THE NIMROD OF THE WEST

From a muddle of politics Senator Walshs voice rings forth demanding an investigation of the aluminum trust. Had the Montann Democrat not started the successful scent of Teapot Dome, one would be inclined to jeer at his snooping propensities. Among politicians, it is whispered that another sensational exposure will put Senator Walsh in line for the Democratic presidential nomination of 1923.

The aluminum case has muddy potentialities which may overcast the Republican record. A corporation in which both Secretary Melion and his brother are shareholders has violated the law; the Department of Justice, responsible to a Republican Administration, has been so slow in collecting information that the Statute of Limitations may prevent the bringing of a charge.

The Aluminum Company of America has been guilty of contempt of court. In the rugged, trust busting days of 1912, a United States district court ordered the company to cease monopolistic practices. In 1924, the Federal Trade Commission brought in a report which cited well-founded evidence to prove the Aluminum trust had violated the court order in 1922. But the Statute of Limitations, which provides that contempt proceedings can not be instituted more than a year after the violation of the court decree, nullified the work of the Commission. So the Department of Justice was forced to continue the investigation, and has evidence to show that the company indulged in monopoly practices on January 30, 1925. Unless proceedings are started before January 30 next, the trust will get off scot free.

Senator Walsh's investigating committee, which has been established by the Senate without debate, will seek to discover whether the department of Justice used reasonable diligence in pursuing the facts. The situation is a double-barrelled gun in Senator Walsh's hands. If the Attorney-General was negligent, the Democrats have one more example of Republican corruption to strut before the people; if the case could not be prepared in a year, the Montana Senator will get the credit for proving the Statute of Limitations an unwise law. Whichever barrel of the gun goes off. Senator Walsh will kill a political bird.