Evening star., 1938-06-19

stein ana 1nfelo. Simon d
Schuster
THE IMPORTANCE or LIVING.
Yutang. Reynal & Hitchcock.
MASTER KUNG. Crow. Har-
per's.
WOMAN ON HORSEBACK. Bar
rett. Stokes.
MY AUSTRIA. schuschnigg.
Knopf.
MOST POWERFUL MAN IN
THE WORLD. Roberts. Covici
Friede.
dation. Nobody. reading the book, can
fail to be impressed by this unstated
implication.
"AND so-THEY INDICTED ME!"
BY J. Edward Jones. New York:
j. Edward Jones Publishing Corp.
THE reviewer picked this book up
with some caution. It is SUBJ
titled "A Story Of New Deal Perse-
cution." and that in itself seemed q
warning. Not that the reviewer disbe-
lieves in the possibility Of persecution
under the New Deal, to be sure, but
that, by some curious working Of the
human mind, any piece Of individual
vindication against q great power Is
suspect. We accept statements which
come from Government sources, gen.
orally, Is final facts, because we con-
slider that the great power Of the
Government Is behind such offerings
and incorruptibly accurate.
It must be said. however, that the
author Of this book suhstantiates his
case. And he Is not q professional
martyr, by any means, but the head Of
prosperous oil business, q man en-
ploying q stan Of 200 people and serv-
Ing q thousand clients. Or, that Is to
say, he occupied such q position before
he had the misfortune to run afoul Of
the dislike Of certain New Deal ON
cials. BY his own word, his business
underwent ruination while he was
being prosecuted, or prosecuted" by
the administration agencies.
His story begins with his effort to
represent the independent oil producer
before the Governors Oil Conference
which was called by Secretary Of the
Interior Ickes in the first weeks OF the
f1rst Roosevelt term. And the case
for the Independent producer, as this
book presents 1t, shows such pro-
ducers being constantly subjected to
unfair practices by the great oil COM
panies and always ignored by the Gov
ernment in their efforts to secure pro-
lection. According to Mr.. Jones, this
Indifference to the plight Of the in
dependent producers, under Repub-
lican administrations, had been due to
the political tie-ups between the great
oil monopolies and the elected repre-
sentatives Of the people. He hoped,
therefore, for great things from Roose-
velt, and, though Republican, sup
ported the Democratic candidate with
enthusiasm.
When Secretary Ickes called his
Governors Conference, he originally
invited the Governors Of four States.
As 81 States produce oil, Mr.. Jones
considered this an omission too i'm
portant to be overlooked and sent tele-
grams to the Governors Of the other
States calling their attention to the
matter. Then, at . preliminary meet
ing of the Independent Petroleum As
sociation Of America, Mr.. Jones further
took exception to Mr.. Ickes' position,
BY contradicting the secretary's state
ment that the oil problem before the
Nation was one Of overproduction.
Actually, as the Bureau Of Mines fig-
ures showed, there was underpro-
duction and the difference was BE-
ing made up BY importation Of cheap
foreign oils, to the r1lination Of native
producers. Both actions, according to
the author, aroused the anger Of the
Secretary.
Subsequent actions Of the Secretary
led Mr. Jones later to recommend to
the President that Mr. Ickes be Ne
moved from the position Of oil admin.
strator. And from that time on he
writes that he found himself In difIicul.
ties with MI. Roosevelt's administra.
tion.
He was charged, he says, with i'm.
proper registration Of his business be.
fore the Securities and Exchange Com.
mission, his business books and rec.
ords were forcibly seized, he was shad-
owed and his telephone wires were
tapped. He was made the subject of
Government press releases which he
claims, and pretty effectively, were
false and misleading and contributory
to the destruction of his business. He
was buIlied In IN incredible manner at
the hearing of the commission. And
when. after the commissions charges
had been upheld In two lower courts,
the Supreme Court Of the United
States dismissed them q indefensible,
without support "in right principle or
in law" and wholly unreasonable and
arbitrary" he was promptly indicted
on charges Of violating the mail fraud
statute, with . possible sentence of
rs years In the penitentiary before him
II found guilty.
With this appalling prospect Mr..
Jones had to live for q year, for, al
though he pressed for An immediate
trial, the United States attorney re-
quested repeated delays. And while
the matter dragged. Mr.. Jones reports
that he was visited BY persons who
promised In return for political con-
tributions to get the indictment
dropped. Mr.. Jones did not ACCEPT the
Offers. He went to trial and was found |
not guilty because Of lack Of evidence
against him.
The book is q shocking record. It il
naively written and emotional, but |
bears the stamp Of sincerity. More
over. its contentious are pretty well . |
matter Of record. FOR, In addition to |
the court opinions. there is the fact |
that the author. upon finding himself |
decided to play that game
and, In receiving strange |
visitors who wished to discuss his |
always recorded the CONVERSE
lions on . concealed dictaphone. He
quotes freely from the records and |
offers to allow any one who doubts him