Washington Journal., 1943-04-02
II.
In a Hotbed Of PoIitics

SO Lloyd became an assistant district at
torney, serving under my special friend, Col.
Henry G. Allen, a brave veteran OF the Civil
War, in which he had lost his eyesight. He,
too, had been induced by me to ask Col. Eel
lows to add Lloyd to his staff. BY way OF
giving Lloyd a send-off | wrote a piece for
one Of our Illustrated Weeklies e~xtolling him
as a high-minded young gentleman OF wealth,
anxious to serve his country by entering the
doubtful domain of politics. Lloyd was by
no means pleased with this publicity, since it
brought him the opportunities Of beggars and
schemers.
AS an Assistant District Attorney, charged
with drawing up indictments or with recon-
mending the quashing of them, and charged
also with assisting the Grand Jurors by bring
ing witnesses before them and questioning
them in the Jury's presence, Lloyd soon be-
came disillusioned with the seamy side OF
politics. It did not take him long to discover
that the Indictment Bureau was a hot-bed Of
corrupt politics, and that the Grand Jury,
far from being an impartial body OF twenty
three public spirited citizens, tried and true,
was really an engine of oppression and sup
preston. He was aghast when | told him
that several thousand indictments lay locked
up in safes without being brought to trial,
merely for the purpose of holding clubs over
the heads of the indicted criminals and their
pals in politics. To get an unjust Indictment
|quashed by an action of a judge took more
political influence than had been brought to
bear on Lloyd's appointment.
No Place for Lloyd
The atmosphere of the Indictment Bureau,
with its coming and going OF shyster lawyers,
policemen, detectives, stooges, ward heelers
and grasping furnishers of cash bail or real
estate bonds, disguised him and he was at no
pains to hide his distaste for the whole sorry
business.
Col. Allen, realizing this, told me frankly:
TsThis is no place for your cousin. He is too
good for the job 1t is not worth his while
to stay here, unless he wants to run for cleo
ton as a judge in one of our criminal courts.
That would take many years and would cost
his father coolies of money, only to end prob
ably in disappointment.
So Lloyd saw the light and presently gave
up his Assistant District Attorneyship. In
later years he told me that his brief stay
in that Office was one Of the most disagreeable
experiences Of his life.
War Service in Cuba
The next glimpse / had of Lloyd was in
Cuba during our War with Spain. Through
a good turn of his brother Clement, high in
our transport service, [ had been enabled to
Join the regiment of Rough Riders serving
under Theodore Roosevelt before Santiago
de Cuba. Meanwhile Lloyd had got a cap
|tain's commission in the Quartermaster's
Corps, serving under Major General Wade.
After the surrender of Santiago, when my
regiment was mustered out, | got myself sent
to Havana as a war correspondent for Col
Tiers Weekly. There / again encountered
Lloyd. His general had been appointed chair
man Of a military commission to conduct the
evacuation of Spanish forces from Cuba and
Lloyd was serving as his aide.
When IlOvd and arrived in Havana about
the same time in autumn, the city was reeking
with fever. It's streets and plazas were filled
with haggard starvelings, the victims of the
prolonged blockade that had brought famine
to Cuba. Only our soldiers and the Spanish
officers preparing to be shipped home looked
well fed.
One Of Lloyd's first experiences there was
an alteration with a Spanish officer, who,
thinking him ignorant Of Spanish, insultingly
spoke of our soldiers as "Yankee pigs
Lloyd told him to hold his tongue. There
upon the Spaniard challenged him to a duel.
Lloyd told General Wade about it. All he
g. from his superior officer was a remark
that if he fought and it became known, he
might expect to be court-martialed. If he
didn't fight, he would be a disgrace to our
Army. Lloyd, as the challenged party, was
in a quandary whether to choose pistols or
swords for his weapons. He was neither a
good shot, nor was he an experienced fencer.
As it turned out, he did not have to choose,
since the challenger failed to send his seconds.
In the course Of his duty Lloyd was sent
to Puerto Principe. 1t was proposed that |
should come along as a special correspondent,
but the evacuation of the capital was more
important to my paper than that of a mere
coast town, so / staid at Havana. When Lloyd
returned to Havana he had made a circuit of
some Of the most plague infested towns and
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