The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-11
AS Pegler Sees It
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
downright, 1947, By King Features
Syndicate Inc.l

ence of the exquisite Orson Welles for east
ern steaks flown to Beverly Hills suggests
other cute personal foibles of the great.
Orson is a dear, roguish boy, forever up
to mischief. If he isn't setting the whole
United States upside down with broadcast
of an invasion of Martians he is growing
a beard and jutting it in the faces OF the
great big, humorous Irish doormen at the
Waldorf. Sure and begorry, now isn't ne
the one His whole nature seems to chit
ter and cheep in the language of the elves
and it was just like him to say, yes, that
he did have his steaks flown out because,
with his asthma he requires an amount
and kind of protein not found in western
beef It was just like his honest, sWeetly I'M
pudent character to maintain this absolute
ly legal position even while he might set
up a most lugubrious wall for the children
Of the poor in California, VINO might II IT nave a,'
rickets or scurvy or punkin'-head for the
lack of all that hungry children need. After
all, his own, personal steaks wouldn't
spread far among many and it they were
SO apportioned then all too soon the asthma
might still the voice of Orsons protest.
As precious himself, endeavored to ex-
plain, the public, horrid brute in some
aspects, lacks the intelligence to note that
great heart which aches for the poor,
with special pang for children every hour
on the hour needs nutriment to endure this
anguish, and, anyway, epen though man
is rich and flicks his ashes in the butter
on the chip who but fascist would deny
his right to deplore the wretchednesss
around him? What about his freedom of
thought and speech?
You see? Precious is clear thinker with
the courage to be right
Now Corliss Lamont is somewhat like
him.
Corliss is the son of Thomas W. La
mont, the chairman of the board OF j. P.
M 1o,,+ oiri{, tL0 81
Mrs. Lamont, who is a determined woman
of extreme degree and a leftwing living
on the right side of the street. We have
here, l think, a dramatic presentation of
an old theatrical theme. Mama has, in the
enviable wit of Oliver Herford, a whim of
iron. Pa, poor, long suffering victim of his
own success, is head of the fabulous house
own.
Mrs. Lamonts personal politics can be
described as radical socialism only at a
conservative estimate. She was enthusias-
tic about the bolsheviki and their revolu-
ton in Russia by the memory of one who
saw them often, her and him. at the Paris
peace conference. Mr.. Lamont's politics are
in the capitalist tradition and he serves the
ancient images drawn by the cartoonists
with dollar-signs on their weskits.
At the Lamont summer estate at North
Haven, Me-, Corliss gets a furnished house
and food and cars and service from the great
master bankroll of Broad and Wall. His
family live the abundant life amid the age
ing, conscientious rich but neighbored by
neurotic trash who never earned dollar
and try to propitiate the lower classes by
overpaying drunken gardeners and grating
Stewards 1t is nightmare colony now and
Mr.. Lamont, the elder is ill and troubled in
his heart.
In town he lives amid Is servants and
$4,000 a year would be no over estimate
of the household payroll here, there and
yonder, of rich old man whose son dis
owns the formal taint of communism but
frequents where they go. Mother and son
shirk no luxury and Corliss lcturer at
Columbia university, gets $60000 a year,
tax-free from a trust founded by his father
long ago. Now he uses this to finance
projects strictly in the purview of commit
tees investigating communism.
He has been identified or associated with
many fronts.
Interests In New ork include a boiler
plate political dodger saturated with pro-
paganda which is syndicated to Is local
unions, mostly CLIO. Americans who have
to join these unions or go idle, also, have
to accept and pay for the papers. Never
theless, they appear to run at loss and
the deficit is charge on the fortune from
the house of Morgan.
AS God is his witness and his Judge.
poor Mr.. Lamont did not go to do this.
When father sees his new-b born son can
he tell then that he is going to grew up
into a Corliss Lamont? And when it
happens, what should he do?
interviewing certain authorities at the
bank last week suddenly was asked what
would do if l were Thomas M. Lamont.
''In Galway" I said, "there was mayor
named Lynch. He hanged his kid.
"Not," I added quickly, ''that am
offering serious proposal. I am only ex-
ploring the possibilities.
still think the idea wasn't too bad
I am fellow given to stern methods.
own home. When he Let's a woman out
man him he is done and everybody suf-
fers. A punch in the snoot should be the
last resort but Araham Lincoln, F. D. Roos-
evelt and Thomas W. Lamont would have
left the world in better shape when the
squalling died down.
Charlie Chaplin, though he loves the po-
itical figure of the poor, still spurns them
with sensitive loathing for objects all un-
clean. Rupert Hughes, an american, told
the Thomas committee that Chaplin once
dgnnefa,, agreea thht at If poor man died on his
doorstep ne would kick him off. 'tyes,"
Charlie said, II have been poor. I hate
the dirty unwashed"
In both wars, Chaplin refused to cross
the street to amuse our faceless warrior
ants and MIR. Hughes recalled time when
Cnarhe even shook off his fearful exhor-
tatlons to spend five minutes before
erowa 9,2sv; TO raise $4,000 to succor starving
,,a ms u.s. sort IT OF thing embarrassed him, said
ne, and 1, the individual sacrifice was 4oo
great. The thing to do was recoomi1e mas 700 700
oov1et M government. g ', It was a political dutv
OF o. tne OcS'A; not personal obligation Of
Quaint.