Evening star., 1939-10-29
Capital SideIights
By Will P. Kennedy

Congress continues through the years
to be an excellent training ground for
young politicians. Maurice j. Freeman.
a personable red-headed young man,
who was predecessor of Hans Jurgensen,
the present tally clerk of the House, has
just been selected as chairman for
Queens County, N. Y, in the Garner
for-President drive Freeman who is now
active in the real estate business in
Queens and Nassau, served as a House
employe with Bill Bray, private secre-
tary to Chairman Farley of the Demo-
cratic National Committee. and George
Norton, now executive clerk of the Re-
publican Congressional Committee.
Bray was in charge Of Democratic pages
and Norton was clerk to the Committee
on Accounts. Freeman has been a civic
leader in his home community Rich
mond Hill for 20 years and was presi-
dent of the association that sponsored
many important Developments He is
descended from prominent Brooklyn
Democrats and has been prominent in
the last three presidential campaigns.
AS chairman of the clean government"
movement he directed the rehabilitation
of the Democratic party after the no
torlous sewer scandals and had charge of
all party campaigns in Queens County.
He served directly under Vice President
Garner when he was Speaker of the
House until he was appointed Queens
County manager of the Home Owners
Loan Corp in charge of all loan closings
throughout New York State for the H. o.
L. c. and supervising more than 80 1000
loans for upward of 100000 900. He
writes to friends at the Capitol that the
slogan of his drive for Gamers nomina-
ton is Go With Garner-the American
Way
Representative Schuyler Otis Bland of
Virginia is now arranging for congress
Slonal participation in the celebration
on July 80. 1914, for the 325th anniver-
sary of the First Legislative Assembly
in the New World, which met at James,
town, Va, in 1919. Mr.. Bland has sup
piled his colleagues with a carefully
prepared record of this assembly. with
quotations from noted historians re-
garding its Importance as a Landmark in
popular government. He emphasizes
that this pioneer assembly in its last
humble suite" to the English authorities
included declaration that shows un-
mistakably that the spirit of independ-
ence was alive and the seeds of the
revolution were then sown' This chal-
lenge was-"that they will give us power
to allow or disallowe of their orders of
courte, as his Majesty hath given them
power to allow or reject our lawes." He
quotes John Esten Cook, in Virginia, a
History of the People: THE event was a
portentous one. The Old World had
passed away and the new was born.
Popular right in America had entered
on life and the long struggle to hold
its own. 1t might be strangled in the
cradle, or done to death before it
reached full manhood. but the blessed
fact remained that at least it had been
born" Mr.. Bland observed-"Men now
engaged in legislative processes and in
preserving democracies may be inter-
ested in the record of this assembly" He
is drafting a resolution providing for
the 325th anniversary celebration.
++
Representative John j. Cochran of
Missouri has scotched the canard that
the French government is charging the
United States rent for the graves of
American soldiers buried in the soil of
France. He appealed for authoritative
information on this matter to Gen. John
j. Pershing. who commanded the Ameri-
can Expeditionary Forces during the
World War and who is now chairman
of the American Battle Monument Com
mission. The French Embassy and the
national convention of the American
Legion were disturbed by this recent
misstatement. Gen. Pershings reply to
Representative Cochran says: The
United States Government does not pay
rent on the graves of our American dead
who are buried in France. The French
government has exempted us from the
payment of taxes or duties of any kind
whatsoever on the land on which our
cemeteries and memorials are located
and on materials which we have sent to
France for these establishments"