The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-19
Newspaper Emp|0yGs Appear Before Grand Jury
MUCH MYSTERY IN CASE
Peculiar Form of Subpoena Is Sub. ject of Legal Discussion and Case Is Carried Over a Day On
 This Point.

1 New York, January 1s.-The right of the i five employees of the New York World,
 subpoenaed to appear before the federal l grand jury to give information, presum- 1 ably regarding the publication of alleged l libelous matter reflecting upon the in-
 tegrity of the United States government, l to ignore the said subpoenas on the 1 ground that their issuance was an abuse
 of process was left undetermined at the
 close of today's hearing of the case in
 the United States circuit court here.
 After arguments by United States Dis trict Attorney Henry L. Stimson, repre-
 senting the government, and Delaney i Nicoll and John M Bowers representing 1 the World men, Judge Henry G. Ward 1 gave both sides until tomorrow at o'clock to submit briefs
 While the proceedings are believed to
 have been brought upon the initiative of
 the President. and in connection with the publication of story alleging irregulari- i ties in connection with the purchase of l the French Panama canal property, there
 is nothing in the subpoenas issued, not , only against the World employees, but
 against several other individuals, to in
 dicate what the inquisition is about, who the complainant is, and against whom
 the action is brought
 Plea To Quash Subpoenas.
 In the argument in support of the con- tention of Messrs. Nicoll and Bowers that qilhnnanQg hn eha1
 ular stress was laid upon that part of the document in question which calls for
 the appearance before the federal grand l jury of those subpoenaed for the purpose l of testifying to ''all and everything you
 may know generally on the part of the 1 United States"
 l Subpoenas worded in such general terms
 which failed to make plain what the ac-
 tion was, or against whom 1t was direct
 ed. MT. Bowers argued, had uniformly l been adjudged faulty by the courts, and l ss such dismissed. MT. Stimson, on the i other hand, contended that the subpoenas were in every way valid and that their l legality had been tested in the case of 1 the government against Charles w. 1 Morse, of Augustine Heinze and Theodore l H. Price, to name only a few. l The general inquiry was not halted,
 however, by the action of the World men l i'll questioning the validity of the pro- | cess by which they had been summoned to l appear before the federal grand jury. H. 1 H. Bjornson, clerk in the law office of l William Nielsen Cromwell, through whom the purchase of the canal property was l effected, and Jonas Whitley, formerly a ] newspaper man, but now attached to MT 1 Cronwell's law office, were both examined 1 in the course of the day.
 World Men Appear. l ! have been issued by authority of the Uni
 ted States government, United States Dis- 1 trict Attorney Henry L. Stimson had l subpoenaed William B. Mclaughlin, l sporting editor of the World and J. An | gus Shaw, secretary of the Press Pub l fishing company, to testify before fed l eral grand jury today in an action which
 was not described in the subpoenas. It was believed, however, to be the outcome 1 O. President Roosevelt's message to Con- 1 gress in which he protested against the l linking of the name of Charles P. Taft, | brother of the President-elect, and J. | Douglass Robinson, the Presidents broth | erin law, in criticism of the canal pur- l chase
 l The proceedings were halted by an order | obtained by counsel for the Worlds edi- | tors calling upton Stimson to show cause | why the subpoenas should not be | quashed.
 | Brief argument was heard by United 1 States Circuit Judge Henry G. Ward to- | day on the motion to quash the sub l poenas, after which an adjournment was i taken until o'clock, when Judge Ward l heard further arguments.
 John M. Bowers of counsel for Mr Mclaughlin and MT. Shaw argued that l the form of the subpoena was illegal in- l asmuch as the concluding words of the | subpoena namely in "a certain case now | pending and undetermined in this said l court between the United States vera | crossed out, making the subpoena read | to testify to what they may know gen | erally.'
 r MT. Bowers held that the subpoena was | illegal inasmuch it did not state the ! nature of the inquiry the person &C., | cused and that the proceeding was an l abuse of process.
 | Old Form of Subpoena. 1 District Attorney Stimson speaking for 1 the United States argued that the form l of subpoena had been used in practice in l this district for 50 years and was recog- l nized by the statutes of the United | States MT. Stimson said:
 l "The same situation arises in a cor | porate examination to find out who was 1 responsible. It is often impossible to 1 find out who is responsible in corpor- 1 ation How can we name the man ac- | cused until we know who it is to be in- l dicted'
 | Judge Ward interrupted to say that this l case was case of practice and that no l one should be given an opportunity of l bringing a man before the grand jury | and rake about his affairs to make | decimal of him.
 Witnesses Examined. Several other witnesses. in whose behalf | no injunction was obtained, was called before the grand jury to give evidence l today. The first to be examined was Fl. l H. Bjornson, who is said to be connected | with the Washington office of Sullivan & | Cromwell, lawyers MT. Cromwell had a prominent part in the acquisition of the Panama canal. MT. Bjornson said
 that ho xxas ni,aafinned as fo whether the