White House Sets Free Aged Pension Idealist Washington, Apr. 18.
President Roosevelt pardoned Dr. F. E. Townsend today, shortly after the founder of the old age pensions movement surrendered to a United States marshal and began serving a prison term for contempt.
The aged doctor was convicted of showing contempt for the House of Representatives last year, following a 1936 investigation of his organization Curing which Dr. Townsend walked out on a House hearing.
It was freely predicted at the time, when Dr. Townsend announced he would go to prison rather than pay a fine, that President Roosevelt would pardon him to prevent his becoming a "political martyr" Appeals for clemency for Dr. Townsend were made by a number of legislators, including Mr. William B. Bankhead, Speaker of the House and Democratic Representative of Alabama.
A White House statement said that "the nature of the offence was one which primarily concerned Congress. The authority, dignity, and rights of the House of Representative have been fully sustained by the conviction."—United Press. results for President Roosevelt's re-mining two years of office, apart from the economic paralysis which might follow a spit in the Administration om such a vital issue.
The "New Dealers" are convinced that the Conservatives who are sabotaging their objectives must be defeated at the forthcoming primary elections and more progressive men elected, but the Vice-President. cannot be defeated, so that the President and he must work together if congressional chaos is to be avoided.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.