Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1907-07-31
IMPROPER LEAKS
SHOULD CEASE
Some One Betray-
ing Official Se-
crets
AS TO BERGERE CASE
Was Copy of Judge McFie's
Order Secured Surrepti-
tiously and How.

His refusal to allow one of the dock
cts to be taken away from his office
is alleged as the cause which precipi
tated the enforced resignation of A
NJ Bergere as clerk of the First Judi
cial District Court. Mr.. Bergere de
clined to permit the record in ques
tion to go out of his possession unless
given a written order from the court
and receipt for it. This action was
taken at the advice of his attorney
w. e. Griffin who is making the ex
animation OF the records of the clerks
office under the supervision of special
representatives CT the Department OF
Justice, made the request for the book
and was informed that he could exam
inc it in the office where it Is kept
but could not take it away except up
on an order from the court. Clerk
Bergere maintained that he was the
custodian of the records and official
documents of the office and as such
under his bond was responsible for
them.
Refusal Ended in Dismissal.
But that is neither here nor there
Instead OF an order from the court rel
ative to the docket referred to, Mr.
Bergere received note from Judge
McFie requesting the formers resig-
nation instanter. Whether the inves-
tigatdon now being conducted was
made because charges had been filed
against the deposed clerk is not
known. Mr.. Bergere's dismissal at this
time at least is said to have been sim.
ply because of his refusal to allow a
court docket to pass out of his pos.
session. No one questions the right
of the federal officials to investigate
the records of the United States dis.
trict court which is under the .juris.
diction of the Department of Jus
tice. There is a difference of opin.
ion in regard to the removal of books
from the Office for the purpose of in.
yestigation, however.
Order Printed Before It Was Filed.
Right here it might be well to men.
tion the fact that a verbatim copy OF
the order appointing E. P. Holcomb
as temporary clerk of the court until
the arrival of his successor in the Ter
ritory. appeared in Sundays Albuquer-
que Morning Coyote Journal. Mr.. Hol-
comb it is said, did not receive his
appointment until Saturday evening
about o'clock and it was not filed
that night. Now the question arises
how did the local correspondent OF
the yellow sheet obtain a copy of the
order word for word?
Special Assistant Attorney General
Ormsby McHarg who has charge of
the various federal investigations now
in progress in New Mexico has in
sisted that they are being conducted
with all possible secrecy and he has
repeatedly declined to discuss them.
Yet from time to time stories OF what
the federal officials are doing have
strangely leaked out" Singularly
enough even anticipated actions have
at least been garbled What Mr.. Nc
Harg in justice to himself, should do
and that without delay, is to start an
other investigation, this time for the
purpose of finding out where this
leak is and stopping it. Some one in
his confidence or of his assistants,
and possibly subaltern official with
a nose for news, is evidently betray-
ing them and hindering them in their
work by giving out advance informa-
tiOn.
Full Investigation Courted.
The New Mexican does not wish to
embarrass or discredit the special
agents of the government in their
work or to interfere with them in any
way as has been intimated. On the
contrary this paper is desirous of
seeing a full and exhaustive investi-
cation not only OF the alleged land
frauds but Of any other matters in
which the United States may nave
been defrauded.