New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-16
THEDA vIN WASHINGTON

appear to be the chief characteristics OF
these who have In charge the various In
vestigaticns which House committees are
now conducting. With regard to the mat
ter OF fees II Is. perhaps not unnatural
that lawyers who never saw a larger re-
tainer than $40 should regard the fees
paid to Frank b. Kellogg. Henry l.. Slim
con and other successful special attorneys
for the government as monstrous A care
full compilation By an experienced lawyer,
however, figures the cost to the defendants
IT. the Standard OIL and the Tobacco trust
suits. In fees alone. at sl,0O0,oo0. The At
torney General is authority for the state
ment that the cost in attorneys fees and
their expenses to the government OF sue
cessfully prosecuting these cases has not ex-
oeeded 100000. For the government to pro-
cure services for 100000 which. when pro-
cured by private individuals or corpora
tons. cost FIVE times that sum would be re-
garded by most unprejudiced persons as a
bargain. even II that fact is not plain 70
the country lawyers who represent the
Democratic party on the investigating
committees.
MUDDY THINKING effort ia
make II appear that the Attorney General
has been guilty Of precisely the same
things as those charged against DR.. Wiley
Is an evidence Of insincerity or Of muddy
thinking, probably the latter. Thefe Is
specific prohibition Of law against paying
scientific experts employed by the Depart
ment of Agriculture at a greater rate OF
compensation than $500 a year There Is
no such prohibition in the case OF attor-
neys employed by the Attorney General
II has been the habit Of Congress to APP
propriate lump sums. generally of s5Oo,OOc
to enable the Attorney General to enforce
the Sherman antitrust law. The man In
the street can probably grasp the differ
ence between violation OF the law and
an act which breaks no law, but the Demo-
Gratis In the House appear incapable or SO
doing. Another instance OF the muddy
thinking Of the investigating committees
has been afforded in the case Of the testi-
mony OF Dr. Hornaday, OF the Camp Fire
Club. in connection with the killing OF
seals. DR.. Hornaday read to the commit
tee a letter in which Secretary Nagel sug-
gested that the doctor would be wise TO at
tend to his own business and refrain from
interfering with that Of the Secretary by
seeking to induce Congress to pass law
which would hamper the Secretary In the
performance Of his duty. Immediately the
committee decided that DIR. Hornaday's
evidence was very important" And why?
Because, forsooth. there was an executive
order which forbade officials to be active
in support Of or opposition to legislation
The committee forgot, Of course, that the
executive order applied only to subordinate
officials, who were prohibited from oppos-
ing or promoting legislation without the
consent and approval Of their superiors'
the members Of the Cabinet. Or, what rs
more probable, the committee could not
apprehend the difference between a mem
Der Of the Cabinet and subordinate Of
fetal.
cox COINCIDENCE CLUB.-The mem
hers Of the Indiana delegation In the House
are seriously contemplating the organiza'
ton of Cox coincidence club to extend
prompt sympathy TO William e. Cox the
pathetic Democratic figure who Is always
seeking publicity through an investigation
and always arriving on the scene just toe
late. 1t was Representative Cox, 1t will
be remembered, who offered a Controller
Bay resolution, only TO find that Repre-
sentative Graham, of Illinois, had pre-
empted the idea and had set In motion the
investigating machinery. The unhappy
Cox has secured the Treasury Department,
seeking q scandal without success. lie
has confided his woes to unfeeling news
paper men, beseeching them to find hin
a real, live scandal, and he has been MADE
the butt Of their unsympathetic wit. Ano
now he has introduced a resolution pro-
yiding for an investigation Of the Wiley
case. only to find that Representative
Moss. chairman Of the Committee on Eek
penditures in the Department of Agricult'
IRE has stolen a march on him and has
actually begun the investigation. Mr.. Coz
frankly admits that 1t makes him greer
with envy to see his Democratic colleagues
getting on the front page of the newspa-
pers every day, when he cannot scare vi
even a little scandal for a cent, and he Is
fast becoming such a pitiful figure that his
Indiana colleagues believe n would be a
good and charitable act to organize a
Cox coincidence club TO extend prompt sym
pathy to their unfortunate colleague each
time he gets left in the future, as he has
invariably in the past. q. u. IL.
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