POLITICAL NOTES: Heil Huey!

Last week Louisiana treated the nation to a Legislative spectacle the like of which oldsters had not seen since carpetbag days. As usual, at the centre of the spectacle, was Huey Pierce Long, waving his arms, shouting, swearing, sweating—and giving orders which few Louisianans dared to defy. The scene was the State Capitol at Baton Rouge and the action concerned Senator Long’s thoroughly successful attempt to rivet his political dictatorship upon Louisiana in advance of the September primaries.

Last month Boss Long tried to capture the realm of Mayor Thomas Semmes Walmsley of New Orleans by force of arms. Guardsmen were marched into the city and the vote registry office was taken over by machine-gunners (TIME, Aug. 13). Because the courts tended to interfere with his use of the military in such political rough & tumble, “Kingfish” Long ordered Governor Allen, his office-holding stooge, to call the Legislature of Longsters into special session to legalize and regularize such tactics. Within four days the senior Senator from Louisiana had been given everything he wanted.

Proceedings began when Boss Long cast his bill-laden straw hat on a committee table and started explaining his 27-point “purifying” program. Among the measures to come out of the Long hat were: ¶ A bill to provide a Legislative investigation of the municipal government of New Orleans, an almost exact copy of the law which empowered Samuel Seabury to investigate the New York City government and drive Mayor James J. Walker out of office.

¶ A bill to empower the Governor to use the National Guard in any manner he chooses and to prohibit State courts from interfering. If a judge dares to issue an injunction against the use of troops, he may be fined, thrown into jail.

¶ A bill to remove ballot boxes from the jurisdiction of local sheriffs and to empower the Governor to appoint two of the three members of all local election boards. In addition the Governor is authorized to hire an unlimited number of election guards at $5 a day at the community’s expense.

¶ A bill to give State police supreme statewide authority superseding that of the local constabulary, increasing their number indefinitely.

Other bills increased taxation on newspaper and cinema theatre advertising, provided that New Orleans should contribute part of its local taxes to “weaker parishes,” prohibited lotteries, publishing horse race odds.

The Ways & Means Committee whooped through the whole “purifying” program and by the next evening all 27 Long bills had been steamrollered through the House by a steady majority of 60-to-36. Next day Boss Long turned his attention to the Senate.

If the House hearings had been burlesque, the Senate hearings were pure fantasy. Waiting at the head of the table for the committeemen to appear, Senator Long chatted amiably with out-of-town newshawks. “After all that talk about armed insurrection and bloodshed and civil liberty,” said he, “where are all the embattled farmers? Why, I had to pick a little room for this meeting and fill it up with my jobholders to keep this from being farcical. These people down here take politics lightly. There ain’t agoin’ to be any insurrection!”

A clerk began to read a bill.

“You don’t have to read all that whole title,” snapped the “Kingfish.” Picking up another bill, he remarked: “This one’s a mere formality and I move its adoption.” When he came to one of his “honest election” bills he commented that it was “in line with recommendations of the Honest Ballot League.”

“Then,” grumbled Senator Richard Wingrave, a grizzled Longster, “I’m against it.”

Senator Long whispered to a correspondent: “All this is good fun. These guys down here never take these things seriously.”

Stooge-Governor Allen appeared in the doorway. Behind his hand Senator Long solemnly told a reporter: “Don’t underrate that guy. He’s a strong man. I can’t control him. He’s the cagiest politician in this State.”

The slapstick reached its peak when a photographer, in spite of warnings, took a flashlight picture of the scene. Joe Messina, Senator Long’s plug-ugly bodyguard, was dispatched to arrest the photographer. One irate Longster proposed sentencing the offender to swim across the Mississippi River. Governor Allen’s secretary acted as counsel for the offender, had him acquitted of contempt by the chairman. “That’ll cost you $2,” remarked the Governor’s secretary to his client. Less lucky was a little New Orleans Times-Picayune cameraman. He was slugged from behind by the strong-arm squad, punched groggy by Huey Long’s heavyweight brother Earl, who last year was publicly branding his kinsman as a thief and a liar.

Significance.Until last week Huey Long was the political boss of all Louisiana except New Orleans. The legislation passed last week makes him absolute dictator of Louisiana. Through his puppet Governor he can strip a hostile district of its police power, order in the all-powerful State constabulary. If they are not men enough for the job, State militia can take possession without fear of any court. Two-thirds of the election supervisors will be Long appointees and there is nothing to prevent the “Kingfish” from paying every rascal in town $5 to vote his ticket. Since the town has to foot the bill for the election guards, it may choose, for the sake of economy, to concede the election. “Kingfish” Long is taking no chances of again losing any Louisiana election as he did in New Orleans last January.

Last week Imperial Wizard Hiram W. Evans of the Ku Klux Klan sounded from Atlanta “the clarion call to battle” against Huey Long. Here and there a bold Louisianan tearfully predicted “killings and bloodshed in this State.” Newspaper editors in & out of the State deplored and decried. But it remained for sophisticated Columnist Westbrook Pegler to write from Baton Rouge:

“It is ‘Heil Huey’ in the State of Louisiana now, but it must be admitted that the citizens seem calm about the Putsch which has established the dictatorship of der Kingfish. …”