The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-01-30


Headline bons-has long been
Hunf;no senatorial pastime.
1t is practice,
game, which has been used by some
senators over and over again to obtain
for themselves personal publicity, usu-
ally at the expense of private interests
which always is smeared in senatorial
investigations whether justified or not.
Lately, however, headline hunting, as
pastime, took an awful blow on the
chin. And when headline hunting was
the recipient of a bareback from its
own devices, 1t caught two well-known
senate figures in the whirlpool of the
reaction. Probably one of the senators
was largely responsible for the terrific
explosion that took place and he
caught the full force and effect Of his
own statements as they came in re-
verse gear.
The incident to which I refer &C.
Cured in connection with the investi-
CATION Of munitions makers and bank
ers by Senator Nye, Republican, of
North Dakota, and the special commit
tee of which he is chairman. This in
vestigation has gone on for some fifteen
months and has cost approximately
$193, 1000, $6S,000 of which came out of
funds appropriated to feed the hungry
Of New York city. 1t has disclosed
some questionable practices by some
Of the small dealers in munitions. But
as whole, 1 believe the consensus in
Washington is that Mr.. Nye's investiga-
ton, called a fishing expedition by
many newspaper correspondents, has
added little or nothing of cOnstruc-
tive character.
Once before in these columns I re-
ported to you how Senator Nye was
proceeding about the
The Great country making
EIore.Rock speeches in which
he charged munitions
makers and international bankers and
even aircraft and shipbuilders with be-
ing instrumental in promoting war.
Indeed, he asserted numerous times
that bankers and munitions makers
had forced the United States into the
World war. He and investigators, en-
ployed by the committee, were con-
stantly engaged in telling capital cor
respondents of terrible things which
the investigators had dug up while
they mulled through private files of
banks and business houses. These
brought plenty of headlines, but now
that the munitions investigation is vir-
tually over, one can hardly agree in
making a fair appraisal of the COM
mittee's work that the charges have
been substantiated.
Senator Nye is an advocate of peace
and he had many opportunities, there
fore, to appear in the roll of peace
leader in speeches before various or
CARNATIONS interested. 1t developed,
however, that he received honoraria,
gifts of money or fees, for the speeches.
But to get back to the headline hunt
ing and how it fiared back, the climax
of the munitions inquiry was the in
vestigation Of the gigantic New York
financial house of ]. P. Morgan and
company. 1t was while the Morgan
partners were on the witness stand
that the explosion came-and it did
not involve Morgan in any way. The
incident around which the storm blew
hardest came when Senator Clark of
Missouri, son of the distinguished
late Speaker Clark, read into the COM
mittee record documents showing how
President Wilson had automatically
evaded informing a senate committee
of the existence of treaties among the
allies by which there would be divi-
sion of the colonies of Germany and
Austria-Hungary If the allies won the
World war. Subsequently, documents
showed that Mr.. Wilson was aware of
those treaties and when this was dis
closed, Senator Nye charged in COM
mittee hearing that Mr.. Wilson had
falsified the records.
There followed the explosion. Word
reached the floor of the senate, then in
session, and Senator Connolly, Texas
Democrat, blew off the lid. He openly
accused Senator Nye of besmirching
the names of Mr.. Wilson and the late
Secretary of State Lansing, and charged
at the same time that the North Da-
kota senator was publicity seeker
Senator Clark was criticized also and
the inference was cast out in the vi
cieus senate debate that the Missouri
senator was indirectly biased because
his father had lost the Presidential
nomination to Mr.. Wilson in that ia
nous and bitter 1912 Democratic con-
vention. Thus Senator Clark got caught
in the mess but not to such an extent
as did Senator Nye because Senator
Glass, the Virginia Democrat and a
leader in the Wilson administration.
also took up the cudgels and lambasted
the youthful North Dakotan without
the benefit Of gloves. On top of this,
Senator Pope of Idaho, and Senator
George of Georgia, both stalwart Dem
ocrats, withdrew from the Nye COM
mittee proceedings. In doing so they
read statement explaining their DO
sition which, though tactful, was none
the less direct In expressing their dis
satisfaction.
In the meantime, the Morgan part
ners, headed by ]. P. Morgan himself,
sat in the witness chairs with nothing
to do. They sat for three days with vir-
tually no questions being put to them.
From their standpoint, believe their
climactic appearance as witnesses was
quite fitting. The committee that had
started out with bales and bales of
records from which the investigators
were going to prove how terrible was
the House of Morgan had found it was
giving them rather clean bill of
health. They found that the commit
tee, instead of proving that they had
brought on the war, was proving for
tha HouSe of Morgan that it had coryod