The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-01-04
Fair Enough
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1915, BY King Features Syndicate.)

terday, Norman Baker, of Laredo, Tex, has
petitioned the Federal Communications Com
mission for an investigation of dealings where
by the Alamo Broadcasting Company, of San
Antonio, the principal property of the Texas
State Network, is alleged to have acquired
valuable radio equipment from Mexican
station called KENT, at Nuevo Laredo. Mex,
just across the international bridge
The Alamo station has been granted great
increase in power by the FEC. and Bakers
petition asserts that this grant, writ of great
financial value was based on the acquisition
of this equipment The Texas network was
Elliott Roosevelt's. Baker says the FEC. had
tried for years to put him out of the radio
business because over the air he held forth
promises or hopes of a cure for external
cancer.
AS to whether Baker is quack and the
FEC. might have been acting incidentally in
the public interest, but in hjgh-handed man.
ner and for Interior purpose, as Baker i'm
plies, valid conviction cannot be reached
without full and public review of the charges
and the facts. The utter. or purpose would
have been to enhance the value of stock
shares in Elliott's network which the late
President acquired by trickery to defray his
sons obligations in alimony and for the future
maintenance of his dependent minor children.
Obviously, however, Baker has appealed to
the wrong tribunal for he is asking the F. c. c.
to investigate charges seriously inpunging its
own ethics, motives and conduct. Thus, the
F.C.C. would be judge and defendant as well.
To what other tribunal Baker might address
his petition, so that the FEC. might be tried
impartially, do not know. The federal courts
might not be hospitable because Roosevelt
provided that the acts of many of his gov
eminent bureaus, having strong arbitrary
powers over the rights and property of the
citizen, should not be renewable by the
courts One of his charges is that the FEC.
tried to railroad him to prison for transport
ing across the border monograph record
which then was played on the Mexican station
and did obtain a conviction which was re-
versed by the court of appeals.
This petition by Baker revives memories of
sensational political incident in 1914
Early in that year, c. Nelson Sparks, of
Akron, formerly mayor of the city, and long
active in civic and political affairs, wrote
book opposing Wendell Wilkes denomination
by the republicans against Roosevelt. He
called himself '.nationalist'' but according
to the new deal method of the moment, was
smeared with the label "isolationist' His
theme was that the new deal or Roosevelt
element were working to cause Wilkes re-
nomination by the republicans on the theories
ID that Roosevelt could beat him and 60
that, il elected, Willkie would be an inter-
ventionist.
1t developed that George Briggs, an under
been providing Sparks with information and
data. The burden of this material was that
Harry Hopkins was engineering the surrep-
titious new deal or Roosevelt boom for Will
kie. The possibility was not overlooked thatl
if Willkie were elected Hopkins might remain
four years more the nations guest and a
figure of great secret power in the White
House.
Among the documents which Sparks re-
ceived was letter, on White House station
cry, later described as forgery, purportng
to have been written by Hopkins to Dr.
Humphrey Lee, president of Southern Metho-
dist university, at Dallas.
The letter, dated Aug II, 1913, read: 'Dear
Humphrey: What has been done in the Alamo
matter? Will you write me, please? What de-
velopments in the other situation? Willkie is
going to be the man in my opinion, and
can promise you good cooperation from that
quarter if you think 1t would be helpful"
second letter from Briggs to Sparks said
that Harold Ickes requested that the name
alamo" be deleted in the reproduction of
the letter in his book entitled Zone Man
Wendell Willkie." It was SO deleted
A grand jury in Washington investigated.
Sparks insists that the inquiry was not cen
Quoted ir good faith. Briggs was indicted on
charge of using White House letter-head
for this purpose. Hopkins denied writing the
letter. Ickes denied all knowledge of it. Dr.
Lee denied receiving it.
Briggs died before he could be brought to
trial.
In view Of the charges now made b. Baker,
however, and in view Of the rise in value
of the stocks liquidating Elliotts obligations
to his ex-wife and children, the word ALAMO
in this letter becomes far more interesting
than it was in those days when it was dis
missed as a code reference to some Texas
political matter. There were fuzzy and far
fetched attempts to guess the meaning of the
word ALAMO in the letter. Indeed, Bakers
charges and known facts concerning Elliott's
debts, his fathers intervention, and the i'm
portance of the Alamo radio property in the
successful plot to discharge Ellott's debts at
| the expense of others, all invite reasonable
| suspicion that the letter was not necessarily
forgery, after all, and that "the Alamo
matter concerned this radio station in San
Antonio.
| For background it must be remembered
that a number of rich crooks in the east
Texas hot oil industry, many of them in FL
liott's circle had been treated very leniently
in the disposal of federal indictments. This
strange business followed soon after a visit
of President Roosevelt to Texas in which he
met socially great many of his sons friends
New deal politicians, judges and other Roose-
welt appointee were strangely mixed in with
individuals in thoroughly corrupt and cyni-
cal racket.
Finally it may be asked why Harry Hopkins
never was called by the Treasury in the re-
cent investigation of the confidence game by
which President Roosevelt recaptured Elliott
a1iroonv stock for nothing n d, personally