Subdivision of Government

It is a dull and docile beagle-hound who, while following a rabbit will not tear off over the hills yelping his heart out if he happens on a hot deer trail.

Nor is there anything dull or docile about Senator James A. Reed of Missouri. Set to nose out the labyrinthine political finances of the Pennsylvania primaries (TIME May 31 et seq. THE CONGRESS,) he tested all winds eagerly for a whiff of larger game. Last fortnight his vigilance was rewarded; he coursed off after the Anti-Saloon League, in the person of its counsel, Wayne B. Wheeler, on the pretext of getting evidence of Wet moneys expended for Candidate Vare. Last week he was not astonished to find that this new quarry had a mate the gentle, bright-eyed Women's Christian Temperance Union. Swerving, Senator Reed followed this fresh and fragrant spoor to extraordinary revelations.

Mrs. Ella George, of Beaver Falls, Pa., president of the Pennsylvania W. C. T. U., an ingenuous, grandmotherly person with a quick smile and cheerful voice, readily took the stand and answered the Senator's questions. "Oh, yes," she said brightly, "the ladies of the W. C. T. U. had stumped for Governor Pinchot willingly at $5 per day, paid by him. They had written the voters letters about his splendid Dry record. They had drummed up money at church meetings and by speeches.

The Senator pressed his quest farther back in history. "Oh, yes," Mrs. George replied, the antique cameo pin on her bosom rising upon a swell of honest pride, the W. C. T. U. had gone to the Governor's assistance long ago; in 1923, when the Legislature refused to vote him $250,000 to enforce Prohibition. She had gone to the Governor personally and told him that she and her colleagues would get that money for him. They had called their fund the "Governor's Enforcement Fund" and this was how it had been spent:

A "bureau" had been established headed by Attorney General Woodruff and Banker Charles G. Rhodes (Philadelphia) to handle funds. Governor Pinchot had appointed these two, as he later appointed other officials in the bureau, after conferring with Mrs. George.

Governor Pinchot had appointed two Deputy Attorneys General, one William B. Wright at $5,000 and one Louis E. Graham at $6,000, whose salaries came out of the funds handled by the bureau chiefs.

Next two sleuths had been engaged, "a Mr. Petroz and a Mr. Peters," to go out and work up evidence, which they then handed over to Deputies Graham and Wright for prosecution.

As she made these statements Mrs. George seemed serenely unconscious of the effect she was having upon her learned listeners. Their jaws were dropping, their eyes popping. Senator Reed masked his surprise, however, and upon Mrs. George's assertion that she had spent much time at Harrisburg, the state capitol, he said in an airy way, "You were not there lobbying," as if no one had ever heard of such an idea.

But Mrs. George, glad for her good works, replied: "Oh, yes! I was there lobbying. They call me a sideliner. . . . We have an office in the Capitol Building and we employed clerks, and bought furniture and supplies and have spent some money for printing in cases in the Supreme Court."

"You paid for cases brought in the name of the State of Pennsylvania?"

"Oh, yes!" said cheerful Mrs. George.

Senator Reed asked her if it was not disappointing to have the legislators refuse to vote funds for Prohibition enforcement after they had been elected with that understanding.

"Oh, yes!" she sighed. "We are gullible in Pennsylvania."

"This bureau which you supported," the Senator concluded, "really enforced the dry law then, in the absence of the legislation which the State Legislature refused to pass?"

"Yes," Mrs. George nodded briskly, "that's right."

"Super-Government." The hue and cry that followed was, of course, loudest in Democratic newspapers. Leader of the pack was the alert New York World. Governor Pinchot's "s u p e r-p o w e r" (electricity) plan was recalled and the term "super-government" was coined. The World editorial was entitled "A Noble Conspiracy" and commented on how "the very good people, not just the respectable ones, but the good people, the good women in small towns, raised a fund which was used openly, honestly and with the best intentions to subvert the authority of the Legislature of Pennsylvania. . . . According to this theory, any private citizen could buy just as much law enforcement as he thought desirable." It was pointed out that the right of legislatures to refuse money to executives had long been regarded as the cornerstone of political liberty. The good people of Pennsylvania were not only gullible but very ignorant of what constitutes good government.

"Investment." Senator Reed later returned his attention to mild-mannered Counsel Wayne B. Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League, asking him if he had been correctly reported in a speech three years ago to the effect that Drys had "invested" 35 millions in Prohibition. Mr. Wheeler thought that was approximately the amount, counting in all the different agencies embattled. He admitted that for "a few years" just prior to the passage of the Amendment the League's bills had come to $2,500,000 per annum. For the years 1921-25 inclusive, the national body of the League, not counting branches in all the States, had spent $2,583,320.66 to assist enforcement.

Later examination of Mr. Wheeler brought forth figures indicating that the total Anti-Saloon League "investment" was nearer 60 millions. The figures for four state subsidiaries of the League were furnished, expenditures of the past six years:

New York................................................................... $1,927,063 Ohio................................................................... .........822,397 New Jersey................................................................. .407,874 Indiana................................................................ .......386,174