The Wilmington morning star., 1945-08-23
Fair Enough
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
wright, 1915, BY King Features Sny

NEW YORK, 1t says mere that the Treasury
is going to give a report to the House Ways
and Means Committee on the 18th of the month
about Elliott Roosevelt's loans and, of course,
that will be gain, although it seems that
they might have saved labor if they had wait
ed to do the whole job in one batch and send
it over in truck.
But I have been wondering whether they
plan to touch up the Charlie Harwood matter
because the official blow-off in the House oc.
Cured back in June and concerned only the
John Hartford bite for 100000, whereas Har-
wood didn't open up until the Goth of July.
Just to familiarize you, Charlie Harwood is
New York lawyer and nice, docile old par.
ty plug who often tossed few mibs on the
blanket for campaign purposes and had ideas
about a spot on the United States District
Court or the Court of Appeals or one OF those
special courts where fellow work in his
undershirt on hot days and nobody the wiser
because he is covered up with that black
Kimona, but wound up in one of the meanest
jobs, at President Roosevelts command un-
der the oneriest boss in the whole government.
Mr.. Big got him to be content for while
with the title of Governor of the Virgin Is.
lands which meant that he had tos work for
Harold lckes who says, himself, that he is
curmudgeion and flatters himself at that, and
MS lie mas been just plu-perfect unshirted hell
ever since, what with the communists that
were sent down there to devil him day in and
day out and Ickes lint-pciking his travel
vouchers and wanting to know why he was
late for work last Tuesday week and why was
he absent from his post hen it was perfectly
understood that he wasn't expected to stick
around steady but could put in much of his
time playing bridge with his old pals in Wash
ington and New York
Harwood's story is that he loaned $25 900 to |
Elliott's Texas Radio Network in March, 1899,
when he certainly was honing for some Job,
but he had about three weeks to think up a |
story for himself between my first approach
to him and our eventual interview and frank. !
ly, think he got it pretty badly geballed up
and might have served himself better if he
had come clean, because any police court por-
secutor could make monkey of him as mat |
tiers stand.
Charlie wants you to believe that Elliott !
never talked loan to him, although the fellow
who first told me about it, more than a year
ago. was fresh from talking with Charlie and
said he was singing boue for his $25 900 and
related that Elliott did see him and that they
together called up the President and that he
thanked HARDWOOD for standing the touch. He
says nope, however, that wasn't the wav it
was, but that Hall Roosevelt, Eillott's uncle. !
gave him the come-on for quite a spell with
stories about the wonderful prospects of the
network and, finally. sunk home the book in
March, 1882 telling him that at last his chance
had come to catch $50 shares by lending the
company 25m That M dealing with billions.
1t saves writing down oil those "O's while
like the score-by-innings of one of those old |
time pitchers battles. 1t is prettier than the
experiment in which wrote 81 billion and it |
successfully avoids the vulgarity of calling
thousands "g's," short for grand. If you read
S25M that means $24 000 or S25MM that is $25
million and so forth I got it from a govern
ment felloW.)
Well, where think Harwood made his mis-.
take was IN depicting himself candidate for
the federal bench, and a pretty smart and
successful lawyer, as the lender in a deal with
a corporation where no officer of the corpora.
uon appeared in the negotiations and not even
an lOU. was given nor any terms were put |
IN writing That doesn't sound true to me but
1t is his story and he is stuck with it, Then.
as fell oW will when he is trying to move off !
a spot Charlie puts it that this was to be a
two-year loan with the stock for collateral.
and nevertheless, in 1872 after the stock was
supposed to be his by default. to have and to
hold and all like that he worte to the COM
pany asking howza boutit? And the company
said to settle it with Elliott who as you will
bear in mind, to hear Charlie tell it. had had
nothing to do with the deal whatever
didn't know for sure but some pretty good
SIM day lawyers have told me company
nod and taking some shares out Of the safe
for security and then saying to go see Gus
about it. These lawyers say you have to make
some writing on a piece of paper and sign
names to it but, then as say old Charlie
knows spot of law, himself and yet that is
his way OF how they went and done I guess
| forgot to mention that he was good enough
for President Roosevelt to appoint to the U.S.
District Court for short trick down in Pana.
ma so / guess, anyway he can read a chattel
or a lease.
And then, finally, how can you get away
from the part where Joe fairfield, another
New York demo and lawyer who does Jesse
Jones's business for him, goes to Charlie Har-
wood and steers him to Jesse, who had pick
ed UP the Hartford stiff for cents on the
dollar. to talk about settling this one for $500
or 81. OO0' to help wash the slate? What for was
the Secretary of Commerce and the chair.
man OF the RFC messing around in the debts
OF corporation, if this was a company loan
and suggesting that Charlie might as we'll
chunk it in and take tax loss?
Charlie didn't do it. He figured he might as
well lose it all if he had to and he thinks the
value has bounced back although like
dope, here have been sitting all this time
without finding out just what it is worth to.
day.
Elllotts lawyer is Randolph Paul, heavy.
duty ldeologist who used to be general coun.
sci for the Treasury and of course he still has
some pals there But it certainly would be fun |
to hear them straighten this one out, consider.
ing that, according to Harwood's dates he
put up his dough and then got the job as Gov.