Show PRESIDENT PRES L CANDIDA CANDIDATES TES AS I KNOW THEM By ROBERT BARRY Written for the New York Evening World and The Salt Lake Telegram Montanan Out of Race Seen as Possibility in Event of Deadlock Copyright Press Publishing Company Company Com Corn pany New York Evening World 1928 1923 Editors Editor's Not Note While Sen Senator tor Walsh has announced announce his withdrawal withdrawal withdrawal with with- as a candidate he Is still stil being considered by political observers observers ob ob- ob servers as a possibility in the event of a deadlock at the Houston con con- con con- n. n WASHINGTON WASHINGTON SenatorS Thomas J. J Walsh of Montana 1 is famous famous' as the Teapot dome prosecutor yet Washington today Indulges In Jn widespread widespread widespread wide wide- spread doubts as to his talent as a cross On several occasions li he has failed to ask the precise question expected He has led right up to It only to skid off on a tangent He lIe HeIs Heis lIeis Is called merciless n n his grilling except by b those who say he has been letting some recent witnesses slip away from him The situ situation tion is characteristic of Washington The town loves nothing nothing nothing noth noth- ing t letter than to discover feet of clay on one of Its Idols Senator Walsh Is not excepted No president remains popular for forlong forlong forlong long in the capital Irrespective of what impressions are carried on the news new wires vires or what tributes tributes' flow from the lips of politicians personal sniping is practiced gen generally rally Any new administration enjoys what Is known as the honeymoon period After that the capital scandal crew moves in and the sky is the limit TERMED The whispering gallery yields in time to audible Innuendo Senat Senator Sena Sena- t tar tor r Walsh had no license to expect he could be Immune He Is not There is today a decided undercurrent undercurrent rent of criticism against him He Heis is accused of lacking incisiveness He is called a legalist rather than thana a demon prosecutor He lie is a victim victim vic via tim of f the inevitable innuendo that he is trying to shield some mysterious mysterious rious and wholly unidentified figure figure fig fig- ure from exposure exposure To sa say that these things are bruited about Washington merely is to paint a picture of the town It seems to me me after reporting Teapot dome in one phrase or another another an an- an- an other for five ye years rs that it is a apr pr pretty tty late date for any anyone one to challenge challenge chal chal- lenge the talents much less the motives motives mo mo- tives of Walsh of Montana I Take the case of Walsh vs Mel Mel- Mele I lon Ion on The gossip f nf the capital is that t the he senator was too soft with the secretary It is asserted with no l little ittle emphasis that th the prosecutor was entirely too gratuitous when he asserted I 1 think everybody agrees your action w was wa's was s highly creditable Walsh asked asked- Stewart what seemed t to be some wholly irrelevant irrelevant vant rant questions He wrangled over over whether whether- the oil man was familiar with the testimony of M M. T T. T Everhart Ever- Ever hart lart son law of Albert B. B Fall to the effect that of the bonds passed from Sinclair to Fall Fail while the latter Was secretary of the 1 interior At no po time did clid Walsh ask Stewart Stewart Stew Stew- Stewart art the direct question as to the oil oilman's oilman's mans man's knowledge of who got any of the bonds nor did he lle ask as to any conversation Stewart may have had with Sinclair his Sinclair-his his of the Continental company company- company company-as as to the distribution of the profits NEWSMEN AMAZED The newspaper men who had been covering the the Teapot Dome story year in and year out were amazed that Walsh had skirted the edges o of Stewarts Stewart's real story without without with with- o out ut getting at the core of it One of them scribbled off two questions questions ques ques- ions t and handed them to Senator Nye Nyc When Walsh said That is all Colonel Stewart and the oil man was about to leave the witness chair Nye Nyc glancing at the scrap of paper he had just received said Just a minute please Nye Nyc asked the two questions Colonel Stewart declined to answer them hem t His arrest for contempt of t the he senate followed There have been somewhat similar similar simi simi- l lar ar instances related to other witnesses witnesses witnesses wit wit- nesses which are re held to mar the Walsh reputation Viewed alongside alongside alongside along along- alonga side the bigger picture of ot what he has done In the leap Teapot t inquiry t they ey seem Beem to me too Insignificant They may indicate that Senator Walsh is a greater lawyer than a prosecutor but they certainly do donot donot not belie belle his great reputation nor lead those of us who have gone through the whole Teapot business from the beginning to disagree with the tribute once paid him Walsh Is fanatically high minded POWER TRUST AFRAID The so called power trust was not convinced that Walsh had lost any of his cunning Every talent in the public utility industry was invoked to persuade the tho senate not nol notto notto to permit the Teapot dome prosecutor prosecutor prosecutor prose prose- to pry into the power trust to see what made It tick The fed led federal federal eral trade commission was pre pro tarred There is no discounting the fact that Senator Walsh was concerned I more about Investigating th the public utilities than he was to for tol a reopening reopening reopen reopen- ing of the thc oil Inquiry He had been beer L trying to obtain authority for the i former for many months and he was oya I confident the present senate would vote overwhelmingly to let him pro pro- The Teapot dome revival was vat 1 thrust up upon n him hin by the resolution 1 of ot Senator Norris of Nebraska Current criticism Of Senator r Walsh seems to me to be inspired by the same quality which brought t him a a. bitter disappointment in ln the i public utility vote Ho He is aloof He Ue H I gives the Impression of ot holdIng holdine above most moat of ot his vo col- leagues There are some very tive tl jealousies In the senate During the Madison Square Garden Gar Oar den convention over which sided the I senator was at something lhIng g of ot a a loss to understand why there thee was no concerted movement ito nominate him t tI I 1 am aD the logical nominee the nomInee he was quoted and the theo ly man who can win i- i He Ie was s at the height of his of-his his Tea Tea- Tel Tel-t I p I r t Q T NO THOMAS 5 THOMAS 5 J. J WALSH pot dome triumph and might b be S I pardoned the sentiment that if It the Sa a Democrats were going to malta make an ai issue of the oil oU scandals they could coult I dramatize their campaign by having S the man man who unearthed the fraud I as a a. standard bearer Senator Walsh might have been the nominee except that he was wa I associated so closely with the McAdoo McAdoo Mc Mc- Adoo forces He was Intensely partisan partisan par par- in that respect He is today and the senator from Montana Is I S perhaps as severe a critic of Governor Governor Gov Gay Al AI is is Heflin of Alabama Ala Ala- bama although for different rea rea sons At times he becomes quite quit i intolerant of anyone who IH hrs has S a decent decent de de- c cent ent word to say for the New York governor g and prospective nominee nomine o of f the Democratic party The senators senator's alliance with McAdoo McAdoo Mc Mc- A Adoo doo Is just one of those things thing C t that hat must rem remain in unexplained L It I i Is s Inconceivable to some of his associates as associates as- as s that he should believe the thi I forces f which supported McAdoo fOUL fou r rears y years ears ago would turn in for Walsh I m merely beca because se he is a dry and anc I G Governor i l Is wet T TAIL AIL OF MADOO KITE Nearly everyone everyone everone save the senator h himself seems to understand that tha h he e is being supported merely as a rt r rallying allying point against Smith being t the he tail tall pf of the badly battered McAdoo McAdoo Mc Mc- Adoo A do kite Idle which Is not calculated t to p fly ver verY very high It h ha s been said i in n one quarter that Walsh had hitched itched h his political wagon to an e eclipse clipse Senator Walsh gives ex ox- p presson to his resentment against G Governor S Smith at private parties ties w where here his rather extreme views view h have ave not reconciled with his Isis dignified fied l bearing In the senate These new new Impressions of Senator Sena Sena- t tor or Walsh have come as more than a surprise to me He Is supposed t to o be very hard boiled Ive I've always f found him very human He Is al alleged al- al l eged to be so aloof that a curt nod I Is a the most any of his colleagues ex expect ex- ex p eat from him I do not recall any g greeting from him like Uke Jim Vatson Waton Wat Vat s son on or Pat Harrison give but never h have ave found him other than cordial All AIl A ll people cannot be alike aUke Senator Sena Sena- ta t tor or Walsh intends I 1 am sure Just a as s much In his formal How do you d do o as someone else with a Hello Senator Walsh lV is accused of van van- i it ity ty His amazing public service entitles en en- t titles him to a little It i Is doubt doubt- f ful ul whether sone some other men who a assail him would not have more of p personal conceit had they been able t to o do the thing he has done S SHOWS HOWS CONCEIT I recall but one instance where t the he senator let that conceit slip I I o out ut In any unworthy manner It was at the Madison Square Garden c convention in the late afternoon j just after John Jolin W. W Davis had won t the he nomination on the ballot The convention was ready to nominate nominate nomi nomi- n nate ate Walsh for the vice presidency He might have had that nomination nomination nomina nomina- t tion ion by acclamation He forced the adjournment to the night session at which Governor Charles Bryan was picked Just after the afternoon adjournment adjournment adjourn adjourn- ment Walsh stood for a moment o or r two at the edge of the platform He was looking down at the delegates delegates dele dele- gates g ates milling about or shuffling toward to toward toward to- to ward the exists He did not seem t to o see them I Cl Clamoring over press tables I s shinned up to the platform and a asked him a question Senator it looks like they want wanto t to o nominate you as vice president Will VIII you take it He snapped o out t of his reverie and S showed his teeth in a nasty snarl snarls a as s he replied Of course n not t. t and you should know better than to ask me nie such a question It It has been my duty to ask him some pointed questions on occasion occasion occa occa- s sion ion and he has given a smiling courteous reply RUMORS HEARD For a a. long tin tUe there there- have been tumors rumors that Senator Walsh was not too alert in trying to expose some Democrats of prominence In the oil scandals They are recurrent ru ru- ru mors They are especially active atthe atthe at atthe the moment when the Republican naU national nal committee Is so deep in the mire I put that question to Senator Sena- Sena I tor Walsh a few tew days ago It was an Inquiry which he well might construe con con- as a a. reflection on his Ius Integ integ- rity H He- He did not bark at me In Instead Instead In- In st stead ad he smiled and said I j have called every witness I thought had any remote connection with these transactions transaction I have spared no one If IC when you l hear ear these stoIes that I am trying to shield anyone yo you will obtain the names I sh should uld be very grateful to to you They will wUI be subpoenaed forthwith N Yet the other day I heard beard It t said 1 that Walsh was such an Intolerant partisan he simply would not consider consider consider con con- sider any of the tips Ups reaching the senate committee which seemed to to tp t bonds in the Democratic Democratic Dem Deni- woodpile Those Impressions are lI l. l with th ih record in the Tea TeaPot TeaPot TeaPot Pot Dome case |