Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1936-07-16

think it will help their cause to
do so.
Expect Close House
The most interesting angle po>
litically lies in the future. Unless
t..ere should be some tidal wave
not really expected even by James
A. Farley down in his heart, the
next house of representatives will
be fairly close. It may be Demo-
cratic and it may be Republican,
but the best guess at the moment
is that the majority will not be
more than so if it is Democratic, or
20 if it is Republican.
With close house, such differ
ence of opinion within party as
was manifested in the senate vote
on the tax bill will become of over
whelming Importance of Every vi
tai allied issue 1t would seem to
mean that while the critics of the
present tax plan would not be able
to force it's repeal, they would be
able to prevent any further moves
toward the Roosevelt objective.
On the other hand, there is not
the slightest sign that Roosevelt
will lose his grip on the senate. On
the contrary, the vote on the tax
bill represented pretty nearly the
high-water mark of his opponents.
On few issues could such a num-
Der of Democratic dissenters be
raised.
Reverse Policy
Complete reversal of the normal
"sock the taxpayer" policy of the
internal revenue bureau, the poll
cy established under Robert H.
jackson of never compromising,
forcing little taxpayers to pay law
yer fees and endure court trials
even when all the precedents ia
vor the taxpayers side, is seen
in the quashing of indictments
against lieutenants of the late HUI
ey P. (Kingfsh) Long in Louisiana.
The strongest pro-administration
paper within a hundred miles of
Washington, if indeed there is any
stronger anywhere in the country,
the Washington News, carried a
biting editorial under the heading,
"It Smells Bad"
Editors of the News suspected
what might underly the affair,
which had Attorney General Ho-
mer S. Cummings squirming in a
recent press conference, but they
apparently overlooked a fairly i'm
portant detail. This is that the for
mer Long lieutenants, now enthusi-
astic for the New Deal, arranged
special train to run over to Dali
las to meet President Roosevelt on
his recent trip to the Texas Ter
centennial, there to demonstrate
their undying loyalty.
The News editorial concluded:
"When he quashed the indictments,
U. S. Attorney Viosca gave the
explanation that there was a
changed atmosphere in New Or
leans. Better continue to hold your
nose until Attorney General Cum
mings gives more deodorizing
explanation.
Mr.. Cummings defense was that
he had complete confidence in the
integrity of U. S. Attorney Viosca!
All of which is the sequel to
most interesting political yarn, ri
valing that about how the gang
ster chieftain Capone, suspected of
every crime on the calendar, was
finally put behind the oars on in
come tax evasion charges.
Recent History
The point is that back some
months before Huey Long was as
sassinated, there was very grave
fear on the part of the New Deal
leaders that he might lead a third
party movement which might
throw the electoral votes of Louisi-
ana, and perhaps some other
states with the aid of Father
Coughlin and the Townsend plan
advocates) away from Roosevelt.
1t was at this time that the inter-
nal revenue sleuths began looking
into the income tax returns of HUI
ey himself as we'll as some of his
lieutenants.
At this stage Dan Moody, former
governor of Texas, was called. into
the picture. He had made his rep
utation and been elected governor
of Texas on the strength of his
prosecution of graft in road con-
tracts in the Lone Star state. He
was called to Washington, con-
ferred with high officials of the
Department of Justice, and con-
WINGED by them that there was a
sure-fre case. Amos Woodcock of
Maryland, former prohibition direc-
tor, was also called in and persuad-
ed the government could convict.
The whole idea, of course, was to
eliminate Huey Long and all his
lieutenants by the simple expedi-
ent of putting them behind the
bars. The processes were set in
motion, and eventually one of the
ieutenants was actually convict
ed.
But then Long died, and his lieu
tenants, after some little delay,
made their peace with Washing
ton. Those not worried about The
IF +1xx