The Wilmington morning star., 1947-06-20
As Pegler Sees 1t
BY WEsTBROOk PEGLER
Copyright, 1s47, By
King Features Syndicate, Inc.)

NEW YORK-So far in my discussion OF
he goofy guru letters, l have proved that
Henry Wallace was very intimately associ-
sted with Prof. Nicholas Roerich and Louis
L Horch. He sent Roerich to Asia in com
mand of an expedition for the Department
o. Agriculture and he appointed Horch to
several important jobs in the Departments
Of Agriculture and Commerce.
The question now is whether Wallace, who
once stood within a single heartbeat of the
presidency and now asplres to the JOB on
a third ticket, could have been silly enough
to write such nonsense. l am referring to
the mystical, oriental prattle in the letters
which were offered to the republicans in the
1916 campaign. Three of the best experts on
disputed documents have given their unqual-
fled professional opinion that the hand which
wrote two veritable Henry Wallace letters
is the same that wrote the goofy guru letters.
But even experts disagree, SO let us come
at the. problem from another direction.
Wallace fell hard for Roerich, and within
a year after he got into the Cabinet as
Secretary of Agriculture had him t~raipsing
over the Monaghan desert in pursuit of grass
seed. Two distinguished American botanists
who were sent along were SO badly treated
that the expedition wound up i'll a bad row.
Roerich was not even an American citizen
but a Russian with a French passport. He
got into political situations in Japan and
Manchukuo and our own State Department
was terribly disturbed because the Depart
ment OF Agriculture had issued American
credentials to a foreigner to go messing
around in the troubled politics of the Orient.
It must be remembered that some Of
Roerich's followers in the circle here in New
York, Of which Wallace was an intimate,
thought he was a sort of deity, a god.
AT least they regarded him as a spiritual
master and a supernormal intellect. Some
Of the letters which were written him by
his disciples used the capital III" in the
pronoun "him", referring to Roerich as
Christians do in referring to God or Jesus
Christ. The goofy guru letters which turned
up in the 1896 campaign and again in the
1910 campaign are similar in tone to the
letters from acknowledged disciples which
finally found their way into court records
in lawsuits tried here and in an income tax
case against Roerich.
Wallace enjoyed the protection o: secret
forces during all these actions, but they were
jusr the old, familiar democratic machine
political forces and nothing occult. His name
had to be kept out of the record and thus
out OF the papers. Otherwise, he might ap-
pear before the public as a blithering slob.
liz IA1lClfS III tlS DS-
partment of Commerce beyond his own de-
parfure by appointing Horch regional director
Cor the states of New York and New Jersey
a short time before President Truman finally
canned him out of the Cabinet in the fall
OF 1916 for making his pro-Soviet speech.
Horch is still in there and he was chosen,
after long association with Henry, because
Wallace thought him an appropriate person
to POSSESS the great powers of the position.
Hepru firoI H.. o1J o,,~, noe.;,L :. 1noe
while Roerich was still chasing Monaghan
grass seed under the guard OF a group Of
Oriental musketeers armed with rifles mooch-
ed from the 18th U. S. infantry in Tientsin.
Roerlch never came back to the United States
and in 1888 the Internal Revenue laid a bill
against him for $48, 758 in old taxes, plus
penalties and interest.
Remember that by this time Wallace and
Horch both were sore at him. And bear in
mind that it was common practice in the
new deal to sick the Internal Revenue on
individuals who got into trouble with power
full new dealers.
In the income tax case, Roerich, in alb
sentia, lost by a hairline decision. Roerich
mad given Horch a complete oWer-of-attorney
10 conduct his business while he was away.
Horch certainly held Roerich in his power
and Roerich's lawyers in the tax case charged
Horch with 'bad faith as a vindictive in
former" The board finally held that Horch
was not an intormer but acknowledged that
lie did give information against his old mas
ter which was his only by reason of his
fid11ciary position under the power-of-attor
ney.
Horch was not as powerful or as important
In the new deal as Henry Wallace. Therefore
he could be sacrificed while Wallace was
protected, and he was nailed in several pro-
ceilings.
This is from the record Of the U. S. Board
OF Tax Appeals in the Roerich case: "Horch
and his wife were received into Roerich's
circle Of associates" in 1922.
During 1922, Roerich told Horch he wished
to lead. an expedition to central Asia for
scientific and artistic purposes; that he had
received messages from the occult world;
and that he wished to paint pictures in The
East and he asked Horch to give him money
for the trip.
From 1922 until the latter part of 1885, the
relations between Roerich and Horch were
strengthened by Horch's adherence to a mys-
tic cult of which petitioner (Roerich) was a
leader. Horch addressed Koerich in rever-
entail and afeectionate terms. He failed to
have Roerich's paintings appraised by deal
ers in the belief that they were possessed
of healing powers. In corresponding Horch
used a name which, Roerich stated, had been
his in a past incarnation. Horch wrote that
since their first meeting his one wish had
been n Gather + ~@Ahcr ~ - P"e"'oh'~ n~'nt-
ings for preservation and lamented that he
had considered selling a few to relieve a
temporary condition"
Tomorrow 1 will quote from the record
letters, and other material showing that
Roerich was regarded as a supernatural Or
preternaturaI being by Horch and other men,
bers of a circle o. which Henry Wallace
was certainly a familiar associate if not for.
mally q member.