The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-07-22

SCENE l took place In the May. flower hotel in Washington in the spring of 1886. The scene opens in the room of Seymour Weiss. recently indicted by @ federal grand jury for selling hotel fur nishings twice to the Louisiana State University. Weiss was Huey Longs supporter, financial back CT and mentor. Like Huey he had been bitterly opposed to Roosevelt, but now Huey was dead and Weiss, together with other Lond supporters, was charged by the government with income tax evasion
 Weiss paid only $1,23s43 taxes from 1929 to 1883, Ca pitifully small sum considering that he was a big shot in Louisiana) and the government claimed taxes of $27,070.16.
 On this particular day Seymour Weiss was pacing the floor and rubbing his hands through his sparse hair.
 "That dirty dog of . Jew" burbled Weiss, who is Jewish himself, "he wants to cruelty me. He won't listen to reason. He'll convict his own mother if he thought she was wrong.
 "You're not referring by any chance to the Secretary of the Treasury, are you?" asked Harry Costello, q newspaperman who had been a close friend of Huey Long's.
 Hes the only man spelling my deal," moaned Weiss. "He wants to cruelty me-"
 "Have you talked to Farley?" asked Costello. Maybe he could do something for you"
 "Yes, I talked to him, and he was non- -committaI."
 The scene now shifts, later in the same day. to the White House where Harry Costello called upon Marvin MacIntyre, his former city editor on The Washington Times.
 "Mac," said Costello. "did it ever occur to you that the Ad- ministration might arrange . rapproachement with the gang down in Louisiana. If 50, think I could be of some service to you."
 "i think that's already being taken care of, Harry"
 "Then no one has to worry?" asked Costello.
 "N0 one," replied the Presi. dents secretary.
 A few days later the Justice De- partment wired the district att torney in New Orleans to drop criminal action against Seymour Weiss and others. Instead he paid a penalty tax of $12,9l5.37. A few weeks later, Seymour Weiss and other politicians voted Louisiana's twenty delegates emphatically for Roosevelt at the 1936 Democratic National Convention. "R0osevelt's good enough for me-" announced Seymour to newspaper reporters.
 NOTE-Henry Morgenthau is reported to have threatened to resign as Secretary of the Treas ury over the incident but was pactified by Roosevelt.
 THREE YEARS LATER
 SCENE 2 took place in the spring of 1889 in a room of the Washington hotel in Washington. Frank Murphy. new attorney ger- eral, was sitting in his slippers at 2 D. m, when entered several of his subordinates in charge of criminal prosecutions and tax cases.
 They had come on an emergency request to discuss the income tax case of Boss Pendergast of Kansas City. Pendergast had been a faith ful Roosevelt supporter. He had delivered to Roosevelt not only in I936 but in 1882. Two years be- fore (shortly after the Louisiana income tax deal was arrangeo) the Treasury Department also had come upon irregularities in Boss Pendergast's taxes. But some how. someway. action was mysteri- ously stopped.
 But now the Treasury had un- earthed some new evidence. per- haps because Governor Stark Of Missouri was waRins c knock down. erag~0ut battle with the pendergast machine.
 q grand jury wes sitting In