The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1941-05-15
Washington Reporter Writes !.
An Interesting Story About :.
Life Of Robert L. Doughton

c1Z6Q mecnanlcal nurse, MS Da1Q
head aglow and long legs kick
ing while he gigled like kid on
a merry-go-round.
"I," he said with little convic-
ton, 'was only trying to see what
kept Cal on it."
Never Smokes Or Drinks
He is foxy funster. Note his
favorite procedure when plant
quarantine officials halt his auto
mobile:
"Eh, what say?" he asks in the
falsetto of very deaf old man cup
ping his ears.
care you transporting fresh
fruit? We must inspect it for in
sectS." .......
This goes on and on until
Doughton has them shouting.
Then, still pretending, he shakes
his head:
"Nope, sonny, guess we don't
want to buy any. BLY,"
To the uninitiated who ask why
he never smokes or drinks he re-
plies:
Truth to tell. never could like
tobacco. And, I always fingered
I didn't have enough sense to
drink. Mebbe you smart fellers
can do it but I have to keep what
little brains got sober SOS I can
do my work"
Not infrequently he cat-naps
when tax testimony enters rou-
tine periods. Photographers, alert
to catch him off base, think he
merely is bordering behind that
single great paw he slyly spreads
all over his face.
Works With Hired Hands
He thinks newspapermen ask a
lot of fool questions, especially
about what a man eats, wears and
reads. Others must tell that he'd
rather eat hickory-smoked ham
and sourwood honey than be a
congressman; that he fancies blue,
gray and brown ensembles. car
ries his Baptist Bible on fishing
trips, and has read widely in the
classics.
When he feels a spell of exer-
else coming on, he goes back, to
his farm and works with the
hired hands. A smart-alec report
er said this was campaign non
sense and went out to check on
him.
"Does the old gent actually
plow and sow and reap?" he
asked a negro riding a hay wa
gon.
"City boy, jes 20 get up here
when he's pitchin'. Ell cover 20
up" .e.s
Doughton still thinks the morn
ing's half. gone at 4 a. m. Wise
guys quip that he carries a Ian
tern to work. They found him one
icy winter morning, thoroughly
outraged that traffic conditions
kept him away from his office
until $50 a. m.
STAYED Off Sales Tax
President Taft was in the thirc
year of his administration wher
Doughton came to congress ir
1910. He has served under SIX
presidents through 80 years anc
Is consecutive terms. When he
completes his present term he vii.
have been chairman of the ways
and means committee ten years
equa1ing the record set by Sera-
no Payne between 1899 and 1909
There is one difference No pre-
decessor ever put through his
committee such an array of re-
form and recovery legislation
Doughton, essentially a conserva.
tive, has been at once a wheel
horse and balance-wheel of the
Roosevelt administration.
In the latter respect, he STAYED
off sales tax in 1888 when the
president was at wits end fol
needed revenue. Mr.. Roosevelt
too, disliked a sales tax, so he
thought up a new name-a 20 pei
cent recovery tax"
I'm against it," said Doughton
because a sales tax places the
burden of government on those
least able to bear it. It taxes the
bread and britches of the pool
man whose income goes almost
entirely for food and clothing anc
shelter" -
He asked the chief executive tt
Continued on Page Four)