hand to guide the helm
Of State.
What the fate of the political
empire Huey carved out OF the
Bayou mucklands will be, was
raised as a major enigma by the
Senator's death.
Huey Long, true to the mold
of the dictator. was a man who
would brook no counter authority.
His political appointees were his
men, to have and to command.
He demanded implicit, unSwerv-
ing obedience. He picked his men
not for strength of character and
high ability. Many actually
gained favor because OF their
mediocrity.
with few exceptions no man
in his party, not even the Cover.
nor. who VIGOROUSLY never issued
a command or uttered an opinion
without first consulting Long, has
had training in decisive action
or leadership.
In these exceptions may lie the
future continuance of the power
Long holds in Louisiana, a power
absolute in the political sphere,
by virtue of constitutional amend
ments that have been reeled OH
with machine-gun like rapidity by
a willing legislature.
Will Strong Man Arise?
Or it may mean the ruination
of Huey's empire.
Will a strong hand arise from
the party, and take over the reins
that slipped from the grasp OF
this phehomenal figure OF the
American political arena. or Will
Longs machine fall to pieces OF
it's own weight, with the single
supporting beam gone? Or will
rival chieftains tear the machine
apart in outbreak of interneclne
warfare over the spoils?
These questions filled the specu-
lative mind in Louisiana today,
even as the State prepared to pay
reverence to the dead statesman.
Senator Longs death slammed
the gates down on a seven year
dictatorship, begun when q young
upstart state railroad commits
sioner became governor.
Senator Long turned one Of the
shrewdest, and most active minds
in American political history to
bear on the problem Of gaining
complete mastery of his State.
Stayed In Limelight
First governor, he became the
Cardinal Richelieu of the Ameri-
can political scene, stepping into
the senate with an electoral ma
chinery that couldn't fail, and
setting up a puppet governor and
legislature to control at will.
But, unlike Richelieu, who
moved in silent and devious ways,
Long took boyiSh delight in amaz-
ing pranks that kept his name IN
headlines constantly.
Before Long began his climb,
politics were a sinecure to the
New orleans old regular Demo
cratic machine, the Choctaw Club,
the deep South's little Tammany.
It was tradition for New Or
leans, the Souths largest city, a
flourishing cosmopolitan city with
centuries of tradition, to control
the back country. Too, the city
mustered almost a half OF the
States entire population. In the
city some % per cent of the popu-
lation were Negroes, but in the
back country the Negro population
ran close to so per cent. And IN
Louisiana, as elsewhere in the
South, the Negro as voting unit
is nonresident.
The city had paved streets and
luxuries. The country folk had
not even paved roads. The city
was polished. the country rough
and ready. Hatred and scorn OF
one for the other naturally arose.
Capitol His Crypt
Huey played the country against
the city, promising paved roads
and free school books. He gave
the State both, the roads and
other public improvements with
bond issues running approx
mately 100 million dollars.