The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-09
OFFICIAL REPORT MADE
Advance Information Was
 Given Away.
Secretary of Cotton Growers' Associa- tiOn Wins In His Fight Against CroOkedness and His Action
 b Vindicated.

Washington. July s.-As a result Of the investigation by secret service agents into the charges made by Rlch- ard Cheatham, Secretary of the Cotton Growers Association. that information had been given to cotton brokers III New York by some person or persons fin the Bureau of Statistics of the De- partment of Agriculture, Secretary Wll- son today made public an official report in which he states that Edwin 5. Holmes the associate statistician has been guilty of juggling the official report.
 The report says:
 Tt has been found that Mir. Holmes communicated advance information 10 L. c. VanRiper, New York broker. and M. Haas, of New York. who acted as a go-between in conveying infor- nation. from Holmes to other New York brokers, including Theodore Price Steps have been taken by Secretary Wilson to prevent any further leakage of the departmental figures. and an en- tire reorganization of the Bureau of Statistics, and manner of preparing monthly crop reports, has been outlined by him. The papers in connection with the investigation were referred to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, andr he has reported that in his opinion a criminal prosecution will not lie against Holmes. Holmes has been dismissed from the service Of the Department"
 According to the report Wilson Judd. of New York, formerly in the employe of T. N. Van Riper, induced the latter to tell of his connection with Holmes. and then gave the information to MT. Cheatham. Van Riper became the prin- cipal witness in the investigation con- ad hxyf he he was induced to communicate the fact that advance information was being given out by Holmes. because he had heard that Holmes and his associates had intended to try to. manipulate the June cotton report. Using this infor- nation as foundation, the secret ser vice agents interviewed numerous per sons who had been mentioned by Judd 'and Van Eiper. as well as gathering a mass of correspondence. including many letters written by Holmes to Van Riper and others. The report made to Secretary Wilson and the Secretarys comments. together with the details of the new plan of conducting the bureau of statistics, makes more than 1000 words It reviews the entire investi- gation. beginning with the charges that were laid before Secretary Wilson by Mir. Cheatham several weeks ago.
 The charges by Mir. Cheatham were 
 information had been given to cotton brokers in New York by some person or persons employed in the bureau of statistics, relative to the acreage and condition of the cotton crop In the United States prior to the official pub lication of the information and that the crop figures had been tempered with in the Department In the interest of certain cotton spectators.
 Secretary Wilson determined at once upon a thorough investigation and fur nished to officers of the United States secret service all of the evidence which had been given to the Department. The agents then were put in touch With MT. Cheatham and ordered to use ev- cry possible effort to ascertain wheth- CT there had been a leak in the De- partment, and If so. to furnish the Sec retary with the name of the person or persons responsible. Holmes Is the only employe of the government who has been found to have had any con- nection with supplying information to brokers prior to the publication of the official report.
 Summary of Testimony.
 After reviewing the charges Secre- tary Wilson gives a summary of testi- mony adduced before secret service agents MT. Van Riper. the New York broker under examination. said he be- came acquainted with Holmes in New York in August 1904. through ''mu- tual friend" According to this testi- mony, Holmes told Van Riper he could get informtion concerning the Gov ernment crop report, principally through the report of the general agents and the reports of the State agents. Van Riper said Holmes fur nished him with information from tune to time for several months in advance of the publication of official figures, and that the information furnished by Holmes corresponded exaotly with the figues afterward published as the ofti- cial crop reports
 Van Riper stated that Mir Haas of New York acted as a go-between for Holmes and himself. and he was given to understand that Haas was securing information for Theodore Price, cot ton broker of New York The witness said that he met Haas at the Hotel Waldorf and was told by him that the report for June. 1905, would be 75 per cent. on condition, and 12 1-2 or 13 per cent. on acreage, which was beartsh as they could make it, and that he was going 10 see Price, with whom he would have an interview, and wanted to see Van Riper after he saw Price; that in about an hour Haas called on him and said that at the request of Price he was going to Washington to see if they could not get the percentage little higher, and the acreage little smaller, to make the report more bearish. Van Riper testified that the official report was more bearish than the figures pre- viously given nm, and that he took this to mean that the effort to infiu- ence the report had succeeded.
 The HI" Letters.
 The letters produced by Van Rlper which he alleged were written by Holmes were all signed with the initial "H" Most of the letters were for the purpose of making appointments with Van Riper. but the following note dated August 20. 1904. shows the relation ship between Holmes and Van Riper:
 'If you had bought any of that stuff sell 1t out at once. and sell as much as you can in addition. We are going to show very slight decline, and as this is totally unexpected it will send things down like fury. 9th CT parties will close out tomorrow, and sell on Thursday. Where Is P? Tear this up. It may go up little before Friday. but probably not"
 This letter was signed with the ini- tial 'S." Van Riper testified that all of the letters surrendered were from