The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-01-17
Fair Enough
By wEsTBRoOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1916, by King Features syndica

Bridgeport, Conn.,. the brother-in-law Of Via
scheslav Molotov who was engaged to spend
either 500, 900, 900 or 5000 900, 90 of Rus
sian money in the United States on a corr
mission of per cent or per cent, was his
old, elusive self when he was called before
the new Dies committee in the fall. This was
a return engagement so to speak, Sam hav-
ing played brief season before thd old Dies
committee In 1899 when it was disclosed that
after many years, he went back to Russia
to visit his sister, Molotov's wife, and to
make dollar returning here with $1O,-
600 in currency and vast orders for Amer1-
can material including battleship which, had
it been constructed, would have grown to Co.
600 tons.
At some times he describes himself as a
purchasing agent for the Soviet governme nt.
At others, when his conduct might be ex-
arained in relation to the law requiring agents
OF foreign governments to register with the
State Department, as he did not Carp insists
that he was not an agent but was working
for myself
The new committee in the more recent in
curry was especially interested in Sans re-
lation, If any, to the Bridgeport Herald, a
weekly paper devoted with equal vehemence
20 personal scandal and the more leftish OBJ
!ctlVes OF the C.1O.-Conmunist Political Ac-
ton Committee in the Connecticut industrial
area between Bridgeport and Stamford
Inc publisher OF the paper, Leigh Danen-
perg was one of the few publishers of the
American press who had the rather special
privilege OF touring certain interesting areas
abroad during the war; others being excluded
from such travel on the ostensible ground
that they were ably represented by their en-
ployee correspondents Danenberg and an
other new deal publisher, who travelled in
the guise of a Red Cross man, were excep-
tons. Although his paper is not daily but
weekly and Is not newspaper in the
journalistic understanding of the term but a
left wing propaganda organ with considerable
power of intimidation over opponents by a
technique reminiscent Of Town Topics and the
old Broadway Brevities, he was allowed to
make war journey to areas embracing Rus
sian interests
After President Roosevelt died and before
the shooting stopped, Mr.. Truman tacitly &C.
knowledged that this verboten against the
others had been an act Of personal spite by
his predecessor for he lifted the rule and sew
eral Of the others travelled to the war.
incidentally, the discrepancies between
$100000000 and $20000000 and between 2 per
cent and per cent are Mr.. Carp's own.
He is 50 vague on details, although highly
successful business man and a sharp trader,
that, actually he was unable to tell the COM
mittees within 500, 1000 just how much he
was commissioned to spend. And at some
time his commission was to be 2 per cent
and at others five. So his own gain might
have been as little as 100000 or as much
as $4,000, 900. All this time Russia had an
established trading agency going here, the
Amtorg, so the thought that he received his
appointment because he was weN-connected
by family ties naturally occurred to the ex-
aminers
Pursuing its interest in the Bridgeport
Herald which, Of course, has been sympa-
thetic with the mob action of the machnists'
union in Stamford, lately, the committee
asked Mr.. Carp point blank if any of his
Russian money had been applied to the in
terest Of the paper. This he denied with vehe-
mence, adding that when his children were
Young he wouldn't even allow it in his house
because it was nothing but low stories" He
wouldn't go so far as to say, either, that the
paper followed the communist line, although
he said he was In no position to judge be-
cause he wasn't interested in communism and
didn't read that sort of thing. However, Dan
enberg, he was sure, was strongly sympa-
thetic with the CLIO.
There was some questioning, also, concern
ing one Morris Finkelstone. possibly an err
roneous reference to Lawrence Finklestone,
also of Bridgeport who had been associated
with Danenberg. The committee discovered
that Carp, about IS years ago, borrowed $15.-
600 from Finkelstone which was repaid, and,
in 1896, about the time that he was doing
business for Russia, with big money at his
command, paid Finkelstone 81 900 as law
yer's fee, Finkelstone being an attorney. He
insisted however, that If the Herald was in
financial troubles that year he knew nothing
about them, had no knowledge that anybody
had put up 100000 to finance this organ of
the new deal and discussed nothing of the
kind with Finkelstone.
Previous testimony Of Carp and others re-
lated that he had paid $4,000, altogether, to
Scott Ferris and Preston McGoodwin, deserv-
ing democrats of the new DEAL for public
relations and "contacts' in Washington while
he was trying to get the apprenticeship for
Russia under the impression that he could
buy battleship as casually as he might buy
tomato. In that session, McGoodwin was
described as publicity man for the Demo-
cratic National Committee, whose chief for
years was Charles Nicholson.
In the recent session there was confused
reference to Mr.. Nicholson, himself, at the
mere mention of whose name the democrats
on the new Dies committee started speaking
loudly in gullah, geechee, double-talk and pig
Latin with the result that no Understandable
impression was left as to the extent of the
acquaintance between Mr.. Molotov's wife's
brother and the sage and elder statesman of
their partys publicity office.
Notwithstanding repeated examinations,
Carp managed to conceal to the very end
the exact facts concerning the amount of
money he received in Russia and precisely
what he spent it for with particular reference
to the COMMITTEES first interest, the financing
OF communist propaganda in papers pro.
Tossing loyalty to the American government