The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-04-27
.BRANDE|S MAKES |NSINUAT|ON..
SUGGESTS POSSIBLE TRICKERY
BY PRESIDENT TAFT.
Attorney for CLAWS i'm Ballinger-Pin-
chOt Investigation Throws Out
Broad Suggcstion"-LittIc Pro-
grcss Made I'm Hcaring--E. C. Fin
ney Testifies-Charges as to Col
licr's Agent and Effort to Influence
Testimony

Washington, April 22.-After at
tacking certain statements in Attorney
General Wickersham's summary Of
the CLAWS case during cross -examin-
alton Of witness before the Ballin-
ger-Pinchot investigation today, At
torney Brandeis, counsel for l.. r.
CLAWS, threw out broad suggestion
that the document had been dated
two months earlier than it had been
prepared in order to make it appear
that President Taft's letter Of vindi-
cation to Secretary Ballinger had
been based on the alleged facts it
contained.
AT the White House and the de-
partment Of justice, it was stated that
neither the President nor the Attor-
ney General would comment on Mr..
Brandeis intimations.
Comparatively little progress was
made with the inquiry today despite
the apparently growing impatience Of
the committee and the general desire
of the members to bring the hearing
to close. The committee probably
will act tomorrow on the proposition
to hold hearings three days each
week.
e. G. Finney, assistant to the Sec
retary of the Interior. was under
cross-examination during almost the
entire day He admitted under uues-
tioning by Mr.. Brandeis that some Of
Mr.. Wickersham statements were
inaccurate, but insisted they were un-
important.
1t was near the end of Finney's
examination that Brandeis sprang his
surprise. Mr., Wickersham, in his
summary, says the suggestion that it
was unlawful for Mr.. Ballinger to
have any professional relations with
the Cunningham claimants because
Of his previous incumbency of the
office of commissioner of the land of
flee, was based on Section 100 of the
Revised Statutes and he cites laws
to show that Mr.. Ballinger had not
violated that law.
Mr.. Brandeis asked the witness If
he did not know that CLAWS accused
Ballinger Of violating that law for the
first time in a statement published in
November number of Golfers
Weekly. Mr.. Finney was not certain
on that point, whereupon Mr.. Bran
deis demanded to know if it was a
fact that the statement which pur-
ports to have been made on Septem-
ber II, 1909, was not made until
more than two months after that
time. Mr.. Finney responded that he
did not know it to be fact and did
not believe it was.
Having come all the way here from
Alaska at the behest Of the commit
tee to tell whether he had made the
statement to Marshal III. K Love,
that an agent of Golfers had told
him 'it would be worth $1,000 to
$4,000 for him to come to Washing
ton to testify" John w. Dudley, the
dismissed register OF the land office,
at Juneau, took the stand and said
Mr.. Love misunderstood him.
Mr.. Dudley said Editor Russell, Of
a Juneau paper, had sought to act as
intermediary between him and Col
lier's, whereby Russell wanted him to
prepare an article supplementing the
CLAWS charges. for which he was to
receive the sum mentioned. He had
told Love of this offer from Russell,
and supposed Love had not under
stood. He said he did not take kind
ly to Russells proposition and that
the weekly would not agree to it fur
ther than to pay Dudleys expenses to
New York to talk the matter over.
He said Russell did not pose as Col
lier's agent and that nothing was
said about him testifying before the
investigating committee.
Members of the committee and at
torneys on both sides questioned Mr..
Dudley at length, and apparently sat-
isfied themselves that there had been
no effort to influence testimony i'm
properly before the investigating
committee. G. G. Keltman, former
chief of the mineral division of the
interior department, will take the
stand tomorrow.
Attorney Vetrees, counsel for Mr..
more than a dozen witnesses to eX-
anime.