Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1940-11-28
SPANISH BRIBE

II1eS.
SPANISH BRIDE
The career clique of fascist-mind-
ed appeasers inside the state de-
partment has dwindled in size and
strength since Europe's tragic his
tory proved the fallacy of their
course in Spain. However, they are
still strong enough to urge loan Cor
gift) of 500, 1000, 900 from the Export
Import bank to General Franco, die
tator of Spain.
Furthermore, it may be that the
career clique will get away with it.
They urge that the hundred mil
lions be advanced to Spain in order
to keep Franco from coming into the
war against England. They claim
that if Spain has enough food, the
country will remain neutral. And it
is the British, whose fumbling in
Spain was even more responsible
than ours for the present danger to
Gibraltar, who now want the United
States to bail them out with hun
dred million dollars.
Confidential military reports from
Spain, however, indicate three
things: first, the Spanish people are
so fed up with three years of bloody
civil war that they won't fight in
any foreign war not of their choos-
ing; second, Spain is so badly de-
Tended that her harbors would be
easy targets for the British fleet;
third, the Spanish people actually
are near revolt, which is the secret
reason why Franco wants the hun
dred million. Without food, the old
Loyalist government might come
back again.
In other words, it looks as if the
career clique inside the state de-
partment is still trying to keep in
power the man they secretly backed
during the Spanish civil war.
y
CRACK IN THE SOUTH
The Solid South was cracked in
the recent election, but not by a
Republican. 1t was the work of a
Nashville, Tenn, Democrat, in the
only hard-fought congressional bat
tie in the entire South.
Hero of the saga was j. Percy
Priest, crack newsman of the Nash
vile Tennessean, who, running as an
Independent, unseated two term
Rep. Joseph w. Byrns Jr., son Of
the late speaker of the house of
representatives.
Priest defeated Byrns although
the district hadn't elected anyone
but regular Democrat since the
Civil war, and although he commit
ted the faux pas of failing to regis
ter so he could vote.
Priest, however, had other strong
advantages on his side. For many
years he has been his papers "good
will reporter, attending barbecues,
fairs, graduations and civic gather
ings. Practically everybody in the
district knows "Perce" Priest per-
sonally. Also, Byrns, first elected as
a New Dealer, had chalked up a
near perfect anti-Roosevelt record.
Priest also made much of the fact
that Byrns' speech against the draft
bill had won thunderous applause
from the Republicans. Nashville
generally is strong for national de-
tense and FDR. So while Byrns
won denomination, he found real
fight on his hands when Priest threw
his hat into the ring as an Independ-
emit.
Byrns sent out a frantic sos to
house colleagues and Rep. Sam
Hobbs dashed up from Alabama to
stump for him. But it was no 60.
Byrns was defeated in the only Dem
ocratic upset in the entire South.
Note-Priest's constituency is
known as the Hermitage district, {"
because it was the home of Presi-
dent Andrew Jackson, patron saint
of the Democratic party. The new
congressman is 40 years old and
unmarried.