National Affairs: Powell's Pain

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Adam Clayton Powell, 49, Democratic Congressman from New York's Harlem district, pastor of Harlem's huge Abyssinian Baptist Church, threw his 1956 support to the national Republican ticket, stumped among his fellow Negroes on behalf of President Eisenhower. Already under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Powell landed in trouble with his own party for his political infidelity. But after Ike's victory, at least one of Powell's problems seemed to ease: the tax investigation bogged down.

Inevitably, that brought charges that a grateful Republican Administration was closing the books on Powell. A New York grand jury even threatened to take matters into its own hands unless it got more cooperation from Justice Department lawyers. With that, the investigation picked up again. Last week the grand jury indicted Adam Clayton Powell on charges that he helped prepare a fraudulent 1951 tax return for his wife, Jazz Pianist Hazel Scott, and evaded payment of taxes on $3,700 in a 1952 joint return. Moreover, at week's end, New York's Democratic organization was considering dropping him from its 1958 slate.