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Fe em a As Peg" er Sees It =. m Tells of Parasite a! a | en 7) Pe) Pee | iF EE UPCPELL EL TUS or SEOUL ICOOG : By WESTBROOK PEGLER Copyright, 1947, King Feateres Synditate, Inc. ENATOR SHERIDAN DOWNEY, of California, a ham n’ ) eges New Dealer, recently learned that California, and | , Hollywood in particular, had developed an underworld. He | “™ was apprehensive of a gang war and called upon the Gov- : : ernor, Earl Warren, a Republican, to do his duty. ao The Governor took: steps. It is ironic that the gangs that be ope SURER, Senator Downey mentions are actually RoPEATY a a New Deal underworld. The hoodlums eyeing a are parasites on the moving pictures, radio, the night clubs and trade unions. They operate the corrupt auxiliaries— gambling, narcotics and prostitution. They enjoy the flattering attention of a whole corps of journalists of a peculiar sort, few of whom ever had city-room training or any education be- yond the primary grades. These propa- gandists, subject to no verification, discipline or any other standards of news journalism, have the power to : fem en NG UES fuy confer public recognition, even dis- tinction, on individuals who meet their favor for any personal reasons. They have the power to intimidate, condemn, silence and banish actors, writers, singers and others, for personal or political reasons, They may suppress uncomplimentary facts about individuals and ereate fantastic artificial reputations and arouse sym- pathy. This has been done notoriously in the ease of Frank Sinatra, who tarnished his own reputation Jast Winter. Of all the ‘‘celebrated’” Broadway and Hollywood radio re- porters and columnists, not one ever reported that jhe was ence arrested charged with a sexual offense. Sinatra has been thrust upon the public as a crusafler for clean thought and living and “tolerance’’ among Avherican yquth, particularly innocent but excitable young girls. This was a quick and directed change from his old propaganda by which some alarmingly large element of adolescents had been directed into scenes of emotic¢nal public behavior. Sinatra, somehow, had acquired a power. WESTBROOK PEGLER the history of mass hysteria, The bobby-soxers were " staying up far into the night on the dark streets of New York. There were episodes here and there over the ecountry—shop- lifting, picketing, waywardness. It then became advisable to indirate that Sinatra was a very wholesome, domestic fellow. He had been hired to play the role of a fine priest in a movie version of ‘‘The Miracle of the Bells.” Therefore, in a | manner of speaking, it was imperative that he be deloused after his notorious association last Winter with Lucky Luci- ano, the deported dealer in prostitutes and narcotics, and with the Fischettis of Chicago, who are relatives of the Ca- pones and have been associated with typical Capone business - interests. This Luciano episode had been followed by the slugging of Lee Mortimer, a New York theatrical reporter, by Sinatra, in Hollywood last April. But it was now too late to stop serious Inquiries nto Sinatra’s past and his associations. In anticipation of his trial in the Mortimer slugging case, a canvass was made of his early career. The seduction case turned up and Sinatra’s photographs and fingerprints from the court files were sent io California, Meanwhile Lhe F, B. I. and the Bureay_of Narcoties had | Ba JE HAD A SPELL. There was nothing quite like this in ["*""""""