Bitin' Man

Highways to everywhere, dental work for everybody, pensions for the old folks and bonuses for veterans--all this and more Earl Long promised the citizens of Louisiana if they would elect him governor. "Welcome" would be written over the capital door. "The governor gets his house free, and his groceries and everything free," Earl proclaimed, "and I want you all to come up to the mansion and have a cup of coffee. You might as well, because you'll be paying for it anyhow."

The late Huey's brother sounded almost as good as the Kingfish himself. What was more, Huey's 29-year-old son Russell was stumping the state for Uncle Earl, and Russell looked just like the Kingfish, right down to his curly hair, pudgy nose and slack chin. It was like old times.

Last week Louisiana went to the polls and cast a record primary vote which gave Earl Long a better than 100,000 margin over his nearest rival, "Sad" Sam Jones. Ex-Governor Jones had stood on the more prosaic platform of "good government."

Full-Grown Shoot. A factor in Earl Long's primary victory was the strength of Judge Robert Kennon, who was all but counted out in the early betting. He ran on an all-G.I. ticket and corralled 125,606 votes, many of which might have gone to Jones. Fourth in the primary was tough-talking Congressman Jimmy Morrison, another old aerial root off Louisiana's once-flourishing political banyan tree.

Earl himself was not so much a root as a full-grown shoot. He had split away from Huey in 1931, calling his brother "a big-bellied coward." Earl was a gravel-voiced, bitin', scratchin' man. He once nearly bit an antagonist's finger off. On another occasion, he sank his teeth so deep in the neck of a state representative that the legislator took a shot of lockjaw serum.

Earl got himself elected lieutenant governor in 1936. When Governor Richard Leche was forced to resign in the heat of one of Louisiana's many scandals, Earl stepped into the governor's chair. He ran again but was not reelected.

"A Sin & a Shame." That fact gave some hope to Sam Jones this week as he squared off with Earl for the runoff election on Feb. 24. Earl Long had started out by beating Sam Jones in the primaries in 1940, but Jones had nipped him in the runoff. Jones' followers, who included "clean government" men like New Orleans' Mayor deLesseps ("Chep") Morrison, pulled themselves together for "a fight that has got to be made."

But this time Earl was sure he had it in the bag. He even demanded that Jones withdraw. "It's a sin and a shame," he croaked, "to waste $600,000 of old-age pension money on a second primary. . . . The people have spoken. Jones will never win this time."

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