TRAIL OF CORRUPTION

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 311, 23 March 1928, Page 1

TRAIL OF CORRUPTION

Filth of U.S* Oil Scandals

PRESIDENCY FIGHT AFFECTED

Unprecedented Spectacle of Muck-Raking

By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright. Ilecd. 30.35 a.m. WASHINGTON, Thursday. WITH the trail of corruption and dishonesty apparently broadening every day, the oil investigations continue; and the promise of A. B. Fall, former Secretary of the Interior, that he is now ready to tell all about the question of malfeasance in office, may radically alter the character of the presidential campaign, which is becoming the most uncertain in the present generation of American politics.

•The Republicans- in 1924 were frankly surprised. The oil revelations in no way embarrassed their Presidential aspirations, and when the Democrats reopened the oil investigations a few months ago, some Republican leaders boasted “that they would not change a single vote.” But the revelations of the past few weeks apparently have not left a single prominent Republican individual untouched. DID COOLIDGE BENEFIT? The assertion is even being made that President Coolidge “benefited from it all.”

It Is moreover, only too obvious that the Republicans now lad; a central figure around whom to rally, such as Mr. Coolidge was in 1924. His third p r o n o u n c emcnt seems further to strengthen the belief that ho will not run again, and bitter sectional feelings and enmities that his per-

sonality ltept below the surface are now clearly cutting cleavages in the Republican ranks. The Republicans are frankly frightened. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” Senator A. R. Robinson, of Indiana, yesterday launched an unrestrained attack on Governor A 1 Smith, in an attempt to show that the Democrats themselves are not free from the oil taint. Senator Robinson alleged that H. F. Sinclair, a central figure in the

Teapot Dome scandal, who is a noted racing man, was appointed to the New York State Racing Commission several years ago by the Governor. Democratic senators came to support Mr. Smith, while Senator Robinson, unsupported by any Republican colleague, shouted, “Birds of a feather flock together.” The Republicans, facing charges 01 corruption, and hampered by disunity, are hardly likely to keep the campaign at a high level. They are enraged by the onslaughts of the delighted Democrats. The campaign is not an appealing spectacle, or one likely to be clearly understood abroad. The conditions in the Democratic Party are also not too good, since

the traditional inability to agree among themselves is still active to-day. There is, however, a drift toward forgetting differences, by reason of the fact that the Democrats see that their chances to win are to-day brighter than in many previous

Presidential years. It is interesting to note that Senator Pat Harrison led the defence of Governor Smith yesterday. Mississippi, ■which Senator Harrison represents, has been notedly against Mr. Smith hitherto. It is' too early, however, to predict that the Democrats can overnight become a unified party; hut above all these considerations remains the fact that the American public will during the next few months be treated to a spectacle of muckraking on an unprecedented scale. — A. and N.Z.

A Washington cable message of Wednesday read as follows: — The President, Mr. Coolidge, has declined to accede to a request contained in a resolution passed by the Central Committee of the Republican Party in Wyoming asking him to waive his personal preference and consent to continue for another four years his leadership, “which has brought honour and prosperity to the country.” Mr. Coolidge’s secretary said: “The President directs me to say he must decline to grant the request of the committee.”