DICK FOR VICE -PRESIDENT

HEN I took the oath as Governor, I didn't take any vows of poverty." So Governor Dick was quoted as

declaring, as he reached the midpoint of his term , the hal cyon year of 1938 , the glad year of overflowing delights, the year that had at least 360 days of Mardi Gras. Dick spoke

for the boys.

After two centuries , John Law's vision of Louisiana had come true . It was indeed a land whose soil " had but to be tickled to give up, almost as one wished, either the smiling

harvest or the laughing gold . " The only difference was that in this later day, no Indians were there to help the ticklers of the state . Dick and the boys did not need Indians ; they were doing very well by themselves . They were garnering not only the smiling harvest but also the laughing gold .

In the air was a simple friendliness that warmed the heart . The day was one of loving attention from friend to friend, of stately courtesies and large gestures. The boys were for ever doing things that spread employment and happiness

for each other : presenting gold -engraved rifles ( in this way did Dick most often express his esteem ), automobiles, free lumber, free boy agriculturists from L.S.U. , or a deadhead job for a friend, who must, however, report or send a proxy to collect his pay in his name every few weeks. (An incon venience , that , but a minor one . ) Governor Dick had been only middling well off in his

pre-gubernatorial days. Now , Huey's " post office and mu seum " mansion did not quite satisfy Dick . He moved over

to the St. Tammany Gold Coast, across the lake from New Orleans , and became one of the landed gentry in the parish of pines and rippling waters. He invested in a spreading

estate on the banks of the Tchefuncta River, an area to which retired financiers, presidents and other affluent ones made idyllic retreat .

looked askance. Dick retorted to destructive criticism , when it came from such sources , by declaring that he would not deny he had made money ; but it was largely from oil op

erations. Any intelligent man with a little capital made such investments . He happened to have been lucky in pick ing up acreage between lands on which oil was brought in ; that was all , he told Daniell . But he had never invested in Louisiana; always out of the state .

Dick liked his new estate and his newer life so well that he spent more and more of his time in St. Tammany, less and less in Baton Rouge . He tended to conduct affairs of state through long -distance wires and through the columns

of the Progress. Whenever he could, he went hunting. The cares of public life seldom pierced the buoyant mood of the Governor . He remained as friendly as an overgrown Airedale, as jovial as he was burly . The Washington Merry Go-Round described him during this period :

If he comes back from duck shooting with fewer ducks than you , he will be disappointed for days. He has the dis

cretion of a football cheerleader and the judgment of a freshman . Dancing in the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel one night , he held up ten fingers, five times , and shouted to a friend across the room : " Boy, did I knock

'em for a loop today , ten , twenty , thirty , forty , fifty grand !" Where the grands came from , the Governor did not say, but

he boasts of new -found wealth without restraint.

Next to Dick's Tammany place was the estate of Abe

Shushan , now indictment free and fancy free . He was Colo nel Abe of the Gold Coast . His mansion , secluded, many

roomed , had its swimming pool , its landscaped vistas , its richly maintained groves. Colonel Seymour Weiss had his own estate , but a city one : the Roosevelt Hotel . He had

risen from highly paid employee to head of the corporation , and he had financial stakes in other holdings, a second New Orleans hotel and a third in New York . Seymour and Abe had careers that paralleled . When the grim days of late 1935 had come , each had bid farewell to

the world of public affairs. Seymour had made a statement to his political public that, with Huey's death , he became only Seymour the hotel man . Abe had developed several illnesses, and he likewise turned his eyes to a more cloistered

life , giving up his Levee Board presidency to prove his in tention . But both had come back , happier than ever , to the old pursuits . Seymour also continued on the Police Board and as the machine's head man on the Dock Board . Abe did not take his Levee Board presidency again ; that would have been too much, perhaps. But he was taking other things. Another friend of the Governor was Edward Avery Mc Ilhenny , naturalist, conservationist , owner of Jungle Gar dens on Avery Island , a remarkable man , feudal lord of a remarkable stretch of land . Here flourished " Bird City ," a celebrated retreat which has saved some rare species from extinction ; here grew exotic plants from Africa , from Tibet , from India ; here went Leche for sport. Mcllhenny sold shrubs and flowers to those who could afford his luxury prices. Dick and the State of Louisiana were included in that category , with later consequences. It paid to be a Long. Russell, Huey's son, was hanging

about the fringes of state politics , eye ready for the first beckoning sign from the electorate or its chosen spokesmen in Baton Rouge; speaking at meetings, shaking hands. Elder politicians gave luncheons at which Russell spoke; and they looked respectfully at the young aspirant, who left no doubt

that he would follow Father. Uncle Earl remained in a strategic position . A dynasty seemed in the making. Rose Long, the Senator's daughter, did a little dabbling in politics . At L.S.U. she was the official darling, president of the women students , vice -president of the student body. Immediately after graduation, Rose was married to Dr.

Osymn McFarland, a young Nebraska doctor and former schoolmate. The event was an affair of state . The Roosevelt Hotel chef built "my largest cake " —four -and -a -half -foot base, five feet tall without the towering decorations. It took three weeks to bake, and was transported to Baton Rouge by a truck that was not to go faster than five miles an hour, so that the masterpiece would not break . Swinging wedding bells , confectionary lilies and tall figures of bride and groom topped the cake . At the mansion thousands were disap pointed because they could not see what newspapers called " the many hundreds of gifts " ; remembrances from the state police , city workers , state workers, state officials, city officials, legislators , parish organizations. Special dee ducts flew for the occasion . The boys in New Orleans contributed to a set of silverware estimated as costing $ 12,000 to $ 15,000. There were other presents. Dr. McFarland , described as a " freshman physician " by one Long man , was named medi cal adviser to the expensive new state-hospital organization ; and later he stepped up to the rank of director of the Huey

P. Long Memorial Hospital, at $ 6000 a year , plus a free home, free groceries and supplies.

240

In New Orleans , however, municipal affairs had taken a

turn more surprising to many. Robert S. Maestri was mak ing a name for himself as mayor . He had gone into office with a determination to leave a record behind him . He was

achieving that goal. Maestri had not gone beyond the third grade, but had taken a brief business course in his early teens . At 13 he

was earning a living. At 23 he was a thriving business man , at 33 practically a millionaire , at 43 one of the wealthiest men in the city, probably the biggest single property owner . His father was an Italian -American poultry peddler who had set up a furniture store . One of the younger Maestri's first jobs had been to watch about the store along Rampart

Street , near the tango belt . Whether or not that location was a coincidence has been a topic of heated argument among men-about-state-politics for a decade . Enemies charged that

the Maestri wealth was founded on a combination of store , police friendships and red-light property; that the store sold beds and other furnishings on time , then picked up the goods when an unfortunate raid occurred , and resold them . Stump speakers called the process " the original model of

perpetual motion ." Maestri denied that the family property

was centered in this area, or that sales were managed in this fashion . He did not deny that he kept his ear close to the political ground. His holdings made that a requisite .

He had seen Huey as a comer , and had known that Huey needed him , or someone like him . When the Kingfish -to be sent a message , according to Don Eddy , Maestri ignored

it . As he expected , Huey called on him . Maestri kept him waiting. Once together, the two men lost no time on pre liminaries, and talked for the rest of the evening . Maestri placed much of his cash on Huey , to win, place or show though he had insurance elsewhere , like any investor . He

241

had saved Huey with his money in the impeachment days ; he went on to be Conservation Commissioner, though insist

ing to many that he did not want the job . He did admit that he profited from oil holdings, but asserted : " I never messed with state oil lands. Let the other guys have that stuff. "

Now , in his new office, the swarthy heavy -set ruler of the machine worked to make Louisiana forget the things that had been shouted against him . Into the running of the city

he put the same drive , the same cold bargaining, the same

pursuit of the stray dollar that had netted him his other holdings. He chuckled as he rode roughshod over city or dinances and regulations, sometimes the accepted principles of city management. " Maybe I'm breaking a law. But I want this done. Quickest way, the best way. " He ignored

divisions between city departments: " Two pockets, same

pair of pants . " He made brisk deals in the city's name : " We shave 'em with or without soap ." His sayings were repeated affectionately by some , derisively by others .

Part of the way was prepared for him in advance . The

Legislature, which had twisted New Orleans nearly to her death on the rack , was showering care and gifts on the con valescent: taxing power , assistance in credit, repeal of some,

but not all , of the dictatorship laws . The city had been in bad straits when Maestri stepped in . A requisition for a 25 -cent brush was refused by a hardware store . Streets were rocky, public buildings deteriorating. Current debts : $ 15 ,

000,000 ; unpaid electric bill , $ 1,250,000 ; taxes long over due, many disgusted Orleanians having stopped paying; city workers sullen as they received twenty per cent of their salaries, if they received anything, three months late .

Maestri asked the banks for a $ 2,000,000 loan to start his

regime. They wanted six per cent, and were not certain

that they could provide it all . Maestri asked Baton Rouge:

WPA projects were planned primarily to give men work , officials declared ; heavy , labor -saving machinery " tended to defeat the purpose. " Maestri said , " Yes, " then took hand

shovels from the men , installed cranes, steamshovels and other equipment . The projects must be largely diversified, giving employment to white collar employees , professionals, the less physically strong, said Washington . Maestri said , " Yes , " then sponsored almost entirely the type that call for common and skilled manual labor . However, Harry Hop kins inspected the work and called it one of the best ex

amples in the country of municipal planning for relief proj ects. By that time, Maestri had diversified the operations , taken on more of the white collar and other workers; but he was still holding out for mechanical helpers . Maestri needed another steamshovel. He was anxious not to put up cash at the moment . He telephoned a firm : " I'd

like to borrow one of yours that ain't doing anything." The executive hesitated . The firm would like to co -operate , but wouldn't it look odd if people saw its equipment on public projects ? " It sure would . We'll see that don't happen ." Maestri's men picked up the steamshovel and painted out the firm's name . A salesman was overjoyed to hear that the mayor was thinking of buying, say, eighty tons of material . He hurried to City Hall, left an hour later with his ears burning at some of the plain talk he had heard , and with a verbal contract to provide one hundred and eighty tons, half price . Maestri demanded, and got, as Eddy saw , tires at one fourth of the retail figure, gasoline ten cents below the market , motorcycles at less than half. He heard of a factory that was piling up carbide refuse and carting it to the dump . He asked for the material , put city employees to work on a formula that turned it into a cheap white paint . With the product , he covered the exterior of practically every public building in the city , private hospitals, churches and private schools . Some protested that city men and materials should not be used on private projects. Maestri went on , building

up good will . The mayor attracted the taxpayers with special sales rates —so much off if they paid their new taxes early and caught up with their back ones . He talked strong language to the bankers , and forced interest rates to two and a half per cent ; he cut the city's bonded debt by millions . Orleanians generally began to like Maestri  particularly the business men and the middle class, the small homeowners to whom his policies appealed . Some saw another side to the picture . In administrative matters , the mayor was an embryo Mussolini, a man who liked authority and more authority. His fellow commission ers were little more than figureheads. He ran all depart

The community lifted its eyebrows when announcement was made that Seymour and another member of the new aristocracy, Contractor Monte Hart , had bought control of

In Baton Rouge, Governor Leche adopted a new enter

tainment pet , and a new squeeze was on . Dick was con vinced that a good annual frontier show was the thing that would get Louisiana farmers interested in raising cattle, a favorite project with him and the Progress. One of the rea sons for building the record -sized Coliseum , or agricultural building, had been the presentation of the Governor's rodeos. Dick , wearing a ten -gallon hat , luxuriated in the

Wild-West atmosphere , whooped and howled at the broncho busting, and confided that he had always wanted to be a cowboy or a baseball player . State employees, " advised " to attend , sat with their ten -gallon hats on their heads, their smiles sometimes set ones; they had been required not only

to buy tickets but also hats, souvenirs and other parapher

nalia . From New Orleans other hundreds had to make train trips, buy admission , hats and the rest . The Governor pre sided over contests to select " the grand championship plan tation walking horse of the world," gave a Governor Richard

W. Leche Trophy to the winner , and received honorary designation as Chief Short Bull by a group of Sioux Indians . The state paid $ 60,000 or more a year for the Governor's performances; the amounts contributed by the payroll for the privilege of attendance were not disclosed .

When mid-1938 arrived , Louisianians recalled well-estab

246

lished earlier reports that Dick would step down about this

time to make way for Earl Long. Nothing happened . True, the Governor talked whimsically of his desire to leave the chair at the earliest chance and turn his back on the hurly

burly of partisan politics . But he held on . Several explana tions were offered . Dick seemed to be enjoying himself ; public life was sometimes irksome, but it had its points. He

did not like Earl , and Earl did not like him , and so he was not inclined to hurry on that count . And then , too, the signs indicated that Dick was considering stepping up rather than down . Huey had thought he would promote Dick to

the state supreme court . Now Dick's eyes strayed toward something higher, a judgeship , but a Federal one . Two new judicial offices had been created by Congress, one in New

Orleans, Dick's district . This was the background for a game of official hide-and-seek that went on for nearly a year and a half ; a sport in which the 250-pound Leche alternately chased the office and let it chase him .

Month after month Dick shook his head . No , he didn't

want it ; where did such stories start ? Month after month official Washington let it be known that he was under con sideration , eventually that the usual investigation was being

made of his record . Once or twice , it was declared in Wash ington that Dick was " strongly backed " by the Louisiana delegation there and by others , and that he would probably

get the office. Allen Ellender , the new Senator,

New Dealer by this time, on close terms with the President, and a frequent visitor to the White House ; and he admitted that Dick had a good chance to obtain the office.

The Governor was moving, meanwhile, between Louis

iana and Washington more regularly than any other in modern Louisiana history . Between appeals for more proj ects , he once saw the President and the Attorney -General.

247

But on his return he was " not impressed " with the vacancy. Louisiana decided that this ended the matter ; and then the

grinning Dick told reporters that he was " never a man to

turn down a good job ." The question of Dick and the judgeship took on the proportions of a major controversy in Louisiana , ranking with arguments as to whether Hitler would dare go to war in 1939. The Federal Attorney-Gen

eral's office declared that it would like the matter settled because of the accumulation of cases in Louisiana courts. The Louisiana State Bar Association urged action by the White House . But the principals would not be hurried .

The other new judgeship was filled , and even supine Lou isiana received a shock . The appointment was a commentary

on the depth of Washington's affection for Louisiana . The new judge was Attorney-General Gaston L. Porterie of the State of Louisiana. He was a member of a distinguished

Acadian family , a man of legal ability , a lover of good food , good wine and good French stories ; and the possessor of a political background of strong connotations.

State and city bar associations , business men's clubs and others condemned the attorney-general and his actions .

Weeks later Porterie called the jury. The boxes were brought in , returned unopened , then brought back, opened , resealed . The jury went into court with Porterie, and the attorney,

general declared that he had a statement to make for the jurors. The judge told him he could do nothing of the sort ; that the law permitted a jury to return a true bill , no true bill , or pass over the matter. " Is there any other legal

information I can give you ?" the local judge asked the at

torney -general. The jury did nothing more . A month later, a new one came in . The bond issues had been sold ; there was now no danger of upsetting the result . Still , no investi gation , as Porterie continued to supersede Stanley . The state bar called on Porterie to explain his attitude . Nothing happened . The bar's committee on ethics cited the attor ney -general for expulsion ; he submitted a resignation at

once. The association declared that he could not quit under

fire, and expelled him .

Huey was furious . He got back at the lawyers. He had

his Legislature " make me a new bar . " An integrated or

ganization was formed , to which every practicing attorney

must belong and pay dues , with officers chosen by the gen eral electorate . The private bar could continue , but prac tically all its functions were taken over , particularly those of passing upon disputes over ethics, and the examination of candidates. Huey jeered : " All you boys are now is a god

damned debating club ." Then he poured salt on the wound . The first president of the new bar, presiding over those who had voted to expel him , with power to rule on ques

tions of ethics , was Attorney-General Gaston L. Porterie . The incident brought further resentment toward Porterie

249

when " partial martial law " was declared in New Orleans to prevent investigation , and when the controlled grand jurors sought to return a blanket vindication of the election commissioners  a step halted by the judge, who " refused without comment" to accept their action . Eventually, an

open hearing was held, with Porterie ruled out by the judge.

More than 18,000 fraudulent votes were found to have been counted for one amendment . Every polling commissioner in the city was charged . Three went to trial and were found guilty . But Huey " took care of the boys " by adoption of a tricky new election law requiring that wilful fraud must be shown  and omitting the usual saving clause that de clares a new law non -applicable to pending cases . Thus, the 500 -odd men received legislative pardon in election tampering matters . There were some sour reactions about the country when Porterie was confirmed . Pegler asked whether the Roose velt Administration and Congress could favor " a man who served a ruthless dictatorship which used the courts to whip

its political opponents. " The nomination , he added , indi

cated that the new United States Attorney -General , Frank

Murphy, was considering politics or that he " approves Por

terie's record—which would be even more alarming."

But little overt response developed in Louisiana. " What's

the use ? " was the byword. Opposition was quiescent , ex

cept for that of James A. Noe and a few others. The press

was quiescent. The United States Supreme Court had handed

down a sweeping decision against Huey's tax on the news

papers. There was no need now to crack down on the news

papers , however . The state supreme court declared uncon

stitutional the law by which the state took over full control of the primary elections , and the old commission system was restored . This did not disturb the boys . There was no

250

need now to steal elections . But many were doing it to keep in practice, or perhaps because this had become a habit , and habits are hard to break . Unopposed candidates some times ended up with more votes than there were voters . The day had its humors, of course . President Roosevelt

paid a visit to New Orleans, and Governor Dick and Mayor Bob rode about in an open car with him while he saw some public works , the results of the Second Purchase . The Gov

ernor and the President chatted . Mayor Bob sat silent. At luncheon he asked Roosevelt a question : " How do you like them ersters?" The President was ecstatic , spoke at length

of his regret that he could not get such food every day, and so forth . Maestri nodded . As the meal ended, Mayor Bob asked : " So you liked ' em ? " The President threw back his

head, again waxed laudatory . That ended the exchanges of the two officials . Afterward, a friend asked Maestri what he thought of the President . " Aw , he's full of bull," said the mayor.

Governor Dick was still dallying over the Federal judge

ship when the state received another start. Huey had wanted

to be President . Dick appeared overnight as a candidate for

Vice-President of the United States . A "movement" " swept "

the state " Roosevelt for President in 1940 ; Leche for Vice

President." A " spontaneous boom ," the Progress called it .

In New York , in the national eye , Governor Dick carefully

denied that he was seeking the honor . But his friends would

not be downed . Mayor Handley of Lake Charles  later to

be named in a gamblers' payoff  saw in Leche " one of the

greatest men in the entire nation ." Maestri observed that

" it would be a fine thing to have a native Louisianian in

the official family of the United States, " and advanced the

251

Soon Dick was finding himself probably the first Ameri

can governor to call a strike , arbitrate it , " win " it and have it backfire on him. In those trips to Washington , Dick had moved among the professional New Dealers, had heard new words: liberalism , rights of labor, civil liberties. Dick had always been a solid Friend of Business, a man who could damn an agitator as well as the next one . But now . . . so they wanted liberalism ? In the strawberry area , a wild -speak ing organizer was stirring up the farmers by calling the Governor " Walking Stick Dick , the No. 1 American Play boy, " the owner of a " $ 250,000 home on a $7500 salary" and similar uncomplimentary things. Dick had an oppor tunity to win the farmers and do himself some good . How ever it was managed , by whatever encouragement, a strike was proclaimed among workers at a box factory in the area .

The Governor drove into the workers' section , visited the homes , and announced that he had seen " poverty pictures worse than those of Tobacco Road ." People just could not

live on such pay ; the country needed a minimum -wage-and hour law . He wanted Louisianians to write him their views , not to wire , " because the poor workmen have to labor two

The next day , the Governor called at the scene , in limou sine , with the First Lady and state police . The latter were strangely friendly to the strikers. A ready-made soup kitchen

was set up . State-employed photographers took evidences of

the Governor's way with the masses. Venturing farther into strange waters, the Governor invited " hungry farmers " to partake of the soup, attacked sweatshops, agreed that the

South was America's Economic Problem No. 1 and , despite his baits for new industry , scored absentee ownership. In due time , the strike was arbitrated and a labor board elec tion held to see whether the workers wanted CIO or AFL, the latter the Governor's union . Alas for new -found liberal ism ; the workers would have none of either. Things had been too serene for these past three years .

The safety valve had been missing. Steam now leaked through the cracks . A series of annoying little episodes de veloped. A Highway Commission checker placed a statement on the desks of all legislators , declaring that he had docu mentary evidence that state workers ' pay was being gouged for the dee duct fund and for the Progress, and that Federal law was involved in cases in which payrolls were part Fed

eral . The Legislature paused in its task of changing the " luxury tax " to an outright sales tax , and then said noth ing. Leche fired the checker ; but a controversy had started . A torrent of anonymous protests reached newspapers from the state workers . Among those who objected to the dee

ducts and the Progress pressure were payroll deadheads and

two -check men. Because one was paid by the state for doing

nothing, or twice for doing half a normal job , did not mean

that one lost one's capacity to suffer indignation at an ob vious injustice . Letters that were alternately droll and

253

pathetic poured out. A proprietor wrote that all the bars, liquor stores , groceries, poultry dealers and other small es tablishments had to buy one to ten subscriptions, or police men would make them shut off the radio after 8 P.m. or

obey non-existent health regulations. One worker said his friends were avoiding him " for fear I'll try to sell them some of the five Progresses I have to take." A woman was having trouble preparing a layette for her expected baby, because dee ducts were flying away with all the spare money . The Young Men's Business Club met , and a member urged others to investigate. He made a piquant observation : " All that

the older men in business here can do , is sit down and take it . Let the young members, who have no business connec tions that may suffer, tell the world .. The Governor first treated the matter lightly . The States ran a series of stories on dee ducts . Governor Dick sent the editor a string of choice mallards, killed with the guberna torial guns, and a note attached : " Dese ducks are not flying . "

Later , he jibed : " I deny the allegation , and defy the alliga tors ." He decided he liked that , and he used it often there after . However , becoming aggrieved , he addressed a mass meeting , declared that Huey had started the deductions ; that the newspaper wanted only to stop him from becom ing a Federal judge, and  again the liberalism motif that the corporation lawyers were after him because he had

been a friend of the poor man while on the state bench of appeals . The year 1939 began , the year of Dick's torment . The

Governor became ill , went to resorts and hospitals; even tually it was declared that he was suffering a complication of difficulties, the most important an arthritic infection . Dick had other trials . He had elevated his secretary to the attor

ney-general's office , and gave strong indications that he would

254

like to see him as the next governor. Earl Long began to

kick up his heels , to show that he was huffed at Dick's ac tions, at Dick's failure to retire . The sheriffs' organization declared that it would favor no candidate who did not

pledge repeal of the state control bill that the machine had previously refused to drop .

At the Legislature, Governor Dick had put through the re peal of Huey's law allowing suit by the state against corpora

tions for taxes dating far into the past. Huey had reaped rich benefit in such instances; the law set fees of one-third, totaling hundreds of thousands in some instances. The re peal meant, of course, the end of the attorneyship for such collections. It was held by Hugh Wilkinson , Huey's former partner . Hugh had handled a recent Standard Oil case , in

which the firm claimed that " probably $ 4,000,000" was in question , and that Hugh stood to take more than $ 1,000,000. " Funds will thus be diverted from the treasury , amounting

to a King's ransom ." Hugh Wilkinson had been a serviceable ally of the or ganization . He had been its attorney in the Irby -Terrell kid naping, and had represented the boys in other scrapes. Hugh was silent for some months . In February of 1939 he offered a series of radio addresses; his theme , the duties of citizen ship . At first he said only that times were parlous ; that hon est and able candidates must be encouraged for the election eleven months hence. The politicians wondered . What was Hugh getting at ? Hugh enlightened them ; the subject of his next talk would be " The Gravy Train. " A systematic tax-reduction racket , he charged, was " wide

spread in Louisiana and notorious in New Orleans." Offi cials and employees of the State Tax Commission worked with outside agents , attorneys and others, to obtain steep

tax -assessment reductions for firms or individuals, he de clared . For this , the agents received a full fifty per cent split . The plan , he went on , had been expanded into a shake down . The following year would see the same individuals or organizations approached ; the rate would be up again ,

and once more a reduction could be fixed for half. Wilkin son asserted that at least one high official of the commission in New Orleans had a direct tie to the scheme and a part in the payoff. He told of a " Madame Queen " of the racket ; of code names and other dodges for concealment ; of a breakup among members of the group , which had led one to come to him and tell of it . The public treasury , Hugh estimated , was being looted of hundreds of thousands of dollars , while tax assessments were reduced illegally by the tens of mil lions . " That gravy train has been running in this town like

the stream -lined Twentieth Century Limited . It has run into

the stores, the banks , the theaters, pharmacies, homesteads, pawnshops . ..." When he went out and talked to one business man after another, he could not find one who had

not paid off or had not been propositioned. A bottling com pany, Hugh added, had its valuation reduced from $ 113 , 000 to $ 10,000 in one year . A brewing firm arranged a re duction of $ 500,000 over a two -year period . He reeled off,

to officials, a list of firms which he said he had reason to believe knew about the racket . It read like a blue book of New Orleans business . A quick demonstration of public lethargy followed . Dis trict Attorney Charles A. Byrne of New Orleans said that he

would go " as far as I can " if Wilkinson presented his data to him . The Tax Commission did nothing . Wilkinson con centrated on the integrated State Bar of Louisiana, of which Leche's favorite , the new Attorney-General David Ellison , was now president. A tiff followed . Wilkinson wanted action taken against the attorneys whom he mentioned . Ellison re torted that procedure adopted when Wilkinson was presi dent of the integrated bar required that action wait on

court disposition of such matters. He suggested that Wilkin

son call on the district attorney . Wilkinson replied that the

district attorney seemed very much disinclined to act ; as

Ellison was state's attorney -general, he had better informa

tion " as to whether or not the criminal authorities are in

terested in investigating facts and events fairly well known to a large proportion of our general population ." The state bar held the matter in abeyance, and eventually did nothing

of any consequence .

Within twenty -four hours of the exchange between Wil

kinson and Attorney-General Ellison , Governor Dick made

it clear that he was fretful . He took a step which might have

257

been an indiscreet one , or a shrewd piece of strategy. He held forth an unmistakable prospect of criminal prosecution against the property owner who might be found involved in the racket. Any investigation, said the Governor, " should begin with the property owner who , by his participation,

made any alleged racket possible . And such property owners , if found guilty for their participation , should be prosecuted with the others, for conspiracy and bribery. Any business

man who takes part in such a scheme attempts to get an advantage over his competitors  to get a little more than he's willing to pay for." As a parting remark, the Governor

held forth the possibility of a " complete revision of all as sessments." It was , perhaps , not calculated to make a loose tongued merchant pause and think ; but it had that effect. Following many delays , the parish grand jury was offered

the case by District Attorney Byrne . Finally the jury re

ported that , after exhaustive inquiry, it had found insuffi cient evidence on which to indict anybody . Such a report , the jurors conceded , was highly unusual ; but they felt that the public was entitled to know what the jury had done in the matter. It noted that it was " an accusatory body , not a censor of public morals " and had no power, in cases of

insufficient data against a person , to " denounce or castigate such person . " On this inconclusive note , the matter ended, for a time .

his necktie adjusted by Mr. Murphy." Seymour Weiss was another jovial figure . Murphy had come to receive an hon orary degree from Louisiana State University, and Hoover to receive an honorary rank of major-general on Leche's staff . The two officials were entertained until considerably past midnight at the Roosevelt Hotel by night club sopranos, dance teams and other acts in Seymour's Blue Room . The Governor , the major-domo, the nemesis of crime and the

New Deal's crusader chatted , joked , told stories. Early the

next morning reporters woke them all . As they waited for Murphy and Hoover to dress, the news men were enter tained by the blue-pajamaed Governor, stretched out on his

bed .

" Governor Leche," reported the Item, " smilingly revealed

a predilection of the Attorney -General's  chocolate ice cream . Mr. Murphy rounded out the night with a call for a big dishful  'double dip , ' said the Governor, and he swal lowed it happily before retiring." Mr. Leche was soon to wonder about his own use of that term " double dip . "

Hoover spoke with warmth of the havoc created by tie ups of politicians and criminals . Murphy spoke with equal earnestness of his " purge for America ," by which he pledged himself to end alliances of public officials and violators of

the law . He referred to the sacredness of the ballot, to the need for unquestioned honesty of count in a democracy . Governor Dick sat thoughtful. That night President James

Monroe Smith stood solemnly beside United States Attorney General Murphy and bestowed upon him the honors of Lou isiana State University. Before he left , the Attorney-General was asked if his trip to Louisiana had been purely a personal one, unconnected

with his work . To this he replied : " I never go anywhere ex cept on business ."

The Wreck

"Major criminals should not commit minor

crimes."  O . John Rogge.

" AND ONE OF 'EM WAS A SONOFAGUN ! "

FTER theater , after the Carnival Ball , on the way to a

A chance remark , during a pause in the clatter of dishes in the fragrant room , stirred the suspicions of Dr. Arthur Vidrine, the country-boy doctor who had been Huey's fa

vorite medical man . The speaker who made the comment

was one of the few in New Orleans who had the informa tion . Vidrine was now strongly inclined to act upon such

information .

One night in May of 1938, Arthur Vidrine stepped into the coffee place on his way home. He was hailed by an old friend , the holder of a minor position in a local business office. They talked casually of the weather and , naturally

enough , of the political situation . Then the clerk referred to the treatment that had been accorded Vidrine by Leche

and Smith of L.S.U. , to the way he had been shunted from the superintendency of Charity Hospital, from the deanship of Huey's medical school, to a subordinate professorship.

. . . Ah , things were different these days. And Smith , that sanctimonious hypocrite! Vidrine would be surprised to know what he was up to. Speculating in whiskey-warehouse

receipts ; speculating in some big amounts, too . Well , the friend had to be going.

Arthur Vidrine agreed that this was an odd thing. He thought about it several times on his drive home . Over in his native French Louisiana , he mentioned the news to a

friend who was close to a third man in New Orleans. That

friend told the story to the third man , who was Rufus W. Fontenot, Federal Collector of Revenue for Louisiana.

The revenue collector pursued his inquiries , while months passed. " The Doc " was liquidating his holdings of one thou 264

sand or more barrels . One of Mr. Fontenot's deputies, at work on the matter , called his attention to a new name among trading accounts on the New Orleans Stock Ex

change : James Monroe . The account was a large one , but the revenue office had no reports of a James Monroe. Fonte not dispatched a letter of inquiry ; an intermediate broker responded . James Monroe was James Monroe Smith , who had a trading account for himself and others. For obvious reasons, " The Doc" wanted his connection to remain a

quiet one , and the broker would appreciate it if Mr. Fonte not would tell no one else . James Monroe Smith was trad ing in hundreds of thousands of dollars of wheat . The whis key had been small stuff.

In January of 1939 , Rufus Fontenot went to Washington . One of the first persons he saw there was Elmer Irey of the

Special Intelligence unit . Mr. Irey shared Mr. Fontenot's chagrin over the Second Louisiana Purchase ; but, unlike Mr. Fontenot, Mr. Irey no longer was so enthusiastic over the prospect of slapping Louisiana crooks. What was the use? But he was won over to the advisability of a check into the Smith situation . That left the higher -ups, whose zeal for Louisiana investigations had undergone a chill . Fontenot talked quickly . He would stake his judgment that heavy irregularities were taking place down there. They were cer tain to come out , somehow . He felt that they would back fire, reflect on the conduct of his office. In that case he would owe it to himself to let it be known that he had reported

the matter to Washington . All he wanted now , he pleaded , was a preliminary study . If that proved him wrong, no harm would have been done . He won his point. Three weeks later,

one of the Special Intelligence men informed Fontenot that he had uncovered a case on Smith , with ramifications. One week after that, in late February of 1939 , Fontenot

received a call : " Dick Leche . I'm laid up at the Roosevelt . Could you come over ?" Fontenot assumed his overcoat and his caution . Around Governor Dick's bed he found Ellison , the new attorney -general , and W. A. Cooper, who had suc

ceeded Madame Alice Lee Grosjean as state revenue collec tor . Months earlier , Leche told Fontenot , he had received vague reports that " something was wrong at L.S.U." He had

suspicions that " somebody was getting a cut on the build ings." He had asked Cooper to make an audit. Curious things had happened . Smith offered some of

Cooper's best men higher salaries to work for him . Now Cooper had made a report of findings to date . L.S.U. , he noted , had grown so fast that it had left its system of finan cial management far behind . That system was antiquated

" to the point where almost anybody handling cash is in a

position to help himself, " Dick went on . But nothing defi

nite had been turned up . " Although there's strong evidence

that something is wrong, our hands are tied . " So Dick would

like a Federal investigation of Smith's affairs.

It was at about this time that Fontenot received a whis

pered suggestion from a high state official that " we wouldn't mind if the Government got something on this guy Smith . " Somebody, it was obvious , desired for some reason that " The

Doc" be removed from circulation . It was equally obvious that this was a delicate situation . Fontenot said nothing.

Senator Jimmy Noe, the original man with a grievance, was meanwhile losing no time , playing detective on his sep arate hook . He had spread the word that he was looking for information in anyone's possession about the organization . State employees and others were turning in affidavits, lists, rumors and tips. The effervescent Noe had a loosely inte

grated investigative agency, a " fact -finding crew " of men who knew their way around . Occasionally he offered some

of his material to the newspapers . But they were afraid of it ; it was dangerous stuff, much of it unverified . Unless, and perhaps even if a case were waterproof, who would believe

the lyingnewspapers? He was advised to continue work . Why not try for a few pictures? " They can say that a man heard something wrong, or saw it wrong ; but they can't lie out of the camera's testimony. " Jimmy had never been able to capture the specifically in criminating scenes he needed . He had photographed stolen state hogs which , for all the picture denoted , might be Uncle Hiram's down the road . He had pictures of " hot" gravel in transportation ; but all that they showed was a truck along

a highway . On one occasion his men were planted for sev eral days in front of a Dock Board warehouse to catch a shipment of " hot " state -owned grain . But the boys had been tipped in turn , and the shipment did not take place . Still , Jimmy Noe went on , accumulating what became an awe some collection of affidavits " Noe's 980." There were really 980 of them . Sometimes the pile lacked quality ; it had quan

tity . Jimmy was writing Roosevelt about it, calling to see Frank Murphy and others in Washington , although he did not always get into the inner offices. Early in June of 1939 , Jimmy made another Washington visit . He called at the Department of Justice . He saw Con gressmen , Republicans and Democrats, and he called on

267

Pearson and Allen of Washington Merry -Go-Round fame. The columnists took what he offered , checked it and con sulted attorneys.

Returning to his home in North Louisiana , Jimmy re ceived a call at 6:30 one morning. From L.S.U. one Hicks Batts of the building department reached him, not without difficulty. Batts was excited . A truckload of L.S.U. window frames was starting to New Orleans, its destination a home under construction for a colonel on Leche's staff. Batts low

ered his voice and gave the license number . Noe hung up ,

clicked the operator, reached the New Orleans States and

then one of his New Orleans dependables, a former football

player. At the States, the Noe telephone call received prompt

response from Major James E. Crown , managing editor, and

F. Edward Hebert , city editor. What followed was even tually to be hailed as one of the major factors in the develop ment of the scandals. A reporter , a photographer and a Noe man drove slowly along the highway to Baton Rouge . They met the truck , followed it at a discreet distance, and parked when it parked . Workmen started operations .

The Noe man stayed at the wheel of the car , motor run ning. Meigs O. Frost, the reporter , and Wilfred D'Aquin , the photographer, squirmed through a weed -grown lot , and

the latter shot everything in sight  truck, frames, men put ting them in place . The pictures would be clear, effective; they showed the license number of the truck and the men at work . The task now was that of getting the films to the office ; in Louisiana of recent years, it has often been more difficult to transport photographs past those who do not want them printed than it has been to take them . With a flourish , D'Aquin handed a film roll to Frost, who tapped

off briskly in one direction while D'Aquin ambled to the car. If the reporter were tackled , nothing would be lost. The

roll was blank . The photographer would be off with the real article . In this case , they were not intercepted . The newspaper had shown other uses of public property

for private purposes: the paving of a yard beside one of the gambling palaces , the cutting of a road through a private tract. Slight indignation had resulted ; Louisianians were not in indignant mood in those days . The window -frame episode involved only a few hundred dollars of materials . But it

came at an inopportune time , and proved the copy-book maxim that little things count . When the pictures and the story appeared, they drew at tention ; but their real effect was not felt for a day or so . Then Leche , obviously nervous, acted in a way to exploit the incident to his own disadvantage. He elected to do a Huey, to play prankster . An open hearing, the kind that all great crimes call for; that was the thing. As Huey had

done at his "secret public " vice investigation, Dick planned a radio broadcast , so that the people would know all about these things. Dick would be special assistant to the attorney

general, Huey's role in such inquiries, " death plots " and

others . Dick would be there also as personal counsel for "my good friend," the staff colonel whose wife was putting up the house to which the window frames had been trucked , and for the truck driver, and for " the fellow who told the truck driver to drive the truck." He would be " counsel for the

downtrodden . . . . And there'll be plenty of others who need defense before I get through ." He called States offi cials and the president of Tulane University . This was a plan to show that the newspaper was a pot calling a kettle black . The newspaper's board included Tulane board mem bers; and Mayor Maestri had paved roadways and created

parking lots around the Tulane stadium . But just before the date of the scheduled hearing, Leche

269

THE WRECK

PART THREE :

and Ellison called it off. Governor Dick's tone was different. The investigation was being " extended to include other and more serious matters . " Ellison was to hire extra investigators.

Meanwhile , a whitewash : Dick and Ellison declared that no law had been violated in the window -frame episode . The builder had availed herself properly of university facilities, in the same way that private individuals bought pottery from Newcomb College, Tulane's women's department, and dairy products from L.S.U. The staff colonel's lady had paid for the millwork ; the men had been L.S.U. workers , but were unemployed at the time, and she compensated them ; L.S.U.'s truck was used , yes , but she paid for it .

Public interest was piqued by the Governor's backing and filling, and by this new turn . Newspapers wanted more in formation . Were such services for private individuals of

fered generally by Louisiana State University? Who set the rates? Dr. James Monroe Smith was not available; and here was a puzzle . Prexy did not appear at his office for several days . He could not be found at home . In his absence , Big George Caldwell , from whose construction department the

truck and frames had come, said that there had been noth ing unprecedented in the episode . Would he show the rec ords? He was miffed at the lyingnewspapers: " My records were open once . They're closed now ." The next day, " The Doc " was back , to contradict Governor Dick and Big George. Sales to private individuals were not L.S.U.'s policy. They had never occurred before . They would never occur again . Big George must have been "befuddled ." Big George had

no records ; the auditor's office had them all . Jim Smith was agitated, more agitated than he had been since he fired those students on Huey's orders , some thought.

The same day , June 19 , brought something that made the boys ' breaths come faster . The Merry -Go -Round column

appeared . It presented affidavits of workmen that WPA men , using WPA materials under Big George's direction , had built a barn and log house for Richard W. Leche at his St. Tammany estate ; that two tenant houses had been

built inside Dick's Coliseum at L.S.U. and taken to the estate; that WPA carpenters and others had been employed on Business Manager Jackson's mansion ; and that sand, gravel, cement , lumber and pipe belonging to the WPA had likewise been diverted to Big George's and Jackson's

establishments . A further charge was that twenty WPA workers had moved a WPA-built playhouse to the property of Attorney-General Ellison . Finally came statements that

WPA and other workers who were paid in part or fully with Federal funds were victims of dee ducts and were used to foster the operations of the state machine .

The story was of national interest ; it could not be ig

nored . The WPA declared that most or all of the men were

not WPA workers , and that it would look into the matter .

Dr. Smith would not check into the Merry-Go-Round ma

terial , but would wait until the WPA finished . Meanwhile ,

he said , Jackson and Caldwell would " co-operate" with the

WPA in its inquiries . From Governor Dick came silence .

In New Orleans, Fontenot's income -tax inquiries sped up . The state's political atmosphere was sullen , sticky . Too many things were happening at the same time . The steam was pouring out of too many holes .

On June 21 , late in the evening, Richard Webster Leche summoned reporters to the mansion . He was in bed , wan and tired . His visitors had to promise that they would " not

excite him by asking questions ." They were merely to take

his written statement . He was resigning as Governor, on ad vice of his doctors. His withdrawal would leave Earl Long in the chair . " Mr. Long has tremendous backing in the country, and is the announced choice of Mayor Maestri " ; and so the organization's interests were in " safe and sound

hands." Looking on were Seymour Weiss and Attorney General Ellison , the man who might have became Governor if Dick had had his way . The next day , a Thursday, found the Governor back in

blithe mood . No Louisiana chief executive had resigned be fore this, and there was doubt as to procedure . " I don't care which way is followed," Dick chuckled . " I'll try anything short of dying. If they don't find me a way out by eleven o'clock Monday , I'll walk out. " Growing more expansive ,

Dick waved aside those curious reports that the WPA matter had anything to do with his action . He had hired Caldwell as a private contractor, and had paid the men by check ;

whether they were WPAs or any other kind of men he did not know , because he had not asked . He recalled an ap pearance before a House committee just a month before this in Washington, in which he had declared that Louisiana was a "model" on WPA matters ; that there was no politics in its operations; that he didn't know how we could get along without the WPA . " Now he renewed a free -handed offer of expenses up to $ 10,000 for any Congressional com mittee that wanted to investigate. The state WPA adminis trator was at the bedside ; and he termed Dick's resignation a " great disappointment , " because Dick had co -operated " in

every conceivable way , showing deep interest in the needy and underprivileged . " In Washington , Attorney-General Murphy commented somewhat irrelevantly that there was no connection between Dick's resignation and Dick's consideration for the Federal

judgeship. Dick's name was still being strongly pressed by

" certain elements in Louisiana , " but Leche himself had told Murphy " it would be best for him not to have the ap pointment." And the Attorney-General was not investigating the Louisiana situation . From what he read , it appeared to be " a local matter ." If WPA materials had been used , that " might give it a Federal character," but this had not yet been demonstrated . Less than twelve hours before Dick's scheduled retirement , political frenzy broke over Louisiana. It was June 25 , 1939 a Sunday. The day began as a gay one, with newsreel cameramen at the mansion , and Maestri arriving in company with his proteg£ Earl . It was clear now that Maestri had reached the high point of his power in the organization , that he was more than ever the strong man . All bows for Bob , the big gest lines at Bob's door; only slightly smaller ones for Earl , less for Dick . The day was one of handshaking, of flowers, and of nervousness . Earl , about to become chief executive , was alternately meek and touchy . Someone addressed him as " Governor , " and he snapped : " Don't call me that . That man may change his mind tomorrow . He gave me absolute assurance that he would resign, in the presence of twenty five people. But I'm like the crapshooter that refused to pick up the money until he won it." These remarks had a peculiar ring. Wasn't Dick anxious to get away, as he assured the good people ? Late that night a grim and harried Leche called the press again . It arrived to find all lights on at the mansion , extra police on guard , tension in the air. Dick gave his statement quickly . He had ordered the arrest of Jim Smith for ques tioning about " financial irregularities that may total several hundred thousand dollars." Jim Smith had been asked about

the matter , and had disappeared. State police were hunting him . Would Dick resign as planned? He would not say . Shortly afterward a brief bulletin was issued , signed by Dick and Earl . Dick would stay in office until the investigation of the L.S.U. shortage was completed . As to what had hap pened at the mansion in the past few hours , no one was saying much . At hand were Maestri , Ellison , the superin tendent of the state police , and Supreme Court Justice John

B. Fournet , a leading member of the L.S.U. board . This much came out : the matter had been under discussion since

early afternoon , but nothing of a final nature had been done until after dark .

Dick was stubborn ; he would not resign. The next day , he did . The revised news went out suddenly , and hundreds of the faithful milled about , apprehensive , smiling brightly . The Kingfish's successor was dead ; long live the Kingfish's brother . Sworn in , Earl announced that his administration would have a motto : " Better a little with righteousness, than a great revenue without right." The Bible was in the man

sion again , the official word went , under the arm of another Winn boy. The investigations would be pursued, " let the chips fall where they may." The guilty would be hunted out, " even though this should involve my best and closest

friends." Dick kissed Earl's wife, and Earl kissed Dick's. The new day of " a little with righteousness " was started .

Outside the mansion , the newsboys were yelling " De Emi nent Dr. Smit' Takes a Powder ." The First Lady of the Campus was a fugitive with " The Doc . " They had packed

up and driven off, with the First Lady's nephew , J. Emory Adams , at the wheel , shortly after dusk the previous night. They had left Thelma's mansion in disarray , in a quick take -off. J. Emory until recently had been a campus official, operator of the profitable bookstore , but had gone on with new capital to operate a chain of stores at Baton Rouge . This kept the affair more or less within the college family. There was particular amazement for Baton Rouge ; the First Lady had started to pack her famous Mexican flat sil ver, but had had to abandon it . " Thelma must have been in a real hurry . ..." In New Orleans , the financiers shared a shattering discov ery with the politicians . " The Doc " had got away with $ 500,000 in the past few weeks . The " hard -boiled bankers " had turned over an even half-million dollars of their deposi tors' money to Jim Smith for university purposes , and he had gambled it into nothing on the stock market . Jim , the man whom Huey had picked because he always obeyed , had branched out for himself. He had profited by example, and had improved on some of his mentors . He was a bigtime swindler, Grade A classification . The country hailed him " America's Scholastic Lamster No. 1," " Jim Smith , the Ab sconding Academician .

A tale of horror was told by New Orleans ' leading broker

age house . The Item dug up the sequence of events , and sadly the company confirmed it . Sixteen months after Huey's death , " The Doc " had moved into the market . Through an intermediate broker, J. M. Brown , he had declared that he

represented a group of individual investors, men of means. No other names were given , but it was emphasized that trading would be on a large scale, collateral available at all

times . One of the brokers was almost overcome by the glad tidings. As he told Johnson , Smith's friends had all the funds these days . The original families , unfortunately,

seemed no longer in the money . Jim had appeared , and he talked importantly . War was certain , and soon , and with it inflation . Commodities were the surest investment . " The Doc" had his private maps and graphs; and his knowledge of world trends so impressed one member of the firm that he almost asked to be given a part with the others . " The Doc" had an idea that has wrecked smaller frauds

before him : he might corner the wheat market , if all turned out well . The account started big, continued big. In time , it reached a figure of 2,000,000 bushels , the maximum al lowed by Federal authorities . Broker Brown took 1,500,000 in his own name . Smith gave L.S.U. and other bonds as his

collateral . The grain market was on the rise . Europe's pre war agonies were proceeding as " The Doc " had predicted. The dictators were practically working for his account.

But , at Munich , Chamberlain and Hitler scuttled the professor. No war for a time, no upward spurt in grain . More collateral was needed . It came promptly , $ 375,000 of

L.S.U. bonds. The brokers noted , however, that the bonds were not accompanied by a legal opinion as to their valid

ity ; and they asked for " compliance with the usual routine." The routine was not complied with . But the brokers thought

they had no reason for continued complaint . In place of the bonds arrived a $ 300,000 cashier's check on a New Orleans bank . This was in April of 1939. In May , Broker Brown unexpectedly delivered another $ 375,000 of L.S.U. bonds,

with word that instructions would follow . Again , there was

no legal opinion ; again the brokers asked for one , and sug gested the leading bond attorneys of the country . The other side disagreed, and a compromise was reached on a New

Orleans attorney . His opinion was that the bonds were a

legal and valid obligation  provided they had received ap

proval of Huey's State Bond and Tax Board , and had , fur ther, actually been sold and paid for . An awkward wait fol lowed . The approval did not come, and Brown was asked

to take up the bonds .

The brokers suffered new pangs of doubt . What about the obligations that Smith had first given them , for $ 214,000? They asked " The Doc." No approval came on them . " The

Doc" was asked to take them back and provide more accept

able collateral . Broker Brown delivered his personal check for $ 100,000 on one bank in New Orleans , and a $ 100,000 cashier's check on a Baton Rouge bank . The account was

closed on June 15 , during the agitation over the window frames , and ten days before Jim disappeared . Jim's tempo rary absence at the time, and his mental disturbances , had an explanation . Jim's account was paid up . He did not owe the brokers a dollar. But somebody , it was clear , owed somebody some

thing. Attorney-General Ellison issued a statement that he was happy to inform the people that the state would suffer no loss . The half -million dollars that had gone down the

drain -pipe belonged to the banks ; they had , in effect, thrown it away . The authorization of Huey's Bond and Tax Board was needed for such loans , but it had not been provided .

THE WRECK

PART THREE :

The banks screeched ; they had never been required to get such approval of the Bond and Tax Board ; they had fol lowed the same procedure here as in the case of all other

L.S.U. loans . And also , Smith had presented a resolution

from the L.S.U. board , specifically authorizing such borrow ings! The state was sorry. But such a resolution must be a forgery. The L.S.U. board had never taken such action . Earl Long, the new Governor , turned to his dice -game simile : " The banks were just plain lucky , before this . No L.S.U.

notes are legal without the Tax Board's O.K. If the banks took any of them , it was at their own responsibility. It's like this : a man may make good a debt from a crap game. But

that ain't a legal debt." One banker , it transpired, had begged to be robbed of $ 100,000 . The financier , who was also Baton Rouge's mayor ,

heard in the trade about those other loans from New Orleans banks, and he called on Jim as a friend . Now Jim hadn't shown proper local spirit, had he? Jim agreed. "You're right .

I wasn't fair . I'll make it up. You give me $ 100,000 ." The friend was grateful.

official to some of the bonds . Growing careless , perhaps be

cause things had appeared so easy , he had once switched the signatures . That , said the brokers by way of understatement,

was one of the reasons why they became suspicious .

For the next week or so , it was feared that Smith might have cost investors a full $ 1,300,000 additional , by use of the hot bonds . Bankers , brokers and others, throughout the country , went hurriedly through their Louisiana obligations .

Urgent wires were passed between New Orleans, Baton

Rouge , Boston, New York and other points . It turned out,

however, that " The Doc " had used his bonds only as the

fake collateral and not for any other purposes.

Broker Brown added to the state's hilarity by disclosing

that he had received some " highly valuable" " bond collat

eral " from Jim one night , and had employed a private de

tective to guard it until morning. He learned later that these , too, were Smith bonds . But Brown did not answer the question that most literate Louisianians were asking :

Who were " The Doc's" market associates? Smith had listed twelve partners : J. Monroe 1 , J. Monroe , 2 , and down the line . Would other high names come crashing down , as col

leagues in this and other thefts? And could this have had anything to do with the clean getaway? For a clean getaway it was . No trace of Jim or the First Lady could be or had been found. Full descriptions and

photographs had been spread about the country . The Fed

eral Bureau of Identification was assigned by Murphy to

hunt for the man who had given Murphy his degree a month

earlier ; here , at least , was a Federal angle to the matter.

Suspicious Louisianians , recalling the kidnaping of Alice

Lee Grosjean's uncle and former husband when their talk

had become embarrassing, assured each other that Jim

would never be seen again . Some thought that there was

unusual delay in starting the hunt ; " The Doc" might be well out of the country by this time . Others hinted that he would not be seen again for another reason ; that he would

be disposed of , or given opportunity to do the disposing him self. " That would be nice for everybody; kind of final." Earl Long, talking in unorthodox fashion , surmised that Smith

was " somewhere near the capital , trying to make good his losses, in return for dropping any charges. " Smith , he let out , had been trying to raise the money among his friends before he disappeared . But the new Governor insisted that he knew nothing definite of the matter .

 ' The Doc ," it was learned , had tried to get the L.S.U. football plane in which to make an escape  a new use for a vehicle that had seen many unusual ones . But it was on a scouting trip . Smith had tried to call it back , but arrange ments could not be made in time .

J. Emory Adams , the First Lady's nephew , drove quietly back to Baton Rouge , alone ; he surrendered to police and refused to talk . In the state capital , WPA agents were at work

on the L.S.U. records, questioning workmen and officials. Some of the men mentioned in the Jimmy Noe-Merrv -Go Round affidavits declined to confer with them , declaring that they " wouldn't give away our information to an organiza tion that's investigating itself." In New Orleans the Federal Grand Jury began what was planned as a WPA inquiry only . In Washington , Attorney -General Murphy disclosed that the revenue men were checking into Smith's income , and that he already had a report on the matter . Yes, investi

gations were going on in Louisiana , he admitted , but were " limited entirely to matters touching on Federal laws." It was a cautious statement, but Mr. Murphy was a degree or two less cool than the last time .

Congress was in the process of approving a $ 50,000 ap 280

propriation to investigate WPA and related political mat ters, and it was certain that Louisiana would be a major point of interest . The situation was a continued , continu ous national sensation . Cartoonists portrayed America hold ing its nose near a swamp labeled with the state's name ; one

showed a hand tossing dice between classic pillars: " Craps

in the Louisiana Cloisters." The search for the Smiths warmed . Nephew Adams admit ted that he had driven them to Memphis. " The Doc's" hand writing was identified ; he had signed the register of a Mem phis hotel , at which they had stayed briefly, in the names

of " Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Southern . " His script was shaky . A porter was sure he had spoken to them on a fast train to Chicago. A Detroit automobile agent sold a car to a couple who gave the name of Southern ; the woman peeled off cash from a heavy roll , and they drove off with expensive lug gage, bearing foreign labels. In the interim , the Smiths were seen everywhere: in Texas near the Mexican border, in Canada, in California , by garage keepers who suspected a

woman who was hunched down in a car seat , or a driver who kept his head turned . Another Louisiana official, mo toring in a car with an aristocratic low number, was tempo rarily detained in California, as Smith . At home , the Baton Rouge Parish grand jury received a charge from the judge that it should " spare no one if the evidence points to his guilt." Earl Long disclosed that Build ing Superintendent Caldwell had been drawing a regular two-per -cent rake-off on all L.S.U. construction , and that the board had not known about it . " The Doc" had put

across another of his fake resolutions, and Big George had

gone merrily along, collecting it every month ! Governor

Earl assigned a special aide to the parish grand jury, Attor

ney-General David M. Ellison , Leche's pupil and friend, the

man who had been mentioned in the affidavits on L.S.U. WPA diversions. He remained with the jury thereafter in most of its deliberations . A North Louisiana attorney was also retained , to demonstrate the state's zeal. The Public Works Administration announced that it would check " in a routine way" into all its $ 51,000,000 worth of Louisiana projects, including the Charity Hospital that appeared to be sinking into the ground before it was well finished . Calling its state and district officials to Wash ington , the WPA insisted that it would carry out its in quiries " without fear or favor." The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Exchange Administration confirmed reports that they were looking into phases of the situation . The Treasury Department acknowledged that it was finding interesting data on other figures besides Smith . The Federal Bureau of Identification was checking several matters , including passport applications of certain Louisi anians . It was a small taste of what was to come . Smith made an abrupt surrender in Canada . He had been staying with his wife in a cottage beside a lake , " enjoying a quiet vacation ," until he saw in a newspaper that he was wanted . This was the first inkling he had had that he was being sought . Jim had in his possession $ 315 , a passport, a quantity of papers on which he had been working  a " his tory of L.S.U." during his regime . Mrs. Smith had $ 9400 . She wept to another woman as she stood in the middle of the floor of the town post office : " We're decent people. But my husband's in an awful lot of trouble. " She pleaded : " Oh , don't put us in jail." She and " The Doc" went , instead , to a guarded hotel room . Smith announced : " I'll waive extra dition . I'm ready to go back and fight. I haven't stolen as much as five cents in my life . I won't be made a goat." In Baton Rouge , a Keystone comedy chase was threatened

While the Smiths were on their way, Former Governor Dick came into the spotlight once more as he rested on his Gold Coast estate . The Baton Rouge jury summoned him to " tell what he knows , like anybody else." On the next day ,

before he was due in the capital , Dick gave the newspapers his version of the hysterical Sunday of " The Doc's " disap pearance . It was at 11 A.m. that " The Doc" telephoned him from New Orleans for an appointment , without saying what

he wanted . About 1:30 P.m. Smith arrived at the mansion , wrought up . " He began the conversation by saying that he

had done a very foolish thing, borrowed $ 200,000 without authorization of the board ." Dick paused : " I was flabber gasted. I didn't then realize the full import of his remark ,

that he had diverted funds to his own use . He wanted to know what I thought about it , and if I could get the board to approve it . I told him I'd see what could be done , and to get in touch with me later . There was a lot doing around the mansion that day ." Dick had, however , found time to call Attorney -General Ellison and Cooper, the state revenue

man ; and he referred to their earlier investigations. But the newsreel men and others had interrupted . Dick continued :

Somewhere between six and seven P.m. , I guess, Mr. Elli son called Smith and asked him to come over . Supreme Court Justice Fournet came in . Because he's one of the

board members, I asked him to sit in with us . Ellison is , too ; I appointed him . When Smith arrived he mentioned his speculations , for the first time, and mentioned a figure larger than his previous $ 200,000 ; I think about $ 400,000. He said

that he had opened a little trading account on behalf of the

university , and owed on it . I told him I was certain that the board would not approve any such transaction . Judge Four net said , " I for one will not approve it ." Then I asked him : "Well, Doc , do you want it the hard way, or the easy way? I think you ought to resign and let the board look into it." He said , " If you'll write my resignation , I'll sign it ." A sten ographer made it out, and he said he wouldn't put his signa ture on it if it contained anything else. It didn't. He signed

and left .

Asked why no action was taken then , Former Governor Dick was emphatic :

I didn't order his arrest. I certainly didn't expect him to

run away. A Dillinger , a Capone—they might have had some

chance . But an amateur like the Doc—he was known from one end of the state to the next. You know what has hap pened since. And remember , he has said he didn't flee . .

Smith told us he felt sure everything could be straightened

out, and that he probably could raise money to make good.

At no time , did he ever admit any wrongdoing. I never did

know where he borrowed the money . I never asked him .

I didn't suspect any act requiring arrest . I was in a tough

spot . Here was a friendly, kindly fellow, head of the uni

versity. The attorney-general and the district attorney were

there . It was their duty to determine if any law violation

had been committed , not mine .

Indicating that he might not have ordered Smith's arrest if he had to do the matter over again , the Former Governor observed : "You know, the Attorney -General has said that the

loans the bank made were invalid , and that L.S.U. won't lose , whatever happens . I don't see where the state or L.S.U. can claim they lost anything . "

When Smith left, Ellison and Cooper " worked like beav ers . " Cooper went to his office , pulled out Smith's state in come returns and found that the trading account had been set down as Smith's personal property . Other board members were at the mansion when Cooper and Ellison returned , added Dick . " As soon as they felt they had concrete evidence —I don't know what that was  they ordered Smith's arrest,

about an hour and a half after he left ." The state police superintendent, giving his part of the events, declared that he was not called to the mansion until

6:15 P.m., then went to the campus, lost nearly an hour hunt ing keys to Smith's office , and finally found mutilated L.S.U. bonds in Smith's desk, the false signatures ripped off. By

8:30 P.m. he was back at the mansion , and a few minutes later the arrest order came . But search warrants were needed to enter Smith's house and those of his relatives, and they were not obtained until 10:30 P.m. Meanwhile, the Smiths had a start of hours. In the Smiths ' kitchen , police found gallons of bonded whiskies and wines of good vintage years , ready for Thelma's next soiree . The rural folk were shocked .

That went to show you , didn't it? In a closet, Dr. Smith's black academic robe was hanging from a hook . Over it was a striped convict's cap . " The Doc " had worn the headgear to one of his last presidential functions, a masquerade.

Dick had a few more remarks for the world . He called at tention to the fact that it was he who had asked Fontenot of the Revenue Department to investigate Smith ; but he

285

did not add that Fontenot informed him that such an in vestigation was already under way . Dick contended that he had known nothing of Big George's two -per -cent rake-off;

he knew only that George was a good contractor and that he would hire him again if he had work to be done on his estate. As to that little WPA matter : " If I wanted to rob

Uncle Sam , I wouldn't do it through a couple of WPA work ers . I'd hire a steamshovel , and move in on Fort Knox , where they store the gold ." In retirement , he was reading Emer son's Compensation . Impressed with its stress upon self -reli ance, he talked dreamily of his growing conviction that the rewards of public office were not worth the sacrifice . ( One of Dick's more raucous campaign critics insisted that three men , of whom he had knowledge, suffered apoplectic strokes on reading that passage of the interview . ) In any event, Dick would devote any future public activities toward the sup port of Roosevelt and the New Deal . Roosevelt had done so much for Louisiana . The problem before the country in 1940 would be the same as that before Louisiana in 1936 ; " Then it was between those that loved Huey and those that hated him . Now it will be between those who love Roose

velt , and those that hate him ." On July Fourth , the Smiths came home to receptions that Lindbergh's and Corrigan's had not matched . The thou sands who packed Shushan Airport and the streets of Baton Rouge were a cross between a French Revolutionary mob and a family -picnic gathering. They applauded , shouted , laughed and booed : "Give 'em hell , Doc!" " Tell everything about them sonsobitches!" " You rat!" " Ain't she mighty !" Grandmothers pressed against fences with their sons and daughters , who held up five-and six -year -olds, ice cream cones in hand . Amateur photographers formed a circle about the Smiths , snapping, snapping, getting in the way of the

battalion of professionals . A 12 -year -old girl , with a minia

ture , kicked her way forward , crawled on hands and knees and her shots . A radio station offered the Smith arrival

got as a " community special event. "

Smith was subdued , pink -faced , confused . A microphone was thrust at him . " Hello , folks. I'm back . I'm glad to be back. I was ill advised ." The former First Lady was a chic figure in blue print, with turned-up felt hat  an attractive matron who might indeed be returning from a vacation . She walked forward quickly, leading policemen in her haste . She replied coolly: " Of course I'll stick by my husband , to

the last notch . ... Our plans? I don't know what you're talking about." Thelma still had her manner . Among the reporters who spoke with them was one of the students whom Smith had expelled in the free-speech case , on Huey's

orders. Then , the automobile trip from New Orleans to Baton Rouge , and there the greater ordeal , the sight of the boule vards over which they had shown Latin-American presidents, diplomats and others of their former peers. As the car ap proached the packed entrance to the jail , the sirens whined .

" Couldn't we do without that?" Thelma asked , trembling.

The answer was drowned in shouts , jeers, some applause .

Haggard now, the sting of humiliation in her face , she stepped out . She put up her handkerchief. " Look , she's cry ing!" shrieked another woman . Thelma Smith took the hand kerchief away to show them that she was dry-eyed, and went upstairs with " The Doc " to be fingerprinted . There she re gained composure and chatted that she had always wanted to have this done . Some of the faculty members waited to offer bond . Thelma , charged with aiding Jim in his embezzlement, was allowed to leave ; but Jim had to stay . One of the professors

who went to the Smiths ' assistance was an English teacher whom Huey and Jim had fired , years ago , for writing a campus novel on sugar and sex, Cane Juice. Smith had taken him back , with Huey's tacit approval. Tonight the professor

philosophized . . . . " There, but for the grace of God ..."

That same day, before a holiday crowd, Earl Long made his first address as Governor , and cried out in defense of the state administration :

" Smith is only one man . Don't blame everybody. Look at Jesus Christ . He picked twelve . And one of ' em was a son ofagun l "

XII

KINGFISH'S APPRENTICE

ARL KEMP LONG , the man who had yearned to be Gov

E27

ernor, now had what he wanted , but not in the way

he wanted it .

It was the worst time that he could have chosen for his

accession , or the best . He had before him the most difficult barrier of his lifetime , or the most magnificent opportunity. What he did in these next brief months would cinch a king

ship for him , or lose it .

On his course depended his own personal fortunes and the future of the strongest political machine in the South ; a machine which was still the nation's nearest approach to a European -style dictatorship . On his course was contingent,

too , the freedom — in some cases the lives — of many men , and the ownership of millions of dollars . He had the power to save or to wreck what his brother had built and left be hind .

But Earl K. Long had to choose his role , strike right or left : a reformer , removing the money changers from the temple , as so many were urging; or a canny politician , shift ing, dodging, countercharging. He could be a Dewey, or a Huey . An active political virtue might well bring its own reward in the America of 1939 and 1940. The District At

torney of New York was headed with self -confidence toward a Presidential nomination on that appeal . Frank Murphy had achieved high place under the same banner . But if this

Governor of Louisiana took such a line , he might bring the structure crashing about him . For the elements of evil, sad to say , provided many of the foundations of that edifice. On the other hand , Earl Long had before him his broth er's example , the guidance of a master in the art of ma neuvering the difficult. Huey the Kingfish would never have given in to the clamor of others . He made his own demands,

his own terms: " Tell ' em to go slap damn to hell . You say worse against them . You make ' em forget what they're al lowing , they're so busy listening to you . And when you've

got nothing on your side , stir up trouble in the opposition . " But Long the Second was not the Kingfish , and he knew it . The man who was to " carry on for Huey , " to take up the Long torch where it had been dropped, had come to the Governor's chair only by a series of accidents . Earl was the traditional younger son , the frustrate lesser brother to a hero. He shared the family's predilection for politics. But he lacked Huey's swashbuckling qualities , his political genius , his devastating appeal to the populace . He had moved along in the Kingfish's shadow . Huey had beaten him to the

gate, latched it and pocketed the key . As he took office , Earl compared himself with his brother : " I ain't like Huey . He could go a-champing around and get away with it . I've gotta go slower— I might get my head knocked off . " But , with a glint : " Maybe I ain't as much a genius . But I got more horse sense ." In earlier years he had been less philosophic. He had sulked and he had muttered against Huey : " He wants to hog everything ; can't see his own kin get ahead ." This was partly true . Huey would give Earl jobs , but not the ranking ones ; and he told friends: " One politician in the family is enough . " He could see trouble from several points of view with two Longs prominently in the public eye . But Earl

290

claimed high rewards , and for other things besides blood

relationship. " I went broke trying to keep him out of trouble

when the Legislature was full of men trying to impeach him ," Earl told a Senatorial committee .

Brotherly love had gone sour as Long faced Long at the Overton election -fraud hearing. Earl stared at Huey : " I do not know how they hold elections in Mexico or Russia , but I do not think they could surpass what has been going on in Louisiana since Huey P. Long was elected to the United States Senate." Huey asked if Earl had not put out a fake ticket when he ran for lieutenant-governer to make it ap pear that Huey was supporting him . Earl replied : " I never tried to make people believe you were supporting me . I knew you would not, and I knew why. I knew you knew

you could not control me." Huey asked if he had not de

nounced Earl's " fake ticket " and if Earl had not followed

him on the air , to dare him to a fist fight. Earl curled his

lip : " I may have . But I knew you weren't going to meet

me . I never heard of you meeting anybody . "

Huey shook his head , quoted the Bible to Earl at another point: " Lying is a sin ." Earl retorted : " You must have committed a million sins in your life."

In his person , Earl bore a resemblance to Huey : the same cleft chin , the same look that Louisiana called " imp." But he had less forceful features , as he had less force of charac

ter . Where Huey bellowed and cracked the whip , Earl

grimaced and gave a pettish order . Both had violent tempers

but expressed them in opposite ways. Physical action was

no light matter to either . Huey ran from it . Earl , when his rage was aroused , knew no rules . He met one enemy on

narrow Royal Street in New Orleans, and the battle was an all -out one. The victim claimed later that Earl scratched and clawed , and almost bit one of his fingers off . Another

291

Like Huey, Earl made politics his career . Like Huey, he started as a traveling salesman and took law courses on the side . The Kingfish , when he became Governor, gave him

a well-paid attorneyship ; Allen fired him, on Huey's orders,

when Earl bucked the organization . As his brother's enemy, Earl snagged a Federal job with the Home Owners ' Loan Corporation . But toward the end of Huey's life, Earl had been reconciled with his brother — through the influence of Maestri , some claimed . Before his death , Huey said he had Earl " on probation . " As Lieutenant -Governor, Earl had received repeated advice from Maestri and others to watch

his course , to play the game more carefully than he had done

in the past . He had nevertheless managed to lose sectional prestige by mixing on the losing side in several factional fights, usually on the basis of personal likes and dislikes .

Earl , said those inside the machine who did not like him , had a single attribute of strength : Bob Maestri. Such was the puzzled man who faced two roads these

July and August days. Watching him were , among others , the country folk , the original believers in his brother . It was too early to gauge full reaction , but there were indica tions that the rural stretches were genuinely stirred at the excesses that " their" regime seemed to have produced . To ward Earl, the feeling was mixed . Many had not voted for him when they voted for Leche. They remembered well those things he had said about Huey. Others thought that

a Long was a Long ; and Huey had taken him back , hadn't he? The upland farmer assured his wife that none of this devil's business had happened in Huey's lifetime. It was

A bitter nomination fight seemed certain between Old and New Dealers . Then , too , the Louisiana delegation was

voting down the line with the White House, although mem bers admitted that their orders sometimes went against the grain. Roosevelt needed every Congressional supporter whom he could marshal on many issues . Allen Ellender, always welcome at the White House , was known to be mak

ing calls at this time . Some were unimpressed with the status of Federal justice in Louisiana to date . The scandals that had thus far come to light were the result of efforts by the newspapers and by Jimmy Noe. Would justice, without a

prod from the rear, have waked at all ? Considering her

record for somnolence in Louisiana, would she doze again ? There was always the matter of " lack of jurisdiction " (States' Rights) ; and there was " atmosphere." If Washington did nothing, it might be easy for the machine to center on Smith and one or two minor victims and see that parish

grand juries behaved .

Earl Long hesitated , then made his choice . He decided

to assume both roles , to clean up with one hand and to cover

up with the other . It was the choice of a weak man, or of

a skilled tactician. Earl was never a strategist.

Citizens' protests over the scandals sprang up overnight about the state . A group of one hundred Orleanians — busi ness men , lawyers , clergymen and others —formed a Citizens '

Voluntary Committee and demanded a " Louisiana Seabury

Investigation ." It urged Long to appoint a new special as

sistant to the attorney-general with full authority to make

a " complete, impartial and independent" inquiry into all

city, parish and state agencies. It urged that all state records

be opened to the public , and at once . Disclosures thus far

" had startled even those who for a long time have suspected

extensive wrongdoing in public places." But to date the

investigations involved chiefly L.S.U. , whereas general be

lief was that the violations there comprised " only a part, perhaps a small part, of the abuses throughout Louisiana. "

For days the new Governor dodged the committee ; but finally he replied that he had " no right to shirk or in any. wise delegate to other persons the fulfillment of my duties . " The Progress had clearer comment : " Citizens' Gang Kicked in the Pants . " Speaking his mind with greater frankness, Earl declared eventually that he would not be " entrapped ,

hobbled , stampeded or frightened into a condition of self abdication ." One of the men whom he declined to appoint as suggested was a South Louisiana attorney , Sam Jones . Earl and his men were to have reason to remember the name. For the rest of his term , Huey's brother was to be fretted by such citizens ' organizations. Some of the members were

old anti-Huey conservatives; others were new self -seekers, some who had been with the Long crowd or on its fringes; others were men who had taken little part in politics before,

the independents, among them young ones who were liberal in their viewpoint, in contrast with a large part of the old oppositionists. New alignments were in the making. The state wondered what would happen to Dick's Prog

ress , his wonderful circulation and advertising organization. Grand juries were showing signs of interest here and there in the Progress, in the way it functioned and made its money . The word came down that Dick had sold the paper to the machine, with Maestri or the dee duct fund , or both , figur ing in the purchase. On the witness stand, Former Governor Dick at one time admitted that he had earned $ 225,000 in less than three years from his venture in journalism . He sold his stock at the end for $ 187,500, and he received about $ 36,000 in dividends. The original purchase price, he said, was $ 38,000 . It was little wonder that he had " coached " fel low newspapermen , upon occasion , on the technique of

success .

Earl now announced that the Progress would go back to its former status as " a political paper only , just like under Huey." It would be smaller. It would carry no advertise

ments after the present contracts were fulfilled . " There'll be no shakedowns or rake-ins or anything else , " he told an applauding crowd. No state employee or anybody else would

have to subscribe , and the paper would be given away in lots of places, " just like under Huey , " to make sure that

people received it who would be benefited by the message . " And anybody that don't advertise will get as square a deal as if they did . If I have anything to do with it , there'll be no advertising from state boards or offices . " All of this con

tained damaging admissions regarding operations under Leche. But it had its advantages for Earl.

Other things were more difficult . A. P. Tugwell, a man whom Huey had once proposed for Governor , announced his candidacy against Earl , and , together with Jimmy Noe ,

began a process of nettling that sorely tried the tyro execu

tive . Tugwell declared that if Earl wanted to " do right" as

he assured the state so often , he could halt the greatest source of corruption readily at hand : dee ducts. Would Boss Maes

tri let him ? Tugwell charged that Earl had previously told

him that he , Earl , was getting $400 a month from the dee

ducts ; and Tugwell asked if other members of the Long

family were also beneficiaries. Earl replied that he had once

received that amount and more , but only for campaigning .

Tugwell, he asserted , had received $ 2500 a year from the same fund during the whole time he was highway commis sioner. Tugwell snapped back with a statement that his $ 2500 had come from Governor O. K. Allen's personal fund ,

to make up for Tugwell's loss in giving up a good private

job to work for the state . Earl snickered : " Everybody that

believes that, go stand on his head ." Tugwell pulled the rec

ord on the question of the dee ducts' masters, quoted Gov

ernor Dick's statement to a mass meeting that Maestri was

dee duct custodian and that therefore the state knew that

the system was honestly handled . Maestri declared that he

was no dee -duct man . Disgruntled state employees here and there came forward with statements , admitting that they had been compelled to contribute . The Federal Grand Jury at New Orleans began an inquiry into the matter , to see if beneficiaries of dee ducts had paid their income taxes on

them , and also if the Federal " kickback " law had been vio lated . Pressed , the new Governor announced that he would soon

have a " statement " settling the dee -duct matter . The Prog ress ran a coy paragraph declaring that it had learned " from a reliable source" that dee ducts were going off. But it was soon evident that Earl had spoken too soon . The dee-duct fund was then nearly empty, whether for purchase of the Progress or for other reasons . Some of Earl's backstage help ers pointed out that the dee ducts' line of travel might be termed the life -line of the organization . New word was passed around . Dee ducts were to be continued , but " volun

tarily. " Those who received less than $ 100 a month would not contribute unless they " insisted " ; those who took in more than $ 100 would give ten per cent, instead of five .

A muddled situation followed , with some paying one rate, others another , and some paying none . This was no time for a show of force . Tugwell declared that the dee ducts were still flying, but at a slower rate , and he had the last laugh : " The Governor said ' Better a little with right eousness than great revenue without right.' What he meant in this case was ' Better a little graft with reasonable safety, than great revenue without Federal immunity.' ” A minis ter chimed in with a question . Were Earl's remarks on righteousness " prophecy or mockery " ; was this a Governor " quoting scripture for his own purpose" ? Earl made another concession . Attorney -General Ellison handed down a ruling that dual job holding was dual job holding that a man could not be a legislator and receive employment with a public agency, a point which the oppo sition had long maintained . The " nesting place of the doubledippers, " Huey's secret Debt Moratorium Commis sion , now lost its population , though it was many months before the state knew just who had been employed on the rolls . Ellison's ruling did not apply to machine legislators who were also college presidents or teachers . In New Orleans ,

the city attorney ruled that municipal -payroll members could still serve as state legislators. The grapevine carried a mes sage to the boys to " hold tight till after election ."

Annoyingly, " Doc" Smith was crowding the new Governor

for attention . Slowly , he was emerging in his full stature as one of the merriest, most ingenious members of the Long rogues' gallery . From grand juries , from L.S.U. records,

from associates who " suddenly remembered something," came fragments that provided an enlightening mosaic por trait of James Monroe Smith , or James " Jingle Money" Smith , or simply " Old Jingle Money," as the state desig nated him in admiration . Jim , it appeared at last, had gone on a spree of falsifica tion of the university's books and records . No one knew what to trust in the minutes. They were , said one official, " mixed up, crooked up and a complete mess . " Jim had been

collecting thousands of additional dollars of salary without the board's knowledge. He had raised his pay by proposing, seconding and adopting a resolution of his own , then se cretly inserted into the minutes. He took $ 18,000 a year in stead of the $ 15,000 plus food, lodging, free gas and other gratuities which the board thought he was receiving, and

became the highest paid official in the state .

“ The Doc" had stepped out farther and " adopted " a resolu tion giving himself blanket authority to raise the pay of any official or staff member ; and he played Good Samaritan to many a professorial sufferer who may or may not have known that the board was unaware of these benefits.

Old Jingle Money had taken out a life -insurance policy

in his name , with the family as beneficiaries, and had billed

L.S.U. regularly for the premiums. He had developed a habit of pocketing university group-insurance rebates . A $ 1000 check was found issued in the name of his daughter, Mar jorie, for " a portion of expenses" for a " study tour" of Southern states and Mexico . It was a tour about which no

one had any recollection . " The Doc " was sly about such little things. Also, there had been an L.S.U. student or ganization called " The Louisiana Kings" (Every Player a King, perhaps) which had made a tour and run up a $4171 bill . For some reason , " The Doc" thought the board might object. So he had paid this , too, by another of his Smith resolutions. Sometimes " The Doc " showed a particularly deft touch .

One of his " resolutions" authorized him to enter a trading account for an L.S.U. endowment fund -a fund that was as real as the resolution . " Doc " told an investigator: " All I

did , I did for L.S.U. I wanted to help by earning some money ." These and other resolutions had a verisimilitude that was impressive . This or that board member was amazed to learn that he had made a motion, that another had sec

onded it , and that he had spoken with some warmth for a change in procedure of which he had never heard. Some times , to give an air of extra reality, Old Jingle Money

had set down some dissenting votes ; but never enough to defeat his own resolution . The doctoring took place some times more than a year after the original meeting. " The

Doc" simply called in a stenographer and dictated the reso

lution .

At the same time that these oddities were coming to light, investigators were finding a hodgepodge of frauds, rackets, shiftings of L.S.U. funds and accounts, " flagrant dishonesty , " and simple cavalier carelessness in financial matters . The way to receive many a contract appeared to have been to

submit the high bid . Despite the legal provision that pur chases over a certain minimum, or construction over that

figure, had to be by bid , ten and twelve times these amounts were given out without contract or competition . A prejudice against keeping of records had developed. Payrolls, cancelled checks and ledgers were burned . Over everything, though ,

had reposed the happy confusion of a day-in , day-out holi day. Tens of thousands of dollars' worth of materials were

bought retail, although the university could have obtained considerably lower wholesale prices . And these retail pur chases, by coincidence perhaps, had been made from the same firm , over and over again. Everybody was taking a cut, as high as he could manage it. The state university

lost tens of other thousands because for months it did not bother to pay its bills . Cash discounts for prompt payment were something of which the boys had not heard , or which they had not bothered to learn about . They might have

saved a few thousands in that way ; but there were more important things at hand. Firms that owed L.S.U. had waited for bills for years . Sometimes they inquired about payment and received no answer . What was the percentage for the boys in bothering about a $ 4000 or $ 5000 matter, when it

would probably go into the university treasury without a kickback to anybody? The university was nominally operat ing former student barracks on its old campus as high -priced

apartments, which were among the most popular proper ties in the capital . Waiting lists of applicants grew by the month . Inquiry showed that the boys had not bothered to check up on the tenants ; some were in arrears as long as twenty-two months. And heads of departments had fallen into the pleasant habit of merging their personal bank ac

counts with those of their division , and thereafter withdraw ing at will .

Some of the records had engaging candor . A voucher under " operation and maintenance" read : " One copper pan , $ 3.75 , Governor Leche , Covington "; another , " traveling expenses in connection with the Covington job . " Auditors expressed

the view that the university would be justified in demanding return of the $ 3.75 , on the ground that it was an expendi ture for purposes not wholly educational .

Suddenly , it was discovered that L.S.U. faced a financial crisis . The boys had quietly ignored rigid requirements for

sinking funds of the university bonds , totaling $430,000 . The Board of Liquidation was called into emergency ses sion , to make a special half-million -dollar appropriation to

save the university's credit. That was another half -million for which " The Doc" could claim full credit. Old Jingle Money maintained a becoming modesty in this flurry . Arch Burford , ace Revenue Intelligence agent , interviewed him in his cell . Earl Long called him a " Ponzi." Smith found himself more often , not less , in the headlines . He was indicted on the average of once every two days for

more than a month : for forging of public records , embezzle ments , operation of a confidence game in the banking loans, and other offenses. For a time he was practically the only person indicted , wherefor reaction developed. " The Public Wants to Know That Smith Is Not Taking the Rap ," a

newspaper editorial declared ; and it expressed the general opinion .

The Federal Government decided that it wanted " The Doc." New Orleans wanted him . Baton Rouge maintained its claim . Charges mounted to thirty -seven separate indict

ments, and his bond to $ 219,000. " The Doc " retained two of the best criminal lawyers in New Orleans . One of them fumed : "We don't want to hurt anybody unless we have to. But we're not going to let the state jim -jam him in front of a jury . " A threat followed : unless Smith's " persecution "

by "harassments," over -large bonds and such methods was stopped , he would " tell exactly who advised him to leave Baton Rouge after his resignation —and who told him there would be no criminal prosecution , but at most a civil suit ." A petition for his release , offered in Federal court, insisted that Smith had been so advised , but omitted names . Dick and the boys who had been in the mansion that night made denial . Judges refused to let Smith go free, maintaining that there was strong likelihood of still additional charges against him and that , considering circumstances, the bond was not too heavy. Federal prison officials, gaining custody for a time, used Jim as a night-school instructor. Some citizens wrote furious objections , fearful of what Old Jingle Money

might teach impressionable youths .

Broker Brown , under questioning, ended his silence re garding Smith's " partners" or " associates" in the stock market plunges . He gave the names of Monte Hart , favorite

contractor of the machine ; Summa and Verne Caldwell,

304

affiliates of Monte's and relatives of Big George; Coach

" Red " Heard of L.S.U. , Big George Caldwell , Business Man

ager Jackson , and Leon Weiss, the favored architect . But

he said that none were actual participants with " The Doc ."

Smith had merely borrowed funds or bonds from them .

Some of them did not get their money back . Monte Hart

contributed an explanatory statement which became a minor

Louisiana classic : " Dr. Smith borrowed the bonds from us

to be used as collateral in purchasing warehouse receipts

for whiskey. After looking into the speculative side , I felt

sure President Smith could not lose any money, on account

of whiskey becoming more valuable as it aged ."

Brown offered a crowning detail : he had lost $ 20,000 of

his own when Smith borrowed that amount and gave him $ 25,000 of bonds in return . These, of course , were " Smith " (or hot) bonds . Broker Brown himself was eventually charged by Baton Rouge and New Orleans juries in con nection with " The Doc's " operations. New Orleans police discovered that his name was not Brown , but Murphy. He had been in a minor brush with the law in another state .

Murphy-Brown said that he had been framed for political reasons, and had adopted a pen name. The incident pro vided variety in the scandal diet . Attention here shifted back to Governor Earl. He made

a " discovery" which surprised few but himself. He had learned that officials of state departments had formed their own supply houses and were getting rich through favored

dealings with state agencies. He had given orders . " It's one thing or the other; they can't be in private business and the state, too . " Who were the men and their firms? Earl was not saying. " You probably know them anyway . " Didn't such practices violate state law , and would he take action against those

305

involved ? " My main object is to stop it . I'm only responsible for what goes on under my administration ." A. P. Tugwell

asked if the new rule applied to the Governor, too . Earl , he declared , had been supplying state institutions with " a large part of their beef and pork requirements." Did he mean that everybody except Governor and Lieutenant-Gov ernor must stop? The Governor , flushing, admitted that while second man he had made such sales , " but only in small quantities, at market price or lower . " Now , as chief executive, he was halting all of it . But he added a side statement that concerns in which employees were financially

" interested " might yet get state business if they submitted low bids . He could see nothing wrong in that . It was evident that in these instances, when he talked of " a little with righteousness, " he meant a little at a time .

the state of a staggering proportion of its higher -ups. But

the jury did not carry through; and a judge later dismissed the charge , on the grounds that it had not been shown that Abernathy voted on the project in question , although his fellow L.S.U. board members did .

Big George Caldwell went down to New Orleans on the

call of the Federal jurors . He refused to talk , and , as he stepped outside , deputies arrested him for violation of the Federal Relief Act . With him were charged his assistant, who had taken over the L.S.U. superintendency when Big

George quit by request, and a WPA foreman . Shortly after ward Federal and Baton Rouge juries handed down a series of charges against Business Manager Jackson , Caldwell , his

assistants , and several other L.S.U. figures, business houses , and others . A range of lush schemes was outlined for use of the WPA and L.S.U. as free employment agencies and pri

vate warehouses for the privileged . Big George, Business

Manager Jackson and some of their aides were found to have been getting their carpenters, yard boys , plumbers and other workers from the WPA for the construction of their estates with the gold bathroom equipment , stately pillars , badminton courts and the rest . For their mansions, and for hide-away camps along rivers near Baton Rouge, the relief agency also had provided the boys with garden stepping

stones , paving materials, wood , fences, barns and other sup plies . Sometimes the boys dispatched the WPA men to their

homes and stationed an overseer to watch for any snooping individuals ; or sometimes , they simply had the WPA men fabricate the WPA materials on L.S.U.'s campus and then use the WPA trucks to transport the blocks or the building sections out to their homes . Governor Dick's big Coliseum (with the largest copper roof in the world) was the ideal place for this private -public construction ; it was closed in, and yet it was commodious .

One of Big George's second men had apparently used the WPA men to help build an apartment house and his private camp , and also to attend to the garden of his town

house . The workers would check in on the project at the

campus , then catch a bus and report to whichever of the other places their master had designated for the day . Later , catching the bus again , they would check off at the campus.

Big George branched out from there . He worked out and-out rackets on L.S.U. with supply houses , which disclose discernment and noteworthy perception in taking advantage of a good thing. Big George went to these firms, persuaded

them to hike their bids and then made them kick back all or most of the hiked amount . He received his share ; they were guaranteed the contract . Presently , the United States Attorney -General's office estimated that George received about $ 120,000 from a score of firms in these little deals . He pleaded guilty to " sample cases," and a number of the firms were fined by the court . In some cases , the raises in costs which resulted to L.S.U. were nearly as high as the

original contract . In such instances , L.S.U. was paying twice for its work ; once to the contractor, again to Big George. He worked a triple play here and there . He would tell the supply companies that he would provide part of the ma

terials from his own stores. They would pay him for the amounts he asked. Then he would steal the goods from

L.S.U. and WPA supplies , bilking the university . Finally, however , he would not steal as much as he told the firms he would . Thus he would be overpaid for the theft, and would have that much additional in supplies on which to

work his arts with the next contractor . And meanwhile he would have the hiked bid . Big George cheated everybody 

L.S.U. , WPA and the supply houses . Some of his associates were bitter when they learned of George's refinements of the subject. He had not told them half of what he was do ing. Had they known , they could have done the same thing,

or perhaps claimed a cut . That showed you how unethical the fellow was George had yet additional tricks up his ample sleeves . Several times he arranged with contractors to obtain a mo

nopoly on L.S.U. work . Under Jim Smith , he had carte blanche on such matters . Then he would provide WPA labor and materials, and in consideration of this little serv

ice, the firms would kick back the amounts they would have spent for such costs had the WPA not been available . This was direct governmental aid to industry in a way that Con gress had never envisioned . Interestingly, these activities took place in the construction of the Huey P. Long Field House , the stadium -dormitory facilities, the Coliseum itself and other famous structures of scandal . They went back , too , to

the lifetime of the Kingfish . George's final example of finesse was found by auditors a year later . George put in his bill for his two-per-cent rake off on an $ 89,000 construction job ; and on this basis he was paid . But the work had cost only $ 84,000 . George , or a friend, had simply lifted the figure. Here was a racket within

a racket.

Mrs. Rose Long figured indirectly in a related charge . The widow lived in these days in a mansion which was superior to most of the homes Huey had provided for the family in his lifetime. She, Russell and her daughter Rose

had set up quarters in a new and strikingly attractive resi

dence , white-columned and impressive, by the lakeside in the university suburbs. Caldwell handled the construction and Jackson the business details , arranging matters while the widow was away . An indictment for use of WPA men

and materials on that operation was returned against Big George, Business Manager Jackson and an assistant; but Mrs. Long was cleared of any blame . On the Leche matter , similarly , a later indictment mentioned the same men for construction of two tenant houses, a barn , stock sheds, bull

pen , fencing and concrete stepping stones on the estate itself.

Leche, like Mrs. Long, was not indicted . But the Govern ment was not overlooking him in other matters .

Into the net , the Federal jurors next drew one of the more dazzling parish bosses of the Long -Leche period, Dr. Clarence Lorio of Baton Rouge , president of the Louisiana State Medical Society and a beneficiary extraordinary of the regime. Thereby hung a story of politics and doctoring. Lorio had struck up a friendship with Huey Long, on the basis of a mutual interest in golf. The game paid Lorio rich returns . He was one of the first professional men to go over to Huey in a parish that prided itself on its hostility . He

became L.S.U.'s medical director at $ 6000 a year, a job that was not a full time one ; the state penitentiary's physician

and surgeon , $ 2400 ; medical director for the tuberculosis sanitarium near Baton Rouge, $ 2000 ; state senator and offi cial patronage distributor . His sanitarium job he " farmed out " to a younger friend . Lorio was charged with a scheme to use the mails to de

fraud under which he , an L.S.U. officer, entered a formal agreement with an electrical contractor to get L.S.U. busi ness for him and split the profits, fifty -fifty.

The two men , it was alleged , would get together and de cide how much a legitimate bid would be hiked to give them a higher return . In one instance , it was declared , a

bid of $ 29,000 was raised $ 20,000 as " illegal profit ." Con tracts went to the partner without competitive bidding, through what might be termed " dummy bidding. " The

contractor later testified at Lorio's trial that he obtained three sets of bid blanks and asked for " complementary" bids against his own from two friends. The friends signed the blank forms, and he then filled them in so that they would be higher than his own . He entered his agreement with Lorio because " Monte Hart had been receiving all of the business ." After that , matters were different. Lorio's part of the project was to " get business for me and keep Hart from getting it. " Although the contractor had told the Fed eral Grand Jury that he and Lorio conferred to raise the figures in the bids , he repudiated his statement and claimed that the bids were always " legitimate . " The case had a curious result. The jury found Lorio guilty , but on the smallest count , involving a few hundred dollars. The judge gave Lorio a novel sentence : a $ 1000 Federal fine; a two-year prison sentence , to be suspended during a five -year probation period . Then , adding what attorneys called one of the most unusual provisions in their recollection , the Federal judge ordered Lorio to repay the state $ 12,500 — the full amount which he had been charged with taking from the state under the complete indictment ; and made suspension of sentence contingent on payment . Thus far, however , the Federal Government had con fined its indictments to L.S.U .; but its preliminary investi

gations indicated that it might be interested in other matters . Governor Earl set in motion machinery for " co -ordination " of efforts between state and Federal agencies . With a flourish , he and Ellison announced that they were working in com

plete teamwork with the Government, providing it with

all information that came to the state . In return , of course, they anticipated similar co -operation from the Federal sources . Earl telegraphed Attorney -General Murphy, and Murphy replied. He would be " happy to comply with your request, and will keep it under consideration . At present ,

however, and pending further inquiry, it is deemed inad visable to divulge any information in our possession . Thanks for your message ." It was a new note , coming from the Ad ministration that had made the deal with Leche . Washing ton , obviously , was not convinced of the use to which the Long men might put the material it had gathered on other Long men .

Ominously , the Federal Government was getting more and more interested in the scandals. An Assistant Attorney General was dispatched to New Orleans to take charge of income-tax matters . The Department of the Interior assigned

an oil expert and a staff of assistants to look into reports

regarding oil irregularities. Then Attorney-General Murphy

himself announced that he was sending O. John Rogge, his

newly appointed chief of the Department of Justice's crim

inal division , to assist in the general situation . The informed

were disturbed , for this was unusual procedure. The head of such a division had never been ordered to the state before, in all of the zeal against Huey . But the boys were not much impressed when a thirty -five -year -old , open -faced fellow, who looked like the former farm boy that he was , stepped diffi dently off a plane at Shushan Airport and declared : " I will

paper..

be here as long as I can be of service, but I hope not longer

than a week ."

Before very long, Washington had answered the question that Earl, Dick , Bob , Seymour and the rest of the boys had been asking: How's about the Purchase ? Rogge's one-week stay was to lengthen into eight months . One of the broadest

and most thorough -going criminal inquiries in Federal his tory was on . The Washington -Baton Rouge alliance was a

scrap of

Under Rogge's guidance , the Federal jurors made most

of the figures previously indicted in 1939 look like ward heelers . He and the Government were after the big game, and there was no limit on the season or the bag, they made it obvious. The jury quickly smashed down with charges

into one of the most bare -faced lootings of the Long regime, early or later, then moved on to others of equal import. First it indicted Seymour Weiss , the man who had once been burned, but was not twice shy ; the wealthy Monte Hart, the most favored contractor in the state ; Louie Le Sage, Standard Oil Company vice-president and lobbyist;

J. Emory Adams, the Smith nephew ; and finally, of course ,

James Monroe Smith . For variety, it was a hotel furniture racket.

From now on , it was to be Washington against the ma chine. The New Deal had cast an appraising eye about Lou isiana . Reports from its agents had made clear that under

the surface there was new dynamite which might make the earlier matters seem petty. Who knew who would explode

it ? The New Deal , it was pointed out by observers , was known to be looking about for its own crusaders and cru sades to match the Republican Dewey and his activities .

Purity had become popular. Murphy, it was now apparent,

would welcome an opportunity for an onslaught. He had the signal ; and , it appeared , he had the man for the assign ment. The events that ensued were the result, in large meas ure , of the prosecutor and investigator chosen as the spear

head of the movement .

O. John Rogge was a man such as the Longsters had never

encountered . He was forthright , frequently naive , in grim earnest, and the possessor of a deadly legal intelligence. He had a capacity for indignation that amazed most Louisianians

on both sides . He made announcements that caused the ma chine , and sometimes the more urbane opponents, to grin , until both sides realized that he meant what he said and

intended to carry out what he had threatened . He did what he did , said he , because " it makes my blood boil to see people behave the way this bunch behaved . " A set of thou sand-dollar bills in the hands of Richard W. Leche , for instance , brought the Rogge blood to the bubbling point .

He had called on Dick for questioning, and Dick pulled those bills out casually, then stuffed them back , to demon strate how little the big money signified for him . " It was the first time I had even seen a one thousand dollar bill , " Rogge, his eyes wider than usual , told his friends. From

then on , he itched for a kill .

314

Finance Corporation for its " Dawes Bank " suit against the institution that had crashed after the Government loaned it $90,000,000 . Rogge was hired to sue for $ 14,000,000 from the stockholders. He fought some 325 opposing attorneys in actions that covered twenty-six states and 2000 cases . " It will take you ten years to get ten per cent," the older heads told him . In about four years , he had won $ 10,000,000 ; the stockholders of the other $4,000,000 were themselves bankrupt . It was Tommy Corcoran of the " brain trust" who drew Rogge into the Federal service , first with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Transamerica Corporation in vestigation , and then with the Treasury Department in hold ing-company cases . When Murphy took over the Department of Justice, he had a free hand in cleaning out lame ducks, political hangers -on and other non-Murphy types of the Cummings and preceding regimes. Rogge, whose contact with criminal law had been brief, was appointed to head a criminal division with a new emphasis . Rogge was in his office less than a full month before he was assigned to Lou isiana, with results that may have important influence in several directions in determining trends of Federal jurispru dence .

O. John Rogge struck heavier blows at the dictatorship than any member of the Louisiana opposition , during Huey or after Huey . He became a Paul Bunyan of the grand -jury

system and the courtrooms of Louisiana ; to some a titan , a hero ; a French Revolutionary murderer to others . He ruined more reputations and more businesses , cracked apart

more fortunes than the genius Huey himself ; and he caused ,

perhaps , almost as many suicides . He received laudatory poems, marriage proposals and a bullet in the mail . For a time , even , Louisiana's delegation to the Democratic Na

315

tional Convention of 1940 planned to offer him in nomina tion for President, by way of recognition for what he had

done .

XIII

THE ART OF CONSERVATION

ARL LONG talked rectitude, country style: " I am deter mined to remove from the seat of authority every man who in any degree worships Mammon rather than God . " To this the annoying A. P. Tugwell retorted that Mam

mon was worshiped nowhere in Louisiana more avidly than in and about the Conservation Department . He pointed to some of the worshipers, who were, said he , close to Earl

and Dick and Bob Maestri, the former commissioner . Wasn't it true , Tugwell asked, that the only way gas concerns could obtain enforcement of production control to protect certain fields was by signing a contract with a former state representative and friend of Earl's ? Specifically, didn't this friend get a rake-off of four cents a thousand cubic feet ?

Also , Tugwell inquired , hadn't the present conservation commissioner — William Rankin — permitted friends in North Louisiana to make heavy extractions of oil and gas in excess

of published limitations, under " special permits " ? And had not at least one of these permits been issued only as a post legalization after other operators, becoming suspicious, pro tested? And wasn't one of the members of the firm a mem

ber of the State Mineral Board ?

The Conservation Department now became L.S.U.'s rival for public interest. It was the agency that handled more

317

assets than any other , its province being oil , gas, sulphur, and other natural resources . And it was the agency about which the regime of wealth -sharers suddenly became most skittish . Tugwell called attention to a " mystery building, " involv ing not only the Conservation Department but also L.S.U. , and an arithmetical cause celebre was created. The Public Works Administration was completing a geology hall on

the campus , for joint use by the two agencies. The Conser

vation Department was to handle the funds . Glancing

through official reports from the two sources , Treasurer

Tugwell thrust daggers into his former friends. He noticed

a $ 75,000 difference between the amount received by L.S.U.

from the commission for the work , and the amount shown

by the commission on its account. Had this little item been

lost in the shuffle ? Commissioner Rankin had brief com

ment : " The hell with Mr. Tugwell. I have nothing to say ."

Mr. Tugwell pressed on his knives. The machine's favorite

architects had run up the cost of the building beyond a

half-million by " extra" items , he asserted , so that L.S.U.

had to spend $ 55,000 of its own money to finish the project.

Also , without letting L.S.U. know of its arrangements, the

Conservation Department had ordered $50,000 of the furni

ture for L.S.U.'s part of the building — from the firm of

Abernathy, former highway commissioner and L.S.U. board

member, and a current indictee. Dr. Paul Hubert , acting

president of L.S.U. , declared that L.S.U. was being shunted

around , that Rankin's figures made no sense to a man seek

ing to understand them by normal addition and subtrac

tion . Disturbed , Earl Long called Hebert, Rankin and

others together, and a lengthy statement was issued , which

jumbled the finances still further. There had been a " little

transfer of funds" from one account of the Conservation

The Young Men's Business Club of New Orleans played a game of tag with Rankin . A committee decided that the best way to find out the truth would be to examine the conservation books themselves . The members called on

Rankin . " You have no appointment," Rankin , a former

Irish Channel boy, informed them . " Come back tomorrow ." Would he then allow the club's auditor to see the books ?

the committee asked . " I told you fellows I'd talk over those things with you tomorrow . " The committee left. That night Mr. Rankin sent the members a " statement, " which was " all

that is needed for the proper understanding by the public. "

He did this to save the men the trouble of a walk through the hot sun . But the members walked through the sun any way and still wanted to see the books. Rankin said that

they could not do that, at least until the Governor or his Attorney -General said they could . Other unexpected situations were arising. Governor Earl announced that he was firing Dr. J. A. Shaw , a former den tist and the director of the oil proration or " hot oil " divi

sion , who had served under both Maestri and Rankin . The Governor would not explain why , but his intimates con fided that Shaw was one of those Mammon -worshipers,

connected — whisper it —with an oil supply company. In Dr.

Shaw's place , Earl appointed his brother-in -law , brother of

Widow Rose . But Dr. Shaw was a man who would not be fired . He ap

The public grew more and more intrigued with this odd department. Earl acquired curiosity of his own . Federal " hot oil " men were making intensive inquiries ; Earl announced that he was launching an investigation for the state . " Be

tween us , we ought to find something if there's anything to find." But as before , the Federal Government did not ap pear anxious for co -ordination of activity with the state .

Rogge called Dr. Shaw before the grand jury , and told him to bring a heavy volume of files. On the same day Rogge summoned Richard W. Leche , and through Louisiana the

story spread : " The heat's on Dick , and Rankin , too ." Maestri , Rankin's predecessor and a patron of Rankin

as well as of Earl , came forward in the unsettled situation . Governor Earl hurried to New Orleans , reportedly on sum mons of " the boss." After a conference with Maestri, the word was announced : " Rankin's out ." The commissioner declared that he had resigned because he had been asked to do so . In his place , Earl installed a country-boy friend , Senator Ernest Clements. He was " a better man ," but " he didn't have much experience with oil and gas " ; and so Dr. Shaw would help him run things. This was an impressive change in position for the man who had been dismissed a

The next day, Rogge had Rankin squirming. Rankin ap peared at length before the grand jury, fainted, was revived ,

wrung his hands and wept as he was questioned . He was

located afterward at a hospital, with two Federal guards

outside. The Government was taking no chances. At the same time, the Conservation Department's books had be come more rather than less interesting to citizens' groups which were having trouble in seeing them ; the organiza tions pressed harder for the privilege . Attorney -General Elli son issued a ruling : the public had an unquestioned right

and must be permitted to look at the books. However the Supervisor of Public Funds had been requested by the

Governor and the new commissioner to make a thorough audit , and for the time being the books would be unavail able . The Young Men's Business Club had a word for it :

" An old American custom , the runaround ."

The grand jury and Rogge charged that Dick and Seymour had split $ 134,000 equally between them as loot after fixing matters so that some of their business friends could run a

half-million barrels of " hot oil " out of Louisiana. Dick , it was charged , had not waited until he became Governor to start operating, but had reached out several months in ad vance of inauguration day .

clares that oil which is shipped in interstate commerce after having been produced in excess of state oil quotas is con

traband , or " hot." State conservation departments set quotas for maximum production , field by field , well by well . If producers disregard these state limitations and run excess

oil , the Federal act is violated . This is a roundabout way of coping with the subject; but it was devised in an effort to

avoid conflict with States ' Rights.

Louisiana's Conservation Department had been giving " special allowables " or special orders in certain cases to permit production over the regular limits. Under the law this might be done, but only after investigation into the current market demand , and upon compliance with other requirements. In this case , the Government charged , a " spe

cial allowable " had been secured , but only through corrupt connivance and manipulation on the part of Dick and Seymour ; by misrepresentation and without an inquiry into

the market . Dick and Seymour were accused of taking a neat rake

off of ten cents a barrel on practically all of 480,000 barrels of oil . But the Government had stepped in , inconveniently , to stop the flow when the boys had produced only a half of what they had planned . A pipeline had been constructed

from Louisiana into Texas especially for the flow ; and this was then sold , with Dick and Seymour getting $ 100,000 for their kind efforts, according to the indictment.

Bob Maestri had been conservation commissioner at the time (in 1936) , and he too was questioned by the Federal grand jury. But the indictment implied , and Rogge declared, that Maestri had no guilty part in the operation . Instead , Seymour and Dick had practiced deception to " cause and

induce him and others " to approve a special order . In dicted with Dick and Seymour was Freeman Burford , self

ART OF CONSERVATION

made Texas oil millionaire , an important figure in his state , who transported the oil and who was charged with making the payments. Named but not indicted were the Texan's attorney , Martin Winfrey, who received $ 14,000 out of the operation ; A. C. Glassell , North Louisiana oil man who produced the oil which was run through the pipeline ; an other attorney for Burford , and various oil companies and subsidiaries. The oil had been moved across the Texas bor der to Longview , then returned to Louisiana by rail and tank car, and thence sent by vessel to Europe. Critics claimed that it supplied Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy . Stump ora tors assured their listeners that Hitler and Mussolini had won their early battles on the strength of the flow . The case had a furious course , with the two states storm ing at each other , with Federal justice in Louisiana lined

up against Federal justice in Texas—the issue being, to all intents and purposes, which state produced the more despic able type of citizen .

Burford charged that the matter was a trumped-up piece of nonsense . He was only a legitimate business man ; every thing had been legal. His attorneys filed a writ of habeas corpus , and a Federal judge of Texas ordered a hearing. Burford admitted sending $ 48,000 in $ 1000 bills to Weiss, wrapped up and by express. (" Just like he was sending a

pair of socks," Rogge fumed . ) But this wasn't Burford's money , Your Honor. It was, said Burford , actually the money of Glassell , the Louisiana man from whom Burford bought the oil he shipped . Out of Burford's payments to Glassell, Glassell had ordered him to take the money and send it to Weiss . Why the Express Company method ? That was at

Seymour's request , the Texan insisted .

of the pipeline , ten per cent of $ 1,000,000 . " I never paid Leche one penny . Leche never served me. He may have served Weiss , but not me." Burford's lawyer , Winfrey, who received $ 14,000 , added that Weiss received the $ 100,000

" for getting Burford in touch with the buyer ." Burford ex plained : " Weiss was powerful in Louisiana affairs. I was a Texan and going into a foreign state with the reputation Lousiana had , I wanted to know whether we would be har

assed by changing proration laws and taxation ." But Sey mour told Burford that it would be a " good thing" for a buyer to enter the field in question , and assured him of " his

support . " The attorney chimed in : " I doubt seriously if we could have continued to build our pipeline if Weiss had been unfriendly or belligerent. " Despite Burford's statements that Governor -Elect Leche had no part in the deal , Burford's attorney declared that

Dick was " in and out during the day " when the order to run the excess oil was obtained at the hotel . Also present were Dr. Shaw, the oil-proration director, and Glassell, the Louisi

anian . Glassell testified that he previously had trouble finding a buyer for his oil . So he called on somebody who might do him some good , Weiss. Weiss suggested that Glas sell see Burford . Glassell promised to pay Seymour a " rea sonable commission ," but no amount was discussed. Glas

sell signed a contract with Burford , and then Seymour made his demand of ten cents a barrel. " I had a lot of oil on hand and I had to get rid of it ," explained Glassell . " I told Bur

ford I was being gypped by Weiss , and Burford agreed ." What did he think would have been a fair commission ? Two cents.

no part in the business. The " special allowable" was obtained , Seymour received a ten -cent rake -off on the oil flow , and this he split with Dick — but the money came as a payment from Glassell, although through Burford . And when the pipeline was sold , $ 100,000 went from Burford to Seymour and was

split with Dick—but without Burford's knowledge. And Bur ford's attorney received $ 14,000 .

Rogge shouted that Leche and Weiss " took graft in one

of the most venal single transactions I ever came across. . .

The central fact is that the company did pay $ 148,000 to Weiss . Of that , Leche and Weiss each took $67,000 . The Governor-Elect of Louisiana took $ 67,000 from Seymour

Weiss. "

Rogge turned to the order itself, and summoned Shaw

and Maestri to the Texas court. Odds in New Orleans were

that Bob the Silent would never appear. Bob balked . It hap

pened that the day for his court appearance was one of the

annual occasions on which all the boys, business men and

others , dropped work for a day-long party to Bob at City Hall , with gallons of champagne, yards of floral pieces and compliments. Would Rogge be so heartless as to take Bob

away, especially when Bob was upset about all the criti

cisms? For four hours Maestri sat with Rogge in the United

State's Attorney's office, and an affidavit resulted . Bob had

his party . Rogge had his statement.

Stories that differed in important respects were told about

the " special allowable " order. James O'Connor, the First

Assistant Attorney -General of Louisiana, declared that Sey

mour had called him to the Roosevelt and told him that

Commissioner Maestri had investigated the Glassell holdings

and the market demand , and that he wanted O'Connor to declare whether he could approve an increase in the allow able. O'Connor wrote an opinion that this could be done

325

if investigation were made and an actual demand found . O'Connor was asked if he would have given this ruling if he had known that ten cents a barrel was to be paid in con nection with the operation? " No. Had I known it , I would have told Maestri and warned him of what was going on . " Maestri's affidavit declared that early in 1936 , Glassell had asked him to issue an order for the extra production. He told him he could not do that unless the Attorney -General's office so advised . Weiss asked him for the same thing ; he gave the same answer . Meanwhile, Maestri went to a health resort outside the state . He handled the matter by telephone from then on . He told Shaw , when he was telephoned from the Roosevelt , that the order could be signed if there were a market demand ; he was told that the Attorney-General's office had declared the order legal. And he had no knowledge of a ten -cent payment ; he would have issued no order had he known of it . Then Shaw offered barbed testimony , the surprise of the hearing. Weiss had called him , told him that he had an order for him to sign . Leche was at the hotel , and mixed in the matter . Leche was in his own rooms , and Shaw saw him there. " I told them I couldn't sign without instructions from Maestri. I told them the order was going to raise hell , that the offset producers would kick about it. " They told him to telephone Maestri . Maestri asked what Shaw thought of the matter, and Shaw repeated what he had told Leche and Weiss. " Maestri asked me if the order could be legally signed , and I told him I did not know . Maestri said that he had read the order , or that it had been read to him over the telephone , and he was familiar with its contents . " He told me to sign the order, so I signed it and turned it over to them ." He had put nothing in the order about market demand ; he had made no investigation . " The order

Judge Davidson took over the questioning : " You signed an order without investigation ?"

" Yes."

" Do you still hold your position ? " " That's the only way I hold my position . I do what they tell me to ."

" I would sign anything they stuck in front of me , except an order to hang me."

Rogge asked what the public thought of the order .

Rogge introduced another matter as the hearing reached a climax . Burford had not told the whole story as to why he paid the $ 100,000 , he said . Rogge had information that , in

another transaction , Burford sold gas to another Louisianian for two cents a thousand cubic feet. This new man sold the same gas to another company for four cents ; and Governor Leche had an interest in the contract with the new man ,

which netted him more than $ 125,000 . " I know this from Leche's income tax returns, and from what Leche told me."

A Federal agent offered a statement by Leche which pre sented a somewhat different picture from that of Burford's account. " Leche said that he had discussed the deal with

Weiss and Burford several times," and had also talked it over with a representative of the firm that bought the pipeline . And somewhat later, in slightly different circumstances , when

Rogge asked Leche who employed him in the $ 67,000 pay ment, the answer was : " Freeman W. Burford and Seymour Weiss ."

What did Leche do to earn $67,000? He rode up to the field , looked the property over and held several conferences with the principals . " And you didn't invest in it at all? "

" You didn't put up a penny , but you collected more than $ 189,000 ? "

" That is correct." He had a third interest in a contract with the man who, Rogge said , had bought the gas from Burford and resold it at double the price ; and with two others . One was Tom Hill . Here Louisiana pricked up its ears . Hill was a man of gambling and related connections in

New Orleans , political adviser to the Regular Ring. Rogge asked if Tom Hill had given him his interest , just like that?

" Absolutely not," said Leche . It had happened in this way . Hill approached Dick and asked if he would take part of Hill's contract , with the understanding that if there were to be expenses in connection with drilling and leasing, Dick would share them . Later it was found that gas could be purchased without the necessity of drilling. And Dick in

sisted that he be given the share he had been promised . His contract with Hill was not recorded . His interest was in Hill's name ; he was paid by Hill . No, sir , Dick's name was not on Hill's contract with the gas company, and not on the

records of the gas company . But he received his $ 189,000 .

Meanwhile, however, Judge Davidson was turning Rogge down on the Burford matter . The Federal judge of North Texas refused to allow the Federal justice of East Louisiana to have Burford for arraignment. He attacked the Federal jury at New Orleans for " indicting one criminal and not in dicting another who is equally guilty under the same act . It has been an elementary principle or practice of law and

justice that if A hires B to go out and shoot a man or burn a house, then B is the representative of A, but both are

criminals .

" Governor Leche of Louisiana and Seymour Weiss, his

political boss, could not have pulled down this money and put it in their pocket but for Dr. Shaw and Commissioner Maestri . They ( Maestri and Shaw) are just as guilty, from

the face of the record , as are any other men indicted in this case ." But Burford , the judge ruled , did not know the pay

ments were to go to an officer of the state . The conferences of Burford, Weiss and Burford's attorneys at the Roosevelt were legitimate, and did not indicate a conspiracy but the act of a " cautious business man . " The judge barked : " It is

a matter of general and common knowledge that the State of Louisiana was more or less under a dictatorship and had

been for ten years . Therefore, the court saw no criminality in investigating not only the physical facts but also the political environment of a place in which one was about to put one's money. Weiss was a " friend of the dictatorial government . " It would have

been foolish for Burford to have gone to an enemy of the dictatorial government. (The judge was clearly a practical man .) The case had reverberations. It did not raise Maestri's prestige in Louisiana, though Rogge declared that he was convinced Maestri had not known of the payoff. It did not

New Orleans newspapers retorted that Judge Davidson was a " good Texan " ; a man who found all the principal fig ures in the case to be villains except one , and that one a

Texan , while the others were wicked Louisianians. " And this one Texan , according to the evidence , is rich and stands well with the Church and the Dallas bankers. " The judge had

declared that he did not believe Burford knew the money was " being used for corrupt purposes to buy the officers of Louisiana . " " Yet before the judge rejected all unfavorable inferences against Burford, the court had been informed that it was Burford who hunted up the 'powerful Weiss, and also Burford who sent $48,000 for hot oil ... and that in. stead of mailing the money by check in the normal way, Burford bundled up forty-eight thousand -dollar banknotes and sent them to Weiss like a package of socks by express. This , however , was one of the easiest and safest ways that Burford could have transferred the boodle from Dallas to New Orleans if—perish the thought—he had wished to escape the penalty that the postal law imposes on use of the mails to promote crime." A cartoonist showed two men across a

330

The day after Dr. Shaw returned to Louisiana, as he was driving alone , his car hurtled full -tilt into a railroad over pass. It was badly smashed , he only slightly hurt. Officials termed the incident an accident , denying rumors that the tires had been cut . Reports were general that Shaw was

about to be fired from the Conservation Commission , and that this time the firing would stick . The new commissioner, Clements, promised the public a statement on Shaw's status, then held it up . The next night Shaw paced the floor for hours, went into the bathroom of his home and fired a bullet into his brain . His wife said that he had never owned a gun . There were

sordid rumors, stories of " tips" to Shaw that it would be advisable to close his mouth ; of threats and " advice " from anonymous callers. He was given no " protective custody"

as had been accorded Rankin . On the other hand it was gen erally known that, on the night of Shaw's death , the United States Attorney's office was preparing new indictments for re turn the next day. He had reason to know about them . He had been grilled by the jury before and after his return from

Texas . Shaw's death hurt the Government's case against Leche and Weiss , and limited other indictments that were in prospect. Had he lived, more men might be behind bars in

Louisiana today , or dead or disgraced. So ended the story of another of " Huey's men . " He had gone to dental school with Huey's brother, Julius , had practiced for twenty years , then entered the oil business , before Huey picked him up

in 1929 and placed him in charge of all oil proration in Louisiana . While Louisiana was emerging as the fifth largest

oil producer among the states, Dr. Shaw had prospered by " signing anything they put in front of me."

Earl Long's new conservation commissioner was soon in difficulties, and the fault could again be laid to Mammon . In early September, Richard W. Leche drove in from the

Gold Coast, left an envelope in Clements' hand, and walked out . Statements flew like dee ducts.

Clements' was first. One of the state agents, still looking

into the books ( still closed to the public) had found four

checks that had been issued during 1938 by the agency ,

signed by Former Commissioner Rankin . Traced, they were

found payable to a Michigan construction company, and

" while apparently given in payment of a Diesel engine, in

reality it appears that they were given in settlement of a boat

presented to Former Governor Richard W. Leche ." A de

mand had been made on Dick , and he had come quickly

with an $ 11,000 check . From the hard-pressed Rankin came an explanation . Late in 1938 , a number of the Governor's friends had " suggested that a boat be presented him in ap preciation of his services for bringing new industries to the state . " Such a boat would cost about $ 13,000 . But the Gov ernor's friends knew that it could be obtained for much less

through the commission ; for $ 11,000, in fact. This plan of purchase was followed . Later Rankin took up the matter

of reimbursement with " several of the gentlemen expected largely to subscribe, but without much success." That seemed to have ended Rankin's interest in the matter. It was not his boat; it had not been his idea ; and " Governor Leche did not know of the method in which the matter was handled . "

332

dustrial and luncheon-club luminaries had gathered to tender the boat " on behalf of your hundreds of friends." Dick replied that he did not deserve all this ; that he felt as

if he were " acting under false pretenses." He explained that remark by declaring that " no one man is responsible for bringing industry into this great, rich state " ; and he praised the co -operation of his business helpers. Then he laughed

loudly, waved his hand— " Come at your own risk , gentle men ." The next day, a group of hotel men , New York finan ciers and Assistant Attorney-General Joseph Keenan, who

was one of Louisiana's good friends in that also co -operative agency before Murphy, were guests aboard the yacht. Now,

to their horror , all the Governor's business -man friends and co -operators were called before the parish jury . The story came out gradually. Seymour Weiss, it devel oped, had been chosen to handle the presentation ; and he

it was who enlisted the front men , the business men, to at tend . Each of the " donors" now insisted that he had been led to believe that all the others had contributed ; that he alone had not done so. Naturally, none of the " co -operators" advertised this fact to others. The first time they knew that their friends had not paid was when they read the papers at this late date . The politicos who had originated the plan had remained in the background, then evaporated . Parish charges of embezzlement of $ 10,700 resulted against Rankin . A number of inquisitive organizations asked District Attor ney Byrne if he had finished investigating, or whether he planned to go deeper. " The grand jury's action speaks for

itself ," he replied . But Rogge and the Federal jurors worked more slowly, and in a somewhat different manner . A month later they acted , and named Leche and Rankin . The amount was

larger, $ 12,000 ; and the charges covered a wider span . The

333

jury declared that Leche and Rankin had entered a scheme , ten months in advance of the " gift," to buy the yacht with conservation funds ; that they selected the boat together and told the manufacturer that the Conservation Commission was purchasing it . Further, it was charged that the commis sion had gone beyond the purchase of the boat, having ac quired fishing tackle, awnings, plumbing and boiler equip

ment , pillows , drapes and bedspreads , and having paid for repairs, painted part of the boat and provided employees who operated and maintained the vessel for a time . Rankin walked into Federal court , pleaded guilty to the charge, and also entered a guilty plea in a North Louisiana " hot oil" violation. He received a year's sentence . His de parture from the free Louisiana life was a particularly touch ing one . He had emulated his superiors and had chosen a

domicile in the Gold Coast area . He had planned an estab

lishment that would outshine Abe's, Dick's or Caldwell's,

had chosen a vista on the banks of a stream which , coinci

dentally, the Conservation Commission was deepening and

improving. It was to be a castlelike all-brick -and -glass man

sion , planned for a large-scaled way of life; two-story gaming

hall , partly roofed sun porch which gave commanding view

of the countryside, wide passageways, new glass materials

which had never before been used in the Deep South , spe

cially colored semi -transparent walls—all for the former Irish

Channel boy , who rose from waterfront to St. Tammany

stream bank . The walls had been finished , the interior con

struction begun, when Rogge and his jurors became inter

ested in the master .

Through it all , the conservation records remained closed . A cartoonist started a new joke . A woman tourist asked an Orleanian : " What does your Conservation Department con serve ? " His answer was: " Books."

DIPS AND DOUBLE DIPS

N HUEY's day , the Federal Government's weapon against

Inhierdings thenbe seen theincome tax orange canine

became the stamped envelope . In the first instance , Washing

ton had reached for the boys because they failed to pay its claim to a share of their plunder . This time it trapped them because they could not avoid using its mail boxes .

After the Purchase , Seymour , Abe, Monte and the rest of the crew had mended their ways . They could learn from ex perience . They followed not new rules of conduct but new rules of the game — their game. No longer would they run risks because they had not taken Washington into their con fidence. Honesty in reporting, if not in daily operations

that was the best policy . The rule , " Thou shalt not steal," had a proviso— " unless you inform Washington about it ."

When Rogge the serpent first invaded the Louisiana para dise , the major amoralists were not at once made more ap prehensive . Seymour and Dick reported their $67,000 oil

money in large black letters. Abe had no compunction over

enumeration of the results of an artful piece of fraud which has won him a place unchallenged in Louisiana . Rogge worked closely with Elmer Irey of the Special Intelligence Service and with Revenue Collector Fontenot. The Fonte not and Irey operatives uncovered some of the best of the scandal information at an early date. But the boys had paid the Government the proper percentage on nearly everything. Every theft seemed to point to ripe cases — for state action

only .

But Huey's successors had forgotten a few little things. The income-tax returns were " confidential " ; their neighbors

could not peer into them . But that did not mean that one branch of the Government could not tell another what it knew.

Rogge had, besides his suspicious nature , a healthy imagi nation , and both attributes were linked to a fixed idea . Jus tice need not be blind , or stupid, or both . Methods of crime change ; use of the law to catch the criminal should change accordingly . The mail-fraud statutes were elastic , he recalled from past , not-too -close acquaintance with them . He looked

into the subject, and he stretched their elasticity to an ex tent that made contemporary criminal precedent . He clamped the fraud upon the boys, and on top of that he clamped a charge of using the mails in connection with it . The boys

cheated the state, true; but they themselves hooked the Fed

eral Government into the act.

" We didn't even send a postal card , " cried the Long men . They did more than that , Rogge blandly assured them . They had not sent letters ; they had sent checks . No, said the

boys . We had had nothing to do with those checks . Others,

L.S.U. or those bank clerks, had sent them forth — and they weren't cashed until we had finished our stealing, if you can prove it was stealing. But Rogge shook his head . The checks with which they were paid had to go through the mails , from one bank to another and to the clearing house , or they would have done the boys no good . Under the stringent mail laws,

they were a part of the act of fraud. And he cited decisions that the Government need produce evidence only that the defendants put in motion a series of circumstances that re sulted in the use of the mails . Ah , but , the boys said, in one case only one check was used by one man . How did that

incriminate them all ? To which O. John Rogge cited simple law to support his view that the act of one conspirator binds all of the others.

Hotly the machine men and others have maintained that these tactics were not cricket. It was , somehow , beneath the dignity of the Government to trip smoothly functioning wrongdoers on lesser statutes in their paths . This treatment, the Long boys contended in shocked tones, was not only vicious but also a reflection on their rank and methods. To which Rogge, addressing a meeting, made succinct retort : " Major criminals should not commit minor crimes."

In early September, 1939 , in the Federal Building across

from Maestri's City Hall , the first criminal trial of the scan dals was at hand . It was the Bienville Hotel swindle sale , in which Seymour, " The Doc," Monte Hart the contractor ,

J. Emory Adams , nephew of Mrs. Smith , and Louie LeSage, self-styled " contact man " for Standard Oil , were charged with calling upon the postal facilities to relieve L.S.U. of $ 75,000 .

The Government had connected Huey's favorites with the agent of Standard Oil , Huey's professional enemy. It was a tie which could not but impress the country folks and cause them to wonder further about " their " regime.

Monte and Seymour, associated in their hotel enterprises, had had a white elephant on their hands in the Bienville . It had never made a satisfactory return . They had tried , with the help of Huey and others , to get rid of it in a variety

of ways : to palm it off on New Orleans for a skyscraper City Hall ; to get the state to take it over for a " spite" dental or pharmacy school at a time when Huey was peeved at Loyola

University; or to persuade the Federal Government to take it for an office center. But always something happened, and Seymour and Monte had to wait .

the building, rented it for a year to Charity Hospital, then

took it back . Seymour , Monte and their company took cash . They received a higher price for a third-hand hostelry than it had cost them , $ 575,000 rather than $541,000 .

Could Rogge prove it ? A showdown was at hand . On this case depended most of the hopes for a new regime in Louisi ana . If for any reason the Government failed , the psychologi cal effect might well save the machine. Who knew what might happen if this case were lost like the original Shushan trial? But if the Government won , dictatorship might be on the way out . . . . In a Southwest Louisiana city, Attorney Sam Jones was considering running for Governor. He told his advocates that if the jury convicted , he would be a candi date. He was enough of a realist to know what the case por tended .

339

Vice -President Ames identified " rush order " billheads of the company . He had not seen them until Government

agents investigated , these years later. The billheads left off the name of President Hart, but listed that of Vice-President Ames . " Is there anything unusual in the name of the vice

president being placed on a billhead ?" demanded the de

fense . " Nothing more unusual than omitting the name of

the president, " replied Ames . The billheads described the firm as " specializing in hotel equipment." Mr. Ames had

never heard of such specialization . He was shown the $ 75,000 furniture check , bearing his endorsement as vice-president. But he said he had never seen the front of it . Monte had placed it before him , its face down , as Monte often did . A procession of L.S.U. board members filed in . Uniformly , they understood that the purchase of the hotel would cover everything, " lock , stock and barrel " ... " a going concern  . . " ready for immediate occupancy . " The secretary and a director of the hotel company declared that there had been no discussion of a separate furniture sale, no indications of a separate sale in their records. The company's auditor noted that he included furnishings in the original hotel sale . An other example of profit-taking appeared in the books. The company figured a difference of $ 37,000 between evaluation and sale price ; of this , Seymour received $ 27,500 as com mission . Thus Seymour had benefited in three ways : by dis

340

Into the record went a letter from " The Doc " to the hos

pital board , offering to lease the building, " fully equipped and furnished ." It was received at a hospital meeting at tended by Governor Dick , who used his good offices in be half of the project . Next came testimony that the $ 75,000 payment to the Hart Company had been made on Smith's

order, before the final payment on the hotel itself. The boys were taking no chances . And L.S.U. had paid the equipment company $ 14,000 for taxes on the hotel for all of 1936. But

the general bill of sale showed that all property taxes had been paid by the hotel company to December 3 , and the university had agreed to pay only for the remaining twenty

eight days. In any event L.S.U. could not have owed Monte's equipment firm anything in taxes . Monte's firm had never owned the hotel . National bond attorneys had ruled against issuance of bonds to purchase the hotel , on the grounds that L.S.U. had no legal right to acquire the hotel and then lease it to Char ity Hospital. But the board and the boys had gone ahead . Now , it was brought out, the unfavorable attorneys' opinion was missing from L.S.U.'s files. " The Doc" had guarded against awkward accidents . It was this proposed , but never consummated , bond issue that Smith had used as some of his fraudulent collateral in his wheat operations . A statement by LeSage the lobbyist was offered . How had he entered the deal ? Louie wasn't sure . Hart had asked him to help out with sale of the furnishings. Louie had asked : " What could I do ? " " That's all right , just use your influ ence . " He had no further meetings with Hart until Hart handed him his $ 25,000 check with a comment that Louie had " earned it. " Louie was " flabbergasted " ; he had " con

tacted not a soul," could remember no single service. But

he cashed his check , put the $ 1000 bills in the safety deposit vault at the Roosevelt. ( He was a permanent guest; Standard knew where its men belonged .) A bit later, he had lent $ 16 ,

500 of his $ 25,000 to Seymour . Seymour needed money ; Louie volunteered to let him have what he could . Seymour signed a note , without interest , but Louie lost it. Louie

guessed that he had gambled the rest away at the famous

118l/£ Baronne establishment, across from the hotel .

The manager of the loan department of a bank noted, however , that while Louie was presumably $ 25,000 to the good and lending to Seymour, he was renewing a $ 2800 loan and running it up to $4300.

Young Adams was the Government's witness . He had made two statements to Federal men . The first declared that Hart had paid him the $ 25,000 as a commission for services in arranging the sale , and that he had given most of it to

Smith to meet an earlier obligation . The second, repudiating the first, declared that Adams had never seen the $ 25,000 , and had known nothing of the matter . Smith , his patron , had asked him to report that he received it , to save Smith embarrassing questions . And Rogge closed the Government's side with the statement of a representative of the " official " candy company into which the machine men had bought. A month or so after the deal , Monte and Seymour each purchased $ 37,500 of stock , and Smith $ 10,000 .

enough, the answer came back ; the proposal was timely , con structive. But Dick knew nothing about the furniture sale. No, there was no necessity for L.S.U. to give the furniture or anything else to anybody as a commission . The Governor

had taken no part in the matter after bringing together the " proper parties , " Smith and Hart. How and why the project was changed to a nurses' temporary home , he did not know . No, he was not offered money to approve the project. He did

not recall discussing the matter with Hart , LeSage or Adams. He had never talked with Adams in his life. Hart , gum -chewing, natty , easy -talking, was the main hope of the defense . For five hours he grinned , shrugged and per spired as he gave much detail, much explanation . For sev eral years he had had an understanding with Seymour , his associate at the hotel , that he was to get the furniture . This was to be his " fee" for his past efforts to work out a sale , and for his other help about the Roosevelt and Bienville Hotels. It was never contemplated that hotel and furnishings would be sold in one lot . " Dr. Smith and myself had been discussing the use of the furniture for some time. " When it was first planned to use the building as a temporary hospital, Monte proposed to sell the furniture to L.S.U. for campus dormitories which Monte's firm was erecting. Then Monte came to the heart of his part of the defense . The furniture had already been sold to L.S.U. when it was decided to change plans and use the building for a nurses' home rather than a temporary hospital. And so the furniture could re main , and be used as before; and Monte would get his $ 75 , 000 just as if he had sold the furniture for use on the campus. As to the pay-offs of $ 25,000 each to Louie LeSage and

J. Emory Adams, Monte could clear that up . He had never seen Adams before , but he understood Adams had " a lot of

influence in Baton Rouge . " With Smith ? he was asked . Was

343

Adams needed to make sure that the deal would go through with Louisiana State University ? Oh , no . Hart had not known of Adams's relationship to " The Doc" at the time. Was

Adams, then , to work on Leche ? No, Seymour had seen Dick . Was Adams to work on the L.S.U. board? No ; Hart felt that the L.S.U. board had no interest in the arrangements.

( An interesting commentary on Smith's board, this.) Who,

then , was Adams to influence? " Anybody; the police jury or anyone who might be interested. You never can tell who will help ."

Monte paid Louie LeSage his $ 25,000 because he knew

that Louie attended every session of the Legislature, and

because Monte knew also of Louie's " connection " with Mayor Maestri . Monte wanted Louie to help " in case some body in the city was interested . " Further, Monte was looking ahead ; he had not been receiving any city business, and he wanted some . ... Louie had not looked so surprised when Monte paid off. " Didn't you hear his statement that he was

flabbergasted ? " Monte chewed the harder : " I don't know

what you mean by flabbergasted , unless you mean knocked

down . He certainly wasn't that."

" Did you yourself do anything for your $ 25,000 ? "

" I did plenty ."

" Yet you were satisfied with the small share you took ? "

"No, but I took it . If I knew then what I know now , I wouldn't have needed LeSage and Adams . " He had had no idea that his associate , Seymour, or his close friend, " The

Doc," would get money off the deal from Louie and

J. Emory. And Adams had not told the truth ; he, Monte , had paid him $ 25,000 in person , in cash , in an automobile outside a New Orleans bank when Monte turned in the $ 75 ,

000 check . ( Later, though , Monte was not sure whether the payment had taken place there or somewhere else .)

Adams took the stand, and the split among the defendants

grew wider. He did not know even the location of the bank

of which Monte had spoken . He had never heard of the hotel deal until Smith asked him to report the $ 25,000 falsely as his income.

Seymour's money from Louie was a personal matter , had no connection with the furniture deal. On that day he had persuaded Mayor Bob Maestri and others to buy the New Orleans Baseball Club , as a civic enterprise. All had sub scribed to stock . He, the president of the new organization , was the last to do so . He had been quite embarrassed at the moment . He needed money ; he had borrowed $ 50,000 from Mayor Bob and other amounts from other sources . Louie came forward with the money ; " I would have done the same

for him ." No , no interest was mentioned . Seymour paid no

interest, either, to Mayor Bob . It was a story of large dealings for a large man , who had once received $ 25 a week as a shoe clerk . The implication was clear . Seymour occasionally

needed cash , but he had resources . He would not have stooped to steal $ 25,000 . The use of the mails was a crucial issue. Rogge insisted

345

Smith's lawyers contributed an unusual note when they bore down on the university board , for " laxity, for having no interest in the university, leaving everything to Dr. Smith to do ." Adams , a " self -confessed perjurer , " was the only link to Smith . Seymour's counsel talked of the love of man for man , Louie for Seymour, Seymour for Louie. Rogge was seeking to distort motives of friendship into something wicked . . . . " Oh , justice , what crime has been committed in thy name ! ... The only thing I can conclude is that

BATHING

GUBERNATORIAL

PRIZE

(from

Th

Amrican

Progress

,

Sept.

22

,

1939)

TIST

there must have been some message from Garcia in Wash ington , to declare Seymour Weiss in on this case , evidence or no evidence ." Louie's attorney saw Rogge as a man " seek ing to have his name in headlines in the nation's press, for political purposes." Hart's attorney cast shame on the Louisi ana political situation . Wasn't it a known fact that in Louisi ana a man had to have influence to get a state contract? This , the jury may have decided , was a somewhat questionable

defense for Monte , who was one of the major beneficiaries, early, late and always, of just that situation .

All five were found guilty. Seymour, one of the Big Three (with Leche and Maestri ) , the man they said could never be caught, was headed for Atlanta and a term of two years and a half. " The Doc " and Monte received the same sentence ,

the " two little cover -up men " a year each . As they left court , it was clear that the political " atmosphere," which had pro vided Washington with an excuse for freeing the boys in the earlier cases , had changed . A crowd gathered to boo , yell and

curse . A woman thrust her head into their taxicab and let them know what she thought of their kind—a loud " razz berry." Louisiana had a new scandal term—" double dip ." The boys had sunk their scoops twice into the pap. Like the Roosevelt Hotel employee who had filled Attorney-General Murphy's order for chocolate ice cream on that faraway day in May, they had reached back for a second dig. The case started the parade of the Long men to Atlanta and Leaven worth . But would enough of the general electorate — includ ing Huey's hill folk and swamp followers — change their minds after giving this same regime its record majority four years earlier ? In South Louisiana, Attorney Sam Jones thought that the opposition had a chance again . He gave the word that he would run for Governor against Earl K. Long.

Double was the word for it in more matters than furni. ture .

The L.S.U. architect took a check for $ 24,000 for his fees

on Huey's dormitory-stadium in 1932. Four years later, ac cording to the grand jury , he took another check for $ 24,000 for his fees on the dormitory -stadium .

The cost of a building was set by a winning bid at $ 101 ,

000. When work was finished , the state had paid $ 202,000 . The State University's physics department was gratified when it received a new electric switchboard . Later it found that it had paid for it once on December 13 of 1937 and again on January 10 of 1938. And Monte , in the " double moving " episode, acquired further stature . The man who had sold furniture that was not his own was paid by the state for not

doing work . The " double move" came about as the product of Huey Long's spite toward a university and his heirs' friendship to ward the New Deal . Huey moved the building as part of a plan to get even with Loyola, then on his blacklist. Dick and

the boys moved it back to get cash from Washington . Loyola had awarded Huey his honorary degree when Tulane would not ; but Loyola would not award him unlimited radio time , and now he was going to show it a thing or two . He would

strike at its pharmacy and dental divisions, two of its best , in the same way that he had struck at Tulane's medical depart ment. He would put up a pharmacy -dental building for

L.S.U. , and operate it in connection with his " spite " medical school on the hospital grounds.

But the hospital's white female building was in the way. It was a sturdy one , about twelve years old , erected with funds raised by popular subscription . There was talk of tearing it down . Instead, an engineering feat was achieved. While Huey presided and spoke of " economy " and first con

sideration for the suffering poor, the high building was started on a sliding process along a series of rails to a point 162 feet away. The operation took two hours . Less than two

years later , it was moved back with the same equipment to a point within a few inches of the original location . It had been found in the way of the new hospital. Plans for the pharmacy-dental building had been forgotten , and the place from which the building was moved had never been used.

The original building had cost $ 335,000. Sic semper econ omy.

The Orleans grand jury saw more than waste in the situa tion . It indicted Monte Hart the contractor, Architect Leon Weiss and James Monroe Smith for embezzlement of money paid for " restoration work " following the re-moving. But, said the jury, the work was never done . The District At torney's office added that it was prepared to show that Monte had previously withdrawn $40,000 from his firm's funds ,

and had told others that the money was for " campaign con tributions . " Then , it was said , $ 62,000 was paid him by the state for " restoration work " ; and Monte informed his

associates that this was a " refund" of the contributions. Arch itect Weiss's part in the alleged operation was to issue a cer tificate approving the " repairs " ; Smith's , to approve pay ment with L.S.U. funds. Finally Monte and his firm received about $ 65,000 for cancellation of the contract for the dental pharmacy structure . A rich new field of inquiry now was opened , that of " ex tras" added to construction costs during the gaudy Leche

period. The Public Works Administration , which had previ ously managed to keep off the official list of victimized agencies, joined the others. The Federal jury acted in the

matter of a "mystery " geology building about which Tugwell had raised questions. The jury saw nothing mysterious. It charged that the resourceful Monte Hart and Summa Cald

well — one of his partners and an uncle of Big George of

L.S.U. —had hiked building costs about $ 10,000, by a little plan that involved double sets of plans at the time the con tract was let . One set, said the jury , went to the Public Works

Administration ; the other was used for the real work . Sub contractors, it was added, were required to provide two sets of invoices, one real and one inflated for the Federal Gov ernment . A rollicking little item of indictment was this : the firm in one case had calmly added enough to reimburse it for the work it had done on the Louisiana Colonial home

of Business Manager E. N. Jackson of Louisiana State Uni versity . Thus , the Government was paying for its own work and for a piece of private construction at the same time .

The State Board of Education announced that it had found $ 150,000 in " extras" in construction work at two other state colleges. The money had not passed through the board's

hands , but had been managed in a special fund under the

control of Governor Dick. The board's building superin tendent in due time estimated that it had been overcautious in its figures, and placed the " extras " at $ 275,000, after mak

ing " generous" allowances for expenses and profits. In one instance a 221-per -cent profit was estimated . The contractors , again , were Caldwell Brothers and Hart ; the architects , the

firm of Leon Weiss.

Grand juries , state and Federal , acted. Monte Hart and Leon Weiss were indicted by a Federal jury in North Lou isiana for obtaining $ 56,000 fraudulently on one building

350

The building was the second Leche Hall to be built at a state institution during Leche's term . (This one, it was brought out when Dick went to trial separately, had almost escaped the honor . ) Dick was charged with obtaining $ 27,000 under false pretenses and operating a confidence game in the hiking of the construction figure during the interval be

tween acceptance of bid and drawing up of contract. Monte Hart , Leon Weiss and others among the boys turned at last on Former Governor Dick . Times were chang

ing . Hart took the stand . The $ 27,000 had been added on Dick's orders, and because of a delay demanded by Dick, he said . Construction was about to start at an awkward time

before Dick took office . After Hart's firm received the con

tract, Dick told him that he had promised the people of the parish that he would give them the new school building. Unexpectedly , however , the college had suffered the loss by

fire of its administration center . A new structure was needed quickly . But Dick was only Governor -Elect. The enemy Noe was temporarily chief executive , and , as has been noted earlier, he was hurrying things to get the building started during the Noe , not the Leche administration . Dick , Monte now explained , told him frankly that he did not want Noe to receive the honor . The college treasurer described a hur riedly called meeting at which efforts were made to hasten operations. The treasurer at that time informed Dick that

Governor Noe " had agreed to get the money ." To which Dick commented that " Noe would like the credit, but wouldn't get it ." Dick was adamant . Polytech went without its building until he became Governor. When Dick finally called him to start construction , said Monte, material costs had increased, and he could no longer build at the original prices . The extra cost was the $ 27,000 . Dick told him , said Monte , that " it would be O.K." to add the $ 27,000 ; and this was done . However, state agents testi fied that an audit of the books of Monte's firm indicated that Governor Dick had not received any of the $ 27,000 . Dick was acquitted . But in time Leon Weiss went on trial separately in Federal Court in the same matter, on charges of use of the mails for a larger amount , $ 56,000 . He was found guilty and sentenced to five years. Several bits of testi mony then made it clear that the boys had not been missing much . The moving of a tool house was set down as having cost $ 3600 . The State Board of Education's building super intendent said the figure should have been $ 300. In another instance, a portion of the plans was abandoned . The boys, it was testified , added that to the total as though they had followed the original thought and the new plan as well . In another parish , a jury indicted the same pair , Monte and Leon , for fraud in the amount of $ 145,000 . Profits in one instance were estimated at 106 per cent . In other cases, work costing more than $ 275,000 was granted, according to the jury and the State Board of Education , without adver tising, bidding or letting of contract. " Preliminary estimates " thus resulted in heavy " extras. " Soon L.S.U. was bringing civil suits against Monte Hart and his contracting affiliates for $ 411,000 in overcharges on its campus . The university claimed that the men made ex orbitant charges for work performed, for work specified but

not performed, and for work neither specified nor per formed . The largest " extra " alleged for any of the build ings was a $ 225,000 one for Leche Hall , the Supreme Court replica. The original figure, it was estimated , had been

jumped from about $ 675,000 to $ 905,000. Tens of thou sands of dollars now poured in to the state in voluntary re imbursements by the Hart , Caldwell and other firms. Some times they returned more than the university or the Board of Education thought they owed ; but, believing that the boys knew far more about the subject than they did , both

agencies took all that was turned in .

Dick and Mcllhenny, the jury charged, prepared an esti mate of $45,000 for the work . Dick made one of his infre .

quent appearances before the board to urge the great need

of Mcllhenny bushes at the university. " The Doc " also let

it be known that what L.S.U. needed were grounds in the

Mcllhenny manner. Once the proposal was approved , Dick and Mcllhenny allegedly told " The Doc" to cancel it , and a substitute was drawn up, increasing the work by about $ 70,000 , bringing the figure to $ 115,000 . " The Doc, " it was said , approved the expenditures as they occurred but kept the increases from the attention of the university board . The prices, the jury asserted , were not those that would be ex pected for quantity work, but were above retail; the stock was " inferior " ; the participants in the scheme refused to use any of the stock on hand , at the same time that they charged " exorbitant, excessive and unconscionable prices" for what was brought in by Mcllhenny . Further, Mcllhenny assertedly did not provide some of the items ; never intended to do so ; billed L.S.U. for transportation expenses although

the original plan had provided for all costs, including freight delivery. As a final touch , the jurors accused Mcllhenny of taking several large azalea plants from the campus .

Mcllhenny was charged with giving a $9000 bribe to Jim Smith ; a $ 2500 bribe and an elaborate free landscaping job over the wide acreage of his Gold Coast estate to Former

Governor Dick ; and a $ 1000 bribe to Dick's favorite, the

then Attorney-General of Louisiana , David Ellison . The grand jurors did not appear to believe Dick's story of his own surprise when L.S.U. irregularities were first suspected . And " The Doc , " who had not concealed his feeling toward

Dick after his return from Canada , might have the last laugh

here. He was mentioned as the Government's star witness against Dick .

354

The Governor of Louisiana then permitted the release without comment of a series of previously secret audit re ports to Leche regarding L.S.U. matters, made by the Super visor of Public Funds as early as September, October and December of the preceding year , 1938. These made it clear that Dick Leche had known considerably more than he had

ever disclosed ; had known it , moreover, as long as nine

months before the scandals broke . By the end of 1938 he had been informed of Big George Caldwell's secret rake -offs on L.S.U. construction ; of President Smith's surreptitious addition of $ 3000 to his own salary ; of the purchase of large supplies at retail prices ; the letting of contracts as high as $ 175,000 without competitive bids as required by law ; of

the " extras" on the buildings, and the inability to reconcile receipts and other items in various university divisions.

Dick had said , while Smith was on his way back to Louisi ana in July of 1939 , that he had received reports which showed only broad suspicions of irregularities pointing to

no individuals . This statement was contained in the first of the reports to him. But the later ones , received before 1939 started, gave names, amounts , dates . At his fallen predeces sor, Earl Long released one of the most painful of the blows that were raining upon him . For Dick had declared specifi cally at the time that he had known nothing of Caldwell's

rake -offs and of other matters which Earl now revealed . These were subjects that had resulted in general resentment , discharges and indictments when brought forth months after

ward . But Governor Dick had known .

he Federal

investigations could not be halted . The ma

During the months that followed the crisis of June , the Federal jury at New Orleans and , to a lesser extent, the

Baton Rouge parish jury did all of the investigating and the

indicting. In New Orleans and in other parts of the state , the parish jurors began to stir , to look about themselves and

wonder at what they saw . July and August were the months of mumblings and grumblings. October and November brought rebellion , and reaction .

In the delivery of Louisiana, these jurors played the roles of quiet martyrs . They did not look the part. They were clerks , salesmen , young business men. They regarded their conduct as having little to do with sacrifice or renunciation . But a martyr need not be an ascetic; nor need he die for his cause . If he suffers only abuse and humiliation by a judge

or a district attorney, he has his value . The jurors of Lou isiana stood up and called the men in power over them the things they considered them : violators of their oaths; men who placed themselves in the way of the law they were

chosen to uphold ; partners, by extension , in the matters they

worked to hide .

Some of the jurors were mauled by the agents of the judges and parish officials. Some went to jail . Others lost their private jobs . Against them were exerted all the pres sures that the machine could marshal. A number of the

juries lost, were stamped down in one locality, then another. But they had started something that did not end with their part in it . Their protests called attention to conditions be neath the surface ; they provided further education to Louisi ana , enlightenment as to another of the prices that the state

was paying for " the benefits of the machine." During the past twelve years, grand juries had been quies cent bodies, another arm of the central government, like the Legislature, like the courts. If they or the district attor ney fell out of line , Baton Rouge could take over matters through the act of supersession by the attorney -general. The

handling of the election theft cases under Former Attorney General Porterie was the best example of what the machine could do as a last resort. Understandably , it was a shock

to officialdom when the docile jurors lost their docility and wanted to " go too far ." Too far meant a foray across the borderline into the forbidden land of graft, corruption and related topics.

In New Orleans , the district attorney's office was taking scandals in its stride , and the stride was not a brisk one. District Attorney Charles A. Byrne was a Long man , for merly one of Huey's legislators, who had taken over in place

of the man who had exposed the election frauds in the Por terie affair . Huey had conducted a raid on the office, remov ing from the district attorney's power the hiring of assistants, telephone operators and clerks . He had also held over Eu gene Stanley's head the prospect of supersession by Porterie

whenever the machine found it necessary . Stanley quit ; and although the term had barely started , no new election was held . When Maestri became mayor, the term was extended

as were those of all city officials; so , for nearly eight years, New Orleans had no opportunity to vote on its district

attorney . The first eight months of 1939 saw a mixed situation in the parish grand jury . It had acted inconclusively on the city " tax racket," and had met infrequently afterward . At torneys attacked its right to serve in an unrelated case, charg ing that it was " handpicked to whitewash the racket." An open hearing followed , with no resultant action . Further claims were made , as the scandals broke , that the parish was without a jury ; that members would not attend meet ings, one having suffered a breakdown because of " the no toriety created by the uncovering of the whitewash , " while another threatened to leave town if summoned . September brought a new jury term . The citizens' groups,

considering the city -state political combination , demanded

that the selection of the members be made as public as pos sible . The judge was George Platt , another Long man be

fore he stepped upon the bench in 1936 .

that you say, I'd end up with about three Negroes . " As to

those who were " interested in politics , " Platt parried : " Shouldn't every man be interested in politics ?" He was the jurist whose relations to the subject were to be among the

most angrily debated of the period.

The judge selected the jury . Its foreman was an executive of a power and light company, an organization with inter ests that were clear . To the jurors , the People's League dis

patched messages urging " independence and vigor, so that confidence may be restored in democratic government in Louisiana . " The league meanwhile devoted its attention to District Attorney Byrne . It accused him of do -nothingness, cited a

series of specific cases . He replied that he had received " only

rumors" about a certain flagrant piece of thieving, that the persons concerned had refused to talk about it ; and he con cluded in somewhat confused fashion : " I will not pillory

anybody on the cross of suspicion ." Also , said he , he was uncertain which statutes covered some of the alleged offenses. The league prepared a list of laws for his edification , and sug gested that impeachment might be one way to budge him. He replied that he would not be intimidated . The league came back : " Perhaps you have forgotten that public officials in Louisiana are still responsible for the discharge of their official duties to the people , and if the promise of exercise

of the constitutionally granted right of impeachment consti tutes in your mind intimidation , then you can make the most of it , with the assurance that intimidation of that character is always present."

Under strained circumstances, the new jury was sworn in . For a few weeks there was quiet , but then rumors spread of differences of opinion . Byrne once or twice declared that the jurors were finished for the day ; but they went back into

359

session alone . The jurors called on the judge; he would say to reporters only that they had wanted " instruction in the law ." On October 9 , the jurors arrived early at court and called a mechanic to fix their door so that they could lock them selves in . The district attorney's staff reported in advance of the usual hour, grim , untalkative. Something was in the wind. Six of the jurors walked into court . Platt was waiting. The foreman , one of the six, remained seated as Juror H. H.

9)

Powell rose , nervously : " I have a request to present ..." Platt cut him short : " You cannot present it in open court . Anything pertaining to the business of the grand jury should be secret. " " But it's just a request ..." and Powell began

to read from a petition. Platt rasped out : " I'm ordering you not to read it l Is that clear? " But Powell continued . Piatt turned : " Mr. Sheriff , take this man and lock him up ." Deputies closed around Powell , a slight , bespectacled man . He scuffled, managed to toss copies of the petition in several directions. A reporter grabbed one and scurried out with it . Another juror, young

Sidney DeArmas , caught another as he might a forward

The petition , signed by a majority of seven members but not the foreman , was public property by this time , Platt or no Platt . The district attorney and his staff were charged with doing all in their power to prevent honest investiga tions, " stalling , " " delaying, " refusing to produce records,

withholding answers to legal and other questions, " in sulating" some witnesses to keep them from the jury, giving others opportunity to escape jurisdiction by forewarning them . The jurors had become victims of " simultaneous and concerted efforts from without, " designed to demoralize them, with anonymous callers demanding that they " go along " with Byrne, and with others who were in politics bringing pressure upon the jurors' employers. Then a par ticular surprise: the jury's majority felt that it could not adequately inquire into numerous violations " without in

vestigating the affairs of a number of associates of the dis

trict attorney and his staff." Therefore, they asked that Byrne and staff be recused and that the court approve appointment of other attorneys for a thorough -going investigation into

numerous parish scandals. Byrne was near-apoplectic as he read it . " They're god

damned liars," declared the district attorney. The judge , after his session with his colleagues, had made up his mind . Returning to the bench , he declared the two jurors guilty of contempt, and sentenced them to the hour's imprisonment which they had already spent under guard . A pause : " And I hereby dismiss you from the jury. You cannot do your duty." By this method , the judge deprived New Orleans of a grand jury for months ahead , until the election that was to decide the machine's future had come and gone . An incomplete jury could not meet .

At Byrne's request, an open hearing was called for the next day to inquire into the jurors' charges. The People's

League summoned a mass meeting for the same time , on the broad steps of the courthouse, " so that all citizens who want to save democracy may give a demonstration of the united support of the city behind its grand jury.

Thousands of men and women , housewives, college profes sors, clerks , attorneys and shirtsleeved laborers, met that next morning. An engraved inscription across the building read : " the Impartial Administration Of Justice Is The Founda Tion Of Liberty ." The speakers used it as a text : " The peo ple of New Orleans have found their district attorney acting

in defense of the lawbreakers he was sworn to prosecute . " " New York grand jurors wanted to do the same thing as ours . They got Tom Dewey. What did ours get? The bum's rush l"

A petition was started for the recall of Byrne. It began :

" Honorable Earl K. Long, Governor." The booing crowd

forced a change: " Earl K. Long, Unelected Governor ." Si multaneously, to make certain that Mr. Byrne would receive his due, the meeting began the circulation of an impeach ment petition , addressed to civil court . The people of New Orleans were stirring again . This was the first such meeting to be held in years in the bought and beaten city. As it ended , thousands rushed to the hearing upstairs, threatened to " break the door down " when policemen sought to keep their chairman out . He was admitted . Attorney -General Ellison , who had originally insisted that Byrne was doing " a good job ," and that he saw no reason to supersede him , now ordered a temporary supersession . First Assistant Attorney-General O'Connor, who had figured in the Leche -Weiss -Burford " hot oil " controversy , was desig nated to take over in place of Byrne. Byrne would defend himself at the hearing. The jurors and their attorneys took advantage of the op portunity that Mr. Byrne had provided them. They could

tell their story now , and reveal what they had been per mitted to do during these recent weeks, what they had been prevented from doing. Juror DeArmas was asked why the

jury majority felt that Byrne or his staff would be embar rassed if they investigated some matters . " We had heard ru

mors

._{.. We}

meant

the District Attorney's office

as a

whole . ..." The jury wanted particularly to inquire into

two subjects, " the tax racket and the gambling racket. " The latter might bring in the name of " Fabacher . " Fabacher was one of the leading handbook operators of the city, who was

later indicted . Repeatedly, DeArmas went on , the jurors had sought to study payrolls of city and state to find out about " double dippers" and " deadheads." But Byrne and his staff would never produce the records, declared the work " too burden some," assured the jurors that they would start no " fishing expeditions "; that the jurors themselves " wouldn't know what you're looking for ." But meanwhile the citizens' groups had been publishing lists of legislators on public payrolls, and of men and women who were paid for doing nothing. " Once , out of sheer desperation ," another juror declared , " I went to the office of the Times Picayune to hunt up those lists." Finally, the majority put in writing a demand for af fidavits from employers of six suspected men and women . But the results were not satisfactory; Byrne and his staff had never produced clear , unequivocal answers. Did the jurors try to investigate gambling ? they were asked . Yes , they had talked to Byrne about it , especially about the establishment at 118i/£ Baronne . But the District At torney had declared it the duty of the police department to bring in evidence . Nothing was ever offered regarding gam bling. A case was cited at the hearing in which an Orleanian was charged with an $86,000 embezzlement , most of it lost at 1181,4. But the legality of operations at the establishment was not discussed by Byrne, the jurors asserted . The jury, they went on, had been able to act on only two

scandal matters, the Leche " gift yacht," which broke after the public was told about it from other sources , and a case which the Baton Rouge jury had developed fully , but had

passed on because of a question of jurisdiction . " The Dis trict Attorney's office brought in the yacht case complete — a nice case against Rankin , and Rankin alone." The jury was

cautioned not to question Rankin too closely ; " Byrne told us he had a weak heart and had fainted before the Federal grand jury . He did seem nervous and drank a lot of water . Some of us felt sorry for him . Others thought he was acting ." A majority of the witnesses presented by Byrne had said that Leche was not involved , but some members of the jury thought he was . (The Federal Government agreed with them .) In the same case , the jurors had wanted to question Sey mour Weiss and William Rankin , Jr. They asked that Weiss

be summoned on a day they knew he was in town , in con

nection with the Bienville double dip . A summons was is

sued , but the jurors were told that Weiss had left New Or

leans for ten days . Two weeks passed before the subpoena

was served . As to young Rankin, Byrne had questioned him

and decided for himself that the fellow was not " mentally

fit . " Byrne had given the grand jury a graphic demonstra

tion , with vacant stare and finger twiddling, and had quoted

Rankin , Jr. , as discussing a firm called " Boats, Inc." " Papa

mightn't like me to say it , but he owns it , and I am only

president ." The jurors wanted to talk with Rankin , Jr. , more than ever . But Byrne declared that he was " in Missis sippi . "

could have remained in existence without the trade provided by the Conservation Department under Rankin , Sr. But the jurors had difficulty in getting at this subject, too .

Unable to keep track of involved figures and other infor mation , the jurors told how they proposed stenographic help. But they were dissuaded from this course ; " The records

might get into the hands of the wrong people ." Individual jurors wanted to question witnesses , but they declared now that Byrne and Platt advised them that it was best that one person , the foreman, do this, putting queries which other jurors might submit to him . However, if the foreman (who was not one of the " rebel " majority) did not wish to ask

any of these questions, he need not do so . Some of the ma jority members called this gag rule .

The majority had held a number of meetings at the homes of members, to discuss what to do . Somehow , word of these meetings, open only to the jurors, had spread. Jurors were

" tipped " by telephone callers not to attend such sessions . One such caller advised a juror to " follow Charlie Byrne"

and

obtain other counsel in place of Byrne. He urged them to

work in "harmony" among themselves and with Byrne. Mat

ters had not improved , and the jurors had decided to make

a formal appeal to the court. A Tulane law professor had

given advice in the preparation of the document.

The hearing took a new turn as Hugh Wilkinson was sum moned to tell of the tax racket. Byrne protested vehemently . The whole matter had been presented to another grand jury,

he said . The rebel jurors interposed through their attorneys: " The only way to prove a crime is to go into the details . "

Then followed one of the upsets. Assistant Attorney -General O'Connor, as acting District Attorney in Byrne's place, agreed with the jurors ' attorneys ; let the matter be heard .

Thus, after months of silence , the cases upon which the pre vious jury had refused to indict were brought up for their

first full public scrutiny. Wilkinson told more of the matter than had been known before, cited names of additional al leged victims , participants, pay-offs.

Essentially, the tax -racket material was the same as had

been presented to the earlier grand jury with no result . Now came action . While Byrne sat silent , the presiding judge an nounced that he had heard enough to justify him in approv.

ing the filing of charges. Four persons were cited — two men and two women—among them Esther Stein , notary , the " Madame Queen " of Wilkinson's evidence ; James Stewart, chief clerk in charge of the State Tax Commission at New Orleans; Arthur Steiner and Mrs. Mary Connolly, attorneys.

New Orleans was learning more of the things that had been kept from it . The hearing took on new life. Subpoenas went out for the mysterious conservation records, still un available to the public ; for records of " Boats, Inc." ; for pay

rolls of deadheads and doubledippers, for voluminous rec ords of other firms in the tax racket . It was clear that only

the top crust of New Orleans' scandals had been scraped .

The city's safety commissioner testified that his son , a doc tor, was assistant bacteriologist for the City Board of Health , held the same position with the state and had until recently been bacteriologist for the State Welfare Department. A state legislator conceded that he was an " inspector of in spectors " for the state Dock Board ; but he declined to say whether he also held a full -time position as secretary-man

ager of a homestead , or to divulge where he was when sum moned .

The court by this time had a high pile of data at hand on the tax racket, the Conservation Department activities , and a variety of other matters . The jurors ' attorneys put in late hours on Saturday and Sunday , for what was obviously to be an eventful week . Monday came. An hour or so before the

scheduled resumption, Earl Long acted, in several ways . He called out state police in Baton Rouge and ousted Attorney General Ellison by force . In New Orleans , police converged

on the district attorney's office, declared it in a " state of siege " and took it over . O'Connor, who had made possible the lifting of the lid in the tax racket, was removed from his capacity as assistant attorney -general and also as the super seding district attorney ; and Byrne was back , smiling, in his

office. The National Guard was called out " for a drill," and there were reports that Earl would use it , if necessary , to make sure that neither Ellison nor anybody else went to court to get around him . Once martial law was invoked, no

court , under Huey's laws, could intervene . For once, the Kingfish's apprentice had acted in a manner reminiscent of the mentor. He used force; he used surprise ; and he poured salt on the wound . Why had he removed Elli son and O'Connor ? He grinned. Why, he just happened to read an opinion by his arch enemy, Former District Attor

ney Stanley, that Ellison's appointment as attorney -general was illegal. Earl looked up the law , and by gum , Stanley was correct for once in his life . That was what them reformers wanted, now wasn't it ? And if Ellison were in illegally, so , too, was his first assistant, O'Connor. Earl neglected to mention that on the previous day Elli son had qualified unexpectedly as attorney -general to suc

ceed himself. The machine had its own man as its nominee for the job . Chilling reports spread that Ellison was to launch an unlimited investigation into all state affairs during

the rest of his current term , using his own intimate knowl edge against the machine that had not rewarded him as he expected . Some were sure that he would name Eugene Stan ley as a special aide to sink shovels into the muck . Earl seemed to have the law on his side , thanks to juris prudence developed under Huey . The Louisiana law does not give a Governor power to appoint an attorney -general,

but he may name an acting one . Ellison , as Dick Leche's sec retary , had been elevated to the first-assistant's office, to per mit Dick to name him attorney -general. He had taken the oath as highest legal officer of the state . Now, Earl pointed

out, he had vacated one post without validating his claim to the other , just as Dr. Cyr had done in Huey's day ; and Elli son was out in mid-air . Those who thought that Dick's pro tege would act up in this crisis were disappointed . After spending an evening in consultation with politicos, he called on Earl and assured him he planned no court action and harbored no ill feelings.

The jurors' hearing hung in the balance . The grapevine carried a message : It had to be stopped , once and for all , and Byrne had to go . Its disclosures had become dangerous , he a liability . Earl Long hurried to New Orleans. Byrne de

clared : " There is no power on earth that can make me re

sign. Of course , if I am dispossessed of my office by force, that is a different matter . " Then Byrne called on Earl and announced that he was quitting because his doctor had told him he " could no longer stand this constant turmoil." One of his Old Regular assistants took his place .

The lid snapped shut . The new district attorney , Niels Hertz, made a motion to end the hearing, since complaints against Byrne had " ended with his resignation ." The jurors'

attorneys protested that Hertz ' own claim to the office was de fective , that an election should have been called , since the

term had years to go . " This hearing is a matter of public interest and necessity; it must go on to its conclusion . The whole staff was charged , not Byrne alone . . . . Certain

people are using this hearing as a political football. They want it on when it seems to their advantage, off when it doesn't." Another voice , another note : " We are in posses sion of new information , involving a high officer , and we have seen that law enforcement authorities are not willing to bring it out. ..." The new matter touched on Robert S. Maestri . The judges cut it off. If the attorneys had material of criminal

interest, it was their duty to take it to the grand jury. " But there is no grand jury now ." Nevertheless, the hearing ended . The case of the jurors against Platt was in the appelate courts , and no meetings were possible . The seven rebels re

ceived a statuette at a public ceremonial . An inscription de clared that " their act of heroism and courage in one of the darkest moments in the state's history is paralleled only by that of the White League of 1874 , in defending the rights and liberties of a stifled and oppressed citizenry." Cried one speaker: " If the time should come again when we should take up arms, we are ready to do it ! "

The new district attorney had his troubles even if the

District Attorney Hertz, after some hesitation , announced that he would not receive these or similar charges until after the election , three months hence , because they were " politi cal." This seemed to put a strain on the concept of justice

above partisanship ; but Mr. Hertz saw no inconsistency . Subsequently the Citizens ' Voluntary Committee enlivened

a dull day for the community by reporting that under " fish , game and oyster" accounts of the Conservation Department , it found bills for " White Rock , lime rickey, Vichy water ,

etc.," for use on the yacht, which " may or may not be proper

purchases for the department." But a further check -up, the committee said , showed that the purchases were in reality " perfumes and other personal toilet articles. "

Next , the jurors ' attorneys offered the district attorney fifty -two pages of material charging specific violations of the law : $ 1,000,000 a year in bribes ; dual jobholding ; open

handbook operations ; Conservation Department irregulari

ties, and corruptions in the School Board , Charity Hospital and State Employment Service affairs. Since there was no grand jury, the attorneys called for an open hearing. Hertz

370

In other parts of the state , other juries fought to clear their way . In North Louisiana, at Alexandria , all members of the jury appealed to the court for a new adviser, declar ing that the district attorney had promised dual office holders

371

that he would kill any indictments returned against them . The jurors' request was rejected, but they went ahead and

charged twenty -five political figures, among them the treas urer of the state dee-duct system . One of the indicted group , a legislator who was also an official of a state institution ,

filed charges that the jury had " illegally performed its du ties " by ignoring the advice of the district attorney and citing him for cases of doubledipping, taking of dee ducts and violation of state income tax laws . All of the jurors were

arrested . When they tried to function further , the judge dis missed them , and the district attorney quashed all indict ments .

After a long interval , when the charges against the jurors went to trial , the jurors' attorney declared : " This is the first time I can find in the history of any state that a man indicted succeeded in throwing out a grand jury without

trial of himself . It is also the first time I ever heard of an accused wanting the grand jury to work with the district at torney. Most of the time they wish there were no district attorney." The trial judge reprimanded the legislator: " The grand jury cannot be attacked from behind . Those charged by it should defend themselves in court . Certainly he put a cog in the proceedings of the court . ..."

fenses: " They indicted four officials against my advice that the law was close , and everybody in the parish knew these men held these positions . ..." This district attorney was

no loose gossiper ; the jurors had gathered nothing but

" rumors , and there are rumors against every man who suc ceeds." He was alarmed , too, that the jurors had declared they would investigate for months into the future , and he

urged the police jury to " call upon the grand jury to ad journ and go home. " The police jury complied . Elsewhere , a juror declared that state income tax agents had threatened him with criminal prosecution if he did not

deliberate " satisfactorily " on a state senator who was under investigation. In Baton Rouge, the department declared that the juror's returns were under scrutiny, but in a " routine way " ; it had " complete confidence" in the agents.

At Lafayette, eight jurors sought to resign because " we can get indictments only against small offenders for trivial charges, while serious matters are blocked to us regardless of evidence." But the judge told them they must function regardless of " personal feelings." In another case , the judge advised that the jurors hold up all action until after elec

tion , still several months off.

373

Resentment spread over the state . The Citizens ' Voluntary

Committee investigated and announced that not one of the twenty was over the legal age , and that all were of " char acter and standing in the community." The attorney-gener

al's office in a later petition to court declared that all of the group were thoroughly qualified, and that Judge Jones acted " solely for the reason that he feared the said grand jury would function as an impartial body and might indict the said James W. Jones, Jr. , or some of his political and per

sonal associates." The citizens ' committee noted that the judge was an active Long partisan and declared that he was Earl's parish campaign manager . The judge admitted his ties

with the Long organization , but said that he was only one

of a committee handling Earl's candidacy ; that his court

was " not in politics" and could manage its affairs without

the help of citizens ' committees. Earl called the judge "my

friend," attacked the judge's attackers, but denied that he

influenced the judge's actions .

In 1940, when the Attorney -General's office caught up with

this matter , it asked Judge Jones ' removal for " high crimes

and misdemeanors in office, incompetency, corruption , fa

voritism , extortion , oppression in office and gross miscon

duct." It charged him with soliciting and taking a $ 300

bribe to dismiss three suits against a country bank , after

having delayed decisions for a year to extort money ; with ob

taining a $ 1000 bribe for influencing a grand jury to return

374

a no -true bill in a manslaughter case ; with forcing the par ents of a man convicted in an assault case to give him a mortgage on their property in return for amelioration of sentence .

The judge was simple and direct in these instances, it was said. In one case, his intimate friend made the original sug gestion to the litigant; but the judge himself called the liti gant by telephone for an interview , at which the bribe was allegedly accepted . In another instance , the same intermedi ary was said to have cleared the way ; but the litigant was doubtful that he represented the judge. So, declared the At torney -General, the judge himself called at the agent's house to advise the hesitant one that it would be " safe " to deal with the agent, as the judge would " back him up . " The Attorney-General went into some of the circum stances surrounding the election for the Natchitoches judge

ship in 1936. Seeking re -election , Jones ran 165 votes behind

at the count, and the judicial committee was preparing to

meet for the promulgation of returns . If these followed the

original tabulation , Jones ' services on the bench would have

been ended . On the day before the committee's meeting,

the judge " induced several of his friends," according to the

Attorney-General , to file an injunction restraining the com

mittee from acting. Then , though he was the principal party

at interest, the judge declined to recuse himself and signed

an order preventing the promulgation . He also ordered all

election records seized and sequestered . The opponent filed

suit but for some reason withdrew from the contest, and

Jones remained .

Judge Jones was often in public wrangles with others over

money . The Attorney-General noted that a $ 194.18 judg

ment was rendered against him on a car for which he failed to pay. The machine was seized. But the judge " used his of

ficial position and official prestige " to compel the sheriff to

turn the car back to him " as custodian for said sheriff ." This itself was illegal, the Attorney-General contended . The judge also filed an injunction against the creditor and sheriff. Then, although he was the plaintiff, he, as judge , signed the petition granting himself a restraining order that prevented them from taking the car. Finally, he put the machine be yond execution of judgment by selling it ; and he never paid

the bill . A series of " hot " or " rubber check " cases was cited , in which the judge refused to meet obligations ranging from $2.15 to $743 over a period of years. The judge made "open and public boasts that his office put him in such a position that he could not be forced to pay any obligation that he might incur ; and that because of such position , no judgment against him could be enforced . " Involved were promissory notes on law books, part of the purchase price of a piano, ac counts for lumber, gasoline and lubricating oil . The record showed, finally, that out of 158 cases which had gone from

his court to the higher ones, His Honor had been overruled in one hundred and twenty . And all of North Louisiana re called the case in which the judge figured in a shooting . The grand jury of his court , however , returned a no-true bill . The dispute took place over a rent bill which the other man said he was trying to collect. Such was the Law West of the

Natchitoches .

Thus, in New Orleans, in Alexandria , in Lake Charles , in Natchitoches, and at other points about the state, the jurors waited. Evidence disappeared. Cases were prescribed. The

machine went ahead in its management of parish affairs and its electioneering, assured for the most part that there would be no awkward moments for it and its men , at least on the state front .

The independence of the Louisiana jury system rested on the case of Judge Platt and the rebel jurors of New Orleans. The Louisiana Supreme Court, after a protracted wait, ruled

at last — for Platt . The jurors had gone beyond their powers. If they had believed the district attorney or his staff guilty of criminal actions, they should have indicted them ; if they believed them guilty of malfeasance, they should have called the matter to the attention of the " proper authorities. " Juries , the court decided , had no right in Louisiana to seek outside counsel . The decision meant that hereafter the juries of the state were to be gagged when a district attorney or a judge wanted them gagged . The chief justice, dissenting, declared that the jurors had

been , at most, overzealous. " We must remember that Louisi. ana is in a new era, to which no one is accustomed . It is an

era in which there have been so many accusations of crimes of dishonesty in public office that it taxes the understanding and the patience , as well as the courage, of the grand juries

both state and Federal — to investigate all of the charges.

We cannot avoid the knowledge of this state of affairs, for it is commonly known and commented upon with the utmost publicity throughout the United States . The average citizen in Louisiana has heard more and has read more about grand juries in the last few months than he has ever before heard or read in his life." Another justice observed : " This ruling will fetter criminal procedure and hamper the administra

tion of justice in Louisiana." He was right, for the time being. The parish grand juries would be hobbled . But the fetters would not remain perma nently upon them . The jurors' flare -ups had taught Louisi ana , if the state had not known it previously , the kept status of another aspect of its government. Governor Earl Long, in the interim , was going about the 377

state and asking caution and freedom from hysteria : " haven't tried to scandalize a man , or make anybody a goat by singling him out . We're going about this quietly, decently, in an orderly , legal way — through the constituted legal au

thorities." Parish jury investigation , it appeared, was neither constituted nor legal for the duration of the war .

SOUR GRAPES OF WRATH

T hese were the days when the remaining great of the Louisiana earth walked in apprehension ; when to be an

official was to know that the shine of one's car or the new ness of one's suit was the subject of debate among the neigh bors as indication of a possible indictment ; when to erect a new home was to lay oneself open to a suspicion of having stolen the bricks , filched state lumber or requisitioned WPA workmen and foremen . These were the days, too , when the Mayor of Baton Rouge ordered newsboys not to hawk their

extras through residential areas at night. Too many persons were receiving bad starts and frights. A candidate for Governor told his audience : " Things have gotten so bad that when you drive your car out of Louisiana to the West, people spy your license and cry ' Fugi tive!' When you drive East, they yell ' Lock the doors!  To make matters worse for the state administration , the auditor of the Louisiana Prison Farm confessed one night that he had embezzled $ 53,000 of penitentiary funds over

two and a half years of the Leche regime . A state employee for ten years, he had gone straight until that time , he said. " It's contagious, " declared the opposition . Outside the state ,

a critic asked the nation : " If we forgave France her war debt, would she take Louisiana back ? " Federal grand juries were in operation in North Louisiana and in West Louisiana, finding subjects for indictment al

379

most as wide-ranged as those uncovered by the jury that functioned in New Orleans. In the history of the Federal Government, no investigation or group of investigations had

had so many aspects , or had required the services of so many agents of separate departments. With Rogge, the Depart ment of Justice had three to five assistant or special-assistant attorney -generals on the job. The Post Office Department shifted teams of experts from other states to concentrate

Southern efforts on Louisiana . Leading agents of the In ternal Revenue staff moved in and out of the state . The WPA investigative agency continued about a score of men between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and the national director visited the state . The Securities and Exchange Com mission and the Commodity Exchange officials conducted in quiries. The Public Works Administration had separate of

fices and separate agents fanning out from New Orleans . The United States Attorney-General's office at New Orleans as signed an assistant with a group of aides to make a special inquiry into the Charity Hospital mysteries. Ickes' hot -oil men worked for eight months in and about the oil fields

and in and out of state offices. Oil operators from practically every field came forward to lay bitter charges before the Ickes men and the Federal attorneys. The special Congressional committee inquiring into relief matters arrived and launched its own study . The anti-trust

division of the Department of Justice was considering action of its own . The Baton Rouge grand jury studied athletics, dairy operations , poultry sales and drug purchases. Another group of inquisitors found graft in purchases of fishhooks

and hogs at a state college. To make sure that no agency and

no charge would be omitted , Avoyelles Parish citizens made

accusations of " immorality in the National Youth Adminis

tration ."

If life in Louisiana had been unsettled on that day after " Doc " Smith disappeared , it was now in turmoil. Not the least affected was Society , in particular Official Society in

New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The First Lady of the Capi tal was doing no entertaining whatever, except for farmers on Four-H days, and then — the rustic Winn touch — these guests received buttermilk ; no highballs, not even beer. The First Lady of the Campus, only recently out of jail , had an nounced not even a tea. Other hostesses had their difficulties. One never knew when a party might not be wrecked by the day's indictment ; when a state's witness might show up, to glower across the table at a man on whom he had turned informer. And everybody had one subject on his mind, but was afraid to voice his thoughts in public for fear he might say the wrong thing. A wag put out an advertisement for his clothing store : " Leavenworth gray suits, Atlanta striped ties , Angola khaki flannels . " The display was not repeated . Protests made it clear that the prank had hit too close to home . Youths about

town went to the printer and ordered cards bearing " L.S.U. Football Schedules: L.S.U.-Angola State Prison , Thanksgiv ing ; L.S.U.-Sing -Sing, New Year's Day ; L.S.U.-Atlanta

Homecoming Game, Any Day Now . "

But there was no mirth in the situation for many who had gone to the state university, for the parents of students, for the farmers who looked on L.S.U. as their school. Smith and Leche were not the only men responsible ; what about

the board ? they asked. What was it doing when all of this

was happening? What kind of men were they that such a

parade of rackets had passed before them without their un derstanding? The answers were not hard to find . The ma

jority were jobholders, controlled , placed on the board for

that reason ; others included some in private capacities who

were usually equally manageable. The list took in heads of

the Highway Department, the State Penitentiary and other agencies; one of the Round Robineers whom Huey had made a judge; until recently, the attorney-general, Ellison ; legislators on the machine's reservation , including one with a well -paid additional state job ; the celebrated Justice John

B. Fournet, and , not least, an enthusiastic South Louisianian who once made an illuminating assertion : " Water's wet ; heat's hot ; two and two make four; and Huey Long is right." Over the state, alumni and other groups charged the board with " gross , wanton and perpetual negligence, " with efforts to whitewash when the debacle broke and with failure to take decisive steps at any time . A complete clean -out of the ad ministrators was demanded, with sweeping changes in staff and management. Again and again , the board was asked why

it had not taken the simple precaution of requiring effective audits, or of reading the minutes of preceding meetings, or of keeping a watch upon the whereabouts of its bonds. Others accused it of acts of commission as well as omission . It was noted that the board had voted the purchase and renting of

the Bienville Hotel to Charity Hospital in the face of rul ings by bond attorneys that such a project appeared illegal. " They did this ," exclaimed Tom Dutton , president of the

alumni , " knowing full well that the men involved in the deal were mixed up in graft and corruption and had been for years." The alumni council , declaring that any member

who had served with Smith should welcome a chance to get off the board , called for voluntary retirements. The board met , and gave out a crisp statement that the " best interests

of L.S.U." would be served if it remained . The opposition called this attitude arrogance. The Baton Rouge jury, in a special report, joined others calling for wholesale resigna tions ; its inquiries had shown that the board " failed and neg lected to attend to the affairs of L.S.U. to an amazing de

gree. ... This neglect and astounding indifference have contributed to the crimes and misconduct of the president

and staff . "

The board ordered the name and face of Former Governor Dick removed from more than thirty buildings on the cam pus on which they were displayed , and those of James Mon

roe Smith from whatever places Old Jingle Money had seen fit to imprint tokens of himself. This was no light assign ment. From the marble face of the replica of the United

States Supreme Court , the name of Leche had to be chiseled out ; and from another section a heavy bronze plaque bearing the likeness of the former executive had to be broken out . From nearly every pillar of the football stadium and the

baseball stadium , from three girls ' dormitories and from the cage of Mike the Tiger, other gubernatorial mementos were ripped . An inquiry disclosed that $ 9000 had been spent for plaques to memorialize the Governor. The source was the

" extra " items account on Leche Hall .

Earl Long announced that the state would not carry through its original plans for installing 145 additional Leche faces on bridges and along highways throughout the state .

These objects had been gathering dust for several months in a basement . They had been ordered by the Highway Commission and had arrived shortly after Governor Dick's retirement. They had cost $4645 ; now they were sold for junk , at $ 211 . Original cost, $ 32 each ; sale price , $ 1.47 .

Some were used for ashtrays, others for university forging operations. ( In the metal department, officials hastened to explain . ) A side note was the discovery that the manufac turer of the plaques was the company of L. P. Abernathy,

former highway commissioner and prominent indictee . In one instance, a Louisiana family did not wait for Earl to expunge evidences of Leche. Newspapers reported the in

cident . In a little town , one of the dental trailers which bore the name in imposing letters was parked before an office building. A man and his wife drove up, took out a rag and a bottle of chemical paint remover, rubbed away the offend ing letters, and then drove off without identifying them selves to an applauding crowd.

The university's National Youth Administration execu tive killed himself, and this New Deal organization ordered still another L.S.U. investigation. In New Orleans , a former

Federal revenue collector, who was Dr. Smith's adviser and who assisted a number of other scandal figures in these mat ters, also ended his life . In his cell at the Baton Rouge jail ,

awaiting further trials in the dozens before him , James Mon 384

roe Smith sent out for sherbet and bichloride of mercury, the latter to " cure some foot trouble ." At the last minute , the warden decided not to give him the bottle . A few days later Smith was found in his cell , one foot in a tub of warm water, an artery severed with a razor blade . Very weak , he

had almost succeeded in his attempt. He was taken by am bulance to the same hospital in which his patron , Huey, had died. Smith recovered.

In late November of 1939 , the former president settled matters with the state . He pleaded guilty to four " typical" charges out of the twenty -seven against him in Baton Rouge

Parish , and received a term of eight to twenty -four years. His Federal double-dip sentence of two and a half years was to be served later . In New Orleans , sixteen other charges were still pending . Now James Monroe Smith went to the State Prison Farm . He was well known to the officials. He had visited there as a special guest from time to time. Now

he donned the costume he had once worn to a masquerade, and cut cane on at least one occasion , when a photographer took his picture with the administration's approval .

The shifting scandal limelight moved to another part of the state , the largest hospital for the mentally ill , and to an other member of the official family — Cousin Wade Long, the general manager. This was the institution about which Huey in 1928 had drawn such pictures of callous neglect and suf fering of patients that his listeners cried . A series of charges broke out in late 1939 against the management. Months of delay followed ; finally the Attorney -General's office turned over a report of an investigation to the parish grand jury ; and then came more delay. At last , in 1940, shortly before the gubernatorial election , the jury issued a report but did not take positive action . The report declared that a transac

tion in which the institution had participated — the sale of a

plantation property to the wife of one of the board members

—bore " the earmarks of a conspiracy to defraud." The prop erty had originally been purchased for $ 25,000, but was sold for $ 5000 . Almost immediately , the purchaser disposed of the timber alone for $ 5000 , and retained possession of 1700 well drained acres and a 25 -room house . The sale, the jury com mented , justified a " charge that the manager, the board and all parties connected with the sale utterly disregarded the

principles of good management and failed to regard the trust imposed upon them , by law and the decency of good con science , to guard carefully and promote the welfare of the institution ." Records showed that shortly after the $ 5000 sale , the board members had distributed about $ 5000 in extra salaries and

bonuses. Board members had also increased considerably their own reimbursement for attendance at meetings. The jury questioned the large salary of $ 10,000 a year to Cousin

Wade; the sale of cattle, mules and farm equipment of the institution at non-public sales ; and it called for " further in quiry ." Earl said he would call together everybody , grand

jury , board and others, to " thresh out " the matter — after election . The institution clearly was not one of the " benefits " or services to which the state administration often referred . Despite Huey's promise that the forgotten insane would be remembered , their plight had gone from bad to considerably worse . No little stir resulted when it was disclosed that food expenditures went as low as nine cents per capita per day. Forty -one hundred patients were packed tightly into aged , dangerous, poorly protected buildings planned for 2500. Not a single new building had gone up in the dictatorship's twelve years . While the pay of the general manager was

lifted into the higher state brackets, the hospital dropped oc

cupational therapy, an essential for a modern institution of this type. About 3000 acres of farm properties and orchards had been permitted to deteriorate. Medical and nursing care were tragically inadequate ; a country doctor, without par

ticular training in mental ailments, was made superintend

ent . Nearly three years passed without the serving of fresh fruit to the patients. Ancient refrigerators would not pre serve food for more than two days ; dangers of spoilage were high . A twenty-year-old power plant had not been repaired

in twelve years .

A $ 315,000 golf course was disclosed one day as having dwindled into $ 315,000 of practically nothing. Here was a venture projected in coincidences , executed in the majestic

manner . Governor Dick , Abe Shushan and other eminentoes were ensconced along the Gold Coast when someone noted with regret that there was nary a green for miles around. Accordingly, the Conservation Department branched out as

sponsor of a golf course . Just what this had to do with con servation was not clear ; but the agency was developing a general park in the area , and it was argued that the links would work in admirably. The WPA approved an under taking to produce " the sportiest links in the South , " with twenty-seven holes, caddy house and club house and other facilities. The new conservation commissioner, succeeding Rankin , abandoned the sponsorship and the WPA threat ened to sue , but eventually did not. Newly sodded, de stumped and graded grounds deteriorated . Uncompleted buildings weathered in the rain . Discrepancies of at least

$ 85,000 appeared in the conservation accounts ; the Citizens ' Voluntary Committee subsequently noted peculiar incidents in handling of funds and payrolls, disappearance of invoices and canceled checks , monopolies to various individuals . This situation , like the preceding one, did not increase the

general respect. Worse, a North Louisiana Federal grand jury indicted the Speaker of the House of Representatives, his father, a judge; his brother, a state highway inspector; the secretary of the parish police jury ; a state senator and a North Louisiana mayor, for using the mails to defraud in an alleged racket which left the parish $ 40,000 in the red and themselves $ 20,000 or so richer . A highly ingenious little operation was set forth . Some of the group , it appeared , had purchased farm equipment from an Indianapolis concern for $ 38,500, as a private venture . They planned to rent it to farmers, but the farmers did not take to the idea . Then , the Government asserted , the group

went to the police jury, persuaded it to assume the debt, and obtained approval from Huey's State Bond and Tax

Board . Next, it was said , the men went to the Indianapolis concern with the word that their good offices would be neces sary to make any collections; and they persuaded it to em ploy one of the group to make collections — at fifty per cent. For a $ 38,500 debt , the firm would accept half its bill . In the name of the company, suit was filed against the police jury , asking that a new tax be levied to pay the judgment.

The defendants " corruptly, improperly and illegally " in

fluenced the jury not to file an answer, the grand jury charged , and the judgment was won . Next, said the indict ment, the police jury authorized issuance of bonds for $ 40, 000 ; the firm received $ 20,000 and the defendants about the same amount , and the parish had equipment that was a bur den on its hands.

The indictment had repercussions in the rural sections . Speaker Lorris Wimberly was a staunch Huey man , from Huey's earliest days; a voter against the impeachment on every count. He had gone on to the secretaryship of Huey's

" civil service commission ," which controlled all patronage. He had missed nomination as lieutenant-governor on the 1940 ticket by a narrow margin . Here , in any event, luck was with the machine.

When the farm equipment case went to court, a mistrial resulted, though one of the men had entered a plea of nolo contendere . Immediately afterward , charges of jury tamper ing were filed by the United States attorney's office against a close friend of Judge Wimberly . * All of the defendants ex

* As another aftermath to the case , Judge Wimberly himself and one of

the jurors were charged with contempt of court in connection with the

alleged jury tampering. The juror pleaded guilty . As to the judge, a verdict of guilty was rendered ; but the case is still pending.

Alice Lee Grosjean now suddenly returned to Louisiana,

after months of absence , and made a series of request ap pearances before Federal juries and state groups. Alice had been in California , where she saw her brother -in -law , E. L. Cord , the automobile manufacturer . From him she was re ported to have sought advice . She was known to be bitter toward some Louisianians. A Washington column declared her ready to tell " everything she knew " ; a chill ran down the spines of a number of the boys . Some said that Alice had taken other things besides luggage with her when she left the state : a collection of public or not-so -public docu ments, photostatic copies of records which had passed through her hands as revenue collector , supervisor of ac counts, secretary of state , Governor for a few days and , not least, private secretary to Huey . What she told or did not tell the jurors was not disclosed . But Alice was seen about

the executive mansion one day, engaged in " campaign work " for the Kingfish's brother .

Oil , " hot" or cold , was causing increasing concern . The machine's candidate for lieutenant -governor figured in some questionings not long after he was chosen . He was Harvey

Peltier of South Louisiana , floor leader of the Senate, a young man whose fortune had grown with his fame in the decade that began in 1929. His money did not come through drillings, but largely through the holding of state leases on

which oil was found.

By the record , Harvey was at least one of the luckiest of Louisiana men . He was almost always, it seemed , stumbling on ventures that thrived in tropical luxuriance . The lands

in which he obtained interest from the state practically in

B. L. Krebs of the Times Picayune noted that in one in

stance Harvey put out $ 1000 for his lease and stood to re ceive $ 150,000 in royalty payments. Here, as in other in stances, he purchased the original lease from the state or

from a man who had just acquired it from the state ; and then Harvey turned it over to another to drill . In a second instance, Harvey spent $ 500 and received $ 30,000, with in dications that the amount would increase over a period of

years into the future . Harvey, O. K. Allen and S. A. Guidry, a mutual friend, had begun joint mineral dealings in 1931 , the year before

" O.K." became Governor . The undertaking was an immedi ately lucrative one, and the continuation of the royalty pay ments may have induced a jovial relationship among the three men . Whether it was in token of this joviality or by simple exercise of public duty , Governor " O.K." in 1932 gave Mr. Guidry a lease for which the state received a pay ment of $ 500 . Shortly afterward , Mr. Guidry transferred a three -fourths interest to Harvey Peltier and another friend

for $ 1500. Out of this came several hundred thousand dol

lars of royalty returns. The transfer to Peltier was not dis

closed until four years later , when a document showing the

sale of interest was filed .

Harvey defended himself against all questionings. He had

succeeded only through " hard work, honest effort and dili

gent application ." Many of his friends had been " alarmed

that I had lost my mind in speculating so heavily ." The op

position retorted that Harvey's oil dealings did not sound

like speculation , but a sure thing, to them . Campaigners

391

Oil was bringing trouble for Maestri as well . He was

called before several grand juries, Federal and state, and asked about the excess shipments during his term as com missioner , and about his own dealings in oil during that

time and later. Particularly were the juries interested in his operations with William Helis, Greek-American multimil lionaire, who had discovered several fields in Louisiana and had become one of the richest men in the South as a conse quence. Helis was Maestri's partner in a company that had been

a major independent in South Louisiana . He went to Louis iana after a career of ups and downs in California , in Ten nessee , and in other states. He was a former dishwasher, an immigrant boy who had knocked about the country , follow ing a trail of oil . His Louisiana operations had made him rich almost immediately . He became an owner of mansions, of yachts, of great estates . He went to Hollywood; he went

to Greece as a guest of rulers and churchmen . He became his country's consul -general for the South ; he bought an El Greco for $ 25,000 after hearing of it through his friend , the Greek Ambassador, Dimitrios Sicilianos; he endowed churches and orphanages; a fossil was named after him by

geologists in Greece; King George II made him a Com mander of the Ancient Order of the Phoenix ; he figured in some highly charged lawsuits by former partners. Then in mid -July of 1939 he left Louisiana for the native country,

and apparently had no intention of returning in the near

future . It had been announced previously that the Greek government had granted him an " exclusive oil concession " for drilling in all parts of the country .

His attorney denied that Helis was " hiding out. " " Mr. Helis will return when his business affairs require his pres ence . It might be tomorrow , or it might be a year from now. But at present, his interests require him to be in Greece . "

The criticisms and questionings which Maestri had been spared by the elimination of the mayoralty campaign were upon him now in a form worse than he had ever expected .

Reports spread that he was planning to resign as a conse quence . He remained , but said little . The Citizens ' Volun tary Committee asked him to what extent he may have profited by hot oil run through his and Helis ' company; pointed out that the Conservation Commission records were still closed , and told him he owed it to the public to clarify the situation as to his own oil interests. " During all of these months, you have not given the facts in answer to repeated rumors that have been brought to your attention that you personally profited by your position as conservation com

missioner." Maestri, pressed for a reply , made laconic refer ence to Joseph Airey , chairman of the citizens ' group : " Mr. Airey isn't there ."

In New Orleans came a series of other disturbing inci

dents, one a hard blow. The election campaign brought the

sporting world of the wicked metropolis to attention , in

sometimes depressing fashion for the boys. With Mayor Bob

393

Maestri, the man who was no reformer, had come a new golden age for more than one element of the population .

Handbooks flourished as seldom before. New bowers of gaming thrived for the poor, the rich , the middle class. Lot tery prospered with the rest . National authorities have es

timated that the city's proportion of gambling devices in the present day exceeds that of any other American metropolis, North or South . A new semi-restricted district spread itself about the Vieux Carré, with the girls behind the iron lace work instead of the older crib shutters. During this period , the newspapers reported the growth of the handbooks in particular. On one occasion , it was noted that Mayor Bob could see a handbook in operation if he went to his win dow at City Hall and looked across the street; again , that the district attorney need not go to that effort, had only

to lift his head from his pillow at home to see another .

Affairs had become better organized down the line . That organization was nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in the relationship of the race track and the handbooks. The books were O.K. , boys—when racing wasn't on. And

then the books became suddenly illegal, and the police de veloped eyes. The bookie business was probably the biggest in the city to take so long an annual lay-off, three to four months a year. In the earlier days, police enforcement of the vacation had been somewhat less than markedly zealous; a raid here, a warning there, while occasional operators managed to make a little profit by exercise of discretion and an extra pay -off. A few days in the business and a raid

no

harm done , Joe . I'll watch it next time .

..

Dur

ing the second part of the dictatorship, however, matters changed. The bookies received firm warning : stay open at your own risk . It was a real risk . Police did not content themselves with an arrest or a padlocking. They " fixed it so

394

pari m-utuel

you won't operate again for a while. " They brought along axes , hatchets, sticks; they chopped up chairs, benches, tables, broke windows, ripped rugs. In one or two instances in the poorer city sections, in which living quarters adjoined the handbook place, the officers " fixed that up real nice , too ," tearing down furnishings, breaking up beds, cutting clothing

to shreds.

..

A month hence, it would be all right for

you

to operate, if you could fix up the place again .

Mayor Maestri's intimate friend , Placide Frigerio, had the largest bloc of stock in the Fair Grounds Race Track . The mayor's name had figured years earlier in the original negotiations. The Long organization had squeezed out a previous owner by raising his assessments to a prohibitive

level. He gave up, and soon the valuation was lower than before. In 1938 , some widely publicized charges were made in connection with the track operations. At the trial of the New York Tammany leader, Jimmy Hines , lieutenant of Arthur ( Dutch Schultz) Flegenheimer, testimony was offered

regarding a " fix " at the New Orleans track and a selected group of others. It was a scheme that was worked by the Dutch Schultz organization as a part of the Dutchman's

numbers racket in New York . The Schultz organization stood to lose millions if the " bad figures, " the often -played ones , came up. The pay -off

was

based on the last numerals of the

395

also by Dixie Davis , former " Kid Mouthpiece " of the Schultz

gang, and by Craig Thompson and Allen Raymond in their

Gang Rule in New York . The latter authorities commented

that , as a result of the operations at New Orleans and at the

other tracks, " The whole policy lottery became a gigantic

swindle in which hundreds of thousands of trusting bettors

were robbed ."

Jimmy Noe, campaigning in 1939 for Governor, stirred

the boys when he charged collusion among the city, the handbook operators and the Louisiana State Employment Service, an affiliate of the United States Employment Serv . ice. He produced records showing that employees of the handbooks were carried regularly on the unemployment in

surance rolls during the period when the track operated and the bookies had to shut down . As soon as the track closed , the bookies took on their workers again . Noe argued that " the mayor of the great city of New Orleans permits city

and state agencies to be abused and compels them to support

people engaging in illegal activities." A photostatic copy of an employers ' request for workers from the service described one organization as " pool hall , gambling." Under the space

for observation , the Employment Service representative had noted : " Dump, but has other places O.K." The employment official of one of the handbook syndicates was identified as a well-known Orleanian , a former tax expert for the Special Intelligence unit of the Department of Internal Revenue. Eventually, the Long -appointed manager of the Employ ment Service at New Orleans was indicted, with A. J. Fabacher, the handbook operator who had been mentioned

in the rebel grand jurors' hearing. The handbook man was

charged under the state gambling laws, the employment

officer with aiding in the operation of the handbooks. An

additional count against the state official was one of " falsi

fying public records with intent to defraud . " This was done, it was said , by sending representatives to private firms and private employment agencies on the pretext of checking names to eliminate duplications. Instead , the indictment declared , complete employment records would be obtained ,

and the state agency would list thousands of additional work ers as having obtained employment through its facilities. Thus, great cases were presented of the expanding work of the Employment Service , its efficient assistance to the work ing man , and also of improving conditions in this state of happy dictatorship .

Returning from one of his frequent trips to Washington, Rogge admitted that Louisiana was to get its " first big gam bling case " of the scandals. The grand jury took him at his

word . Against four Orleanians and two New Yorkers it brought the second -largest income-tax -evasion case in his tory, the largest ever to go to trial . It dug into the mysteries

of the slot machines and their sponsors . During two years of operation in the city , the jury charged , the machines had grossed $ 2,592,000, on which a tax of $ 529,000 was claimed . Only the Moe Annenberg case involved larger sums . The indictment revealed that Frankie Costello , one-time " slot machine king" of New York City , had assumed the same

role in New Orleans as an absentee monarch operating through a connection man , Philip ( Dandy Phil ) Kastel . But the name on the indictment that meant most to Louisiana was that of Jimmy Moran , friend and drinking companion of Huey Long, latterly an associate of Mayor Maestri. Jimmy

Moran was tied directly with the others in a variety of al leged dodges to defraud the Government by false reports, dummy partnerships and other devices.

397

tion of reasons, previously had seldom had the slots . They had thrived in the free -and -easy parishes on the outskirts, but not in the city proper. Then, in 1936 they had poured in , obviously well backed and well protected . They invaded restaurants, cafés, groceries, cigar stores, establishments that had never had the devices or any related to them in the past. For a time, in those days of peace after Huey, nothing had happened . But then the women's clubs and the minis

ters had started after Mayor Bob and the police superin tendent , and had threatened ouster action . Finally , reluc tantly, the slot men were ordered to move out .

But almost immediately their place was taken by other

instruments, pinballs, expensive and handsome, equipped with electric lights and trick gadgets. These games, too , clearly had official as well as popular support. The year 1939 saw the pinballs at their peak . Who were behind them ? The Government now answered that one , too . The new boys were , in large part at least , the old boys . Deputies of the Internal Revenue Office descended one day on bar

rooms , drugstores and other establishments, sealed the pin ball coin boxes and marked the machines : " Seized for the

account of the United States." This action was taken , it was explained , because " Dandy Phil" Kastel owed personal income taxes. Kastel, it was declared, owned forty per cent

of one of the two major pinball agencies of the city. Others

named as engaged in the pinball business were Jimmy Moran of New Orleans and most of those included in the slot in dictment . For one day the Government was in the pinball

business with the boys . At the end of that time , it unsealed the boxes , took out Phil's forty per cent , and found it had most of the $ 3500 which it claimed .

While the machine men squirmed , notice was called to the figure of Jimmy Moran . New Orleans knew Jimmy well .

Like his pal Huey, he could be called sui generis, a man without counterpart in New Orleans , in New York , in Zan zibar. He was a city pagan , a happy little primitive, who had survived circumstance and miscalculation through the years, to remain always clinging to the coat-tails of his chosen

great.

Once a barber, then a minor prize fighter and referee,

he had been Huey's confidant of the Singing Fool days. He

was born James Brocato, a product of downtown New Orleans . A devoted follower of Pal and Vic Moran , ring men of another day, he had chosen their name for his ; and when others referred to him by his earlier designation, he

lost his temper : " It's Moran — Moran — Moran l " Jimmy had been Huey's guide of an evening, at Jimmy's club during the Prohibition period and at other brassy establishments in which the Kingfish took his first plunge into the inviting waters of the city's night life . Jimmy spent week ends at

the mansion , was seen often around the Governor's office.

In 1930 , however, Jimmy met misfortune, and was sent to

Federal prison for a year as a second offender for violation

of the Prohibition law . Huey assured Jimmy that he and

the boys would take care of him on his return . They did .

Jimmy's connections had never been clearly defined , but

they were connections , and good ones .

Jimmy was now a salesman , by official explanation . He became closer to Maestri . Jimmy rode about the city with the mayor , went to prize fights with him , smiled when he was introduced as Colonel Moran , a title bestowed upon

him by the amiable Dick Leche. Jimmy had always been a clothes horse , astounding judges and others with exotic com binations of light blue suits, pink shirts and spats. With more cash on hand , he achieved his zenith as a tailor's dream .

Raiment became almost an obsession . A short, beetle -browed ,

bestomached fellow , Jimmy did all that modern civilization

made it possible to do to embellish his physical endowments. He bought fifty to sixty suits , scores of shirts , $ 2500 worth of the latter at one time ; he insisted on bench -made shoes, specially made hats, imported French handkerchiefs and

ties, and used nineteen pairs of spectacles, varicolored , vari patterned , each to match a double -breasted suit . He did not bother about glasses for his singles, possibly because he

had few singles. His sartorial advisers told him that the double was the thing for a man on the paunchy side . Jimmy had a full-scale dressing room that was his temple. It was cedar -lined, with full-length mirrors at one end to permit Jimmy to inspect the final result of his thrice-daily experimentations; with shoe racks that extended in two di rections , and tier on tier of clothes, ties , overcoats, suits. Partly clothed , Jimmy was a more staggering sight than in full attire . His tailor had instructions to provide shorts to match suits, undershirts in the general color theme plaid for a plaid , pale green for a pale green , blue dot for blue dot. Jimmy was determined never to be embarrassed if he had occasion to disrobe before a friend , or an enemy. Jimmy's suits were lined with a special Jimmy Moran silk . His shoes had special Jimmy Moran trees. No piece of in vestiture was ever lost to Jimmy because the finder did not know the owner. His full name was stitched into everything, shirts, shorts, trousers, coats . His car bore a plate of silver,

declaring it a special job for James Moran . Diamonds spelled out his full name on his watches and belt buckles. In the year before the scandals came upon Jimmy's friends, he had participated in a contest sponsored by business groups to find the best -dressed man in New Orleans . Jimmy came second . Mr. New Orleans , by popular vote , was Seymour Weiss . Jimmy could not be blamed for feeling that greater

political pull had been the only factor that permitted Sey mour to edge him out . According to the grapevine, Jimmy was disturbed only

once when the grand jury questioned him about the slot machines and his source of income . An inquisitive lout, with no conception of the cost of maintaining oneself in all matched splendor, wanted to know if it were true that Jimmy's raiment cost him almost $ 1000 . Jimmy quivered : " What I have in my clothes closet is worth more than $ 28 ,

000 , in case you're interested , mister !" This was the kind of low rating that hurt , as Alva Johnston related the incident . Dixie Davis was called to New Orleans for the trial, and arrived with Hope Dare, but the intrigued under-and upper worlds were not gratified by many glimpses of these person ages . At the last minute, they were not summoned . James A. Noe, too, was listed as a prospective witness, and the state speculated about that ; but he likewise was passed over at the

end.

The trial was a jumble of lurid stories of non -existent

individuals, created by joining the first name of a friend

to the last name of another; unexplained " business allow

ances " of $ 110,000 or so ; expansion of an original $ 15,000

by Costello and Kastel into a million and a quarter annual

business; the tale of a widow of one of the partners who

went to the safety deposit box after his death , only to find

an empty compartment instead of large quantities of cash

which she had reason to believe were there. (She had to con

tent herself with a 35 -foot yacht which no one had taken . )

Jimmy Moran received heavy payments of cash , part of

which went into bank accounts, part into safety deposit boxes. It was clear that Jimmy could have afforded even more suits and colored spectacles than he owned . But the moment of maximum impact came when the

Government offered a sworn statement that it was Kingfish Huey P. Long who had brought the slot machines to New Orleans ; that it was Huey's idea to make a deal with the

Eastern elements to cover the city with the " one-armed bandits. "

Costello , the czar of the slots, told a grand jury that Huey picked him to be " the lucky one " to install the machines

and run them : " I was invited to come to New Orleans , Louisiana, in the early part of 1935 , and got this proposi tion . ... I was invited by a man called Huey Long (He] asked me to put our machines there in Louisiana; he was going to pass some kind of ordinance for the poor, the

blind — a certain kind of relief, to get a certain percentage and we would have to pay so much per machine per year.

Well , about six or seven weeks later, I got Philip Kastel, which is my associate , to go down there and work the thing out. He went down there and he incorporated, and from

then on worked out the deal." Jimmy Moran took Phil around, while Phil surveyed New Orleans ' trade opportuni ties " his own way ." At the end, when the slots were driven

out by the clubwomen , it was Jimmy who took the sad offi cial word around. The case had been an almost impossible one to develop and present, because of the carefully preserved element of secrecy . The judge declared that he recognized " certain practical difficulties, " but that " the circumstances do not permit the court to relax the rigidity of the rules of a crim inal trial." Thereupon , he ordered a directed verdict of not guilty. But the trial had its effect. It focused attention on arrangements that had been made between the Long men and their quieter associates. It established a situation and a series of relationships. And it offered another aspect of the life and deeds of Huey P. Long, the country -boy apostle

402

of wealth -sharing, who had achieved much of his early re nown through his appeal to the rural Puritans against the city sin .

In the meantime , former Governor Dick had again fallen sadly afoul of the Federal law , thus completing a circuit of indictments in all sections . In Southwest Louisiana, jurors

had named him for use of the mails in working a racket with others to defraud the Highway Commission of $ 115,000 . With him were charged Abernathy, the former highway commissioner, and a truck dealer . Through Dick's help, trucks and other equipment had been purchased from the dealer without open bidding, for sixty per cent higher than they might have been obtained through the manufacturer

an arrangement which the state could have utilized. The contract involved a state sales tax of $5000, which the High way Commission paid out to the boys . Rogge had a descrip tion for this part of the project— " Tax paying in reverse !" A go-between in the matter was a man who was agent in Louisiana for twenty -five manufacturers of materials and equipment. He had failed in business in New Orleans, but , after going to Baton Rouge under Huey , he had moved into the $ 100,000 class . Ninety -five per cent of his business, he conceded , was with the state . He admitted that he shared an apartment with the highway commissioner for two years. Governor Dick , face to face with Rogge, admitted that he had earned about $ 450,000 in his three years as Governor , on a $ 75oo -a -year salary . His income-tax returns showed an increase from $ 14,000 in 1934 to $282,000 in 1938. Most of his money came from gas and oil commissions, all honest, he insisted . But Abernathy and the automobile dealer deserted Dick , pleaded guilty and testified against him . In this case , Rogge declared , " they not only stole big but they stole

little . They put cheaper bodies on some of the trucks, and they changed tires and rims to make it a better bargain ." The jury was out twenty -three minutes , and Dick received the stiffest sentence of any of the scandal figures to date

ten years. He had made history again , as the first Louisiana Governor to be convicted by a Federal jury .

HESE two

table !"

THE $ 500,000 IDEA

boys are being pilloried

on an

arithmetic

With this ringing pronouncement, E. E. Talbot, six -foot four former Tulane football captain , broke down before twelve bemused Federal jurors at New Orleans . He strug gled in his pocket, his eyes blinded by tears, and one of the dozen men handed him a mint. Sucking that , he revived ,

and went on to tell how Bobby and Norvin had been wronged by a fanatical Federal Government.

O. John Rogge had gone too far . A plebescite in the drawing rooms would have confirmed that statement. Every body knew Bobby. Everybody knew Norvin . They were cer tainly, sir, not the type to be indicted . Rogge had reached

into the upper classes — no Thelma Ford Smith nouveaux riches, but the authentic haut monde of New Orleans; and he had lost caste among some of the loudest of the genteel who had hailed him as the deliverer from the Long bar

barians.

Bobby Newman and Norvin Trent Harris were the lead ing bond investment team of the city. They were young men about town ; sportsmen , riders, party figures, the de

sirable type that combined the manners of gentlemen with a booming success in trade—not vulgar trade , but the re spectable business of securities . Bobby , though the younger, was the brains of the firm , the senior partner. Norvin was

the mixer, the gallant front man , the best bond salesman in Louisiana , and the handsomest, said the ladies . It was a combination that sometimes frightened the opposition . Bobby had a name that meant something in New Orleans; he was the son of a former city commissioner, a financier who had been connected with Huey's monopoly insurance organization, the Union Indemnity group . Norvin had a name that meant something in the South ; he was one of the Kentucky Harrises, schoolmate of Randolph Scott of the cinema , a former member of the Royal Canadian Air Force . Randy Scott and Cary Grant were particular friends of

Norvin's. They came to New Orleans . Norvin returned the calls and sometimes sold bonds to the better-grade movie investors. But here were Bobby and Norvin , in December of 1939 , with long prison terms threatening them . Rogge had chosen

to link them with , of all conceivable individuals, the Abe Shushan person . Norvin , Bobby, Abe and two others ( less glamorous respectables , merely prosperous) were charged

with a gouge of about a half-million dollars into the funds

of the commonwealth . It was high finance that had reached

basement level, said the Government, and set out to prove it .

The Levee Board , which looks after the system of dikes

that protects New Orleans from the Mississippi, was the beneficiary or the victim of Bobby, Norvin , Abe and the other two boys . The five had entered a quiet little contract

with the board to refinance its bonds. They assured the

world , now that the contract had come to light, that the

board would be the better for the refinancing over a period

of long years; that they had taken only a fair return for

wise advice and assistance . Rogge called it , with perhaps a

deplorable lack of vision , an act of piracy.

Here was one scandal case which had arisen not on the

initiative of official investigators, but through a citizens' movement that forced the matter to general attention , de spite vigorous efforts to suppress it , and later resulted in

governmental action .

The Bureau of Governmental Research of New Orleans was a private agency to which the machine's state and city officials had never taken a liking. It was primarily respon

sible for a series of unpleasant events that had culminated with Bobby's and Norvin's debut in their new roles . The bureau had an evil -minded young executive , Sherman S. Sheppard, who, like Rogge, held the sometimes unpopular concept that public finances call for public honesty. For nearly a full year, in 1938 and 1939 , he had annoyed Bobby and Norvin with hornetlike questioning, which a Newman and a Harris would ordinarily never have brooked . He sug gested that Bobby and Norvin would want, of course, to clear up this inference , clarify that impression which the face of the record indicated. Bobby and Norvin looked down their noses, frowned , gave curt answers , which gave Mr. Sheppard the answers that he needed . But finally Bobby and Norvin reached the point at which they would talk no more. The bureau was satisfied that it had gone as far as it could , but that it had put its finger on the heart of the mat

ter . It wrote the new chairman of the Levee Board that " There is every evidence that the contract was against the public interest , improperly interpreted as to the method of computing compensation to the company, and grossly waste ful of public funds." It urged the board to sue Bobby and Norvin, as " an inescapable moral and public obligation " to get back a large share of the money . New Orleans and the state, their taste for scandal well whetted , pricked up their ears . It was the first time many

had heard of this little item. The name " Levee Board " was

However, Bobby and Norvin never disclosed their other partners to the public , orally or in writing. They were ready, at first, to sit down and talk about the matter with

the new Levee Board ; and a session or two was called . But these broke up without result. Bobby and Norvin imported Eastern financial and legal experts for advice as it became clear that something was about to happen . The board re tained a special attorney to file civil suit . Abe Shushan , be

cause of general reports on the subject , was " earnestly" re quested by the agency which had not long ago showered honors upon him as president , to attend a meeting and dis

cuss the matter with it . Abe did not bother to answer . Then Rogge and the grand jury cracked down .

For days, the five boys now followed Rogge's presentation . First came the records of the Levee Board , telling of a meet

The plan was this : Newman , Harris and Company would study all of the board's bonds, and would bring out sub stitute issues for whichever it thought advisable, seeking

lower rates and shorter terms of years . The firm would get nothing unless the board got something. In that case , it would receive twenty -five per cent of " savings and gains. " To fulfill legal requirements, Newman, Harris and Com pany would agree not to bid for the bonds. But this would not be known to the other bond houses; and the prospect

of this extra competition from Bobby and Norvin would help the board get better prices. At that first meeting, J. Andy Thomas , then the chairman pro tempore, observed that he had been called by Governor Dick about the proposition . Governor Dick thought well of it ; it would be all right for the board to enter it . A few questions were raised . Had there ever been such a plan , to anybody's recollection , one member wanted to know? The answer was in the negative. The board's attorney considered the contract a proper one . Andy Thomas eventually ex

409

pressed the view that the board had " everything to gain and nothing to lose."

Herbert W. Waguespack , chairman of the board's finance committee, was a quick advocate. The board , he noted , had been criticized for its high bond rates . It needed the advice of trained men ; here was its chance . It was Mr. Waguespack

who put the motion , and the idea was approved at the orig inal meeting. No information was asked, none provided , as to the exact manner in which Bobby and Norvin were to compute their profits.

Three months later, Bobby and Norvin sent a letter as

they prepared to float the first new bond issue. They let

the board know that they expected to get their twenty -five

per cent in cash as each issue appeared , and that they ex

pected it on the basis of all future interest savings to the

board, in whatever year those would occur . The board did

not meet on this occasion ; a secretary read or briefed the

subject by telephone , and again no questions were brought

up .

During the next year or so, millions in bonds were re

financed , in three issues . Bobby and Norvin estimated a

saving of $ 2,000,000 to the board , of which Bobby and

Norvin received a gross of about $ 500,000 . Whenever the

matter came up at board meetings, Finance Chairman

Waguespack took a leading part in the discussions, usually

presenting the motion to approve the successive steps. Bobby

and Norvin went to each of the bond sales with bid blanks and their own checks in hand , waving them airily, looking on with the sharp interest of a prospective bidder . They

did not, however, actually compete.

in the proceedings, and Rogge and the grand jury had dug back . First of all , Rogge was questioning the contract and the way Bobby and Norvin received their share of the money. As it turned out , the Rogge men claimed, the board obtained practically nothing, in fact may have lost money from Bobby's and Norvin's dealings with it . Critics estimated that the boys had taken just about every penny of the board's

gains over the years.

The board's " true savings" were described as far less than the $ 2,000,000 set forth — actually somewhere between $550, 000 and $ 700,000 . Bobby and Norvin might properly have

claimed a percentage for reduction of the interest rates on the bonds, it was conceded . But they had also taken twenty five per cent for everything that the board might receive

by the process of shortening the maturities. As the Bureau

of Governmental Research declared, the reduction in inter est rates called for knowledge of the market and skill in investment. But the shortening of the terms of the bonds

" required no special skill or even a favorable market. All that was necessary was an earlier use of public money for the retirement of the bonds." By the simple procedure of speeding up the rate at which the Levee Board was putting

out its money , Bobby and Norvin had received the biggest part of their twenty -five per cent .

Thus, it was contended, when Bobby and Norvin received their $ 500,000 in cash and at once, they took all of the board's real profit.

The contract, declared the Bureau of Governmental Re search , was " remarkable in its general terms and its vague ness on vital points . " No definition was attempted of " the most vital point of all," the question of " savings and gains." Only three months later had that come forth . Bobby and Norvin were given powers to determine the dates for the issues, the terms, interest rates and other aspects of the mat ter, allowed to " write their own ticket . . . virtually to dic tate the terms of the bonds. " If the company recommended a refunding operation but the board did not agree to it , Bobby and Norvin would get twenty -five per cent of what might have been " saved " had the new bonds been floated ! As to the board's sprint-speed action in the matter , the bureau commented : " It is almost inconceivable that any public board could accept so important, far-reaching a con tract with the slight group consideration noted in its min

utes ."

Also, Government witnesses declared that it would be 1962 before the board might find its finances improved, as a result of the firm's consumption of its cash on hand . The

reduction in lifetime of the bonds had been achieved largely by providing much heavier retirement payments in the first few years . And that provision , as a matter of fact, was re sponsible for an immediate condition of near -havoc in the board's finances. Since the boys' operations , the board had

faced deficits of $500,000 in one year and $375,000 in an other, and had been forced to raise its tax rate to the legal limit. Even with this extra money , the board faced a major

financial crisis in 1940-41.

Then Rogge leaped with joy to the heart of his subject what had happened once the money reached Bobby and Norvin . About $ 100,000 went for expenses, forfeits and re

funds, and the rest in this fashion : a full third, $ 132,000 , to

Abraham L. Shushan ; $99,000 each , or twenty -five per cent each , to Bobby and Norvin ; $46,000 to Herbert Wagues pack , chairman of the finance committee of the Levee Board, and $ 19,000 to one Henry Miller , an accountant friend of Waguespack . An additional $ 12,000 — and here the friends

of Bobby and Norvin had their worst start —went from Bobby and Norvin to an employee of the Levee Board , to act as a " spy and informer" for the well -bred boys, to tip

them off about the board's business. This man had since

died, but , said Rogge, Bobby and Norvin had admitted em

ploying him .

Mr. Waguespack came of a family distinguished in earlier

Louisiana history. His grandfather had been a Supreme

Court Justice, his father a United States Attorney. Herbert

was an attorney who had been named to the Levee Board

under the earlier phases of the dictatorship . Among his con

tributions to the board's affairs had been that of making the motion which christened the municipal airport with the lustrous name of Shushan . Miller was a minor pillar of New

Orleans society, past president of the American Certified

413

Public Accountants' Society, past president of the state so ciety, former president of the Young Men's Business Club, member of the Loyola University athletic council and mem ber of the Loyola accounting faculty.

Mr. Waguespack, sworn to look after the board's interest and named by fellow members particularly to watch the finances, had been bribed to betray it and the state , said

Rogge. Bobby and Norvin had entered a backstairs part

nership with Shushan , under a " fraudulent , fictitious and false " scheme . Miller , like Emory Adams or Louie LeSage of the hotel double dip , was the " little cover -up man ," used to hide the payments to Waguespack . Bobby and Norvin ,

though large men in their own right, had served partly to

cover up Abe's part . (Had Abe's presence been sniffed at any point about the premises, everybody would have been sure something was wrong. ) Bobby and Norvin had received

all the money. Then they had split to Abe , who split to Miller, who split to Waguespack . As Rogge outlined it, it

was an exercise in Art and in Craft .

To hide Abe's connections, and those of Waguespack and

" Little" Miller, precautions had been elaboration itself. The

New Orleans banks were to be used as little as possible.

Eventual payments to the trio were generally by cashier's

checks or by cash , often far outside the state . Sometimes the

method was so roundabout as to arouse questions among the

bankers , and had to be revised . Almost always Waguespack,

the Levee Board member, received cash from Miller , whose

payments by Newman , Harris were usually difficult to trace

--and whose original source of payment, in turn ( the Levee

Board) , was even more difficult to find . Most important, the

checks were taken on a sightseeing trip around the country.

One example told the story . The Levee Board instructed

the successful bond firms to split their payments into two parts, one of which represented Bobby's and Norvin's twenty five per cent of all future interest reductions , although , of course , outside companies could not have known for what purpose this check to the Levee Board's account was in tended . Receiving the 25 -per -cent check , the board then in dorsed it to Newman , Harris and Company, and turned it over to Bobby and Norvin . Thus there was nothing readily

available in the board's accounts to show that Bobby and Norvin had received the check . In this case the amount was for $ 235,000 . Bobby and Norvin did not cash it in New Orleans ; they mailed it to a New York bank and requested that institution to issue two checks against the larger one , $ 36,000 to Miller and $ 73,000 to Shushan . The bank de clined , " for lack of identification and authority." Bobby and Norvin advised it to send the $ 235,000 check , instead , to a bank in Chicago. Chicago accepted what New York refused . Bobby and Norvin then advised the Chicago bank that they wished to withdraw $ 110,000 from the account—the total of the amounts that were now desired for Shushan and Miller . A check for $ 110,000 was accordingly sent from Chi cago to New York — to yet another institution and then to

the institution that had first turned down the boys . Out of the $ 110,000 , Bobby and Norvin now withdrew two checks, one for Shushan , the other for Miller . To clinch his point, Rogge thrust several checks at a wit ness : " Is there anything to show that they came from New man and Harris to Shushan ? " " No." Into the record Rogge introduced a telegram to Governor

Dick Leche, from the records of Huey's " state bond and tax board ." It declared : " please Have Sent Resolution Con Cerning STATE BOND AND TAX BOARD AT ONCE. THANKS . ABE .

415

With a glance of scorn at the uncouth Middle -Westerner, the defense told its story , a story of the conception, birth , adolescence and maturity of an idea—a legitimate brain child but one with many fathers, product of a cross-fertiliz

ing process to which Abe , Bobby, Norvin , Herbert Wagues pack and Henry Miller contributed . Modestly, each gave the

others credit for part parentage.

Miller the accountant explained that he was the first man on the scene . He received what might be termed the orig inal mood from yet another . A fellow accountant of another city had suggested to him , back in 1935 , that perhaps the

Dock Board's bonds , or those of some other Louisiana agency , could be refinanced in an improved market. Noth ing came of this , but the notion stuck in Miller's mind . At

the Association of Commerce and other places about town ,

he heard that the Levee Board's interest rates were very high . Why not try out something there ? He added two modifications of his own . The first was a guaranty of one

per cent to the board , in the event that the new premium did not exceed the redemption premium . The second was the 25 -per-cent contingent fee .

Miller thirty. Why did Waguespack take the larger share when the plan was Miller's ? Oh , that was the " usual ar rangement " when lawyers and accountants entered agree ments. It was the basis on which the two friends usually worked ; and Waguespack, being somewhat better off, was

to take seventy per cent of the liabilities , if any. The collabo ration had entered a broader phase than that of legal guid ance from Waguespack .

Did Miller ask Waguespack if Waguespack had a right to take part? Yes . Waguespack took down a Louisiana law book and cited a provision prohibiting members from main taining an interest in levee building; that was the only re striction . Miller had a pertinent observation : " In fact, it is common knowledge in Louisiana that members of public

boards who serve without compensation usually expect and do usually receive a certain amount of business from their boards to compensate them for their loss of time." Rogge replied : " I suggest that the fact that a public servant serves without pay does not give him the right to loot the public purse. "

Despite his familiarity with such matters, Abe had never

had an idea of this kind . He liked it thoroughly, so thor oughly that he took it from Miller, in toto . And now Abe made an addition of his own : It would be much better to bring an established bond house into the deal. Let Miller stand aside. Abe would handle everything with the bond

Eventually Abe had Bobby and Norvin in , and the chain was complete : Levee Board to Bobby and Norvin . Bobby

and Norvin to Abe . Abe to Miller . Miller to Waguespack . But here was an important point or two : Miller at no time told Abe that Waguespack was Miller's partner. Yes , he knew that Abe knew Waguespack , had served with him on

the board , had a mutual interest in its affairs. But somehow the matter had never come up. And Bobby and Norvin , though they dealt oftener with Waguespack than with any one else in the matter , had no knowledge whatever that Waguespack was getting a piece of what they earned in the transaction with which all were associated . Waguespack , the finance chairman and partner to Miller, took up the saga. At first, when Miller came to him , he thought the idea illegal; but then he recalled that bond attorneys had only recently ruled against a somewhat re

lated proposal by another firm , declaring that if it bid on the bonds the firm would have an unfair margin . It was then that he proposed his little thought — that the firm re frain from bidding . Rogge pounded a question at him : As a matter of fact, hadn't he himself called Miller to suggest the whole thing, telling him about that previous proposal and suggesting a modification by which Miller might get a contract in this way ? He had not , said Waguespack, al

though he might have mentioned the other matter, of course.

Waguespack was sure that he had a legal right not only to maintain an interest in the financing, but also to vote on the contract . If he was so clear about it , why did he keep his connection secret from Shushan ? " No lawyer goes about

disclosing his clients . " Did he send Miller to Shushan? He did not ; he left everything to Miller. Yes , he had known Shushan had an interest, through Miller . Yes, he may have seen Shushan from time to time , but he had not brought

up the matter. Did Waguespack tell the other board mem bers of his own interest in the deal ? No. Why not? They were his friends, and he " wanted them to consider the prop osition on its own merits. " Otherwise , they might have been inclined to favor it unduly . Yes, he saw Bobby and Norvin often during the refinancing, called at their offices in fact.

But he did not mention his financial interest in their con

tract .

Waguespack admitted having made a trip to New York

with Miller , when one of the largest of the checks arrived . Miller cashed it there and paid Waguespack his part in cash . But no , that was not the reason for the trip . They

had gone to Washington on income tax matters, and had continued on to New York only because they had other work there . The cashing of the check was purely incidental,

purely coincidental . Why payment in cash ? That was his usual way ; he had always liked to keep his money in safety deposit boxes. Also , he and Miller wanted to make sure

that the bankers and other brokers did not learn of the Newman-Harris contract . Mr. Waguespack was ingratiating, plausible, all-reasonable .

Abe was a witness who talked back , who informed Attor ney Viosca that he had been asked the same questions be fore, told him that some of them were not as important as

419

Viosca thought. Abe had " not the slightest reason to believe that Waguespack had any connection . " He did not bring any influence on Waguespack ; no, sir . Newman and Harris had asked that he " talk to " members of the board , but he had told them " definitely " that he would not. The picture of a Newman and a Harris asking a Shushan to do some

thing unethical , and receiving a rejection from Abe , was an

amusing one ; and New Orleans grinned in appreciation.

As to that telegram to Leche , Abe admitted sending it . Bobby had mentioned a resolution that required approval by the State Bond and Tax Board, of which the Governor

was a member, and had asked Abe to " see if he could get it ." That was all . He did not urge Leche to bring pressure

for the project; he did not even see Leche about it . Before Leche's election , he and Leche had been " very intimate friends , " Abe admitted . " But afterward , I didn't see as much

of him as you did here , Mr. Viosca." " Then you never talked with him about the deal?" " No, I never saw him then ."

" Wasn't he surprised to get a telegram from you , when you hadn't seen him in so long, or discussed the matter with him ?" " No, he never once mentioned the telegram ." " Oh , so you did see him since then ?" " Yes, but it was afterward ." Abe, like so many others in these matters, was surprised

at the size of his profit. " I had no idea it would be so large. ..." Why was his name left out of everything, the contract with the board included ? " I was a silent partner . There was nothing unusual in that." Now as to the payment of $ 12,000 to the spy ... Abe's attitude here was not one of lofty moral values , as it had been in the case of the pro posed pressure upon the board . Bobby and Norvin had asked him to " suggest someone" who could provide infor

mation about bond dealers who called at the board offices.

Could not the secretary have given this information , if it were legitimate , to a firm which had a contract ? The infor mation , Abe replied , was used only to " protect the board's interests." But would the secretary not have been in a better position to provide it than an informer ? Abe was annoyed . " You are making a tremendous thing out of this matter, when there was really nothing to it. I don't think Newman and Harris should have been ashamed of the employment." Abe, however , had to admit that he did not like the amount —not at all . It had cut down his share in the profits. It was

too much to pay. Last came Bobby. As with LeSage in the hotel double dip, the defense did not risk one of the defendants. The hag gard Norvin Harris had difficulty in restraining himself as the case neared its climax . Abe cried quietly as Bobby told his tale . Bobby and Norvin had been at lunch at New Or leans ' leading oyster bar when Abe went to their table . He could put them next to some good bond business, if they would give him his share . A few letters were exchanged , but only later did Abe tell of the unique part of the idea , which " made it legal " ; i.e. , that the two boys could not bid . Why was Abe taken in as a full partner ? Would the firm not have preferred to assume the full financing, for a fuller share in the profits? And just what did Abe do in the scheme for his fifty per cent? Bobby informed the Government that it was the custom for bonding organizations to have others partici pate in profits and losses ; even the Chase National did that . Shushan's part was the idea , which he passed on . Had the firm not thought it worth something, Abe would not have

received a penny . But Bobby gave Abe the lie as regarded one aspect of the subject . Bobby had not asked Abe to talk with the board

members. " I certainly don't recollect that." As to that tele gram to Leche, Bobby " may have told Mr. Shushan about it ,

complaining of the delay in getting a copy ." But , like Abe , Bobby wanted it known that this was one of those " unim portant details." The Government seemed disturbed over

routine practices among business men .

Differing again with Abe, he had to admit that he had " al ways been ashamed " of his employment of the spy. Origi nally no payment had been agreed upon , but the man had in

sisted that a large amount was due him . " It wasn't a par ticularly pleasant conversation ," although Bobby did not re recall that the man made " threats of exposure . " When Abe heard of the payment , he " kicked like the bloody mischief,"

but finally agreed to it .

Bobby brought a towering chart into court, took a ruler and lectured the jury . In kindly fashion , the rich man's son who had made good explained to the clerks and petty mer chants that he realized the matter was complicated , but would do his best to make it clear for them . " There is no magic here." He had had the board's best interest in mind at all times . The firm , as a matter of fact, could have re funded all of the board's bonds at once and advanced the maturity date of each and every one , under its contract , if it wished . ( Rogge had brought out this same fact as an argument that the contract was an imposition which gave Bobby and Norvin limitless powers .) The Government's " present-worth theory" was a professor's concept; that was

all , Bobby insisted .

fraud. Young men in their enthusiasm make mistakes. All

of us would like to do differently in almost every instance."

The matter of the spy was " a mistake in judgment, not a

subject of criminal intent ... absolutely disjointed, discon

nected with the case ." Rogge had termed the one per cent guaranty " cheap window dressing." Mr. Talbot rose to his

full height : " This may be cheap window dressing to Mr. Rogge, the New Deal representative sent down from Wash ington , where they throw millions away ..." And he wanted " Hawkshaw Rogge, the Great Detective , to know

that it is not a crime to be a former member of the Levee

Board . "

Waguespack's attorney termed his client's opinion as to the

legality of his participation , " if a mistake, then one of judg

ment, not of heart." Waguespack was a " small-town lawyer ;

even the head of the legal department of the United States

makes mistakes. " Hugh Wilkinson of the tax racket inquiries

appeared on behalf of Abe Shushan , as he had in Abe's

previous trial in 1935. " This indictment was born of ulterior

motives , conceived in hypocrisy—nothing but conjecture , in

nuendo and inference drawn upon inference." He asked :

" Are you going to send these men to prison on the suspicions of Mr. Rogge?" He noted , in closing, that the Government had failed to call Leche .

They didn't have the gall to put all of it in one document; they didn't dare to disclose until later the way the fee was to be computed . Newman and Harris should have given the advice free, and bid with others for the business . But they wanted a sharp contract, and they got it . " Regarding Leche , " Somebody approached him and asked him to recommend the project. There's no question about that . It must have

been either Shushan or Newman , either one. The Govern ment didn't call Leche deliberately. I don't care what Leche said. He'd get up and say that ..." The defense objections

drowned this out . But Rogge managed to note that the de fense had not called Leche either, when it might have used him in an attempt to refute the Government's claims. Viosca, closing, asked a question : " Gentlemen , how can you possibly believe them ? "

The jury could not . Each was found guilty, and each re

ceived a sentence of two and a half years . Colonel Abe, who ,

like Colonel Seymour Weiss , " couldn't be caught," was added

to the Government's list . The man who had escaped once

was caught the second time . And Bobby and Norvin were

to become the first social members of the parade of con

victed .

The Louisiana art of bilking a public agency reached its

full fruition with this case. There probably has never been

a steal like it in American financial-political history . It was a

theft against the future — forty years to come. The gougers

had dredged up funds that had not been there , then quietly

shoveled them away for their own . The incident is the tech

nical guide par excellence for those who desire lessons in the

combination of a dictatorship's protection with the purposes

of business favoritism . Huey had made his contribution to

the methodology of undermining democratic forms. Here

424

his followers demonstrated how to cash in most effectively. The Levee Board gouge would have been impossible had not the dictatorship of Huey prepared the way, and the milder continuation of that dictatorship provided its co operation. The State Bond and Tax Board, the agency which gave its approval, was created under Huey, its records kept secret on orders of Huey. And under the dictatorship, a measure was adopted to permit the Levee Board to refund its bonds " for economy purposes ." The case had repercussions. The Louisiana State Uni versity board disclosed that Abe , whose business was dry goods, had received contracts with the college as a " supply

agent " for firms that handled materials in much different classifications. It cancelled one which had been entered under Jingle Money Smith , on the grounds that full notice had not been given, that open bidding had not been fol lowed, and that the university would have paid considerably less had Abe not been favored. In another trial it was brought out that Abe represented an equipment company

which had done business with the university. Another firm sued the Charity Hospital board to prevent execution of a contract for sterilizer equipment . It declared that Abe was

the agent in this instance , too ; that his firm had submitted an illegal bid which did not meet requirements, and that

at one point the board had excluded it but admitted Abe's organization to a conference that was followed by the award ing of the work .

The municipal airport was de-named . Abe had often been

quoted as boasting that it would cost $ 50,000 to $ 100,000 to

take the Shushan tokens off the place . He had immortalized

himself in steel , concrete , granite, chromium , tin , rubber and

practically every other material available in the South . Where the space was too small for the name, Abe had used his

425

initial . There were " S's " on all doors, including the lava

tory, on lamp posts, in letters in the terrazzo floors, on the sides of buildings, in the pavement surrounding the struc tures, and in the floral patterns. From the air, passengers

might appreciate that this was Shushan Airport before they realized they were in New Orleans .

One board member shook his head : " We haven't the kind of money it would take to get Abe off everything. " As a re sult, Abe was removed only in part, as finances made possible. In late 1940, he was still being chipped off, ground, pried and pulled out. Some asserted that it might have been better to

tear the airport down and start from scratch . A patriotic or ganization adopted a resolution suggesting that the simplest plan would be to leave the " S's " and retitle the place after some historical character whose name began with that letter .

It was hardly likely that such a man would be indicted at this late date .

OUISIANIANS liquor ;

XVIII CAMPAIGN A LA MARDI GRAS

have learned to take their politics like their

with a strong stomach for the raw stuff, and

with infinite zest and curiosity for bizarre combinations. Since the first day on which Kingfish Huey splashed about, the state's campaigns have been things apart : rowdy, violent, holding to no rules of reticence , taste or regard for strict truth . But the hostilities of 1939-40 , as they approached their con

clusion, were unparalleled even for Louisiana : an amalgam of deceit, garish abuse and helter-skelter comedy. It was not only the loudest and the funniest, but also the longest cam

paign in the state's history. It began when James Monroe Smith and Richard W. Leche left office simultaneously, and it continued a month longer than scheduled — or eight months

over all .

derriere of a savior is just as hilarious as the knifing of a

villain , isn't it? None of the candidates chose issues . These were settled for them , out of hand , by the rushing events of that sweating

summer and harassed fall. The issues were , in more or less related combination , the witches' brew of corruptions, their depth and scope, with especial reference to the remaining figures of the Long machine , to Huey Long himself, to Bob

Maestri and his role in the state's past , present and future ; the relation of Earl Long to Former Governor Dick , to Huey and to Maestri ; and the raging question as to whether any one or all of the candidates was, or had been , or might be expected to show himself to be, a thief. At one period, the essential qualification was an ability to demonstrate that the aspirant had not been indicted and seemed not likely to be .

One or two of the major candidates took the rostrum on several occasions in a fret that the next courier might bring word that a grand jury had done what it threatened . The dic

tatorship, taking no chances , bridged over a dangerous phase by qualifying what amounted to a " second team , " a full addi tional set of candidates . It would not let Rogge and Murphy catch it without reserve material . For a time , it appeared that " every man a candidate"

would be the order of the campaign. Sixteen or more an nounced . One of the aspirants was an automobile sales man who paraded inside a sandwich sign , and, to emphasize

that he would clean up the state, carried a broom . Another leaped up on a platform to disclose his candidacy, then and there, as John P. ( Huey P. Long ) Short . Thus he wrote it ; thus it must be written . He had a plan to keep governors honest : a fifty per cent pension for any chief executive who managed to finish his term without arrest or impeachment. Others proposed handsome annuities as inducements to keep

The number who would be Governor slowly dwindled to seven : Earl Long, Sam Jones, the attorney who had been proposed as a " Seabury investigator "; Jimmy Noe , the oil and gas man ; James Morrison , attorney -organizer for the strawberry farmers; A. P. Tugwell, the state treasurer ; Vin

cent Moseley, a Harvard graduate and World War aviator , who did not hope to win but ran because he liked to use pins to pop stuffed shirts ; and , most exotic of all , " Couzain

Dud " LeBlanc, South Louisiana mercurio -politico , once de

feated by O. K. Allen for Governor , who competed again be

cause he had " decided that the state needs an honest man and I must make the sacrifice . " In later stages, " Couzain Dud " proposed that he be taken on as Jones' lieutenant-governor, so that he could " watch " Jones if elected . Otherwise, he threatened to defeat him . But he eventually went over to Jones . Tugwell, after some early yeoman's work against the

machine, ran only for re -election as treasurer . That left five,

who stuck to the unhappy final moments.

All of the other four were against Earl Long. But each , too, was against each of the others . It was a battle royal , no holds barred ; the only rule, no hitting below the groin .

Earl's position was one of towering difficulties. He could not condone the boys about Former Governor Dick ; but

neither could he attack them too strongly, because he would be striking at some of his important backers . His definitive word on Leche came when he asked an audience how many

had voted for Dick four years earlier . Nearly all hands went up . " You see," said Earl . " You're just as much to blame as I

429

am . " Always, he insisted that he had had no part in the cor ruptions, that a lieutenant-governor was practically as im portant as the silver figure on a radiator cap . To which an opponent replied: " Earl was either aware of what was going

on , and therefore part of it — or he was too stupid to know about it , and too stupid to be Governor . " At one point, Earl declared that he was no fool, that he could have had his , were he not made of finer stuff . The opposition had a field day over that. So he had known , had he?

John Chase the cartoonist showed a fly -specked burlesque

hall . On the stage, singing close harmony, were eight or nine

mountainous knocked about alley yeggs, dressed in angels' garb, wearing patches " double dips , " " hot oil," " L.S.U.

chiseling," " dee ducts ." At the piano sat Professor Earl. Signs were plastered about: " Vote For Honest Earl; He Ain't Like Us Burglars." And Earl , his hands busy at the keys,

told the reader: " I just work here . I eat out." In point of

fact, nothing of a criminal nature was ever discovered against

Earl Long during the scandal period. Grand juries investi gated his affairs on many occasions; angrily, he cried that " they'd of indicted me if I'd spit on the sidewalk . " The opposition sometimes granted that Earl had been kept to the side by the boys when they thronged about the trough . " You didn't have a chance to take anything, " Noe once jibed at

Earl. " You were just a little fellow ."

The issue of Huey and Earl, which had lost the machine thousands of votes even in the Leche landslide , was an ever more irksome one. Earl told with tears of his loving-though

vitriolic relations with Brother. His spat with Huey was something he would always regret. " I didn't agree with Huey on everything, " he told one audience . From the crowd, a little weather -beaten wealth -sharer snapped : " Well, we did ."

It spoiled the evening.

Nevertheless , said Earl , he was now ready to carry on for Huey, continuing the benefits, extending them here and there ; and he made remarks that indicated an intention to

revive share -the-wealth . This was not calculated to sit well with Washington , which did not like the name of Long in any event. To Earl's remarks on the subject Tugwell cried : " Earl Long posing as a leader of the Huey Long people ! That's like Judas Iscariot running on the platform of Jesus

Christ . " Sam Jones declared : " Earl says he believes in the principles of Huey Long and O. K. Allen, but both of them said he wasn't fit even to be lieutenant-governor."

Noe could declare that he had told Louisiana so , years before, predicting everything that had happened. He had discerned the corruption at its head and had offered meas ures to prevent it , he said , by repealing many of the dictator ship laws . At the same time , he was still " one hundred per cent for Huey , " and while he attacked Earl, Dick, Abe and

Bob , he told his audiences : " I wish poor old Huey were here tonight to see this crowd ." The Louisiana Association for Clean Government declared : " The people of Louisiana want

to destroy the machine . Jimmy Noe wants to take it over and run it for himself. That's the difference ."

Morrison was pictured by the Progress as " The Monkey

Man , Bull Ape of the Jungle , " who hung by his tail from a

tree and gave interviews through an interpreter . LeBlanc

was painted as a frantic fellow who operated an alleged " coffin club " for Negroes; who was, in the cartoons, forever the object of a chase by two hungry squirrels. Moseley, " a Harvard -bred socialite , " was " a voice in the woods, whose actual existence has not yet been proved " ; he was drawn as a little man the size of a half-used lead pencil. Tugwell, who had withdrawn for Governor, then announced again , then withdrawn , was a tousle -haired Louisiana version of an In

dian fakir, in loin cloth , twisted like a rope, and telling his listeners that he " didn't know whether he's coming or go ing."

Noe needed , and received , special attention from the ma chine men . For two years, he had gone about the state, recog nized by many as the leading oppositionist. About him he

had gathered many of the boiling-point Huey advocates. To the Progress he was a brother who had turned on his family, a man without a political country. " Huey's ghost" pointed a finger of guilt at the quivering Noe in a cartoon that showed

Jimmy hobnobbing with one of Huey's enemies. Earl de clared that Noe carried an onion to help him cry about Huey ; Noe , he insisted , had known Huey only a few years. He, Earl, had known Huey all his life .

Noe had the ill luck to figure in an indictment during the campaign , though he was not charged . Two conservation employees were accused of accepting bribes from two firms,

in one of which Noe was a partner. The offense was ap

proval of illegal " acidizing " of wells , to increase the flow a practice which may be harmful to sound conservation , but unobjectionable if controlled . The two men charged that

Noe had " squealed to save his own skin ," had gone to the grand jury with the story to escape action , after having in

duced them to take bribes . Noe replied that the payments were not bribes, but shakedowns. Here was meat for the Progress, which chewed it for the rest of the campaign . Noe was pictured as a fat mother, carrying one baby, " Shake

down ," showering attention on him, while a twin, " Bribe," sought vainly to rejoin the family after having been locked out. Noe was seen tossing " Bribe " out of a balloon or seek

ing to drown him , but always denying the relationship ; yet " Bribe" always lived and pursued. An onlooker in one car toon commented : " It seems sort of a miracle for a woman

to have twins and be the mother of only one." A friend replied: " The grand jury has decided it is quite possible."

But for Jones the organization saved its best . Earl pre dicted the candidacy in advance , telling of a meeting of " the lords of the state , the great interests, getting behind a cor poration lawyer , one of their kind , to break down what Huey

has done." The Progress depicted a gathering of monocled , be-spatted nincompoops , " the fancy pants gang." Convening

in an exclusive Vieux Carré restaurant, these sad creatures

ate " nightingales' tongues, shrimp a la oulala and filet de truite a la Polish Corridor ." It was a common -folks' cartoon , and a highly effective one .

Jones was a successful small city lawyer. Like Earl and Huey, he had left the rural areas as a younger man . Now, at forty -two , he was a partner in one of the best-known firms of Southwest Louisiana, a former state Legion president, a quiet, uncomplex fellow who was a moderate liberal. He did not have a third of Huey's color , but in the matter of simple

character he was considerably above most of the state's recent

governors. He had a good manner ; he was an effective speaker; he had strong Legion support; he was not too promi. nently identified with past oppositionists; he had a record for honesty. The administration was properly disturbed .

A variety of forces united on Jones . Some were what Earl called them in his quieter moments : well -to -do men who did not want to face the problem of another Long, the continua

tion of a regime that had toned down in some ways , only to

become worse in others. Other Jones supporters were busi ness men, small and middlesized , who wanted to end a sys tem of shakedowns, tax racketeering and other abuses. Still others were progressives, seeing in the Long machine a sym

bol of Fascist methods and aims which held only the prospect

433

of further depredations for Louisiana, perhaps some day of another foray on the national scene. And to Jones' banner went others who were genuinely shocked and scornful of the scandals that had been revealed, who picked him as the man

most likely to set up a system that would end these abuses. Some of this group included country elements which had once turned to Huey, but which were now sadly disillusioned by his successors . Three men led the backers who brought Jones into the campaign: a sugar planter , descendant of a

former governor; a young attorney , son of a leading corpora

tion lawyer of New Orleans, but a disciple of Thomas Cor coran of the New Deal ; and an automobile agent who had ideas about administrative efficiency and a touch of Roose

velt in his philosophy. At Jones, Earl tossed two deadly charges: he smelled sweet, and he slept in pajamas. " He's High Hat Sam , the High Society Kid , the High -Kicking, High and Mighty Snide Sam , the guy that pumps perfume under his arms," declared Earl and his Progress, and then went on to less elegant descrip tions. The city slickers of the Boston Club were quoted : " If we can foist him on the people , we'll have twenty more floats for Mardi Gras . " Jones ' " annual personal budget" of $ 150 , 000 was itemized , " a new suit every week , $ 100 each , $5200 every year ; a new pair of silk B.V.D.s daily , $ 10 each , $3650 a year (never wears the same drawers twice ) ; heliotrope ciga rettes at $ 25 per carton ; a watchman to turn his dogs over in their sleep , $ 1200 a year . " He was " related to Queen Eliza beth and Louie the Fourteenth ."

more than a triple dipper; words don't go high enough for him . " The machine quoted a circular of Huey's : " Be on guard for these corporation rascals , people ! They are trying

to keep you from having reduced licenses; they are trying to keep you from the right to vote without paying poll taxes. Do not sell to hell . Stand up for right . "

During most of the campaign , Jones stepped to the front of the platform with a well-worn felt hat on his head , to show that he was " not the high hat that the ' un -American Progress' pictured me. " That publication , he said , ran his picture one week with a fake diamond painted into his tie . The next week it was gone. " That gang steals even from photographs." As to corporations, he declared that he had represented

farmers and labor groups, corporations of all types and sizes ,

including one organized by farmers. He " read the record " on the machine in that regard, cited corporation ties of Harvey Peltier, the oil-speculator candidate for lieutenant

governor; highlighted the ever -close relations of railroad presidents and others with Huey and his followers, charged the machine with wholesale frauds in tax exemptions to cor porations, assessment reductions and similar favors. Jones made a distinction between Huey and the Leches,

Earl Longs, Maestris and others. As a liberal, he said, he favored homestead exemption, better farm roads, free school books, better hospitals, income taxes, the greater services that Huey Long had given Louisiana. The clock could not be turned back ; these were advances in which Louisiana had joined , sometimes led, other American states . But he at tacked the dictatorship and its denials of rights, the removal of the checks and balances of the American system . He tilted at the demonstrated corruption of the machine, charged that $ 75,000,000 to $ 100,000,000 had been stolen from the state , and pledged his administration to recover every available

dollar and " throw every thief in jail." He pointed to closed

records and secret audits such as that made into L.S.U.'s af fairs under Leche a year before it was revealed ; to the hob bling of home rule, the laws that forced acquiescence under the shadow of the lash . Then he offered " benefits" of his own : three -dollar license plates, removal of the sales tax, liberalization of welfare assistance, greater aid to the schools. It was an imposing list . Earl Long charged that Jones was " fooling people by say

ing he'll give all those things when he knows he can't . He's

nothing but a demagogue." Here was a curious charge from a Long. Here , too , was another sign of the times . A drop from the levels of public services established by Huey Long

will be difficult for some time at least in Louisiana . No candidate can promise much less , with hope of election . No administration can provide much less, if it has hope of its own future . Jones presented , too , a number of specific platforms which proved highly popular to Louisiana : a complete reorganiza

tion of the state governmental structure , something which Huey had promised twelve years earlier ; a civil service sys tem , a new financial accounting so that the public would

have full information for the first time on state finances; reformed election laws; opening of the closed payrolls ; an end to the dee ducts ; reform of the state grand jury system ; removal of the Governor's power over the militia . Though Earl Long's energies were concerned largely with defense of his friends and former friends, he offered benefits

of his own . Huey's homestead law called for tax exemption on individual homes up to a $ 2000 figure. The treasury had never been able to provide more than $ 1000 exemption . Earl

looked into the state books and announced that he would raise it to $ 2000 . (" The first Governor to make good a cam

paign pledge before the election ," sighed the Progress .) The opposition declared that the exemption was governed by statutory regulations; that sufficient funds had accumulated

to make possible the increase, no matter who was Governor.

Earl then made a gift to the school children . Huey had pro

vided free books; Dick , papers, pencils and erasers . Earl gave

free hot lunches . He borrowed $ 250,000 and announced that

the lunches would be permanent . Opponents, calling this

vote-bait at a cheap figure, claimed that the money would

last only through the election period in most parishes .

Over the campaign was the incubus of Huey and his meth ods. Most of the candidates used Huey's oratorical tactics, his jokes as well ; retained his platforms, worked hard to be " sec

ond Hueys." Many have pondered the effect on Louisiana youth of the object lessons in demagogy which Huey held forth so vividly . A striking example was James Morrison , the

strawberry organizer. He came of a distinguished family, of

former wealth and present prestige. He was a nephew of Admiral Hobson of Spanish -American War fame, descendant of a revolutionary colonel and a United States chief justice . He had gone to Tulane University , the school Huey detested , and at fraternity parties he had amused his friends with a " Senator Jim " act, a slap-dash imitation of Huey, stamping, windmilling, talking about skunks and country preachers. Home again , he put to serious use the technique he had

adopted first with a grin .

In this campaign , at the age of thirty-two , he developed into the most riproaring, greased -lightning candidate of them all . He published a journal , the Farmers' Friend , which for a time went further than even the Progress in uninhibited libel . He became the prime phrasemaker and name caller . Noe was James A. Affidavit Noe-Noe Nanette. Leche was Richard (Give Me a Yacht) Leche. Seymour was Seizemore

437

Weiss. Judge Platt of grand-jury renown became Melonhead Platt or , more simply , Jughead. The most complimentary

name applied to Robert S. Maestri was Robert Sneaker

Maestri. Over the excess oil operations Morrison was particu

larly restful: " Maestri -Hitler in ' Hot Oil Combine" his

newspaper informed the world , and went on to describe a " Russia -Berlin -Maestri Axis ," asserting that Maestri had " helped Hitler prepare for war by fueling the planes of his killers." Earl Long wore a dunce cap in Morrison's publica tion ; a dog collar was about his neck , and Maestri held the chain . The Governor ( " The Earl of Thievery " ) told the readers : " Anything Bob says is what I mean . " Morrison called unindicted men outright racketeers, con nected them with white slavery and the dope traffic . He hit his height when he blazoned that one major official " will be

indicted , " gave the day on which the jury would act , and offered details . The indictment did not materialize . He cir culated little " rhymes and riddles about the racketeers."

Monte Hart and Walking Stick .

But Morrison's major contribution to Louisiana politics to date has been his union of a campaign with a New Or leans Mardi Gras . He concocted a carnival of his own , Mor rison's " Convict Parade, " and sent it about the state . The farmers built the floats and acted roles upon them . It was a

hilarious , outrageous performance. By name , with huge pla cards on their backs, the machine men were pictured in

graphic action . Weiss , Smith , Shushan and others — among them men not charged officially with any crime — were seen

in stripes , cutting cane on the prison farm . A man in convict

garb , Leche ( with a pillow at his front to denote girth) , was seen climbing up toward a judge's bench . Just as he reached it , a man labeled Morrison would lasso him and drag him back . This was a continuous performance, enjoyed by all who had the desire to lasso Leche themselves . " King Maestri of the Underworld " sat tight on the top of the conservation books, on the next float. On another , the boys were por trayed in a huge barrel of " hot oil," screaming as they

boiled . Thin men marched with fat ones ; the former were the Louisiana politicos before they took office, the latter the same after eating at the trough. One float, titled " The Boat the Farmers Did not Give Leche, " carried a broken canoe in which sat a striped figure, again Dick . Morrison

went to New Orleans and beat Rex, King of Carnival, at his own game. He drew 100,000 persons to Canal , the main street , for what some called the biggest political meeting in

the history of the state .

Morrison promised that he would build a special new structure at the prison farm for the Leche politicians, and " shove them in so deep they'll have to pipe sunlight to them . " He carried a monkey and introduced it as " Earl Long, " then made formal apology to the monkey . The real Earl replied

by declaring that the animal was a relative of Morrison's;

that one man had shaken hands with it , and given Morrison

a peanut. The monkey went berserk . Morrison said that it had been called Earl too often . The Progress offered a mes sage from monkey to public : " Regarding my late separation from Mr. Morrison , I wish to state it was purely a domestic affair. . . . After election , we are going away together on a long trip . "

439

Because of the nationwide interest in the election , the American Institute of Public Opinion made a survey of the scene; and it expressed marked surprise at the result. Sixty

per cent of the voters, the sampling indicated , thought that recent elections had been dishonest. Only twenty-five per cent believed them honest ; fifteen had no opinion . " In all its years of polling experience, the institute had never encountered such an amazing political situation . . . The Gallup interviewers " ran into almost as much 'resist

ance' as they might face in a dictatorship. People were guarded in their replies for fear of reprisals and coercion . Time and again , both in New Orleans and in upstate Lou isiana, investigators found doors narrowed to slits or slammed shut as soon as the interviewer disclosed his purpose . Fear of expressing an opinion on state politics was more common in

the

The poll indicated that a great percentage of Louisiana's voters had lost faith in the administration ; but they felt that they would not be allowed to vote it out . In a discussion , the • Gallup and Rae : The Pulse of Democracy (Simon & Schuster ; 1940.

In an honest count, the samplings indicated , Jones and Long would be almost tied ; a runoff was indicated ; and in

such an event, it appeared that the reform candidate would win. The campaign speeded up from that point. Mid -January of 1940 approached . The anti -administration field was split ; Gallup poll or no Gallup poll , things looked well for the machine. In a runoff, would Noe , the former machine man,

throw his votes against his former colleagues, to a man whom the machine pictured as anathema to all who loved Huey? And would Noe's followers, many of them followers of Huey, go in that direction even if ordered ? The machine pumped forth every resource for an all -out battle . Hundreds of thou sands of dollars had been hoarded from dee ducts and other

sources . Extra jobs were added, new deadheads given places. The rat problem in New Orleans unexpectedly became a sub ject of enlightened concern for the state , and hordes of new catchers were added to the Board of Health rolls . Every wel fare client in the state received a " windfall" . check of three dollars. Long addressed a mass meeting and casually let slip

the word that the Dock Board superintendent had hundreds of new jobs available at once , because port business had been so good.

The Jones, Noe and other opposition forces were active and hopeful. But indications grew that the machine planned an election -day blitzkrieg, the use of every known ballot thieving device, every subterfuge inside and outside the

counting place . The old system was back , whereby the candi

dates and not the machine directly named the polling-booth

commissioners. But most of the Jones and many of the Noe

men were political amateurs . The machine maintained con

trol of the election supervisors, final arbiters in disputes of

the day . In New Orleans , the ever -efficient Old Regular city organization remained allied with the state machine , and the polling -booth situation appeared well in hand . The opposition went to Rogge with charges of intimida

tion and bribery of its men by the Long side , and Rogge came through in a way that many had dared not hope for. He gave out formal statements that , although the election was a state primary, the Federal Government had a legitimate concern in the many reports of pending frauds and thieveries, and

would act if it learned of a single irregularity. He noted sev eral ways in which the Government might take jurisdiction , among them his favorite , mail fraud. By state law , returns had to go by mail from the parishes to Baton Rouge. Let any fraud occur , and he would get the boys in that fashion . Also , the Government might claim authority under the civil rights section of the Federal Criminal Code , dating back to Reconstruction times . The opposition adopted a slogan : " Not 'Remember the Maine , ' but ' Remember the Mails.' " The machine men thought of sending the returns by auto mobile to forestall Rogge and his stamp tracing; but Eugene Stanley, the former district attorney in New Orleans , now supported by both Jones and Noe for attorney-general, ob served that the law specifically required mailing . For the

first time in years, it appeared that vote theft might be risky.

The antis prepared for election day as seldom before.

" Schools " were held, with experienced lecturers to point out ways of averting the more obvious thefts . Dirty Work at Dawn, or Tricks at the Polls was a booklet to provide further guidance against some of the variegated devices and refine

ments. Instructors advised commissioners to take a friend or two on their trips to the polls , in order to avert sluggings on the way ; to reject drinks, even of water ; to take flashlights in case electric power failed by accident, and to study spe

Election day was violent and bloody, particularly in New Orleans. A new word gained currency , as " election goons" surrounded some of the polls and kept out those they dis

liked ; ranged the city , beating up or threatening women as well as men, and performing general utility work. Special rackets were worked in some cases . In New Orleans , voting booths are open at the top . One was beneath a low -hanging

gallery. Men and women sat above , watched how an individ

ual ballot was marked, and pressed a buzzer to let the boys inside know when to spoil a wrong one. A Jones photog rapher tried to take a picture of the scene . Long men broke

his jaw while, he said , a policeman held and kicked him .

As expected by most, Long came first in the counting, Jones second , Noe third . Morrison , despite the tremendous crowds for his parades, received only a small vote . Long did not have a majority; the combined anti-administration vote was larger than his . A second primary would be held if Jones wished to contest Long's lead. But that depended on Noe. If

he threw his votes to Long, that would end the matter . If he threw them to Jones, it meant a fight, and perhaps a close one . Noe maintained silence . Would his long fight against the Leche element now be called off, for a union with his former friends ? Or would he join Jones against those he accused of repudiating Huey ? For a second time , Noe found himself edged out of what had seemed like the certainty of a

gubernatorial term . First, the Leche -Maestri -Weiss group had stood in his way ; now Jones had done the same thing.

surcease from " destructive politics. " The Old Regulars wanted a new era of construction , not harmful dissension . Maestri appealed to Jones to step down , telling him he could not win . Noe was wooed in both directions. Earl Long charged that Noe spent three hours in a conference with Maestri, and that Noe asked $ 150,000 to come out for Long. Noe replied that this was a slight error; that he had been offered $300,000 , but had turned it down . "We wouldn't give that guy three dollars. He ain't worth it, " said the King fish's brother. Mrs. Huey Long was reported pressed into service to plead with Noe . Finally Noe came out for Jones, declaring that they were fighting for the same things. The forces were combined , with promise of an equal job split. * • In October of 1940 , after the gubernatorial election , Senator Noe was indicted with Seymour Weiss , major figure of the machine faction which Noe opposed , for evasion of Federal income taxes in connection with the " Win

or Lose Oil Corporation ." Political opponents said that it "never lost." It was formed during the last year of Huey's life , and its profits came early and often . The indictment charged that the Kingfish himself, or his estate, was

the direct beneficiary of a concealed split . Secret divisions were ascribed to Huey, Alice Lee Grosjean , O. K. Allen and others. The Shreveport Times,

an opponent of Noe's, declared that the history of Win or Lose was " an ex traordinary story of wealth building on a foundation of political influence and $ 200 cash . " Noe received a favorable mineral lease without payment from Governor Allen , it was declared . He disposed of part of the holdings at once for "most favorable terms " to Texas firms, then formed Win or Lose and transferred twenty of the leased holdings to other corporations for $ 320,000

cash . The lease was so worded that Noe was not required to drill if he did not wish to do so , the newspaper noted . Win or Lose was an operating company only . In one year , the corporation showed receipts of $ 347,000.

In November of 1940 , Seymour Weiss pleaded guilty to the Win or Lose charges, involving $ 32,000 in his case ; the Leche-Burford -Weiss " hot oil" case , involving mail fraud of $ 67,500 ; a personal income-tax case involving $ 35,000, and a charge of conspiracy with LeSage, " little man " of the hotel double dip , to evade payment in income taxes. He received sentences to run concurrently, covering a maximum of four years.

Also late in 1940 , Monte Hart , facing a staggering array of state and Fed .

eral charges, went to his cypress -paneled den , placed a gun in his mouth and fired a shot that blew off the top of his head . Before him was a printed Elbert Hubbard quotation : " Never explain . Your friends don't require it ,

and your enemies don't believe you , anyway. "

444

The last weeks were at hand, the climax of the rampaging eight months . The Federal Government made good its prom ise of action in election-day irregularities. The grand jury handed down several indictments , under both the mail -fraud

and civil -liberty statutes , in connection with the first primary . These cases , still pending, may establish important new juris prudence in election matters . The charges were blows to the machine , clear warnings of more that might come. The ma chine men quickly took umbrage . In Washington , Senator Ellender launched a series of assertions that Rogge had in

vaded a primary to take sides, in violation of the principle of States' Rights . The Citizens ' Voluntary Committee wired Attorney -General Murphy that Ellender " did not voice the sentiments of the decent , law-abiding citizens of Louisiana . Louisiana needs you and Mr. Rogge as it never needed any

Senator Claude Pepper of Florida, echoing Ellender , asked : " Do we admit to the world that democracy in America has so broken down that a sovereign state cannot conduct its own election ? . . . If a people want their state government bad, then it is their privilege to have that kind of govern

ment." The Washington Post replied that genuine believers

in States ' Rights should welcome Federal authorities when

their aid is needed to " restore the rights which corrupt state

regimes deny them ; the most certain way to destroy popular

regard for the doctrine is to invoke it as a means of perpetu ating intolerable conditions in communities where local gov ernment has ceased to function as a responsible agent of the people ." Ironic was this appeal to States ' Rights by a regime which had destroyed practically all local rights at home. Critics of Ellender and Pepper cited the Gallup findings and

the belief that unless dishonesty were eliminated at the Louisiana polls, it would not matter what kind of officials the Sovereign State of Louisiana favored ; the machine would count itself in .

The machine simultaneously introduced the race issue . A Negro newspaper appeared with a tribute to Rogge and his staff as liberators of the dark men of the state . Thousands of

extra copies were circulated . Ellender displayed the publica tion when he returned to the state to take the stump, and he and others held forth a picture of pending race riots, at tempts to vote the Negro and repetition of Reconstruction conditions. At one meeting, the attention of a crowd was

called to a group of bedraggled Negroes on the fringe, with a question as to whether the audience wanted " them " to vote and run the state . Here was the lowest appeal of the Southern

politician. Inquiry disclosed that the material had been in serted in the Negro journal for cash by outsiders, and that the machine had arranged for special reprints, with added comment .

In New Orleans, a district court had turned down the Citi zens' Voluntary Committee in its attempt to see the mooted Conservation Department books, but the appeals court up held it . The state appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisi

ana. By ordinary procedure, that body would have ruled be

fore the second primary. But, by the customary political di

vision of four to three , it granted writs for a further review ; which meant , in clearer language, no decision until after

election day, and the clamping down of the lid until that

time . The Louisiana Association for Clean Government

passed judgment on the state's highest court : " This is clearly a stall . The public has once more been cheated out of its rights by another branch of the machine."

For months the Federal " hot oil " investigators had been at work , without striking results. Louisiana knew that Maestri

was under questioning by various grand juries on oil opera tions . But little information came forth from any source . Now, with the election ten days or so off, strong reports

spread that another fix had been maneuvered in Washington ,

a Third Louisiana Purchase . Ellender's visits to the White House were no secret. One day Rogge was called out of the Federal grand jury room to the telephone. Murphy " sug gested " to him that it would not look well to indict addi

tional political figures as an election approached. Opinions

have differed as to the strength of the " suggestion ." The jury was then considering evidence in a case involving Maes tri and the Greek-American oil man , Helis. Its members did not receive enthusiastically the word that Rogge brought

them . Indications were that Rogge himself did not like it. He went back to Washington , argued with Murphy, and ap peared satisfied that he could go ahead " if he thought he

had a good case ." Further indictments came, but none against Maestri. A day or so later, Murphy telephoned to ask if he had "returned those indictments." Rogge's answer was that he had decided that the law would not back up an airtight case against Maestri and Helis . The Third Purchase stories grew in volume. Demands were exerted by citizens' and other groups ; would Rogge deny the general impres sion , would he clarify the situation ? Conferences followed, in New Orleans and Washington , and , on the eve of the

second primary, Rogge and Viosca issued a joint statement which was one of the sensations of the scandals , one of the most controversial acts of the period.

The statement told why the Government had not in dicted Maestri and his partner Helis. A flood of 3,111,000 barrels of " excess " oil had been permitted to flow from a

single Louisiana field in less than two years by a group of firms including that of Maestri and Helis , it was asserted . Maestri had earned $ 1,157,000 from the oil business while

conservation commissioner during part of this time, and later while mayor. The oil was produced over and above al lowable orders for the field , orders which were " generally

disregarded " by the company.

Under the Connally Act, as previously noted , any oil is

contraband which is produced in excess of quotas set by state

authorities. But, the statement declared, Maestri and Rankin

as conservation commissioners had failed to follow the Lou isiana law itself in issuing orders for the field . Their orders had two fundamental defects. They fixed amounts for the field but failed to set allowables for each well in the field ; also , hearings had not been held, with notice to all inter ested parties in advance . Maestri and Rankin had " disre garded the mandatory provisions of the statutes of Louisi ana. . . . The foregoing reasons are the only reasons for

449

the failure of the Federal grand jury to proceed with respect to the alleged violations of the Connally Act. ..." Eventually, a fuller story came to light of the oil opera

tions of this period . Between 1934 and 1939 , when the state's rich oil production reached new heights , an estimated 12 , 000,000 to 13,000,000 barrels of excess or " hot" oil were pro

duced, their value at least $ 12,000,000 . About half the flow had taken place in a year and eight months of Maestri's regime as commissioner ; the other half in the three years of Rankin's . A variety of methods was used to " straighten out " or " legalize " the flow . Sometimes allowables were set for companies as well as for fields, and both were exceeded .

" Special orders" were utilized , as in the Burford -Leche-Sey mour Weiss case, to permit favored producers to step up their flow , usually unknown to others whose property was drained . Such permits covered short periods, long periods,

indefinite periods . Despite the fixing of a maximum monthly allowable for a field , a handful of additional orders might be handed down within a few days, to allow two or three com

panies in the field to produce , each , more than the allowable for the whole field . Some particularly " special" monthly orders might be granted as late as the twenty -fifth of the month , giving subse quent approval to oil that had already been produced in large quantities . In one month , in one field , a number of firms produced more than four times the authorized amount. Blanket orders declared that all oil produced by a firm over a past period was legal, or that oil to be produced in future for an unlimited period would likewise be within the law, although exceeding the published figures.

servation commissioner set limits for his company's produc tion , then " looked the other way" when Maestri the oil man exceeded them . An illuminating memorandum from Dr. Shaw , the late proration director , indicated that these prac tices did not start only after the death of Huey Long, or go on as matters apart from the Kingfish's comprehension. This

note, from Shaw to Maestri , declared that a firm had over

produced in two fields and underproduced in six , and added : " Senator Long authorized me to permit the Texas Company to produce these fields as a unit ; in other words , if they overproduced in one and underproduced in another, it would be okay , provided they did not exceed their total al

lowable . Under these instructions, if their reports are cor rect, I find that they are not overproducing ." However, one provision of the state law declared that each field must have

its own allowable, and remain within that allowable . The potentialities of the lumping method are almost unlimited .

The statement on the Maestri-Helis operations had its ef fect throughout Louisiana. Some have felt that it was a final factor in tipping the delicately balanced scales in the direc tion in which they finally inclined. ...

Election day came at last. The Noe-Jones forces formed a " Jackson Brigade " to " defend the polls the way Jackson's men defended New Orleans." Earl Long, in Huey's manner, ordered the National Guard mobilized, to remain on call " for anything that might arise . " As in the great era of the Kingfish , the threat of martial law hung over an election. Louisiana was grim that Tuesday, February 20, 1940, when it went to the polls. An era unprecedented in the American

story was reaching its climax . For the first time in twelve years, a statewide movement had gathered strong force against the dictatorship. A chapter in political violence was to be ended , or given a new start.

Louisiana's electorate stood up that day against vote theft,

the weight of vote buying, the appeal of the benefits, and the force of habit. They did not know everything about Sam Jones, the man who was offering himself in place , not so

much of another man , as of a regime and a system . They knew that regime and that system . They thought back over a decade and more that had seen bloodshed , a flaming cru sade and its deflection ; the bribing of other elected divisions of the state government by a central authority, the purchase, by and large , of the electorate itself; and a flashing, rip roaring pageant withal. Huey's poor whites in the hills , the small-town folk who had flocked to his side and the city followers who had ar rived last , considered the factors, balanced them and made up their minds. On one hand, they could count the progress

that had been achieved ; but they could mark off, also , the losses that had gone with the period: the fitting of the lives of two million men, women and children into the pat

tern of totalitarianism , the extension of personal power dur ing the life of the dictator, the continuation of group control and the same pattern after his death ; and the inevitable

abuses of power during both periods. They chose the harder way . They had tried dictatorship , American style, and found it wanting. The decision was, by the records, a close one . Only 19,000 votes separated the can didates. Many are certain that the margin was much broader, that tens of thousands of ballots were stolen . Whatever the

explanation , there is not much doubt that it represented the verdict of a majority of Louisianians, arrived at despite ob stacles and hindrances. Sam Jones , the machine's opponent, won in the country parishes, the areas of Huey's hill men and the other original believers in his doctrine . Jones had taken the areas that were believed to be the dictatorship's

base of power . But he did not win New Orleans. The ami able city , the final part of Louisiana to fall before the dic tatorship , was the last to cling to it . And therein lay a con vincing demonstration of the regime's transformation from

the fervent ruralism of the dictator to the fully functioning bossdom , with strong surviving elements of dictatorship , of the Kingfish's heirs . A wise editor had declared : " It will be well for American democracy if the complete collapse of the Long dictatorship occurs within the maturity of those who recall it in its hey day." The Louisiana which recalled that heyday, which now saw that collapse, celebrated as the word spread of the victory. On election night, and the next night, and the next , thou

sands formed processions, joined parades of automobiles, wound in and out of towns and city streets ; shook hands, knelt sometimes in prayer, made speeches of derision , of ex

altation , of exultation , of bombast , of sobbing happiness. Louisianians who had been silent for twelve years as far as expression of their true thoughts were concerned , tossed

handfuls of the sales -tax tokens in the air, carried mops to " clean up the state," wore mock high hats to throw back the charge against the victorious candidate , carried bedrag

gled bits of fur on sticks— " The Pelt of Peltier " —danced in

the streets, as stores and theaters were closed for events that some towns termed " the biggest since Armistice Day . " But the man who voiced the meaning of that victory was Sam

Jones, as he stood on a balcony above the men and women who had made him Governor: " We're back in the Union now !"

Louisiana's experience has demonstrated , above some other things, the ease with which American democratic forms may be distorted to fit the purposes of totalitarianism . Louisiana's dictatorship kept the Constitution , but used it largely as a blind for the functioning of " government from above."

Dictatorship came to Louisiana because the democracy that the state knew appeared inadequate to the needs of large groups of its citizens . Huey Long's richly potent ma terials were not original to him . They were the same as those with which many another has aspired to power. But he alone was personally equipped , and rose at the moment

thus far — of maximum effectiveness , to reach close to his goal . The advantages held forth by the native totalitarianism were more inviting than the known services of the known regime.

In America as a whole , as in Louisiana, the old questions of human want and human security have not been fully answered . The wrench of a sudden further contraction in the

nation's standard of living would be certain to cause new un rest, to thrust forward new figures to lead expression of that unrest . The end of the Second World War, the conclusion of the multi -billion defense program , inevitably will have sharp repercussions. Whatever the outcome of the war, Amer ica faces a process of readjustment in the next few years .

Whatever America's role in that conflict, a persuasive voice may rise to offer its millions the " efficiency," the order, the burning appeal of the other way.

the background there are others, the practical ones, who know good things when they see them ; who would support him and take over when he left, as such men did in Louisi ana ; who would welcome a native Fascism in the name of Americanism . The answer is neither standpatism nor retreat . It must be a reaffirmation of faith in national unity, a re dedication to democracy. To save democracy, have more of it , not less . Or there may be another Louisiana — or an Ala bama, or a Mississippi, or California, or Missouri — hayride. And that one may bring the nation to a halt outside the

borders of liberty.

455