Evening star., 1951-12-09
ANHis Friends Helped CoudIe
And He HELPED Anyone!

had a pretty heavy docket" and
that he had concluded it was
better to elevate a man who had
been in there with Erwin"
Asked why he had not ap-
pointed Mr.. Francis. who had
served as first assistant, Mr.. Reyn-
olds said, You make a decision
upon half a dozen different stand
points"
Justice Department records
showed no previous service in the
Attorneys Office for Mr.. Caudle
and Mr.. Francis said Mr.. Caudle' s
first service there was when he
took Office as attorney. Mr.. Francis
said he remained for about Is
months as Mr.. Caudle's first as
sistant. The Office. with head
quarters at Asheville, had a branch
at Charlotte.
Mr.. Francis, who now is a prac-
ticing attorney at Waynesburg,
N. c., said Mr.. Caudle was new
and hadn't had any experience in
the Federal courts" when he took
over. But in time, he said, Mr..
Caudle became experienced "and
was gaining the reputation of
being a pretty good lawyer"
Few Tax Cases.
II thu f0,. tha 81
torney to sort of supervise ad-
miniStration of the Office" Mr..
Francis said. During the 18 months
he was there, Mr.. Francis said he
handled most of the trial work,
although Mr.. Caudle began to take
on more and more of it.
At one point lin his testimony,
Mr.. Caudle told the House inves-
tigators a great amount of the
Office business-as much as 80 per
cent at one time-had to do with
the illicit operation of unlicensed
distilleries."
While the Office had it's share of
"moonshine cases." Mr.. Francis
said, he didn't remember any
thing like that number. The
duties entailed handling many
civil as well as criminal cases, Mr..
Francis said, but he also did not
think he had seen more than
two or three tax cases" during
his eight years of service.
Made a Good Record.
Despite his inexperience at the
beginning. Mr.. Francis said, he
thought Mr.. Caudle made a good
record as United States attor-
ney."
Mr.. Francis said he believed Mr..
Caudle's friendship with Supreme
Court Justice Tom Clark began
during this period, when Mr..
Clark, as a Justice Department
official, visited Asheville to at
tend judicial conferences.
Justice Department records show
Mr.. Caudle served as United
States attorney from February,
1910, until July q, 1945-the date
he was confirmed by the Senate
as Assistant Attorney General in,
charge of the Justice Department. s
criminal division.
In North Carolina, meanwhile,
MIR. Caudle Is reported to have
campaigned for Senator Reynolds
in 1914 and. when the Senator
decided to retire, to have CAM
paigned for ex-Gov. Clyde r.
Hoey. Senator Hoey won easily
and was reelected in 1850.
Promising Young Man."
Senator Hoey said he remem-
bered Mr.. Caudle in North Caro-
lima as "a promising young man."
with good background. In pri-
vate practice before running for
the Senate. he opposed Mr.. Caudle
at times in court cases, with Mr..
Caudle representing the Govern
ment, the Senator said.
While young and inexperienced,
Mr.. Caudle developed rapidly"
and made a splendid record as
district attorney" the Senator
said.
Senator Hoey said he never was
called on for a recommendation
concerning Mr.. Caudle while the
latter was United States attorney.
However. the Senator, who took
office in January, 1945, said he
was called several months later
by Mr.. Clark, then Attorney
General, and asked for clearance
on his selection of Mr.. Caudle as
Assistant Attorney General.
II had nothing to do with the
appointment" he said. "I was
asked if I had objections. I had
none"
Mr.. Caudle told the House
investigators he has known Mr..