The daily independent., 1937-07-26
Hl,uSrHA
By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN

sons ran out.
Friends of Harrison privately
are tagging Utah'S Senator Will
liam King with responsibility for
the Mississippian's defeat. The
may be unfair, but they are
hanging it on him. They say that
King, who stood next in line as
chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, became incensed at
Harrison because of his statement
that he would not relinquiSh the
Craftsmanship if elected floor
leader.
The President had specifically
requested this of Harrison, and
Pat assured Roosevelt he would
hold on to the Craftsmanship.
King publicly said this would be
okay with him, but Harrison in
Inmates are limiting that privately
King was very sore and vented his
ire by secretly voting for Barkley.
Whether or not King did so
only he can tell, but Harrison suf-
fered two other losses that un-
qucStionably played determining
role in the outcome.
One was the failure of his
Mississippi colleague, THE Man"
Bilbo, to support him. Bilbo and
Harrison have been at odds since
the winter of 1886. when they
split over a federal judgeship. Bill
bo tried to defeat Harrison last
year. even going to the extent Of
supporting a longtime foe. The
night before the leadership bal
lot, friends of Harrison urged him
to ask BilbO for his vote. His re-
ply was, I'll be damned if will"
The second detection was the
unexpected laSt-minute switch
of Senator William Dieterich. The
Illinoian had promised Harrison
to back him, but several hours
before the caucus he walked into
his office and said: Pat, it breaks
my heart to say it, but l can't vote
for you. l like you but 1 am for
the President and 1 can't go along
with the anti-AdminAStration
crowd that is supporting YOU"
Harrison assured him he appre-
ciated his franknesS and they
shook hands.
Note:-Friends of Barkley say
that if all those who came up to
him after the election and claim
ed they had voted for him, act
ually had done SO. he would have
received SO votes.
Teapot Dome EXposer
The appointment of John D.
Erwin as U. S. Minister to Hon
duraS takes from the Washington
press corps the man who wrote the
first story exposing the Teapot
Dome oil scandal.
On April II, 1922, Erwin, then
correspondent for The New York
Evening World, published the de-
tails of the leasing of the valuable
naval oil reserve by Albert B. Fall,
then Secretary of the Interior.
The elder Senator Bob LaFNOllette,
conducting an investigation into
gasoline prices, tried to probe the
facts reported in ErWin'S story
but was baked on the ground
that his authority did not cover
it.
1t was not until two years later
that the late Senator Tom Walsh
succeeded in forcing a complete
airing of the scandal. Erwin sup
piled him with much of the in
formation on which Walsh based
his demand for an investigation.
Another major newspaper coup
by Erwin was an exhaustive eX-
pose of congressional nepOtiSm
and payroll grating. Giving
names and figures. his revelations
resulted in the defeat Of several
congressman.
Erwin began his Washington
career as secretary to four sue
CeSSiVe Tennessee Senators. After
eight years service with The Even
ing World he became head of the
Washington bureau Of The Nash
vile TenneS3ean, with which he
continued until his elevation to
the diplomatic corps.
Mail Bag
G.. II. K, FallOn. Ncv.-ThC fed
Cral prison which once stood on
the site of the present Supreme
Court building was net the fed
eral prison where Mary Sllrratt
and others were hanged for COM
plicity in the assassination Of |
Lincoln. This occurred at the Fort |
Humphreys prison, present loca-
ticn of the Army War College. :
H. NJ. W.. Seattl2, 1nfor-
mltiOn on government expert
mCnt with rammed- earth houses |
may be had by addressing Reset
tlement Administration, Barr
Bldg. Washington. B. L. S..
Concordia, Kans-Though the
United States continues to export
wheat in small quantities. imports
of wheat have been greater than
exports in the last three fiscal
years. Not since 1888 has this
country been on net eXDGrt