Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-09-14
Political Machines,
Destructive Forces
Continued from Page g.

flung business interests. 1t is gen.
New Orleans baseball park, the race
track, a dairy, a candy concern, a
prominent taxi company, the city's
parking lots, and a newspaper, the
Hammond Progress, supported by adj
vertismentS of state boards and sub
scriptions from state employees.
The scandals broke at particularly
unfortunate time, for they obscured
the more significant event of Earl
Longs succession to the throne. I'm
fortunately for the machines plans,
Earl now has to spend six months
in office before the campaign, and
in that time he must prove that he
will carry on for Huey. AS a sop
to the public disgust over the way
the machine has run things since
Huey's death, Earl has begun a ere
form program, partly to take the
wind out of his 1910 opponents sails,
partly in the hope that he will win
Huey's followers to his side. But
tically meaningless. He has admitted
that the consumers sales tax is OBJ
noXious, but instead of repeating it
and mourning the displeasure of the
business interests, he hopes to re-
move popular objection to it by with
drawing the metal tokens and sub
shutting another means of collection.
He has announced that public off,
Gals must no longer use their Of
fees for private profit-but that con-
dition is as deep-rooted in Louisiana
politics as the red light district in
New Orleans, and no mere COVER
nor's decree will stop it. He has
assured the voters that he will keep
an eye on the Conservation Depart
ment, which has charge of the states
S100, 900, 000-a-year oil industry, but
it is certain that Earl won't reform
so much that he will injure the ma
chine that will elect him six months
hence.
Even if his reforms" please Huey's
old followers, Earl will still have to
do great deal of explaining when
he takes the stump next year. AS
far as the faithful know, Huey went
to his grave bitter enemy of his
brother Their quarrel dated from
the day Huey refused to give Earl the
-governorship on the Long
ticket, because he had already prom
ised it to more deserving ally. Earl
went out and ran as an independent
He lost, but Huey never forgave him.
Earl joined Huey's elder brother,
julius, in bitter attacks on the King
fish, climaXed when he testified
against Huey before Congressional
investigating committee.
Knowing only these facts, Huey's
followers have reason to conclude
that if the Kingfish were still alive,
he would be the last one to back his
brother for the governorship. But
| Boss Maestri has already thought
of the way out. Whenever Huey
appeared in the Senate in Wash
ington, a raW-boned, lanky Louis
ianian by the name of Colonel Rob-
ert Brothers usually kept a watch
full eye from the visitors gallery
Since the death of his boss, Brothers
has been obsessed with the idea that
persons high in the Roosevelt Ad-
ministration ordered the death of the
Kingfsh and has spent most of his
time in Washington gathering proof
Now he has become of great import
ance to the Maestri-Earl Long cause.
| BY his own story, Brothers succeeded
in getting Huey to effect a complete
reconciliation with Earl only a few
weeks before the assassination. When
the campaign begins, Brothers, still
highly respected among the ''Share
Our Wealthers" of Northern Louis
lana, is slated to assure the voters
that Huey died on the best of terms
with Earl. The story will no doubt
improve with retelling, until Earl
becomes the Kingfish's death-bed
choice for governor. What Brothers
stands to win by helping the ma
chine is not yet apparent. A good
job is one possible reward. An even
more potent lure to the Colonel would
be renewal of the machines oppo-