No Outcry for House Members to Punish Speaker : Public Little Fazed by Wright Ethics Case

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa —  Farmers began warily planting corn last week with one eye on the sky in hopes of finding dark clouds that will produce soaking rains for the state’s rich but parched black earth. So far, however, the storm hasn’t hit.

Nor is there much of a storm here over House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.). The House Ethics Committee, with its report on its investigation of Wright’s financial affairs, has planted some seeds of doubt, but they have not yet sprouted.

“I haven’t heard a soul talk about Wright,” said Keith Koger, acting manager of a farm cooperative in nearby Hudson. “I haven’t been too worried about it myself.”

No Intense Pressure Seen

Soundings here and in other congressional districts across the country indicate that Wright’s House colleagues are under no intense pressure from home to punish the Speaker.

And that is just fine with Rep. Dave R. Nagle, the second-term Democratic congressman from this Iowa district, who owes Wright a political debt for landing him a choice assignment to the House Agriculture Committee and joining him at a fund-raising steak fry in Waterloo last September.

“It’s survivable,” Nagle said of Wright’s plight while visiting here last week during the congressional Passover recess.

That may or may not prove to be correct. Many of Nagle’s Democratic colleagues were stunned by the depth and breadth of the charges brought against Wright last week by the Ethics Committee in a report that was the legislative equivalent of an indictment.

Chance to Answer Charges

Wright will have an opportunity to answer the charges--that he improperly accepted $145,000 worth of gifts from a Texas businessman and used sales of a book to evade limits on outside income--before the committee decides whether to press ahead against him.

Even Nagle, who was labeled a “Jim Wright Democrat” by his Republican opponent last fall, has concluded that Wright acted improperly in selling his book to special-interest groups instead of accepting fees from the groups for speeches. House rules limit speaking fees but not income from book sales.

“I think he is going to have to give up on the book,” Nagle told a Cedar Falls business executive. “If he broke the rules with the book and honoraria, he can pay it back--the rules should apply to everybody alike.”

But Nagle said Wright may be able to avoid stepping down from his job.

‘Can’t Find the Stampede’

“The word ‘allegations’ has lost meaning,” he said. “The philosophy of the public is that if he is accused, he must be guilty. There’s clearly a press mentality operating to get Jim Wright, since the only time I can get quoted is when I say that he’s wavering. But, in the House, I can’t find the stampede against the Speaker that’s been reported.”

Certainly there is no groundswell in the countryside. The offices of Democratic congressmen from coast to coast reported no public pressure to turn against the Speaker.

In California, a spokeswoman for Rep. George E. Brown Jr. of Colton said the office had received only two phone calls about Wright. The hot topics, she said, are hang-gliding as it relates to land use and proposals to ban assault rifles in California.

A spokesman for Rep. Jim Moody of Wisconsin said the big issue in his district was not Wright but a court ruling that allows Indians to do unlimited spear fishing.

More Mail on Other Issues

“We’ve gotten a lot more mail on the Forest Service plan to close a canoeing area in our district than we have on Jim Wright,” said Jim Berard, a spokesman for Rep. James L. Oberstar of Minnesota.

Similarly, in the South, a spokesman for Rep. Stephen L. Neal of North Carolina said: “We’ve had maybe three telephone calls on this, all of them pretty critical of the Speaker but nothing more than that. There’s been so much talk about this in the media, I don’t think folks know what to believe.”

Wright shows no signs of losing his popularity in his home state of Texas. In San Antonio, an aide to Rep. Albert G. Bustamante said the city is consumed by its annual two-week Fiesta. “People really want to wait and see on Wright,” Sylvia Arriola said. “Besides, they’re into two weeks of partying now.”

Here in Iowa, Nagle has to be particularly concerned about public opinion. He is the first Democrat in more than half a century to hold the 3rd District congressional seat, and he realizes that he could lose it if he bucked his constituents on the emotional Wright case.

Voted for Nagle

Paul Schoeman, a well-to-do farmer from New Hartford, is one voter he could lose. Chatting over coffee at Ingalls’ Little House cafe, Schoeman said Nagle was the first Democrat he ever voted for in his life.

Now, however, Schoeman gibed at “Ft. Worthless,” his name for Wright based on his hometown in Texas. “We’re glad Nagle’s defending him--that will croak him (Nagle),” Schoeman said. “How would you like to defend Jim Wright?”

Book Questioned

Even James Saul, a Democrat and United Auto Workers member, acknowledged: “Wright’s in pretty bad trouble. It sounds like he’s pulled some shenanigans, especially that book he sold.”

Keith David, another regular at the Little House cafe who owns a car wash and a beauty shop in New Hartford, interjected: “If he got caught, he ought to be out.”

But for every voter who criticized Wright, there seemed to be another to express a lack of concern. A retired Navy man, Mike Shimp, said he was tired of personal attacks on public officials.

‘Press Blows It Up’

“Personal things are nit-picked,” Shimp complained. “The press gets hold of it and blows it up. If a man’s trying to do his job, I don’t think they ought to rake him over the coals.”

And at Verdie’s cafe in Waterloo, a machinery salesman paused from gnawing on barbecued beef ribs when he was asked if he felt Wright had done anything wrong. “They all do something wrong,” he said, returning to the ribs.

Another man chimed in: “I feel if Wright has been there 25 or 30 years, he can’t be all bad.”

It may be bad news for Wright--and for Nagle--that the Speaker seems to be regarded more skeptically by Iowa’s elite.

No Lasting Damage

When Nagle visited the Viking Pump Co. in Cedar Falls, Jack Johns, the company’s president, questioned him closely about Wright’s predicament. Nagle assured him that Wright would suffer no lasting damage because his Democratic supporters in the House would stand behind him. But Johns was not so sure.

“I think he’s in deep trouble,” Johns told a reporter. “The Republicans have a no-lose situation. He has to resign or, if he stays on the job, his credibility will be questioned and he won’t be as effective. . . .

“Wright may be able to convince the congressmen of his innocence,” Johns said. “But not the constituents of the congressmen.”