Advertisement

A CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON

Cleero was called a demagogue, Shakspere a catehpenny playwright, Lincoln a traitor, it is therefore not surprising to find that Huey P. Long is also misunderstood. A few months ago, by wearing pajamas at the reception of a German diplomat, Mr. Long almost predicated an international crisis. Only a few condoned his unusual evening dress, for only a few were astute enough to realize that behind that melancholy face, beneath that rugged brow, there dwelt the searching spirit of a statesman.

Today, with a perspicacity which will be surprising only to those unacquainted with Senator Long, he stands forth even more as a great American Nestor. Reposing in a sumptuous room in the new and brilliant Waldorf-Astoria, Senator Long pointed out that "the trouble with Washington is its remoteness from civilization--I never saw a place in my life that was so far away from the American people". But Huey Lond is no mere doctrinaire; he can treat the most practical problems with resource and agility. The case of the Waldorf sandwich is a case in point. With all the gilt and glitter of the new Astoria has come a change in the institution's culinary department. The new Waldorf sandwich lacks the Swiss cheese and butter of the older school, the school of Long remembrance. So scoffing was the Senator from Louisiana of this new delicacy that Chef Oscar himself was induced to return to the grand old way. Democracy had triumphed.

Turning from this with the incredible swiftness of a mind accustomed to penetrating analogies Mr. Long criticized the Senate as the "coldest place on earth". Then that agile intellect kept to the present state of American crime as illustrated by the disappearance of the Lindbergh baby. With due deliberation the Senator declared that the present situation undoubtedly resulted from persistent violation of the law. In a few short days Huey Lond has made clear what is wrong with America.

Advertisement
Advertisement