Evening star., 1953-01-07
Kansas City Star
Indictment Recalls
Vote Fraud Probe
By Edwin A. Lohey
chieose Daily News Service

chieose Dolly News Service
KANSAS CITY, Jan. Pres
ident Truman has presented an
interesting piece of unfinished
business 10 the incoming admin
istration Of President-elect Eli
senhower.
This is a gift-wrapped indict-
ment Of the Kansas City Star
and It's two chief executives,
Roy A. Roberts. president, and
Emil A. Sees, advertising direc-
tor.
The indictment. returned yes
terday, charges that the Star
has stifled competition by meth
DDS which violate the antitrust
laws.
A civil suit was filed by the
Justice Department as a COM
panion piece to the indictment.
This suit asks the Government
to revoke the radio and tele-
vision licenses Of the Star and
to enjoin the newspaper from
continuing the practices alleged
In the indictment to be illegal.
The case brims over with po-
litical implications, and seems
destined to become a cause
celebre.
Probed 1916 Primary.
The Kansas City Star has
caused President Truman more
mental anguish perhaps than
any other newspaper in the
United States.
The Star conducted it's own
extensive investigation of the
primary election in Jackson
County in 1916. and proved that
the purge" of Representative
Roger Slaughter in that primary
was perpetrated by wholesale
vote fraud.
The Democratic organization
had launched it's purge" of Mr..
Slaughter on direct orders of the
President.
The revelations Of fraud in
congressional primary in which
President Truman had a personal
interest have continued to re-
vertebrate on Capitol Hill to this
day.
Mr.. Roberts, president Of the
Star, said in a statement today:
1--WE can't refrain from COM
menting on the remarkable
contrast in the zeal of the De-
partment of Justice in these
proceedings against the Star and
their strange lack of zeal when
an election fraud scandal was
before them back in 1896"
Early Eisenhower Backer.
Mr.. Roberts, incidentally, was
one of the original members of
the Eisenhower draft board, who
so successfully paved the way for
the nomination Of the general at
the Republican Convention in
Chicago.
Mr.. Roberts referred pointedly
in his statement to the fact that
the indictment against the Star
and its officials was handed down
in Federal Court while the Tru-
man administration had only two
more weeks Of existence.
He said the grand jury in
quiry which ended yesterday in
the return Of the indictment was
not an investigation as the pub
lie would conceive it, but a one
sided inquisition.
'They didn't want our story"
he said.
"The Star will meet the
charges head on. The most pre-
cious thing newspaper possesses
is its integrity. the confidence of
its readers and the community.
There will be no effort to
quash or delay the anti trust
indictment"
Timing of Indictment.
The timing of the indictment
against the Star. viewed in the
light Of President Truman's hos
tility toward the journalistic gad-
fly Of his home bailiwick, Is ex-
pected to arouse suspicion of
spite work in the newspaper in
dustry.
The action against the Star,
however. Is not the first such
prosecution launched by the
antitrust division Of the Justice
Department.
The division filed a civil suit
In 1850 against the New Orleans
Times-Picayune, charging that
this newspaper violated the anti
trust laws by forcing advertisers
to take space in its sister paper,
the New Orleans States. as a
condition for getting space in
the Times-Picayune.
The indictment against the
Star charges similarly that the
parent newspaper forced adver-
tisers to buy space in it's morn
ing edition. the Kansas City
Times, in order to get space in