The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-13
HOW HOLMES USED HIS MONEY Investments Made by Agricultural Employe WILSON RECALLED TO STAND Secretary Declares He Never Denies
 a Newspaper Statement. Evidence of an Important Nature is Adduced in the Celebrated cotton
 Leak Case-Adjourned to
 Monday.
WILSON RECALLED TO STAND

son was on the witness stand agaln today in the trial of E. S. Holmes, Jr. He was questioned further con- corning his alleged promises to sup press information given him at the time of Holiness dismissal from the service of the department of agricui- ture. Regarding the formal statement given out by the witness at the time Holmes was dismissed. Secretary Will son said he did not make the state ment, which was signed by him. but that 1t was the report of the secret service people who investigated the Holmes case. He declared that he had made no arrangement or pledge with Broker Van Riper for the suppression of names. MT. .Worthington asked the witness why he had given the secret service report to the public. to the pre- judice of MT. Holmes
 Counsel for the government objected. but the question was admitted and the secretary replied;
 T thought the American people had right to the report"
 MT. Wilson's Construction.
 MT. Worthington then turned his attention to what he charged to be MT. Wilson's construction of his own rules in the matter of prematurely giv- ing out information and, in support of his theory, quoted an interview given out by the secretary last fall in re- gard to the prospective production of Macaroni wheat. The secretary said he did not remember the interview. but even if he had made the statment. it would not be in violation of the rule of secrecy, that the violation of the rule was a question of the premature giving out of information that comes to the bureau of statistics.
 If you find me giving out that in- formation" he said. the information that comes from regular sources. then you will have a case against me.
 If the information comes accident ally.'' continued the Secretary, 1t would not be a matter of breaking faith But if an employe Of the de- partment systematically arranges to get information and gives 1t out, and the facts come to my attention. he will not be allowed to remain long," 7 He said he had not himself based any of his predictions concerning the crops on the official information com ing to the Bureau of Statistics.
 The Secretary was questioned at length concerning recent newspaper interviews attributed to him. He de- nied many of the statements. but said that he had not contradicted any of them.
 T never contradict statements cred ited to me by the newspapers" he said T would not even if they should charge me with murder; then they would charge me with two murders.
 stock Broker Testifies.
 Following Secretary Wilson, Robert M Rogers, a New York stock broker was called.
 Are you acquainted with Edwin s. Holm ,, Jr?' asked MT. Baker.
 q know him by that name." was the response. 'I was introduced in 1903 to a man by another man who l was told was MT. Holmes"
 He was told to look about the room and see if he could identify the man and after a careful scrutiny, his eyes lighted upon Holmes, who, he said, looked like the man, but he was not positive in his Identification.
 The witness told of a conversation he had with Broker an Riper in 1904 advance information from the department of agriculture. He said Van Riper had at the time writ ten something on slip of paper and' putting 1t in an envelope, asking him IRogers) to keep it. He had done so, and after a week or more Van Riper had returned ar asked for the paper. When 1t was opened it was found to contain the figures of the last cotton or grain report, which had been pub ltshed in the meantime. He was sure that the information was given week ar more before the report came out.
 MT. Worthington introduced a news paper report, which he said had for casted the crop report of September, 1904, accurately for the purpose of making the point that Van Riper might have got his figures from some other pubt cation.
 Investments of Holmes.
 William I. Lanning, a real estate broker, testified that in 1905 and 1906. Holmes had invested $30.000 in an apartment house in Washington and Howard D. Preston. president of tho Preston Farming Company. of North Dakota, testified that in 1905 Holmes had paid $40,516 for stock of that company. Mir. Baker explaining that it would be shown that this money had h m obtained as a result of the diVul- gence of information.'
 at the afternoon session, O number of witnesses were introduced to show that Holmes had acquired considerable property in Washington in 1905. Nat ahan C. Murray, assistant statistlcian of the department of agriculture tes- tified to seeing Holmes at local ho- tel in conference with Moses Hass on Lecember l9, 1904.
 At the conclusion of todays sitting. the court adjourned until Monday when it is understood a number of witnesses from New York will be present to tes-